What Age Did You Start Your Kids In School

[corkman]

Hi all,

My daughter is 3yrs old. We are moving to Bkk in a few weeks. Can I ask, what age did you start your children in school?

We will be putting her through the British curriculum in an international (probably british) school. At home, she would only be in nursery school until she is 5.

I am not going to skimp on her education, but at the same time, do I need to be putting her into an international school for nursery? No point in wasting money for snobbery sake - or is it recommended for practical reasons?

Many thanks

[Scott]

I have never understood the need for putting kids in school as early as they do here, but it seems to be the in-thing. It might be a way of ensuring they have a placement in KG.

[lightbulb]

My little boy is four now and has been in a cute little private kindergarden up the road - its Thai. Since he has been there he has blossomed and he loves the activities and social life it offers.

I am not particularly concerned whether he will be able to "catch up" once I enroll him into an international school - which I intend doing. A kindergarden - even a Thai one, is totally fine - you may consider spending the money a year before he actually goes to "real" school.

You are not alone grappling with this concern - but, agreed, the "international" kindergartens are possibly playing on the fear of parents not educating their children properly, when in fact a local little Thai kindergarden will do - and your child will also learn socialising fully with other Thai children and learning the language.

The care is just as good and so is the rest of what goes on in a nursery school.

(the School my boy is at is called Dararat and it is off Sukumvit 71 - highly recommended to anyone in the area!

[BlackArtemis]

Kindergartens have strayed away from the idea of a place to learn social interaction to the idea that kids need to perform exceptionally out of the box to make it into the best first grade they can! I mean if they don't they will never get into a good university!

If you plan for your child to be bilingual (English and Thai) find one that teaches both languages, but make sure they focus more on social interaction and are actually capable of explaining developmental readiness....

[lightbulb]

Kindergartens have strayed away from the idea of a place to learn social interaction to the idea that kids need to perform exceptionally out of the box to make it into the best first grade they can! I mean if they don't they will never get into a good university!

If you plan for your child to be bilingual (English and Thai) find one that teaches both languages, but make sure they focus more on social interaction and are actually capable of explaining developmental readiness....

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly here - the only drawback is that bilingual schools also financially exploit parents and links this "first step had better be perfect otherwise your child is screwed for the rest of his/her life" syndrome. I really think the first year or so in Kindergarten is not that detrimental to "getting it perfect" My little boy speaks 3 languages fluently and is also learning Chinese on the side - as parents we are naturally also are responsible, at home,for grade 1 readiness, as well as for preparing the foundation in building and expanding our child's horizon as much as we can and there are ways of sidestepping the dictation of expensive education in the early years (K1 K2)

[tonititan]

I don't know why everyone enrolls their kids in school here at the age of 3 (and I'm not going to argue on whether that's the best decision or not), but I do work at an international school and can give you a couple practical reasons why some of our families send their little ones here. First, I think it's just out of convenience if there are older siblings at the school. Some of the parents would prefer to drive to just one school, and the families are already part of the school community so it just makes sense for them to send all of their children here. Another reason we get lots of little ones is for English acquisition (this is obviously for non-native English speakers). I can say that when kids start in the elementary (primary) school at age 5, I can notice a HUGE difference between the English abilities of the children who attended preschool/nursery here at our school, and the children who attended Thai nursery schools or bilingual preschools. The kids who don't have much English when they start elementary school definitely struggle a lot more for the first year or two. Yes, most of them catch up eventually.

I'm assuming your daughter is an English speaker, so I agree that no, it's not necessary to enroll her in an international school at her age. As long as she's in a language rich, developmentally appropriate environment (whether that's a nursery or at home), she should be fine when she gets to school in a couple years.

[corkman]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Looking at the various "stages" that seem to be the norm, my understanding and thoughts are as follows:

Nursery (2-3yrs) - so I think my little one is past that.

Kindergarten (3-4yrs) - she's been going to what might be called a kindergarten here for the last 6 motnhs or so, for 4hrs a day, 2 days a week, so I think she might be ready for the next stage.

Reception (4-5yrs) - but she was only 3 a couple of weeks ago, so she will be 3.5yrs in August / September. So this might be too advanced for her yet.

So, I am unsure as to which class we should be looking at for her. She is a "western" child, and so her english is well developed - much better developed than her peers (and thats not parental pride.... well maybe a little bit ); she knows all the shapes, colours, animals, ABC, counts 1-20 and is quite "chatty". And her Mommy has been here for 8yrs, so her english is very good, and that is the language we speak at home 24/7. Once she gets to "proper" school age i.e. Key stage 1 (year 1) then we will certainly be sending her to a well known international school - but in the interim, I am just a little skeptical that putting her into a 300k per year is a little OTT for kids to be sitting around singing songs and colouring and playing "constructive" games?

[PeaceBlondie]

Back in the old days we started half day kindie at age 5. Texas started it in 1971. 5 is fine.

[JimShortz]

but she was only 3 a couple of weeks ago, so she will be 3.5yrs in August / September. So this might be too advanced for her yet.

So, I am unsure as to which class we should be looking at for her.

I think the most important thing for you to do is to make sure that when she does go to school she joins the appropriate class for her actual age - not necessarily her stage of development.

That may sound strange, but if you put her into reception this August (when she will be the correct age for nursery) you are storing up problems for later. At some point during her education you would then need to "hold her back" whilst all of her friends move up a year group (nasty for her!); or you may choose not to hold her back and let her be a year younger than she should be when she reaches examination stages (seriously disadvantaging her - one year makes a HUGE developmental difference). The only way you can easily "hold her back" later is if she is moving to another school as this won't be so socially difficult for her...

