Best School

First of all, ASD is NOT only open to Americans and Canadians! I know someone else pointed this out and mentioned that ASD has students of more than 60 nationalities, but I felt it was worth repeating.

Mis-Cat...I never spanked my children and they too were always complimented on their good behavior while growing up, were never in any kind of trouble, and are two of the most pleasant and reliable people you'd ever want to meet.

Thexonic! Pork is forbidden in Islam because it makes children misbehave????????????

Silly me..... I thought it was about uncleanliness and disease......

bring back the cane!!

I have been a teacher for more than twenty years and I must say that I have some real doubts about corporal punishment. When I was teaching at the British School of Bucharest, one of my pupils came to school with horrible scratches across his face. His father said, "My son lied to me, so I beat him."

Please, parents, take great care when using corporal punishment. If you are really angry, do NOT hit your child because you can easily forget how strong you are and hurt the child far more than you intend. I am not saying that you should never give a child a smack on the bottom. There are some occasions when this is an appropriate response to bad behaviour.

If your child has lost or broken something, the best thing is for a favourite toy is disappear. Then you can say to the child, "We've sold your PlayStation to pay for it." Children are particularly bad at leaving their clothes lying around and often they have no idea how expensive children's clothes are.

As for Ritalin and ADHD, there are a number of well-documented studies on the Web that underline the dangers of giving Ritalin to children. It is a Class 2 drug, in the same group as heroin and morphine. Ritalin is a powerful drug and it causes brain atrophy (which is a posh way of saying that your kid's brain will shrivel and shrink).

Did some 1 say pork MMmmmmmmmm :P

im so hungry @ work ....

especially grilled

yummy,yummy....

and here in Swiss pork is the cheapest

cheaper then chicken or beef or anything else

counts a lot in a family of 4

;-))

*WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL?*

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/home

i love pork from german Alexa ... yummy ...

Supernurse is right... that is why pork is haram in islam aswell.

IF EVERYONE WAS TO TAKE AN EYE FOR AN EYE, THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD'VE BEEN BLIND TODAY - MAHATMA GHANDI

sorry typo... pork lol

IF EVERYONE WAS TO TAKE AN EYE FOR AN EYE, THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD'VE BEEN BLIND TODAY - MAHATMA GHANDI

thexonic...I'm confused...whats prok??

I'm no psychologist but I do believe that behavioural problems could be down to all the crap children eat! My daughter went crazy after drinking Caprisun orange....I thought it was all 'natural' obviously not!...

supernurse that given to kids who have been mis-diagnosed only makes the problem worse as it really is only an prescription speed. I am a big beleiver parents are to soft these days, i spanked both my kids and the funny thing is when we are out all anybody can say to me is how well behaved they are.

Mis-Cat, how nice it is to hear someone who agrees with me! I thought I was being a bit harsh! Probably ethically better to reprimand bad behaviour when required than to have a kid thats completely spaced out on Ritalin!

ADHD and ADD are the 2 most over diagnosed psyc problems world wide. the problem is Parents are just to over PC when it comes to dealing with kids and not to mention all the do gooders out there (who mind you most don't have kids) telling us that to smack a child is abuse.

hippo - the problem as I have stated in another post is not the fact that ADHD or ADD doesn't exist the problem is it is also usually a part of another underlying more serious psyc problem and the fact that it is being mainly diagnosed by GP's not a psycologist.

ADHD--nothing a good smack and sent to bed without supper couldn't sort out!

Aisha-Taweela seems to think that children only need to "speak" a language. However, this is simply not the case. In a French school, the curriculum will most probably be much the same as that of a French school in France, in which all of the pupils will speak, read and write in French, as their first language. Therefore, if the curriculum is designed to be challenging for children for whom French is their FIRST language, it is quite unrealistic to imagine that most children, of average abilities, will be able to thrive and to compete with their peers on an equal footing if French is their second or third language.

Of course children acquire language in different ways, but gradually there is a change: from oral to written forms, as the child becomes an adolescent. Reading is therefore crucial for continued success, as children make the transition from primary to secondary school. Unfortunately many second (or third) language children do not have the same access to French children's books that a French child would have in France - or an English child would have in England. Therefore I cannot agree with this idea that the only important thing is for a child to be able to speak in another language.

There is considerable debate as to whether ADHD really exists. Some doctors have suggested that it is a "disease" that has been invented by the drug companies that manufacture Ritalin.  

When I came here 17 years ago my daughter only spoke french. I put her in a kigergarten and within 3 weeks she started to speak English. Then after that I put her in English schools where only English was spoken. Grade 4 I put her in QA. Yes she was the only European in her class. A total of 4 Europeans in the whole school. Many people told me I was wrong to put her in that school. But as she had ADHD I wanted her to be close to the professionals. Most of her friends are Qatari, she speaks Arabic like a Qatari and thank god for that because at least all her friends are from since childhood. She had many European friends but after 2/3 years or sometimes shorter, they would leave the country. English was the medium they taught in, so she learned it very well, also I spoke English with her at home. The advantage is that she is totally biligual and speaks French, Dutch as well as spanish. She is now at Uni here and everybody is amazed at how she is able to "fit" in. So look at the plus side of this. Give your child the chance to learn another language/culture. I am sure it will have a positive effect on your child, it had on mine.

