Yes 2 Ubon. Info Please

[kdc1899]

So. The administrators at YES School in Ubon look ya in the face and say that for 30,000 baht my kids will be taught in english by falang teachers at least 80% of the time. A recent tour of the campus was unusual. We had teachers telling us that the 30K baht option is only like 9 hours per week of english (that's like 25%). These same teachers and 2 parents said the 19,000 baht option is like 8 hours of english.

Could be folks upset that they can't afford the 30K program and teachers upset that they don't measure up to be included in the 30K program.

Could be 5 homeless people posing as teachers and parents.

Can anyone please give me the skinny on this school.

My school age kids are 5 and 3. I'd like the 19 month old to attend also just to have play friends (couldn't get a straight answer from anyone there if the boy can attend being that young).

Thanks

kdc

[Mike45]

Unfortunately I don't have any information about the school but I do have questions. The 19,000 and 30,000 options you mentioned. Are they for the year or per semester? How many semesters in a year? Will the second child qualify for a discount because you have the older child enrolled? Do the fees increase depending on the year the child is in? How many children in a class?

Have you looked into any other schools and how do they compare price wise and otherwise?

Thanks

Mike

[ubonrthai]

I don't have any information about the school but I do have questions.

Same here. I sat by the owners of the school on a flight to Bangkok the other day (parents of the director). We didn't talk about prices. He said they take kids starting at 18 months old for day care. If I understood correctly, they teach Thai, English and Chinese programs. I told him I was worried about foreign teachers coming and going so often that kids get no consistency in teaching or experienced teachers but he said that's not a problem. He touted the security at the school and assured me kids from YES won't go running out to internet shops "like the Benjama school." I recently drove my motorcycle in to the school, wasn't stopped by anyone and could have easily left with a kid under my arm so the security really isn't great but it's way better than a place like Benjama where the guards sit and watch students come and go. I've had 3 Thai parents tell me the school is great and their mid-elementary kids are very well behaved but I'm very unimpressed with their ability to speak English. I still have far more questions than answers about the school. The founders/owners of the school were a very nice couple but I got the same feeling I've gotten talking to other schools that image was more important than quality. They were more interested in talking about how many students they've sent overseas in exchange programs then talking about the quality of teaching. Thinking of sending our son their for nothing more than social interaction with other toddlers soon but still leaning towards finding my own home solution for education.

And I've heard twice now that either the 7th Day Adventist group or some other organization is planning to open a small English only school. Anyone else heard anything?

Edited October 7, 2012 by ubonrthai

[kdc1899]

The school has 2 semesters. The prices are per semester. The school near Big C is 19K for each semester. Assumption has a 9 hour per week english program for 18K.

Ave Maria has been hands down the best option for us. The girls have been going there since 24 months old. Most of the kids are happy and healthy. That was my only criteria. I've been to every schoolin option in the city several times. If most of the kids looked bored I would come back a few times to look again. Most kids everywhere just looked semi catatonic. Maybe it's a zen thing. I was really wanting one of the bhuddist schools to be an option because I wanted the kids to be familiar with the zen thing B4 they get bombarded with the whole christian thing goin on in the states. Oh well. Ave Maria it has been.

The kids and teachers and sisters just seem really enthusiastic about the day. Everyday. There's no real english option there which is why I am very interested in Y E S . I hope they really do have an 80% option.

Someone must know. Help us out here, please.

kdc

[Michael Hare]

I often get asked by expats in Ubon what is the best school to send their children to and what do I think of the education system here in town. I really don’t know. People say the YES school is good. Others prefer Thai government schooling.

I have decided to rather publicly state my thoughts and opinions.

Another motivating factor was that my 26 year old son was home last week from Bangkok where he works and he informed me that the Thai education system was useless and that he didn’t learn much at school. Rather, his learning came from his late mother and myself and his own studies. I was a little surprised.

We came to Ubon in 1994 when he was 8. In NZ he had gone to small Catholic primary school with 240 pupils. I was keen for him to go to Assumption because it looked good and was close to our old house. No way said my wife’s family who are all teachers. Aunubaan Ubon is the only primary school worth considering. So he went there. Thrown into the deep end with 2,000 kids cramped into a small space like chickens. Hardly any Thai language. Had to sit exams within 4 weeks of starting. Came bottom of his Bor 2 class. We hired a university student for 1 hour every evening from 6-7 to help him with his homework My wife was private teaching English at home and my Thai skills, while good, weren’t good enough to properly explain homework in Thai to him. The university student came nearly every school day evening for 5 years. My son slowly improved and by the time he got to the end of primary school he was top of the whole grade.

