Schooling in Udon Thani

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KHONDAHM
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Schooling in Udon Thani

Post by KHONDAHM » January 14, 2014, 3:20 am

I would imagine given the severe devastation of last year's successive Cat 5 storms in the PI, there may be many qualified and experienced teachers "ready to go" and work abroad.


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Post by parrot » January 14, 2014, 6:57 pm

Folks with kids in local schools may (omn) find this of note:
Each year, students in high school are eligible to test for acceptance to Mahidol Wittayanusorn School (โรงเรียนมหิดลวิทยานุสรณ์), to complete grades M.3-6. The school is located in Nakhon Pathom. The school is noted for its excellence in academic knowledge, strong desire in research, and high integrity (their words). Last year's crop of students who passed the entrance test, as well as the 7 who passed the test this year: all from UdonPit.
https://admission.mwit.ac.th/doc/R1_pdf/00.pdf (line 147-153)

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Khun Paul
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Schooling in Udon Thani

Post by Khun Paul » January 15, 2014, 8:25 am

Whatever we say about schooling, the bottom line is that if the child wants to learn, it will, however unfortunately with the culture here, there are so many negatives expressed that to overcome those, a child has a lot of hard work, and it comes down to the family environment as to whether they are successful or not.
Final word on schooling, Io see clever kids and not so clever kids but if the parents are supportive most will be successful .

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Schooling in Udon Thani

Post by trubrit » January 15, 2014, 9:19 am

Another day of not learning tomorrow. Teachers day, no schooling at all . :-"
Ageing is a privilige denied to many .

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KHONDAHM
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Post by KHONDAHM » January 15, 2014, 10:13 am

Khun Paul wrote:Whatever we say about schooling, the bottom line is that if the child wants to learn, it will, however unfortunately with the culture here, there are so many negatives expressed that to overcome those, a child has a lot of hard work, and it comes down to the family environment as to whether they are successful or not.
Final word on schooling, Io see clever kids and not so clever kids but if the parents are supportive most will be successful .
+1
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Post by FrazeeDK » January 15, 2014, 10:42 am

how does on inculcate in children over here the "thirst for knowledge", and put a fire in their belly to pursue excellence in education and improvement in life??? There are cultural barriers to achieving that level of interest in self-improvement.. I've met very few Thai students who truly seemed to want to go above and beyond just "attending" school... My great-nieces and great nephews all just seem to go with the flow... My older nieces and nephews all feel that after they were in their mid-20's "we're too old to learn...." All good people, all fairly intelligent but seeming to lack the spark to move above and beyond where they are in life..
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Post by Firfox » January 15, 2014, 12:17 pm

In response to your question FrazeeDk on how does one encourage and develop a child's 'thirst for knowledge' and :

Most children are born with an inquisitive mind and as soon as they can touch, move and speak they start applying this to their surroundings. At this stage in a child's development and motivation to keep learning is often dependant on how the parents, siblings and guardians respond to the child's continuous questioning and explorations. Sitting a child in front of a TV all day is not the answer neither is buying a young child or even a teenager a game console and leaving them to their own devises.

Once schooling starts one needs to develop a good relationship with your child's teachers for education should be a partnership between both parents and teachers. As parents we must lead by example. Ask yourself what resources are readily available in your home? What extra 'learning activities' do you all undertake as a family? How are you trying to develop your child's self-motivation in supporting them to become an individual thinker?

I work on a regular basis with Thai students and find many of them to be motivated and to have high aspirations. What they are maybe lacking is the support and guidance in putting a 'meaningful plan' in place in order to help them achieve their goals.

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Post by KHONDAHM » January 18, 2014, 12:12 am

I echo Firefox and might also offer that in some cases (every child is different), enforcing a study regimen is necessary. Make it something they simply know and expect to have to do (without being draconian, of course).