Aisha-Taweela

As a teacher, I am very pleased, ellie.d, that you have managed to find a school where your children are happy. Unfortnately this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, for many expat parents in Qatar.  

Gumby has raised a very serious issue, namely the question of what parents are supposed to do when their English-speaking child is in a class in which the majority of the children speak Arabic. This is not being racist: this is a real problem for many expat families in Doha.

If your child does not speak fluent Arabic and most of the other children in the class do, then my guess is that he or she is going to be pretty lonely at breaktime. For primary school pupils, even  a Maths or Science lesson will involve a great deal of language (reading, writing. talking and listening) and in most "international" schools that language will be English. Professional teachers will, of course, try to do their best for all of their pupils, but it is obvious that they will need to go much more slowly if they are going to cater for the needs of the children whose English is significantly weaker. This means that a native English speaking child is likely to get bored and frustrated.     

sounds bad.  What do you mean?  Coming from the US, where are our three little ones most likely to be?  I'm coming the 17th - 29 to check out the schools.  Any info?  I think we should here something from ASD in the next week or so?  QA too, but only a place for our oldest.  I want to keep them together. 

Only problem with QA is with language support.   At the lower grades it is predominantly Arabic speaking-a fairly recent development.  They don't have enough language support specialists for the non-English speakers nor is the curriculum designed to take this into account.  It is possible for a native English speaking student to be in a class with only one or two other native English speakers.A lot of politics involved in why this isn't being addressed.

At the upper school at the IB level  QA is first rate.

Mmmm, the schooling is particularly difficult if your child has any sort of learning disability at all.  Some of the bigger international schools sort of make an attempt at it, as do some of the independent schools, but most of the other schools are a disaster this way.

My 3 children are at Doha Montessori & British School and they are really enjoying it.  The school recently moved to brand new purpose-built premises which I can tell you are fantastic.  I know from recent experience that getting school places out here is a nightmare, particularly if you have more than one child to place.  Unfortunately there is a lot of snobbery going on as to which school your child goes to, which is totally rediculous - two of the "top" british schools are crammed into the smallest buildings and are very overcrowded.  Also some are like little British enclaves with pictures of the Queen on the wall (we dont even have those in the UK).  Having travelled half way around the world with the kids to live in Doha I wanted them to have the experience of going to school with children from all over the world, not just those that held British passports.

what are the "right" companies?  Please list all that are catered to sooo well.  Curiousity is killing me!

This is a very good school. But more for moslims. They have religious studies, and arabic. However I have seen of the material they cover and I am impressed. So yes I would recommend it.

Aisha-Taweela

true hippo the schooling situation in Q is a nightmare...I cant even get my son at Dess on the waiting list,as they have closed..

I am fed up with reading QL posts that imply that many (or even most) parents in Doha have a real choice when it comes to selecting a school for their children. Some schools won't even give your little darling a place on the waiting list, never mind an actual place at the school! Other schools give preferential treatment to parents who work for particular companies or who have a British passport. Hard luck if you're working for the "wrong" company or come from the "wrong" country.   

Then there is the problem of what are parents supposed to do if they live on the "wrong" side of Doha from the school.

Next, I know for a fact that many schools in Doha have real problems recruiting and retaining teachers. You may think that your child is being taught by enthusiastic and well qualified teachers, only to find that most of them have already left or are going at the end of the academic year.    

I don't know much about the schools you ask about, sorry, other than there is a Cambridge School apparently in local neighborhood, just opened in a villa, must be quite small.  Make sure you research any school you choose for your children, too many for-profit schools out there.  In reply to earlier post, American School of Doha is NOT exclusively for Americans or Canadians - in fact, there are over 65 nationalities at the school.  Compared to other Doha schools, it is fairly expensive if employer doesn't cover fees.

MIS, EMS, Chouefat and Cambridge are at very low standards now. Their fees are cheaper but, the quality is no good, they used to have high standards until 2001 - 2002... not anymore.

ASD is only for Canadians or Americans or those with Canadian or american citizenship. But its one of the best schools. Fee as far as I know for grade 11 it was around 40,000 QR per year.

Qatar Academy is one of the best schools  too without discrimination. around 40,000 - 50,000 QR / year.

Al Jazeera Academy is great too. Dont know about fee.

Doha College and QIS are average schools. Their fee's are between 25,000 to 40,000 / year.  

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"Be Like a Flower, Which gives off it's fragrance

even to the hand that crushes it."

if you ask for best school i would say ASD for American Curriculum, and DESS for English Curriculum.