Then on to Benchamart High School. We lived just outside the school zone so he had to sit the entrance exam which he passed. He loved Ben. We then built a new home not far from Ben so he could walk to school. On weekends he went to tutorial classes in chemistry, physics, math and sometimes Thai language. But never English. We never worried about English. He learnt that at home. On three occasions he came first in Thailand in English competitions. He enjoyed army cadets-a break from sitting in a classroom.

From Ben he sat national entrance exams and went to King Mongut Institute in Bangkok (baan mot campus) to do computer engineering. Upon graduating he joined Reuters in their product development department. He now has his own business.

All his friends at Ben were slackers. They never seemed to work. The teachers hated teaching that class. But they were bright. All of them have now graduated from university and have got good jobs.

So when my son said he didn’t learn much I said, you and your slack friends have done okay. But Dad the Thai system is all on memory. We don’t learn to think, analyze and critically discuss. We only learnt Thai history from the perspective of Kings and learnt nothing about the outside world. However, we had a good time. (He said cheating and coping is a developed skill learnt from kindergarten).

Which brings me to the present day. If I was trying to decide what to do with my children’s education in Ubon I wouldn’t be able to give advice. I really don’t know. Traffic is horrible. Maybe try to live as close as possible to a school. Do a lot of educating at home and don’t be too serious about the school system here.

Maintain the English skills. With good English-Thai language skills finding jobs are relatively easy in Thailand. Get the children to read English books. Novels and world history.

When I look overseas, I see so many young people unable to get a job. Just look at Spain. Nearly 50% unemployment in the 18-25 year bracket. But here in Thailand, with education, jobs appear to be fairly easy to get.

Anyway, just my little story of having a son go through the Thai education system in Ubon. He did okay, even if his geography and world history need considerable improvement.

[Mike45]

The school has 2 semesters. The prices are per semester. The school near Big C is 19K for each semester. Assumption has a 9 hour per week english program for 18K.

Ave Maria has been hands down the best option for us. The girls have been going there since 24 months old. Most of the kids are happy and healthy. That was my only criteria. I've been to every schoolin option in the city several times. If most of the kids looked bored I would come back a few times to look again. Most kids everywhere just looked semi catatonic. Maybe it's a zen thing. I was really wanting one of the bhuddist schools to be an option because I wanted the kids to be familiar with the zen thing B4 they get bombarded with the whole christian thing goin on in the states. Oh well. Ave Maria it has been.

The kids and teachers and sisters just seem really enthusiastic about the day. Everyday. There's no real english option there which is why I am very interested in Y E S . I hope they really do have an 80% option.

Someone must know. Help us out here, please.

kdc

I understand your concerns about learning the English language but don't underestimate the importance of being happy. Do the kids speak English to you? Maybe placing a greater emphasis on it at home would help. Just a suggestion.

How much does it cost to go to Ave Maria? Do they push the religion very hard?

Thanks

Mike

[kdc1899]

None of the kids speak english. I don't live in Thailand. The wife and kids will be coming to the states soon.

There must be someone out there who has specific knowledge of YES.

Ave Maria is about 1,000 baht per month for the 5 year old, 2,000 baht per month for the 3 year old.

Assumption also has a 6,500 baht per semester (2 semesters) non english program.

Y E S ??

anyone?

Thanks

kdc

[downtown]

I often get asked by expats in Ubon what is the best school to send their children to and what do I think of the education system here in town. I really don’t know. People say the YES school is good. Others prefer Thai government schooling.

I have decided to rather publicly state my thoughts and opinions.

Another motivating factor was that my 26 year old son was home last week from Bangkok where he works and he informed me that the Thai education system was useless and that he didn’t learn much at school. Rather, his learning came from his late mother and myself and his own studies. I was a little surprised.

We came to Ubon in 1994 when he was 8. In NZ he had gone to small Catholic primary school with 240 pupils. I was keen for him to go to Assumption because it looked good and was close to our old house. No way said my wife’s family who are all teachers. Aunubaan Ubon is the only primary school worth considering. So he went there. Thrown into the deep end with 2,000 kids cramped into a small space like chickens. Hardly any Thai language. Had to sit exams within 4 weeks of starting. Came bottom of his Bor 2 class. We hired a university student for 1 hour every evening from 6-7 to help him with his homework My wife was private teaching English at home and my Thai skills, while good, weren’t good enough to properly explain homework in Thai to him. The university student came nearly every school day evening for 5 years. My son slowly improved and by the time he got to the end of primary school he was top of the whole grade.

