International School Options

[truthbeknown]

Have a friend that is seeking a good quality International school for the upcoming year. He has looked around and trying to best determine good quality and also is finding that for a three year old the cost is quite high, most are quoting 150,000 annually plus. Very much appreciate any feedback in regards to both issues: quality and cost. Thank you in advance........

[paulfr]

Early Years on Sukhumvit Soi 12 is one I can recommend.

Costs us 13K a month including the bus transportation.

Cost varies with number of hours per day you sign up for.

See a nice listing here

http://www.bambiweb.org/services/pre_schools

[aussiebebe]

If he thinks 150k is 'quite high', he'd be well-advised to look at bilingual kindergartens; they are quite a good option for 3-6 year-olds living in Thailand when compared with International schools charging around 150k. You can easily visit any school you want and if you haven't ever done so, you may be surprised how many non-Thais choose to send their children to such schools - not often because they can't afford international but because bilingual schools really do have many positive aspects such as highly qualified, dedicated Thai staff with foreign teachers to provide additional instruction in English. Sure, most children are dual nationality and their parents want their child to be bilingual, but even if this isn't the case, children can easily leave bilingual kindergartens and join international schools when they are six, especially if English is spoken at home. You'd be surprised how similar you child's social experience may be, in terms of the sorts of children they play and mix with. I often chat with a Thai family who live in the same condo block as me and their son attends Berkely International school which must cost 300k+, he's a great kid and highly articulate in English, but at the end of the day he's just a Thai kid with wealthy parents, right? It's just silly to dismiss bilingual programs, you'll probably be disappointed if you choose international just because you want your child to mix with foreign kids unless you can afford the very best like Patana where English just permeates the place.