My advice - always go for age appropriate classes if at all possible.

[corkman]

THanks for the further replies.

I think I might be "over thinking" it perhaps. I think the advice regarding putting her in the correct age group is probably the best route to go down. Where it creates a "dilema" of sorts for me is that once she starts "proper" school, I would like her to go to a "good" international school. I don't mind the fee's for that. But at the same time, I don't want to put her in, shall we say "less expensive" school for the first 2 years, then rip her away from her friends once she reaches "year 1".

It's not the money, per say, it is just that I don't want to be a sheep ..... like the people who drive mercedes and BMW's just because everyone else on the street drives one, when all they really need and want is a Toyota...... its a case of 'just because you can do something, it doesn't necessarily mean you should'.

My Mrs. is going to have a busy few weeks in the near future driving around adn reasearching this to the n'th degree!

Many thanks - and any more advice or opinions would be gretly recieved.

[Phatcharanan]

but she was only 3 a couple of weeks ago, so she will be 3.5yrs in August / September. So this might be too advanced for her yet.

So, I am unsure as to which class we should be looking at for her.

I think the most important thing for you to do is to make sure that when she does go to school she joins the appropriate class for her actual age - not necessarily her stage of development.

That may sound strange, but if you put her into reception this August (when she will be the correct age for nursery) you are storing up problems for later. At some point during her education you would then need to "hold her back" whilst all of her friends move up a year group (nasty for her!); or you may choose not to hold her back and let her be a year younger than she should be when she reaches examination stages (seriously disadvantaging her - one year makes a HUGE developmental difference). The only way you can easily "hold her back" later is if she is moving to another school as this won't be so socially difficult for her...

My advice - always go for age appropriate classes if at all possible.

I agree about the age appropiate class for her age. It is also highly unlikely that a good Brit school would actually accept her into Reception (now) because of her age.

I think some people miss the point about the Early Years. It is not just about education but also that of the child developing social skills just be being around lots of other similarly aged children. They also start to learn about structure and rules.

Starting her off in Reception (4-5 years) would be entirely acceptable.

For further advice you may wish to google 'EYFS' and/or 'QCDA'. This sets out the UK governments framework for education (primary and secondary) in England and Wales.

Click onto the link for Early Years and Foundation Stage (EYFS) and you will be able to see what is actually taught at the various Early Years stages. You can then make a better informed decision as to what you think is best for your daughter.

Edited March 20, 2010 by Phatcharanan

[TravelerEastWest]

Both my kids started in a Thai Lek Dek at 2 and at about 3 Anuban 1

They play and sing and so on with Lek Dek and Anunban 1 seems like fun skip the homework if your child doesn't like it.

Also long as the school is close to your house, clean and friendly and safe go for it.

If you speak English at home do not worry about it as long as you read to them also.

My kids are actually learning Chinese at school so that will be their 3rd language.

Be careful about international schools before age 6 as sometimes they use teachers that speak English but are not native speakers. In which case not a good idea for the money...

As for your child being too young to start a grade early it is up to the child. Some children can do well with advanced subjects and eventually graduate from high school a year or two early with a big advantage.

It is an individual personal choice - no rules.

[tonititan]

As for your child being too young to start a grade early it is up to the child.

Actually, it's not up to the child. It's up the parent to make a responsible decision, isn't it?

Some children can do well with advanced subjects and eventually graduate from high school a year or two early with a big advantage.

Personally, I don't think it's an advantage to graduate from high school a year or two early. Some of those students who are younger than their peers have some serious social/emotional difficulties due to varying levels of maturity. If it was my child, the benefit of starting a career sooner in life wouldn't be worth the risk. But, like you said, it's a personal decision.

[corkman]

Thanks for everyone's reply. I think we will be going down the age appropriate route - regardless of whether r not that is an option, it is what we would probabyl decide upon anyway.

We will be staying Prawet. Does anyone have any schools that they could recommend, which is in a reasonable distance of that. I'd like to check out as many as possible - so whether its a small local place or a full scale international like Patana, I'd like to hear them all.

[MikeyIdea]

Regarding International or bilingual kindergartens / schools, IMO, I would not have my child doing All her education in schools that would give her an advantage today and 10 years forward and and put her at disadvantage in 20 years time. I am talking about that in 20 years time, Asia will be where the opportunities are and America and the EU will have struggled to stand still economically for way too long

I posted about it in this post, lazy to write it all again - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Combine-Scho...ni-t313221.html - I think this is a good thread, there are clearly things not good with an Asian educational system but it would not be responsible to leave it totally out - our young kids today won't even start working until in 20 years time and will be half way through his working live in 40 years time

[corkman]

Regarding International or bilingual kindergartens / schools, IMO, I would not have my child doing All her education in schools that would give her an advantage today and 10 years forward and and put her at disadvantage in 20 years time. I am talking about that in 20 years time, Asia will be where the opportunities are and America and the EU will have struggled to stand still economically for way too long

This is certainly a good point. I'll check out the link you provided.

You are certainly right, I think, in the point you allude to - i.e. Asia is growing and will continue to do so for many years, where as the engine for Growth in the EU and US is at best, fading......

Seems like marrying the Thai Mrs. all those years ago was an unintential hedge for me