Then on to Benchamart High School. We lived just outside the school zone so he had to sit the entrance exam which he passed. He loved Ben. We then built a new home not far from Ben so he could walk to school. On weekends he went to tutorial classes in chemistry, physics, math and sometimes Thai language. But never English. We never worried about English. He learnt that at home. On three occasions he came first in Thailand in English competitions. He enjoyed army cadets-a break from sitting in a classroom.

From Ben he sat national entrance exams and went to King Mongut Institute in Bangkok (baan mot campus) to do computer engineering. Upon graduating he joined Reuters in their product development department. He now has his own business.

All his friends at Ben were slackers. They never seemed to work. The teachers hated teaching that class. But they were bright. All of them have now graduated from university and have got good jobs.

So when my son said he didn’t learn much I said, you and your slack friends have done okay. But Dad the Thai system is all on memory. We don’t learn to think, analyze and critically discuss. We only learnt Thai history from the perspective of Kings and learnt nothing about the outside world. However, we had a good time. (He said cheating and coping is a developed skill learnt from kindergarten).

Which brings me to the present day. If I was trying to decide what to do with my children’s education in Ubon I wouldn’t be able to give advice. I really don’t know. Traffic is horrible. Maybe try to live as close as possible to a school. Do a lot of educating at home and don’t be too serious about the school system here.

Maintain the English skills. With good English-Thai language skills finding jobs are relatively easy in Thailand. Get the children to read English books. Novels and world history.

When I look overseas, I see so many young people unable to get a job. Just look at Spain. Nearly 50% unemployment in the 18-25 year bracket. But here in Thailand, with education, jobs appear to be fairly easy to get.

Anyway, just my little story of having a son go through the Thai education system in Ubon. He did okay, even if his geography and world history need considerable improvement.

i would love to relocate my family back to ubon but this post correctly tells me to make sure my daughter gets a decent education in the UK

[sezzo]

None of the kids speak english. I don't live in Thailand. The wife and kids will be coming to the states soon.

There must be someone out there who has specific knowledge of YES.

Ave Maria is about 1,000 baht per month for the 5 year old, 2,000 baht per month for the 3 year old.

Assumption also has a 6,500 baht per semester (2 semesters) non english program.

Y E S ??

anyone?

Thanks

kdc

My 10 year old step son is attending YES2 school in Ubon. He has been there since the start of this school year after being schooled in Australian government school for about 4 years. I have some comments to make on this thread in relation to the questions asked but at the moment I am having some eyesight problems and its very difficult for me to read the screen, school syllabus etc. Bear with me for a few days and I will get back to this thread. Overall I am satisfied with the school but I will elaborate at a later stage.

Thanks

[Mike45]

I often get asked by expats in Ubon what is the best school to send their children to and what do I think of the education system here in town. I really don’t know. People say the YES school is good. Others prefer Thai government schooling.

I have decided to rather publicly state my thoughts and opinions.

Another motivating factor was that my 26 year old son was home last week from Bangkok where he works and he informed me that the Thai education system was useless and that he didn’t learn much at school. Rather, his learning came from his late mother and myself and his own studies. I was a little surprised.

We came to Ubon in 1994 when he was 8. In NZ he had gone to small Catholic primary school with 240 pupils. I was keen for him to go to Assumption because it looked good and was close to our old house. No way said my wife’s family who are all teachers. Aunubaan Ubon is the only primary school worth considering. So he went there. Thrown into the deep end with 2,000 kids cramped into a small space like chickens. Hardly any Thai language. Had to sit exams within 4 weeks of starting. Came bottom of his Bor 2 class. We hired a university student for 1 hour every evening from 6-7 to help him with his homework My wife was private teaching English at home and my Thai skills, while good, weren’t good enough to properly explain homework in Thai to him. The university student came nearly every school day evening for 5 years. My son slowly improved and by the time he got to the end of primary school he was top of the whole grade.

