Someone Please Tell Me If I Should Accept This

[janverbeem]

I'm a caretaker for a 7 year old boy which I send to a bilingual school with foreign management and teachers at a price of 120.000 Baht a year.He is currently in P2.

I know he is kind of slow in learning,and other things,but I hope he can make some progress by going to a decent school.

I noticed already since the beginning of this term that in his classwork books not too much was written.So now today he had by mistake the class workbook for English Maths from another student in his bag together with his own and I was able to compare the contents.

What I saw shocked me.The book from the other student had 11 pages( for 11 classes so far) which were completed and corrected by the teacher and on each page he got a rating and some remarks.

My boy's book had 6 pages where "some" text was written on by him but no corrections,remarks or any sign that the teacher had even looked into it.The last 5 classes nothing at all was written in the book however he attended the classes.

This is only 1 subject I have proof about now but I assume that all subjects will show same results.

It shows to me that the teachers don't give a <deleted> if the student pays attention or whatever as long as the school fee is paid,but of course that is not why I pay this money.When I went to school in my young days this would be impossible as there would be remarks in my homework book or even my parents would be contacted about this matter.But nothing of that all at this school.If he hadn't brought home the other students classbook today I wouldn't have known about this at all.

Over the past four years I had numerous conversations with the head teacher and the director as I had my doubts about his learning capability's but they always assured me that he did just fine.He passed the exams for P1 with glance and without a re-test but I noticed that he could not count from 1 to 100 without mistake or read simple English words

I think you understand my feelings right now,but I would like to know if I can take some legal action against the school for this.I could just pay a few thousand Baht a year to a Thai school to have him legally enrolled and keep him home with maybe an even better end result instead of throwing half a million Baht for the past 4 years at a business organisation without any positive result.

[Scott]

First, contact the school and try to have a meeting with the principal and discuss your child's situation. You will need to hear from the teachers what is happening and come up with a strategy to get the best education for your child.

You could be right about the teachers, or they could have a reason for what is happening. I have dealt with more than a few students who have learning difficulties and it's difficult if they are integrated into a regular classroom and unable to keep up with the rest of the class.

Younger students can develop serious behavior problems with too much pressure is put on them perform. The student's attitude toward school and learning can get seriously negative. You do not want to turn him off to learning, regardless of his problems or difficulties. He needs as much positive encouragement as possible with as little negative consequences as possible.

It may also be matter of him being mature enough either physically or mentally to handle the challenges of his grade level. This is more common with with boys, who generally lag behind in language development.

Hopefully,with a little special attention from his teachers and from his parents, you can identify the problem(s) and start getting his performance to increase.

I would approach the school in a calm and concerned manner. At P2, he can likely catch up. In a few years, he will be hopelessly far behind.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

[janverbeem]

Scott,

Please take notice that I had several discussions regarding this issue already,but they keep telling me that there is no problem.One time I was talking with the principal and he asked me if I could help the boy with his multiplication tables,I knew he had difficulties with it.At that particular moment the head of primary joins us and he had heard only the words multiplication tables.Right away he started praising the boy that he was so good in this subject and the always finished before all the other students.

An outright lie of course.

From the other students class workbook it is clear that the teacher checks every day as there are remarks,comments and ratings for every date there was a class.In my boys book there is not a single remark,rating,comment or whatsoever for as long as this schoolterm is lasting already.For the last 5 classes the boy didn't write a single word in his book,while the other student had 5 full pages for the same dates.I can hardly believe that this goes unnoticed by the teacher,especially since the boy sits at the first table in the classroom.

To me that points to serious short comings in the way there is taught at this school,however the school fees don't reflect this.

I got the contact details of the The Village International Education Center in Bangkok but I think this would a bit difficult for me as I'm living in Pattaya so cant take him on a daily trip to Bangkok.Do you have knowledge about a similar school closer to home?

[Phatcharanan]

Scott,

Please take notice that I had several discussions regarding this issue already,but they keep telling me that there is no problem.One time I was talking with the principal and he asked me if I could help the boy with his multiplication tables,I knew he had difficulties with it.At that particular moment the head of primary joins us and he had heard only the words multiplication tables.Right away he started praising the boy that he was so good in this subject and the always finished before all the other students.

An outright lie of course.

From the other students class workbook it is clear that the teacher checks every day as there are remarks,comments and ratings for every date there was a class.In my boys book there is not a single remark,rating,comment or whatsoever for as long as this schoolterm is lasting already.For the last 5 classes the boy didn't write a single word in his book,while the other student had 5 full pages for the same dates.I can hardly believe that this goes unnoticed by the teacher,especially since the boy sits at the first table in the classroom.

To me that points to serious short comings in the way there is taught at this school,however the school fees don't reflect this.

I got the contact details of the The Village International Education Center in Bangkok but I think this would a bit difficult for me as I'm living in Pattaya so cant take him on a daily trip to Bangkok.Do you have knowledge about a similar school closer to home?

Can you PM me the name of the school?

I know 3 principals/head teachers at schools in Pattaya. I may be able to give you an indication as to the competance of the school.