My daughter knows she MUST perform learning activities on Saturday. It isn't a choice. Her performance on Saturday dictates how much learning/freedom she has on Sunday. Whether or not she performs well both days dictates how much freedom she has during weekdays. So, eventually, she figured out that's just how it is and accepts it as normal. Consequently, she set to performing well on Saturdays and earns her "freedom" thereafter. She's 6th grade now and completes 7th grade USA standardized State math tests (@40+ questions) in less than 20 minutes with scores over 93. After we review the few she didn't get right, all I can do is get out of her way. :)

Given a choice, she'd rather vegetate with video games like any other kid. However, I've crept up on her huddled with her iPad on numerous recent occasions to find her reading short stories online (gasp!). It blew me away. I like to think she has taken to heart what I've been telling her about the need to read, but methinks the truth is that she's established herself as #1 and she does it to maintain her lead above her peers. Works for me!
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Post by dingdong » March 11, 2014, 8:10 am

May have the wrong forum but will give this one a try
Am looking for help for a 4 year old with her Mathematics. We would be willing to bring her to the classes as arranged. Of course this will be in the Thai language
Pls email in English or Thai "[email protected]"
Thanks Ding

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Post by papaguido » March 11, 2014, 11:10 am

dingdong wrote:May have the wrong forum but will give this one a try
Am looking for help for a 4 year old with her Mathematics. We would be willing to bring her to the classes as arranged. Of course this will be in the Thai language
Pls email in English or Thai "[email protected]"
Thanks Ding
Reply sent...

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Post by writemotive » March 11, 2014, 11:44 am

I have seen a couple of locations for Kumon, a children's tutoring franchise. I believe one location is across the street from the Christian School near ring road and route 2 towards Nong Khai, and another was near Central on Wantanna. Good luck! Would like to get our daughters there as well, but our schedules and out-of-town location make it difficult for us!

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Post by KHONDAHM » March 27, 2014, 10:54 am

Just an update (as if anyone really cares, right?). My Precious tested into Udon Pit EP. There were 60 seats available and thousands (so I am told) vying for a seat. She tested well below where I thought she would be, but that is more incentive for her to up her game and a wake up call that she is in a new league and quality of students. She's no longer the school superstar and relegated to just being "meh". She hates it. So, during this break, I am working with her on Algebra and other maths with the goal being her having finished 7th grade (M1) math objectives before the term starts; and then we will focus on her writing and composition proficiency during the term with math brush-ups here and there.

Good-grief! My Precious toddler is now a 7th grade young lady. Boggles my mind...
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Post by KHONDAHM » March 27, 2014, 11:09 am

My son will be 4 next month and is far ahead of where he should be academically. The wife works with him twice daily for about an hour each time and we encourage learning through fun activities he enjoys. He love playing GTA V on his X-Box 360. The swear words have no meaning as they are not enforced or repeated outside the game. The violence is something he would eventually encounter in video games, anyway. The positives are that he can read and navigate a map, he knows what America looks like, and he is learning responsibility (he begs for his daily lesson so he can finish it and play), culpability, and consequences. He is also learning a whole bunch of English vocabulary from the characters, situations, and things in the very realistic fully immersive world of the game. Hell...if I gave him a chance and if he could reach the pedals, he might even be able to outrun the BiB! Ha! :)
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Post by mr passout » March 28, 2014, 8:29 am

My Daughter has been in the Ep program for two years,finishing in the top 3 students,to get her in the school she had to sit her entrance exams which she passed with flying colors,she was recently invited to sit for foreign exchange student,these test where done at the prajaktra hotel,she has now won placement to study in America or Canada next year for a full year,once she completes year 9.They recently returned from end of year trip to singapore where they studied English and of course sightseeing.There are usually two classes of 25 students for the EP program,it's great to see that the children can pass these entrance exams on there on merits,rather than the tea money to get into the system. any information for Udonpitt Ep program required,please don't hesitate to respond,I will try and answer hopefully.cheers mike.

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Post by GT93 » March 29, 2014, 8:48 am

How much does the EP progamme at Udon Pit now cost? I understood that tea money was widely used to get kids into the programme and that it used to have too many kids without a lot of grey matter. Has that changed? 25 students per class is smaller than what it used to be.

Udon Pit is an enormous school. There will be lots of very talented kids in the other classes as well.

