Teaching Own Children

[bobthedog]

We are a family of four, who are considering going for a 6 month stay in Bangkok. Our two children are 6 and 9 y.o., so both go to school. As we would like for them to keep up with their class mates at home, I plan to teach them a few hours every day while in Bangkok. Now, I was wondering if any of you have any experience in this area, and maybe can point me to some good internet resources.

Thanks.

[seaeagle]

Put them in a school - for 6 months it won't break the bank, I'd have thought.

Kids that age need other kids of that age to play with, not spend scholastic AND leisure time with parents.

As for being a "teacher", no. You're a DAD. Whe it comes to learning from you, they're not used to it and won't react the way the would normally react to a proper teacher.

[bobthedog]

Put them in a school - for 6 months it won't break the bank, I'd have thought.

Kids that age need other kids of that age to play with, not spend scholastic AND leisure time with parents.

As for being a "teacher", no. You're a DAD. Whe it comes to learning from you, they're not used to it and won't react the way the would normally react to a proper teacher.

Thanks for your answer. It's not so much the money/costs of enrolling them to a local school, I am concerned about. It's the fact that my children are not English speakers (we are from Scandinavia), so they would not be able to understand the teachers. Also I would be a little concerned dropping them of at a random school in a foreign country.

[MikeyIdea]

My daughter speaks no Swedish but I wouldn’t hesitate a second to send her home to my mother in Sweden for her to learn Swedish, even though they have no language in common. Or put her in a Swedsh school even though she doesn't speak a word of Swedish. I wouldn’t hesitate because of the language skills that is, I can’t bear not having her near me but that’s a different matter. And I don't see the point, another door stopper...

I would see this as an opportunity. Kids 6 and 9 years old are absolutely amazing at learning languages, you can teach them yourself at home and they will learn almost nothing about the culture and tradition here, about all the things that would expand their horizons, about what would give them the experience that none of their friends back in Scandinavia has, OR send them to a bilingual school for 6 months. OK, they would come back to Sweden a bit behind knowledge wise in some areas (doesn't matter, academic knowledge is not that important) but also far ahead in other areas.

OK, agree, sending them to a Thai-Thai school is too much, but bilingual – No.

It’s important that the school is pretty close to home, if you live close to where I live, then BBS (Bangkok Bilingual School) would be an excellent choice

Mikael

[PattayaParent]

If language is an issue then maybe you'd be better asking for home schooling resources from the school your children are attending at the moment?

Or there may be a home schooling association in our home country?

[kannon99]

Wow what negative responses to homeschooling!

Find out what your home country requirements are for homeschooling first.

There are tons of homeschoolers here in Thailand and whole groups for activities and such. I actually think your children will get more out of the culture by having the freedom of homeschool to go and do more than just sit in a classroom, especially if it's for 6 months.

[bobthedog]

Thankyou for your comments.

kannon99, where would I look for the groups you mention?

PattayaParent: I would definetely bring along books from my childrens school. That will also make it easier for me, to make sure they learn at least the same as their class mates at home.

Do any of you have experience in hiring a Thai teacher, with the objective of teaching children basic Thai? I would imagine lessons lasting an hour per day would be enough.

Edited November 10, 2009 by bobthedog

[CTO]

My kids oddly don't like holidays - they love school - when on holiday from Bagnkok before we moved to the viollage they'd go to the local school. Loved it.

Many schools will let you "try" them out - see how your kids go and what they want.

That all said aged between 10 and 11 I missed a whole year of school as did all my siblings at simlar ages - mum and dad thought experience in interesting countries was better than classrooms.

[kannon99]

CTO, that is a good idea actually. Some homeschooling families will put their child into Thai school for a couple hours a day or 1 day a week, etc. for the experience and language. One hour a day for Thai language, great if they like, torture if not!

As for homeschool groups, try contacting Bangkok Area Homeschooling Network. You can get the contact info from http://www.bambiweb.org/supports.php

[tonititan]

Hi, I agree that you definitely need to talk to your children's current school, especially if you plan to return after your 6 months in Thailand. Like you said, you need to know what the other children will be learning so that they don't get too far behind. Some schools are willing to provide materials for you to use with your child. I would also suggest making sure that if your children miss 6 months of school, they will be able to move up a grade the next year. You wouldn't want any surprises when you come home and find out that your kids have to repeat the grade they did not complete.

Perhaps you could also look into the possibility of finding your students a teacher/tutor in their native language. There are definitely German and French speaking teachers here, perhaps you can find someone who speaks your language. What country are you from? If it happens to be Denmark, I know that there are some partnerships between Denmark and Thailand. I had some Danish friends who used to work here, and it sounded like there was a decent network of Danes here. I don't know about Swedes, etc., but maybe you'll get lucky.