My daughter has always in the last or second to last row due to her height. She’s the top or thereabouts of the class (and grade) in all subjects in a bilingual school, and also the youngest in the class.
This post wasn’t meant to be bragging (okay maybe a little, I’m a proud dad ) but just to say that things like race, age, height are not important.
Parental involvement is though, so my suggestion would be to work out with your ex how you could be more involved in your daughter’s life.
I’ve found different teachers have different “rules” here, most will move kids around every so often however generally kids with poor eyesight/hearing will end up at the front, problem kids end up at the front, those whose parents insist will be where ever their parents want them to be and most teachers are accommodating with regards being near, or far, from the fan and/or aircon depending on the kids heat/cold tolerance.
My kids tell me their teachers use to yell at students a lot and call them “useless”, “idiots” and other unpleasant things. I don’t care where my kids sit, but I do care that they are not yelled at.
Also at the cram schools in Taiwan they use to physically punish kids. My daughter tells me that the teacher there use to hit other girls and boys with a wooden stick if they don’t finish the homework on time or if they make too many mistakes. Every day. She doesn’t go there anymore.
So, in my opinion, there are many other more important things you can pay attention to now and in the future.
But of course I would go to the school and complain, talk to the teacher and her/his superiors if necessary.
You mean about seating arrangement? As a foreigner it is best not to talk to the teacher too much, if at all. If the child does not think there is any problem you are making things worse for them.
I agree that generally if the kid doesn’t think there is any problem it is best practice to no go to talk to the teacher. But I regret not going to talk to the principal some years ago. My kid came back home very stressed because the teacher seemed to have a fixation with on of the classmates, yelling every day at him. I thought “I am a foreigner, his father can go and talk about that” but actually my kid was scared too. So, I am not so sure… I think it’s ok to go and ask nicely about the things we worry about. In my home country teachers comunicate much more with the parents than here.
In your Western country immigrants are happy when they have chance to enroll kids in normal school, where at least half of kids are native and they actually teach local language in first grades.
Quality of schools went down a lot from our times.
My wife always get sorry your German is not fluent, therefore we don’t need to explain things to you. When I go, teachers always say sorry, we put it publically on the wall. We are not responsible.
It took me a lot of hours, sending emails around, calls, doctor letter to finally come on the same terms with kindergarten. Parents with older kids warm me elementary schools are rigid and youshould enroll kids in private.
Unless want to call public school every week and be active member of parent club.
I think is better to say to child sorry, is not your fault, sometimes things sucks at life. But is important you stay focus. We are proud of you
see also: every thread about private schools on this site. Private schools are just more expensive than public schools. The quality of education comes down to how many more resources the parents pour into their children besides the school itself. It has very little to do with the education the school provides. Now, once we reach 4th grade and up, there’s the concern of “literally everything comes down to how to pass a test” (as opposed to “mostly everything is about passing the test, but at least most school days are half days”.) That being said, parents who pay private school tuition will also be after the best “CP value” for their money, so they will feel much more justified in contacting their child’s homeroom teacher at 11 pm on a Saturday night and expecting a reply immediately. But the quality of the education is not going to be “better” for the money you pay for private school tuition.
Agreed. It is a real problem here with abusive teachers. It took us a couple years to find a decent school and plan ahead because the schools where the HR was were Horrible!
if the school is good, and you speak the local language, I feel there is no reason not to talk to the teachers asa foreigner. it gets weird if it’s in English and all their friends draw their attention to it. but in Mabdarin her classmates also learn about things like different skin tones are normal. This is getting better now in my opinion. I certainly wouldnt avoid talking to your kids’ teachers though, especially if the fear is race based. And if that fear is justified, I would strongly consider moving schools.
to the original question. for what it’s worth, my mixed kid is always at the back with the other tallest kids. I was always at the back in canada growing up as well as I was always the tallest. I think it is normal. Like a giant in front of you at the movie, the movie isnt enjoyable. At least universities figured it out with terraced classrooms
) but just to say that things like race, age, height are not important.