Advice needed about my 5yr old son and what the best options for my situation for school?

[hello55060]

So I, my wife and our 2 kids will be moving to Thailand from mid-March and relocating there. Our son is 5 and our daughter is 2. They have been living in China with my wife and her family. I have been living in Singapore and working there and I visited them a couple of times in 2023, but previously due to lockdowns in China and my work I was only able to see them once in like 3 years. Before that, my son didn't speak many words.

 

The reason for mentioning all this is that we want to send our son to an International school in Thailand when we arrive, but he speaks about 90% Mandarin and just only about 10% English. So his English level is of a 2 year old child even though he's 5. I know it's stupid considering my wife is Chinese but fluent in English so yes he should know a lot more than he does. He was sent to a local Chinese school for the last 2 and a half years, my wife was too lazy to teach him English in the years we haven't been able to live together due to our work commitments and her dealing with our daughter, he was pretty much raised by her parents.

 

So yes it's a bit of a mess. Anyway I was just looking for what is the best route to go with our son. Would he even get accepted into an International school if he can barely speak English and knows 0 Thai? If they did I'm guessing he would be put in a class with like 2-year-olds when he's really 5 due to his English level. I would feel bad for him as he wouldn't be able to make friends. Just at least we can all be together all the time now so our daughter won't have this experience as she's still young. 

 

Some advice would be appreciated. 

 

 

[save the frogs]

It's not clear how many jobs AI will displace by the time your kids are of working age.

So it's not clear how outdated the current education system is. 

So it's debatable whether paying exorbitant fees for international schools is worth it. 

 

[Nick Carter icp]

1 minute ago, save the frogs said:

It's not clear how many jobs AI will displace by the time your kids are of working age.

So it's not clear how outdated the current education system is. 

So it's debatable whether paying exorbitant fees for international schools is worth it. 

 

 

   Your Children mix with a better class of person at expensive Schools & Universities

[save the frogs]

16 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Your Children mix with a better class of person at expensive Schools & Universities

valid point.

depends how much money you have relative to how much it costs

I probably wouldn't get into debt or stretch myself too thin in any school program now.

 

Edited February 21 by save the frogs

[delgarcon]

I think that the answer is a simple one, if you can afford it. Your children should have private lessons in English and possibly Thai as well.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Perhaps consider this school:  https://www.mandarin.ac.th

 

It looks like they teach in both Mandarin and English.

[hello55060]

17 hours ago, delgarcon said:

I think that the answer is a simple one, if you can afford it. Your children should have private lessons in English and possibly Thai as well.

Is there a school or private classes that run during the Thai int school holidays in BKK. I think this is probably the best route for him. As looking at the academic calendar its a few months left then the summer holiday. So ideally we're looking to find a place that specialise in English from march- July. Then send him to a proper international school in August for the new 1st semester/ school year.

 

I have searched but they seemed to be based for adults wanting to learn English, not kids. 

 

Thanks in advance .

Edited February 22 by hello55060

[hello55060]

11 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Perhaps consider this school:  https://www.mandarin.ac.th

 

It looks like they teach in both Mandarin and English.

Thanks my wife and her family can still teach him mandarin. We plan to live here for the long term so we are looking for normal internationals schools in bkk and not ones that cater to learning Chinese as he will have no issues learning more of that. We appreciate the suggestion though.

 

As i said above having looked at another posters suggestion we think its best to get him learning English and some Thai straight away and during the Thai holidays, then try to enroll in a thai/eng int school for the new school year in August. And hopefully he won't be too much behind the kids his age and just a year below instead of like 2 or 3 years like the current situation. 

Edited February 22 by hello55060

[JeffersLos]

18 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Your Children mix with a better class of person at expensive Schools & Universities

 

A better class of person doesn't mean a better person.

 

 

OP, there are Chinese international schools in Thailand. Many international schools are 90% Asian students from China, Singapore etc. Not the top tier ones, obviously. 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

4 minutes ago, hello55060 said:

Thanks my wife and her family can still teach him mandarin. We plan to live here for the long term so we are looking for normal internationals schools in bkk and not ones that cater to learning Chinese as he will have no issues learning more of that. We appreciate the suggestion though.

 

Many international schools seek to attract children from Thai families and are expecting to work with students in the early grades who don't arrive with great English skills. My children had classmates in pre-school, kindergarten and first grade who came from families where English wasn't spoken in the home.

 

You might want to contact the schools that you are interested in from a curriculum standpoint and ask. 

 

 

 

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

There are plenty of international schools to choose from, with a wide range of fees, but it depends on where you're going to be living. As well as the academic/English requirements for your son, pick a school that is nearby.  Having a 1-2 hour journey every morning/afternoon is not recommended.

[Tropicalevo]

12 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

There are plenty of international schools to choose from, with a wide range of fees, but it depends on where you're going to be living. As well as the academic/English requirements for your son, pick a school that is nearby.  Having a 1-2 hour journey every morning/afternoon is not recommended.

Good advice from bb.

The International school where my wife taught had this issue with Russian children. The school just gave the kids extra English lessons. The children learn quickly when they start playing in different languages. (They learn lots of different swear words!)

The only issue was that my wife had to learn some Russian phrases like 'do not spit' 'go to the toilet to pee' etc

 

Talk to the schools in the area where you plan to live. They will have had this situation before.

Edited February 23 by Tropicalevo

[OnTheLash]

NIS in Chiang Mai might be a good option. Lots of Chinese kids, English program and a great school.

 

Not exorbitant fees compared to some international schools. It might just tick the boxes.