Kindergarten / Nursery

[battersea]

My son is 3 yrs old in 2 months and the wife wants to send him to school in Nong Khai. Apparently , the school day for a 3 year old is about 8 hours per day which i find to be a bit long.

My questions are ...if anyone can help me ...

1) Are the days normally that long for a 3year old ?

2) Are there any good , affordable nurseries or preschools in Bangkok ?

Any help would be appreciated ..

[romain22]

Sadly, yes. I have heard that it was different in remote villages though.

International schools are obviously very different and follow European and American standards.

Regarding any good and affordable ones in Bangkok, Google "Sataban" and choose "Thailand School Directory" . From there you can check the locations by narrowing it down according to the desired radius (wheel symbol on the right of the location input field). Then you can narrow it down even more by tuition fees => click on "Filter" and enter your range of tuition you are willing to spend.

Romain

[puffy]

My Daughter. although younger has just started nursery school. I think the 8 hours and 5 days are ridiculous. I take her to school for 8 in the morning and pick her up at 13.00, and she goes three

times a week.The school do not have a problem with this as they are still getting the full amount. There are many good non international kindergartens around Bangkok which are about 60k a year. The best non international ones are around 100-120k per year. There are also two styles of kindergarten. One is focused on play and creativity, based on the Montissori schools, the other ones focus on academics. Jittamet is a good play focused one near Pinklao and Denla in Nonthaburi is a good academic one.

[lovelomsak]

My wife works at a nursery. Students come 8 am go home any time from 4 pm to 5:30 when the parents come and get them. 7 to 8 hours is common.

[rwdrwdrwd]

Mine, aged less than 3 goes 8 hours a day and loves it. It's just playtime at the moment.

I was initially reticent, but he likes going.

[MaeJoMTB]

My 4 year old gets on the van at 7:40 and is dropped off at 3:40.

They have a nap for an hour or two in the afternoon after lunch, then milk.

When he comes home he's full of energy.

Amphur Office kindergarten costs us around 2,000bht a year (plus 1,800 for uniforms, pillow, sleeping mat, etc.).

[fletchsmile]

Don't know about Nong Khai, but

What I can say is that in Bangkok there are more options than just a full day and it's possible to send your kids for half days up till mid-day in certain private schools at that early age.

Once they hit about 5 though the full days kick in and yes Thailand does have some very long days. Our kids start at 7.30 and finish around 2.30. Then there are after school activities and homework. Add in the travelling both ways and they can end up spending a shocking amount of time related to school.

I'm quite glad my Primary school when I was little (outside Thailand) was 9 to 3 without the traffic hassles and all the homework. Didn't go to nursery but did go to "play school" until mid-day a couple of days a week. I didn't do too badly and probably better than most Thais. A general observation on Thai schools is it's way overdone in terms of hours - quantity at the expense of quality

[naboo]

Daughter (2yo) goes to a Thai Kindergarten, 8-4. She sleeps 12-2 and in the evenings is happy as Larry. Once since March has she said she didn't want to go to school - her reasoning was that her colouring book at home was better.

She does colouring, counting, dancing, singing, Thai, English and 'wai'ing, but most importantly, socialising. All I ask of the school is that they don't hit her, make sure she's safe.

In Chiang Mai, fees are 4000B/month plus food, uniform, sleeping stuff etc. All in around 60,000B a year. At that age, as long as they're happy and playing with other kids, ultimately nothing else really matters.

[battersea]

I have now moved to Siracha...does anyone know any good kindergartens in either Siracha..Chonburi or Pattaya ?

[Scott]

I have now moved to Siracha...does anyone know any good kindergartens in either Siracha..Chonburi or Pattaya ?

I'll refer you back up the thread to this post which may be helpful:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/868805-kindergarten-nursery/?p=10050547

[Scott]

I work with a number of schools. All have Nursery, KG 1, 2 and 3. The day is the same for all students, and goes from 7:45 - 4:00. Nursery, KG 1 and 2 have a nap time after lunch and KG 3 has a nap during the first semester of school, but no nap starting in the 2nd semester.

I don't know exactly how long the nap is, but I think it is about 1 1/2 hours. They get up, get them dressed, they have the afternoon snack and then another class before they go home.

In Bangkok and the bigger cities, it's probably easier to have them at the school all day due to the excessive amount of time it takes to get them to school and pick them up. It also allows the students to be taken to school by school van.

The school vans usually make two runs, the earlier run, which is a little before 4:00 p.m. and it takes the younger kids and some young Prathom students. In Prathom and Mathyom many students have an after school class and so they are taken in the 2nd van run. So the little ones aren't riding with older kids.

Most of the KG level kids are picked up by parents, but some go in the school van.