My overly ambitious wife wants to send our farang noi to kindagarten at the age of 2 1/2 yrs old. In the mother country where I grew up a child would go to pre-school at 3.5yrs of age and then kinda at 5 yrs.

When did you send your daughter to school?

I think its too much for a baby of 2.5 yrs old to be at a school from 8am to 3pm. I dont think its right to do this and could cause anxiety etc.

Whats your opinion?

My daughter went around the same age.

They would have a sleep at around 11 am for an hour then eat and play for the rest of the day.

I was slightly overwhelmed by the whole uniform and sleeping mat that was included when she signed up,that cost me 3000 baht and I paid 1500 a month for 5 days a week same hours as you state.

It was a break for me and my girlfriend and I am certain if you wish to make the time spent there less you can do so as you choose.

I certainly didn't see any anxiety or major issues with her going,quite the opposite really as this enabled her to have more interaction with other kids which she was limited to at home.

That said it did seem like a long day for a baby really and I think we missed her presence around the house more than anything.

Good luck.

Edited April 22, 201610 yr by stoneyboy

I will send my son to nursery in a couple of month as soon as he is turning 2 years. I think it is best for him to be around with other kids, learn to socialize as early as possible. At the school I send him he will be between 8am and 2:30pm. They usually have a lot of play activities in Thai and English, which I think is wonderful. In my home country most of the children will be enrolled in nursery at the age of 2 years.

My opinion, lazy mum wants to offload kid ASAP.

If she wants to get back to work and earn money for the family ....... OK.

If she wants to sit on her arse eating all day at your expense ..... not OK.

From the Age of 2 years old we have sent our son to Nursery (8:30 am until 12 noon / 3 days per week).

This was about interaction and socialisation with other children.

We've never had any tears, he often comes back in his spare clothes (they encourage self eating and independence), he gets messed up with paint. He's thrived, we consider this has helped his development.

Safety was a major concern: We send our son to a nearby International Kindergarten in Bangkok.

My opinion, lazy mum wants to offload kid ASAP.

If she wants to get back to work and earn money for the family ....... OK.

If she wants to sit on her arse eating all day at your expense ..... not OK.

There is far more involved in the decision making process of sending a toddler to Nursery than just 'lazy mum' (or dad) or Dad taking a break.

That said - it's also nice to have a break, but I doubt thats ever a reason to send a toddler to nursery.

We used to take our Son to Playgroup 3 days a week - nursery was the natural progression.

My wife and I agreed that our daughter should start in K.1 at the normal age for Thai children, which is the year they turn 3.

It worked out very well.

An added incentive was that our daughter was the victim of a lot of racism because she looks "farang", Thai people didn't want their children to play with our daughter because she looked like a farang,

In school that was not a problem because all the children were in the same class.

My 13yr old started when he was 3 or 3.5 yrs. His younger brother had to go to school with the wife twice a day to take my oldest so at 2.5 yrs the youngest demanded to start school. I think they enjoy it and they learn social skills.

Totally depends on your child. My son was super smart and very active but living out in the countryside in Ubon was doing nothing for him and we could see that it would be beneficial for him to start a proper education sooner rather than later. We moved from the countryside to Bangkok when my son was 2.5 years old so he could start a day care for a few hours a day for a few months and then he started K1 at an international school and he did exceptionally well despite being one of the youngest in the class.

We now live in the UK and my daughter just started pre-school at 2 years and 9 months and she absolutely loves it and is doing very well for it.

If I didn't think either of them would enjoy or benefit from it then I would not have sent them to school as early as possible. It certainly isn't because I wanted to offload them into care because my day is usually spent counting the hours until I can go and collect them.

You obviously know your child well and whether they would enjoy or benefit from starting school now or spending more time at home with the family.

Our 2 1/2 year old daughter goes to the village nursery most days & I wondered the same, what we find is that some days she doesn't want to go & we don't make her, but most of the time she seems to enjoy it, she's very bright & independant though & we live in a very small village with no traffic & the nursery only 50 metres away, so when something or someone upsets her which it has twice in 6 months so far, she runs away & comes back home... Obviously this only works with the village being small & way off the beaten track...

I took my son to pre school at about 2 1/2, we stayed 3 hours, the staff were terrible, they were not interested in the kids.

All they wanted the kids to do was sleep. Some kids were bashing lumps out of others with toys, some were screaming and crying on their own and they were ignored.

I watched this for a couple of hours and said FXXX that! Took him home, found a better nursery and he went there from about 3 with no problems - CHECK the school THOROUGHLY! Good luck.