Then on to Benchamart High School. We lived just outside the school zone so he had to sit the entrance exam which he passed. He loved Ben. We then built a new home not far from Ben so he could walk to school. On weekends he went to tutorial classes in chemistry, physics, math and sometimes Thai language. But never English. We never worried about English. He learnt that at home. On three occasions he came first in Thailand in English competitions. He enjoyed army cadets-a break from sitting in a classroom.

From Ben he sat national entrance exams and went to King Mongut Institute in Bangkok (baan mot campus) to do computer engineering. Upon graduating he joined Reuters in their product development department. He now has his own business.

All his friends at Ben were slackers. They never seemed to work. The teachers hated teaching that class. But they were bright. All of them have now graduated from university and have got good jobs.

So when my son said he didn’t learn much I said, you and your slack friends have done okay. But Dad the Thai system is all on memory. We don’t learn to think, analyze and critically discuss. We only learnt Thai history from the perspective of Kings and learnt nothing about the outside world. However, we had a good time. (He said cheating and coping is a developed skill learnt from kindergarten).

Which brings me to the present day. If I was trying to decide what to do with my children’s education in Ubon I wouldn’t be able to give advice. I really don’t know. Traffic is horrible. Maybe try to live as close as possible to a school. Do a lot of educating at home and don’t be too serious about the school system here.

Maintain the English skills. With good English-Thai language skills finding jobs are relatively easy in Thailand. Get the children to read English books. Novels and world history.

When I look overseas, I see so many young people unable to get a job. Just look at Spain. Nearly 50% unemployment in the 18-25 year bracket. But here in Thailand, with education, jobs appear to be fairly easy to get.

Anyway, just my little story of having a son go through the Thai education system in Ubon. He did okay, even if his geography and world history need considerable improvement.

Michael thanks for relating your experience. My take away from your story is "Maybe try to live as close as possible to a school. Do a lot of educating at home and don’t be too serious about the school system here." and I agree with it.

I have two adult children raised and educated in good schools in the USA and when I talk to them about their educational experiences they also complain that the school systems didn't really teach them much.

I believe that in every home the majority of the education comes from ...the home. Sure the schools follow the curriculum but it was my mother that taught me my multiplication tables and most of everything else at home, at night, during our homework sessions. The "One on One" attention at home is critical to learning and understanding.

One of my major concerns is about social development and interaction. For a child to thrive in any society they have to be happy and well adjusted adults.

[David Peters]

None of the kids speak english. I don't live in Thailand. The wife and kids will be coming to the states soon.

There must be someone out there who has specific knowledge of YES.

Ave Maria is about 1,000 baht per month for the 5 year old, 2,000 baht per month for the 3 year old.

Assumption also has a 6,500 baht per semester (2 semesters) non english program.

Y E S ??

anyone?

Thanks

kdc

My 10 year old step son is attending YES2 school in Ubon. He has been there since the start of this school year after being schooled in Australian government school for about 4 years. I have some comments to make on this thread in relation to the questions asked but at the moment I am having some eyesight problems and its very difficult for me to read the screen, school syllabus etc. Bear with me for a few days and I will get back to this thread. Overall I am satisfied with the school but I will elaborate at a later stage.

Thanks

Hello Sezzo,

Eyesight problems. Cataracts? I just got my cataracts done at Dr Sima in Ubon. Both eyes. Right one three weeks ago and left one one week ago. After 50 years of wearing spectacles I now don't have to wear any at all. Can't believe it. Wear dark glasses outside. Now I can drive, work, type watch TV, read books with no spectacles. In mid November I go back for a check up on the right eye. Still not perfect says Dr Sima. Then, maybe I have to get some reading glasses for fine print but he can't prescribe these yet until he doers the final touch up on the right eye next month.

[Mike45]

None of the kids speak english. I don't live in Thailand. The wife and kids will be coming to the states soon.

There must be someone out there who has specific knowledge of YES.

Ave Maria is about 1,000 baht per month for the 5 year old, 2,000 baht per month for the 3 year old.

Assumption also has a 6,500 baht per semester (2 semesters) non english program.

Y E S ??

anyone?

Thanks

kdc

I think I understand what you are trying to do. Looks like the kids will be experiencing a lot of change in the near future with the move to the USA. Perhaps your best path forward would be to find an English tutor to begin intensive home classes or to hire a private English language school. Keeping you kids in their present school, where they are experiencing less stress and happy with their friends until they move to the USA might make it easier for them to learn English in private lessons.

