When is the best time to stop sending your child to an English academy?

Once parents begin wondering whether to keep sending their child to an academy, the next question is when to stop. Many families decide to give notice and leave at the end of that month.

But poor timing can be more disruptive than stopping itself. Your child may leave partway through the curriculum, and the semester may begin before the new approach has become established.

This guide explains when it is a good time to switch and what to check before leaving. What to switch to is covered in another note.

01The start of a school break is the safest choice

Making the change at the start of summer or winter break makes several things easier.

It usually coincides with the end of a unit at the academy, and your child feels that they are making a fresh start. Most importantly, school breaks leave more time in the day for the new approach to become established. During the semester, it can fall behind from the outset amid school homework and other academies.

If the routine becomes established during the break, it is easier to keep the same time slot after the semester begins. If you start during the semester, you first have to rearrange the schedule.

02During the semester, wait until the end of a unit

Sometimes circumstances make it impossible to wait until the next school break. In that case, at least time the change to the end of a curriculum unit.

Academies generally organize their curriculum by unit or level. If your child stops midway through, they are left with something unfinished. This can also place them at an awkward point when they take another level assessment under the new approach. Ask the teacher in charge how your child’s class is structured.

The teacher in charge can tell you when the current section ends. Giving notice for that point lets your child move on with a sense of completion.

03Timing at a glance

Each academy operates differently. Check the information you received at enrollment for the notice period and refund policy.

04One month of overlap

If you wait until after leaving to look for an alternative, there will be a gap. Your child’s English study stops in the meantime.

One option is to use both for about a month. It costs an extra month’s fees, but it is easier to reverse course if you make the wrong choice. How to divide the areas of study during the overlap is explained in more detail in Online English Instead of an Academy.

Here, we will focus only on timing. If the overlap includes a school break, your child has enough time in the day to manage both. If they overlap during the semester, one will usually fall behind.

05Timing differs by grade

Even during the same school break, the decision differs by grade.

Children in the lower elementary grades generally have more options. Schoolwork is not yet demanding, so it is easier to find the right time. Trying different approaches at this stage can also be helpful later.

Grades 3 to 4 are when English begins at school, so a gap becomes noticeable. Even if you switch, plan to avoid missing a single day. This is a particularly important time to use both approaches concurrently.

From grade 5 onward, the issue is the total amount of study rather than timing. Other subjects become more demanding, reducing the time available for English itself. At this stage, it makes more sense to decide what to fit into the remaining time before deciding whether to leave the academy.

06Times to avoid

There are a few periods that are generally better avoided.

One is when school exams are approaching. Your child’s attention is elsewhere, so the new approach cannot become established. It is better to wait until about a week after the exam.

It is also a shame to leave just after your child moves up a level at the academy. They are adjusting to a new class, and the sense of achievement is still motivating them to learn. If they leave at this point, they may wonder why they have to stop when they are doing well.

It is also better to postpone the change if it overlaps with another transition, such as moving or changing schools. When several things change at once, your child may not know what to adjust to. Let one change settle before making the next.

07The first month after leaving

The first month after switching is actually the most important. If the new routine does not become established then, you may find yourself looking for another academy.

One thing the academy provided was a set time your child had to attend. That does not exist at home, so you need to put specific days and times into the family schedule and keep them fixed. More details are provided in Online English Instead of an Academy: What Parents Should Check First.

In the first month, focus on attendance rather than progress. How many times your child logged in tells you more about whether the routine has become established than how many units they completed. Once attendance is consistent, progress will follow.