Each kid and family situation is different. It's up to when they "outgrow" the house and need more than what you have to offer at home. It's also up to work schedules and financial situations. Lastly, it's up to when the parents are ready. Many times the kids are ready, but the parents need to get over detaching themselves from the kids. It's the most difficult with the first child. Quite easy after that!

Both my kids started with playgroups when they were very young (8 months up) both in the USA and here in BKK. They were in playgroups where mom/dad had to be present during the entire 2-3 hours, which is much better in my opinion.

When we moved full time back to BKK, my daughter enrolled at KIS, and they had a playgroup running 5 days a week. My youngest attended playgroup 2-3 times per week. He loved it, and then we ended up enrolling him full time as well at age 3. It's all play based learning so everyone is happy.

My opinion, lazy mum wants to offload kid ASAP.

If she wants to get back to work and earn money for the family ....... OK.

If she wants to sit on her arse eating all day at your expense ..... not OK.

True, True. I like what we did in US. 5 years to start Kindergarten. before that day care if you have to work other wise take care of your kid(s)

In the UK I started kindergarten (as it was known before we went to war) at 2 and a couple of months, and my Thai son started here at the same age.

I was 36 when my first daughter went to school.

My opinion, lazy mum wants to offload kid ASAP.

If she wants to get back to work and earn money for the family ....... OK.

If she wants to sit on her arse eating all day at your expense ..... not OK.

True, True. I like what we did in US. 5 years to start Kindergarten. before that day care if you have to work other wise take care of your kid(s)

It's only True if your only experience is of someone who is lazy...

That 'Lazy mum' is the key phrase you are agreeing with suggests that all the parenting expectation is on Mum... >>>> 'Lazy Dad' ????

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Taking care of your kids involves allowing them to develop, if our child were not attending nursery he would still be in Playgroup but his interaction would be limited to that unless we also met up with other parents (and kids) regularly. Nursery creates a routine whereby our sons social skills, confidence and independence can grow in a safe environment.

My son's starting K1 at a Montessori school next month. He'll be three and a half by then, and I think it'll be good for him. Social skills and learning to get on with others (and also learning to stand up for yourself) are an extremely important part of growing up, and there's only so much you can do in that regard as a parent. It's going to be hard at first, for him and for us (he's my first kid) but after those difficult first few days I think he'll thrive.

I don't have children

Kind of nursery/kindergarten at early age is common in Thailand. My Luk khrueng (half Thai) daughter also attended that at age 2½ to 3. I was a bit skeptical, but very good indeed – she liked it and learned something, among others numbers and alphabet, and was together with other children.

At 4 she began pre-school K1 (kindergaten class 1) of 3 classes, before starting P1 (Primary 1), ordinary school.

I was about 30 years old

I was 36 when my first daughter went to school.

hmmm I was a bit late .... should of read the replies first :-)

I first sent my son to school at 16, he wanted to graduate with his friends. He started work at 18 and retired at 20.

I believe I was 31.

I believe I was 31.

Only three of us have answered the question. the rest of the posts seem to think the OP wanted to know what age the kids were..... Funny that!

Our daughter started at 2.5 years old and has never looked back. Started in a very relaxed Kindergarten, moved up to a more formal nursery school and now at a private girls school in Bangkok.

Would suggest that you take your child to a kindergarten and for one or both parents to stay with her and see whether she's likes it. You will soon see if she enjoys it and learns from it.

I believe I was 31.

Only three of us have answered the question. the rest of the posts seem to think the OP wanted to know what age the kids were..... Funny that!

The rest probably recognised that the Op was posting a genuine question, thus out of maturity chose not to provide the less intelligent and more obvious facetious answer... some guys can't help trying to be a smart-arse !...

Hi Op,

I like You was unsure that 2.5 years old was it the right thing to do !! I am so glad I did, My daughter was My first ever child and at 40 it all seemed that it was so wrong as I started school at 5 back in the day. The areas where Our Daughter has gone on to excel,

Every year She went to a new class and new teacher took it in her stride, yes it was tough at 2.5 but just for a few weeks, then She loved it, the interaction with Kids Her own age, rather than Me !! Her Thai learning was fast and I am still seeing the benefits and She now attends a dual language School and She is finding the English easier IMHO as Shes already finding the Thai easy from doing it for so long.

38,he was in the same class as me.By the way,we are from Alabama,y'all

Registered for international kindergarten both when they were born, you have to in this part of the world or there are no places and a huge retainer later on.

They started in pre-K half a day.