[sezzo]

None of the kids speak english. I don't live in Thailand. The wife and kids will be coming to the states soon.

There must be someone out there who has specific knowledge of YES.

Ave Maria is about 1,000 baht per month for the 5 year old, 2,000 baht per month for the 3 year old.

Assumption also has a 6,500 baht per semester (2 semesters) non english program.

Y E S ??

anyone?

Thanks

kdc

My 10 year old step son is attending YES2 school in Ubon. He has been there since the start of this school year after being schooled in Australian government school for about 4 years. I have some comments to make on this thread in relation to the questions asked but at the moment I am having some eyesight problems and its very difficult for me to read the screen, school syllabus etc. Bear with me for a few days and I will get back to this thread. Overall I am satisfied with the school but I will elaborate at a later stage.

Thanks

Hello Sezzo,

Eyesight problems. Cataracts? I just got my cataracts done at Dr Sima in Ubon. Both eyes. Right one three weeks ago and left one one week ago. After 50 years of wearing spectacles I now don't have to wear any at all. Can't believe it. Wear dark glasses outside. Now I can drive, work, type watch TV, read books with no spectacles. In mid November I go back for a check up on the right eye. Still not perfect says Dr Sima. Then, maybe I have to get some reading glasses for fine print but he can't prescribe these yet until he doers the final touch up on the right eye next month.

Not cataracts. Had them done a few years ago. After each op Ive had detached retinas which needed to be repaired. Ive had problems before with infections which blur the vision. Im off to see the opthamologist that did the last retinal detchment repair tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to get some drops and fixed up the problem.

[rfukata]

Hello KDC,

I have 3 children like you and 2 of them attend the YES school. My eldest is 5, next is almost 3 yrs old.

Likewise as your situation, things don't make much sense here in terms of education explanation

concerns and very confusing and frustrating.

I did check out a few schools such as Assumption, Ave Marie, Marie Narumon, Huaw Shia (China),

Public Anu Banh Ubon and basically I chose YES-2 not because it was the best at the time, but more

so because the class pupil enrollment vs. teacher count was lower and more attentive as well as

cleanliness of school property. Also the distance from home to school is on a more favorable route

compared to fighting traffic going into town at 08:00 and returning at 4:00pm.

1) my 5yr old is in K2 - EP (english program) and the cost is 30,000bht per semester as you noted.

The english curriculum is about 20 hours per week, subject differs by day such as English phonics,

English math, Eng. Science, vocabulary but at times which I hate the school arbitrarily changes

the schedule and teachers to their own benefits - literarily screwing you. The quality level of foreign

teachers at YES needs to be improved in my opinion.

1a) there is another choice of option: the ESL, english as second language program.

this program cost 22,000bht per semester but the English program is reduced, not sure but

two days per week @ 2 hours = about 10 hours if lucky.

2) concerning the second kid (almost 3yr), I have him in the pre-kindergarten level which cost

3000 baht per month. There is an application fee for uniform, insurance etc. as well. This pre-kindergarten

has an english speaking teacher who comes periodically and sits in with the kids and read english stories,

Alfabets, sing a song. Their are 3 levels of Pre-Kindergarten, the younger kids as I have seen start from

18 month (more like daycare) and advances as they get older.

If you want to discuss more, you can call me at 085.668.6670

Roy

[silomsalai]

Taking my Aussie Son out of the school as it is a kindergarten and that is about it!

Being in M.4, he is allowed to come and go as he pleases, listens to his ipod during class and the teacher doesn't care.

Teachers sometimes fail to arrive at all for class without any warning.

He has no native speaking teachers, only one in the school at the moment.

English levels are quite poor throughout the school.

International school it is not!

Better start home education instead, before he returns to Oz in the new year.

[mike123ca]

Taking my Aussie Son out of the school as it is a kindergarten and that is about it!

Being in M.4, he is allowed to come and go as he pleases, listens to his ipod during class and the teacher doesn't care.

Teachers sometimes fail to arrive at all for class without any warning.

He has no native speaking teachers, only one in the school at the moment.

English levels are quite poor throughout the school.

International school it is not!

Better start home education instead, before he returns to Oz in the new year.

I only teach M4, when I tell them to put away their cell phones the students look at me as if I'm being rude. As for taking it away, I would have too many parents complaining to the administration how I was being so unfair to their child.

Edited August 10, 2013 by mike123ca