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International students exp in local schools?

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rznia
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International students exp in local schools?

Post by rznia » Fri, 25 Oct 2024 6:19 pm

Hi all!

My daughter has been offered a placement for P1 in one of the local schools here and we are going to enroll her for the 2025 academic year. If any of you has a child currently enrolled in a local school here (primary or sec of any levels), I would love to hear your perspectives and opinions of the experience esp re:

1. School subjects. Is your child able to keep up as they progress through the years or do you find that you will need to put your child in extra tuitions in order to keep up with their peers? Also how is your child managing with the mother tongue languages?

2. Is your child able to adapt to the culture of their peers? Were there moments of them feeling a little bit like an outsider because they're not a local or that didn't matter at all and they get by just fine?

3. Anything you wish your child's school could add/change to improve itself?

Additionally, anything that I should do as a parent to prepare my kid better for this transition? (Admittedly I am quite nervous for this change 😅 she is currently my only daughter so this is a new phase of life for her and for me).

Feel free to answer as truthfully as possible :) I personally have read other past forums elsewhere regarding this so I'm aware of the good and the uglies (ofc there are nuances to this since every school, every cohort and every child is different). However, most of the ones I read are from a local perspective and I would love to hear more of the foreigner experience since my child will be attending as one.

Thank you so much in advance and sorry for the long-winded post 😅

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malcontent
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Re: International students exp in local schools?

Post by malcontent » Sat, 26 Oct 2024 4:10 pm

rznia wrote:
Fri, 25 Oct 2024 6:19 pm
Hi all!

My daughter has been offered a placement for P1 in one of the local schools here and we are going to enroll her for the 2025 academic year. If any of you has a child currently enrolled in a local school here (primary or sec of any levels), I would love to hear your perspectives and opinions of the experience esp re:

1. School subjects. Is your child able to keep up as they progress through the years or do you find that you will need to put your child in extra tuitions in order to keep up with their peers? Also how is your child managing with the mother tongue languages?

2. Is your child able to adapt to the culture of their peers? Were there moments of them feeling a little bit like an outsider because they're not a local or that didn't matter at all and they get by just fine?

3. Anything you wish your child's school could add/change to improve itself?

Additionally, anything that I should do as a parent to prepare my kid better for this transition? (Admittedly I am quite nervous for this change 😅 she is currently my only daughter so this is a new phase of life for her and for me).

Feel free to answer as truthfully as possible :) I personally have read other past forums elsewhere regarding this so I'm aware of the good and the uglies (ofc there are nuances to this since every school, every cohort and every child is different). However, most of the ones I read are from a local perspective and I would love to hear more of the foreigner experience since my child will be attending as one.

Thank you so much in advance and sorry for the long-winded post 😅
My daughter just completed the entire local school system from P1 to JC2.

1. By starting in at P1, your child won’t have an issue keeping up. P1 isn’t that tough, but the difficulty level ratchets up each year (and does get crazy… be prepared). Tuition is optional, but if you don’t speak the mother tongue, at least plan for one tutor.

2. Most kids are very adaptable and will learn to swim in the water they are dropped in. My daughter never felt like an outsider despite being mixed race. Your child will quickly learn to speak like a local… be ready for that (my daughter still does, even though she has now moved to the U.S.)

3. No point addressing this question, local schools can’t change… period. Find something you like about it, or transfer to another school.

There’s not much you can do as a parent IMO. Maybe you could try getting your daughter involved in activities with foreign kids from her country of origin… that might help her transition back home, if that ever occurs.
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows - Epictetus

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