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sunnydays
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:51 am Post subject: Closure of Modern Renaissance School |
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It came as a total suprise to me and my child that the school is suddenly closing as from the end of June 2006. The owners have decided that there are not enough enrolements for next year so they will close down!!!! Already the school has over 100 students and for next year there were over 150 parents who wanted their children to be admitted. The parents are trying to talk to the owners to re-consider but it seems their minds are set.
I believe that education should never be taken up as a purely profitable venture . Any advise on what we as parents could do?  |
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Bindair Dundat
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123
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| Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 4:36 am Post subject: Re: Closure of Modern Renaissance School |
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| sunnydays wrote: |
| I believe that education should never be taken up as a purely profitable venture . Any advise on what we as parents could do? |
I believe that parents should take responsibility for their children's education. Ever think of home "schooling"? |
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younggeorge
Joined: 15 Apr 2005
Posts: 350
Location: UAE
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| Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:03 am Post subject: |
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I tried home "schooling" in Libya when I was misled by the recruiters into believing my children could attend the British School in Benghazi. There was another family there in the same boat and a couple of other teachers who were keen to help. But even when we pooled our resources, it was not far short of a total disaster. Even if it had been academically successful, however, we could have defined that, the children would have had a year of very limited socialisation compared with a year in a normal school.
I'm not sure how serious you were with that suggestion, BD, but home schooling is not a good option for many people and I'd venture to say it's not good for any child in comparison with a normal school experience.
As for the 'private schools' issue, I'm afraid it's a fact of life for most expat families and there's not a lot you can do if your chosen school folds up. The best thing is to choose a well established school with a good reputation, but those tend to be heavily booked and expensive. A lot of new schools have opened in Dubai in the last year, but it's pretty much luck of the draw what you get with any of them. You could stick with an establised group like Gems, but even they have their problems - like hefty fee increases twice this year. |
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sunnydays
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:36 am Post subject: Closure of Modern Renaissance School- Dubai |
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| I agree with younggeorge that home schooling has alot of negetive aspects especially with the loss of communication and contact with other similiar age children. We as parents have started to contact other schools but in Dubai the best primary schools have a long waiting list. Also there are alot of schools that are shoddy to say the least. We are also hoping to meet the owners to try and persuade them to re-consider. One parent has even volenterred to pay the rent for one year. |
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Bindair Dundat
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:59 am Post subject: |
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| younggeorge wrote: |
| I'm not sure how serious you were with that suggestion, BD, but home schooling is not a good option for many people and I'd venture to say it's not good for any child in comparison with a normal school experience. |
That's very interesting, YG. I've heard the "social" argument before, of course, and my take on it is that much of what kids learn in school about socializing is counter-productive. I'm thinking about things like rampant bullying and the formation of in-groups and out-groups: not healthy for little ones.
I will concede, however, that it is very convenient to send my child somewhere where I know that she will interact with other kids and have some fun every day. She likes school; if she didn't, I don't think I'd force her to go.
There's not as much nasty behavior in the ME as there is at home, but here I see different problems in the schools: curricula that are very weak in math skills, for example, and teaching that is aimed fairly low in order to accomodate the less interested students from the native populations. I find that I have to heavily supplement the academic side, especially math and science, in order to feel that my daughter is getting the exposure that I got when I was her age.
People who I know who have tried home schooling in the USA are generally very happy with the results. I don't know many who have done it in the ME, but of those who have, I haven't heard any complaints.
What kinds of problems did you have in Libya? |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Bindair Dundat wrote: |
| curricula that are very weak in math skills, for example, and teaching that is aimed fairly low in order to accomodate the less interested students from the native populations. I find that I have to heavily supplement the academic side, especially math and science, in order to feel that my daughter is getting the exposure that I got when I was her age. |
I would say that this perfectly describes the US educational system at this moment. ... especially the part about aiming low for the less interested natives... You would have to do the same here in the US since the system here has gone totally down the toilet since we were in school. 
As far as homeschooling in the Gulf, some have to do it because of the costs of private education there - particularly those with 3 children or more.
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younggeorge
Joined: 15 Apr 2005
Posts: 350
Location: UAE
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Bindair Dundat wrote: |
What kinds of problems did you have in Libya? |
It's hard to remember now - it was a long time ago. But basically, I think, none of us really knew much about what kids of that age were supposed to do in school other than the obvious 3Rs stuff. Even with that, we were never sure how much to push them - we'd all grown up with the 60's stuff about kids learning when they were ready, the Summerhill principle and so on. And there were 4 kids, all different ages: how much could they do together, how much did we need different approaches and materials with each child? I know that our two did much better the next year, when we sent them to boarding school, and probably the one that did best was the one who came along afterwards, who had the most "normal" day-school experience, albeit in several different countries. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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Nowadays homeschooling is much more organized and one can get good direction and lesson plans from companies... or so I hear. I may have just bought into the propaganda from those selling and/or using it.
And you have the internet to be able to get information and updates without relying on bad snail mail systems.
VS |
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Bindair Dundat
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123
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| Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:31 am Post subject: |
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| younggeorge wrote: |
| But basically, I think, none of us really knew much about what kids of that age were supposed to do in school other than the obvious 3Rs stuff. Even with that, we were never sure how much to push them - we'd all grown up with the 60's stuff about kids learning when they were ready, the Summerhill principle and so on. And there were 4 kids, all different ages: how much could they do together, how much did we need different approaches and materials with each child? |
Yeah, I think it would get complicated with four kids. Much easier with one or two. And I think to succeed at this you do have to have strong ideas about what is appropriate, while remaining sensitive to resistance and to developmental impediments. I agree that kids have to be ready in order to learn maximally, but at the same time they often have to be pushed. There's a big question of judgment there.
Thanks for your response. |
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