[janverbeem]

Scott,

Please take notice that I had several discussions regarding this issue already,but they keep telling me that there is no problem.One time I was talking with the principal and he asked me if I could help the boy with his multiplication tables,I knew he had difficulties with it.At that particular moment the head of primary joins us and he had heard only the words multiplication tables.Right away he started praising the boy that he was so good in this subject and the always finished before all the other students.

An outright lie of course.

From the other students class workbook it is clear that the teacher checks every day as there are remarks,comments and ratings for every date there was a class.In my boys book there is not a single remark,rating,comment or whatsoever for as long as this schoolterm is lasting already.For the last 5 classes the boy didn't write a single word in his book,while the other student had 5 full pages for the same dates.I can hardly believe that this goes unnoticed by the teacher,especially since the boy sits at the first table in the classroom.

To me that points to serious short comings in the way there is taught at this school,however the school fees don't reflect this.

I got the contact details of the The Village International Education Center in Bangkok but I think this would a bit difficult for me as I'm living in Pattaya so cant take him on a daily trip to Bangkok.Do you have knowledge about a similar school closer to home?

Can you PM me the name of the school?

I know 3 principals/head teachers at schools in Pattaya. I may be able to give you an indication as to the competance of the school.

The school is located 45 Km south of Pattaya.

[thaicbr]

Well you already know you are wasting your money. If sounds like you found a 'customer' school rather than a student school.. The customer is never wrong...

Look around for another school AND also look at the boy subjectively. Does he have learning problems, If so what are they. Spend some time talking to him and play some creative games. Find out exactly WHAT he does (or doesn't know).

I teach intensive English to P5 and 6. We have just had a student start with us after 4 years in a EP program. The kid can't read a sentence or count over 20. Work to be done there

Also one of the problems here in Thailand is that the EP/ Intensive programs can be where the parents put the 'problem' kids as there are no special programs like back in the west.. No parent will admit their kid has a problem. I have a few in my classes now. You have really clever kid who can handle the work and also a couple of REALLY slow kids that need lots of help.

Edited June 9, 2011 by thaicbr

[janverbeem]

Well you already know you are wasting your money. If sounds like you found a 'customer' school rather than a student school.. The customer is never wrong...

Look around for another school AND also look at the boy subjectively. Does he have learning problems, If so what are they. Spend some time talking to him and play some creative games. Find out exactly WHAT he does (or doesn't know).

I teach intensive English to P5 and 6. We have just had a student start with us after 4 years in a EP program. The kid can't read a sentence or count over 20. Work to be done there

Also one of the problems here in Thailand is that the EP/ Intensive programs can be where the parents put the 'problem' kids as there are no special programs like back in the west.. No parent will admit their kid has a problem. I have a few in my classes now. You have really clever kid who can handle the work and also a couple of REALLY slow kids that need lots of help.

My kid is in the camp of the slow ones,however I don't have the skills of a teacher otherwise he wouldn't be at a school and this topic wouldn't exist.

[Phatcharanan]

The school is located 45 Km south of Pattaya.

That would be a school with a 'garden' right?

[janverbeem]

The school is located 45 Km south of Pattaya.

That would be a school with a 'garden' right?

Just across the garden.

[Scott]

If you wish to have a private conversation, then I suggest you use the Private Message System. Click on the name of poster you want to send a PM to and it will take you to the posters home page. Under the avatar, you will see several rectangular boxes. Click on the one that says 'send me a message.' When the person has responded,it will show up at the top of the screen next to your login name.

[smileplur]

I am a teacher myself. I teach P3, P6, and do corporate teaching in the evenings. Now, the fundamental problem that I see in this country has already been mentioned. There are no special needs classes for these kids. So, there I am teaching 35 kids, and I have one who is unable to do the work. What am I supposed to do? Should I teach the 34 that can do it, or do I spend all of my time with the one that really shouldn't even be there. I have made every effort to help such students. I have tried to get the Thais to do something about it, but they are unwilling. In my department, we haven't got the resources to allocate a teacher for such students. Although we have tried, the Thais won't allow it. Although I do attempt to help such students, I simply haven't got the time. I do write in their homework books that they are falling behind and would benefit from additional help. I offer to teach them during my breaks, but the parents never respond to this. I am not allowed to take them on as private students, so that isn't an option.

As a teacher, this is probably the most difficult aspect of my job. It is painful to watch a student fall behind. At the end of the day, I need to respect them as individuals and do my best to ensure they are emotionally stable and comfortable. The best I can hope for is that they pick up some of what is being taught.

[Scott]

I think a number of teachers have had similar experiences to smileplur. There are numerous factors that can affect a child's ability to learn and not all of them are related to intelligence.

The OP has talked to the school already and they assured him there is no problem. This is worrying. I deal with a couple of young children who are seriously impaired. One is most likely autistic and other likely has severe ADD. The parents are aware their children have problems and have begged us to keep them in school. We will simply because there is no other option for the children. Right now, both can be managed in the class, but they are able to learn very, very little.

It is interesting to note, that both seem to doing well with English. One really doesn't say much, but he understands very well. The ADD boy speaks and understands well (but he doesn't listen)!

The parents are understanding and helpful. If they were not, these children would probably not be allowed to remain in the school.