School fees for young children

[coldcrush]

Hi all,

could anyone advise on fees for schools in CM. For young learner ( 3 years).

Thanks. CC

[coldcrush]

Hi all,

could anyone advise on fees for schools in CM. For young learner ( 3 years).

Thanks. CC

?

[Austhaied]

Hi all,

could anyone advise on fees for schools in CM. For young learner ( 3 years).

Thanks. CC

?

Hi CC.

The school above, Varee does have an English program and we were quoted close to 80,000 a year per child..

We had a look in the classrooms and were shocked to see kids running riot. There were at least 30 kids in that class, probably more. We stopped and tried to speak English with them and it was poor to say the least. This may have changed since Febuary when we were last there. I hope so anyway.

My eldest two kids went to Little Stars for two years and were reasonably happy there. They say it's 50/50 bilingual, but it's more like 30/70 in favor of Thai..They also never told us they were a Christian school. When i asked (after nearly 6 months) why they neglected to tell me this they said it "slipped their mind".

My kids are now very happy at Lanna International School, even on the weekends they tell me they can't wait to go back, must be doing something right. Their English skills have improved ten fold since they have been going there (3 months now). My daughter is three, so i highly recommend this option if you can afford it.

It's around 100,000 a year per kid..

Good investment in their future i think.

Regards.

Edited November 4, 2007 by Austhaied

[JuniorExPat]

We have a three year old at Little Stars - she is very happy there, the teacher/carer ratio to students is superb, the bilingual-ness of the school is pretty much as Austhaied reports. My daughter speak northern Thai as her first language so there are staff at the school who know to use that language if there is an upset, standard Thai is dominant but good progress in English language has been made. Our little girl will almost certainly be moving to Lanna next year and our baby son will be heading to Little Stars.

If you are interested I'll check out the fees - sorry can't remember them off hand, I know we just coughed up B27,000 but I'm not sure what period that is for.

As far as Little Stars being Christian is concerned, Authaied is not the first person that I have heard mention this - I am not a Christian and I would prefer my children to have an education about religions rather than an indoctrination into a specific religion so I am reasonably sensitive to this issue. I would say that Little Stars is a Christian school in the same way that the UK is Christian country - I have never felt uncomfortable with any reference to Christianity at the school, maybe I am not paying enough attention (but I doubt it!) - I would not let the religious factor turn you off or on to Little Stars.

We have found Little Stars to be a genuine and caring environment for our daughter - there are rare moments when the fact that the school is also a business (which is unavoidable) have raised minor concerns but that is just one of those facts of life. I would recommend Little Stars to any parent with young children.

JxP

[tigerbeer]

Hi all,

could anyone advise on fees for schools in CM. For young learner ( 3 years).

Thanks. CC

?

Hi CC.

The school above, Varee does have an English program and we were quoted close to 80,000 a year per child..

We had a look in the classrooms and were shocked to see kids running riot. There were at least 30 kids in that class, probably more. We stopped and tried to speak English with them and it was poor to say the least. This may have changed since Febuary when we were last there. I hope so anyway.

My eldest two kids went to Little Stars for two years and were reasonably happy there. They say it's 50/50 bilingual, but it's more like 30/70 in favor of Thai..They also never told us they were a Christian school. When i asked (after nearly 6 months) why they neglected to tell me this they said it "slipped their mind".

My kids are now very happy at Lanna International School, even on the weekends they tell me they can't wait to go back, must be doing something right. Their English skills have improved ten fold since they have been going there (3 months now). My daughter is three, so i highly recommend this option if you can afford it.

It's around 100,000 a year per kid..

Good investment in their future i think.

Regards.

i found out Little Star is a Christian school after i had paid the deposit to enroll my son there. they insisted that they are not a Christian school. except the part in their brochure that says "we teach our children good Christian values". sorry but that does not do it for me. I have nothing against any religion. But rather have them concentrate on one that we already have.

Our two kids are in Varee now and its definitely less that 80k a year. more around 50k but have to double check the figures. wife made the payment. but substantially less than Lanna. Am extremely satisfied in their teaching and attention that they give to the kids. The teachers have always been prompt in letting us know anything that needs attention when it concerns our kids.

But of course if you want as few kids as possible in a class, then be ready to pay a lot more. Solely depends on how much you have in your pockets. Most international schools here are more inclined to teach the Western way of things. To me, I find that not necessary. But thats just me. Varee - a good choice IMHO.

TB

[JuniorExPat]

Just to respond to one comment by tigerbeer (not starting an argument, okay?! ) - "good Christian values" can often be the same as good Buddhist values or good Sikh values or simply good values. Whilst I agree that the choice of language used in the brochure may set off alarm bells I don't feel that my daughter has received any religious bias from the care and education at Little Stars.

JxP

[tigerbeer]

Just to respond to one comment by tigerbeer (not starting an argument, okay?! ) - "good Christian values" can often be the same as good Buddhist values or good Sikh values or simply good values. Whilst I agree that the choice of language used in the brochure may set off alarm bells I don't feel that my daughter has received any religious bias from the care and education at Little Stars.

JxP

it sure did ring some bells! good values can simply be put as "good values". a reference to any religion means a skew towards it. otherwise it wouldn't be there to start off with. seems logical to me.

its just my perception.

but like you said, if there is no religious bias in reality, then they should perhaps amend their brochure.

[Puwa]

Little Stars, where my son spent about a year, really seemed to go downhill during his time there.

The school took in more and more students, but without hiring more "pi liang," so the ratio of kid to minder worsened. There were a couple of kids in my son's class with real behavioral problems--hitting, stealing, etc--and several parents complained. But the school management refused to talk to the troublemakers' parents about it, reportedly because they didn't want to lose a pupil.