I remember meeting a Thai girl student who returned to Udon from a year in high school in the US. I said to her that she sounded like an American. She proudly said "thank you".
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Post by mr passout » March 30, 2014, 8:10 am

The cost of the EP program is 40,000 baht for the year,normally 25 children per class,but can get a few late arrivals with heavy pockets during the year.there is also a science and maths program which does not cost anything according to the daughter these kids are really smart,need very high grades to get into.
Udonpitt has the highest number of students going onto Universities,probably because it has around 5000 students.
I think it's about the best you are going to get here,that and lots of interactions in English on the home front.

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Post by KHONDAHM » May 10, 2014, 5:17 pm

We had a discussion about the foreign exchange program and trips abroad. The impression I got from my daughter was that participation would be REQUIRED or points would be deducted. I am a bit outraged if that is true. I am the parent and if I don't want my daughter to fly off to wherever, the school should respect that and not penalize her for what is and ought to be a parent's prerogative. Can you please speak to that from your experience? Regarding the penalty, not the pros or cons of the trips.

No way in hell will I permit a school system - which cannot be bothered to have students buckle up for safety - to look after my daughter a world away. No way!

I understand the school wanting to parade EP students (most of whom could not pass an international English exam, anyway) around like performing monkeys (eek!), but penalizing them for not going abroad is totally unacceptable.
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Post by GT93 » May 11, 2014, 2:29 pm

The pressure usually goes the other way KD - to inflate marks. It doesn't seem like the school would push a student's marks down.

Also I think nearly all teachers are delighted to teach a well-behaved child who wants to learn. If a child is one of these students, teachers usually have a lot of goodwill for the student. It would go against a teacher's instincts to mark down one of these students. I think a trip to say Singapore would be safer than a trip to Bangkok.
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Post by blondieaka » April 17, 2016, 5:30 pm

Hi can anyone give me the contact details for Udon Phit school...phone number I have appears to be incorrect. Thank you :D

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Post by Khun Paul » April 17, 2016, 7:35 pm

Having finished with teaching now, I feel I can honestly say with all the schools I have worked in and this includes DB, the marks and figures are manipulated to show higher scores than are realistic and the parents bless them are none the wiser and I have yet to meet a parent that will challenge the school be that, a large Wittaya school or one of the supposedly top three in Udon.
Actually Udon Pitt has over 6000 students the EP programme is acceptable but again I have yet to meet more than a couple of students who could hold down a reasonable conversation in English .
I have always stated that the schools will teach your child to the standard to pass the required tests, and if they do not pass according to the school , they will pass the test anyway. That is why this country now has qualified degree holders that cannot utilise their degrees because they did not learn anything at University as MOST Unis operate the same way as the schools.
I mean has anyone ever met a student in their 3/4th year of computing do more than turn on the bloody thing, I haven`t

Even the so called new Thai teachers who are supposed to have reasonably good English skills fall far short and get their information from the Internet and teach the children, right or wrong they do not know the difference. When you advise them,you are told, but it said it on the internet.
So you hold your head in your hands and think OMG.
SO I am out of the school system. still same advice to all though, if your child lacks in a particular subject seek a tutor in the subject you want and go, one on one, the tutor will tailor the lessons for your child unlike the mini-schools setting up everywhere which teach exactly the same as your school but you pay more so you feel you are getting better teaching .
There was one occasion when one of my students offered me a book given to them by one of these schools, IT WAS exactly the same book as I was using but the answers were wrong because the Thai mini-school did not have a clue. Needless to say I advised the parents who were grateful .

This is the major problem Thai teachers are all taught the same way and occasionally you will find one who bucks the trend but generally they all teach the same way, they use the same books year in year out , as then they do not have to change the answers nor even learn more stuff. So students get taught out of date stuff. Regarding English this changes yearly and you have to aware of change of usage and in some cases meanings to reflect todays English, teaching historical English a bit to show how words have evolved as well as bringing speech up to date avoiding SLANG all the time , teachers should not be in the business of teaching slang.

But then I have finished I leave the plight of the uneducated to the uneducated and enjoy my garden . But I am still available should people contact me personally to assist.

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