There were chronic problems with the school bus service, which was always late. Only at the end of our boy's time there, in a written report, did the English teacher comment that she couldn't really give our son a grade for English because he missed most of the classes since the school bus was always late. (If we had known that this was going on, we would have driven him ourselves.) All these things together gave me the impression that Little Stars is a private school run primarily as a business venture, and secondarily as an educational institution.

The religious accent didn't seem to be overbearing for the kids, just slightly absurd and annoying for uninterested parents who were subjected to it during various parties staged by the school.

[TheEmperorOfTheNorth]

Surely for 3 years old you're still in Kindergarten territory? As in 3000 baht a month range? Hudson even?

[p1p]

My children were at Kiddy Bear and were very happy there.

[chiangmaibruce]

Greeting all. My wife and I are currently in the process of choosing a kindergarten and have already looked at quite a lot.

For a kindy kid we don't see the value (and currently can't afford) an international school, but have looked at kindies aimed at better-off Thais (like Hudson and the one beside Flora condo) as well as kindies aimed more at the luuk krung/expat market. We are looking at staff/facilities, cost and convenience (location).

The one that wins hands down is Kiddy Bear, but that is also the only one we have struck that has a waiting list (April next year at the earliest). Next in line at this stage is Little Stars.

Details of many can be found elsewhere in this forum. We agree with some of what has been written but not others, for examaple we weren't impressed by Nandachart which has been recommended by some.

It will be very difficult to answer your question about fees as there can be quite complicated with payments depending on whether you pay daily, monthly or by the term/semester. There are also various fees and charges that further cloud the waters, some of these mandatory, others optional. So I think you are going to have to do the rounds. Best of luck with your choice.

- CB

[anonymouse]

My Boy is at Nandachart pre-school there are two branches one near chang puak and another in Hang-dong, both are bilingual and based on a Singapore curriculum. Much like Little Stars I'd say it was more biased towards Thai language instruction than English. No real religious affiliation but once a month they go to the nearby wat lok morli.

I've been pleased with his progress there - costs are about 15,000 a term, 3 terms in a year.

I'd recommend Kiddy Bear as well - but because of it's popularity you have to sign up well in advance [ a year or so] if you want to get you child in there.

[cmsally]

My children were at Kiddy Bear and were very happy there.

Ah ! , that's the name I was thinking of "Kiddy Bear" where friends have their children and are v satisfied.

Apologies for any confusion, in another thread I put it as Little Bear, which is the wrong name.

[coldcrush]

Hi Buddy,

Thanks for that reply, thats what I wanted to hear a straight to the point answer! Thats all I needed to know.

As for investment thats a fair old price for a good school compared to blighty!

Thanks again mate.

Hi all,

could anyone advise on fees for schools in CM. For young learner ( 3 years).

Thanks. CC

?

Hi CC.

The school above, Varee does have an English program and we were quoted close to 80,000 a year per child..

We had a look in the classrooms and were shocked to see kids running riot. There were at least 30 kids in that class, probably more. We stopped and tried to speak English with them and it was poor to say the least. This may have changed since Febuary when we were last there. I hope so anyway.

My eldest two kids went to Little Stars for two years and were reasonably happy there. They say it's 50/50 bilingual, but it's more like 30/70 in favor of Thai..They also never told us they were a Christian school. When i asked (after nearly 6 months) why they neglected to tell me this they said it "slipped their mind".

My kids are now very happy at Lanna International School, even on the weekends they tell me they can't wait to go back, must be doing something right. Their English skills have improved ten fold since they have been going there (3 months now). My daughter is three, so i highly recommend this option if you can afford it.

It's around 100,000 a year per kid..

Good investment in their future i think.

Regards.

[coldcrush]

Hiya All,

sorry just looking at all the different websites for schools and conversing with the Wife about it all.

Just a note to say thank you for all your replies, excellent comments on an all important subject.

Thanks

Edited November 5, 2007 by coldcrush

[Hugh Jarse]

Hiya All,

sorry just looking at all the different websites for schools and conversing with the Wife about it all.

Just a note to say thank you for all your replies, excellent comments on an all important subject.

Thanks

I agree. As one who is also looking for a school for my 5 year old this post and the previous (now closed) thread most of the postings were helpful.

On a broader note THai Visa website is one of the best sites I have ever used.

Hope it goes on.

[thaiwholesale]

anubarn sorn dek is good Thai kinder garden, learn mostly Thai but also some English. About 10-12000 per term.

Now we are looking after a school, she is now 5 years.

We have only read good things about Varee.

Please let us hear what you think about Varee or other schools

[too true]

anubarn sorn dek is good Thai kinder garden, learn mostly Thai but also some English. About 10-12000 per term.

Now we are looking after a school, she is now 5 years.

We have only read good things about Varee.

Please let us hear what you think about Varee or other schools

Is that Anuban Suan Dek, by the mengrai bridge? My son went there and I hated it from start to finish. I wouldn't recommend that school to anyone who is interested in having their child develop any opinions or thinking skills of their own. Its reputation is good among the Thai community only because it has ins to Montfort, PRC, Sacred Heart and the other schools of that type (which are also awful, IMHO). The teachers give excessive amounts of homework daily to 3 and 4 year olds, and I found out that if we'd had a thing to go to the night before and our son hadn't done his homework, the next day the teacher would hit him on the hands with a ruler. A teacher also ridiculed him for not being "real Thai" and said he was being a show off because he could speak better English than she could.

Maybe just a one-off experience, but it's definitely a kindy that prepares kids for the rigors and games of Thai schools.

If you can in, Kiddy Bear is the way to go, I think. Varee also looked good.

Good luck,

TT