Got to Go: What to Know (part 2)

Tips for Academic Success on Arrival :

1. Have any documents translated;
2. Find out health requirements for new school (more than one day before starting) and plan for medical exam in new home;
3. Understand age/grade relationships as well as schoolwork/grade relationships;
4. Discuss relative merits of age vs. schoolwork for grade placement with head of school;
5. Understand curriculum;
6. Learn application process and deadlines;
7. Advocate for child about entering sports and other extracurricular programs mid-year;
8. Maintain a sense of humor.

Got to Go: What to Know

The economy is causing many unexpected, and sudden repatriations.  Today’s blog will include some tips on what to do when departing from a school abroad to best prepare your children to re-enter a school at home.

Tips for Academic Departure Success:

1. Identify key supporters at school and obtain contact details in case family needs anything after leaving;
2. Take hard copies of transcripts and know how to obtain soft copies;
3. Ask school to write up basis for grading if appropriate;
4. Get teacher recommendations while still familiar to teachers;
5. Talk to teachers about types of school where child would thrive in new home;
6. Bring description of curriculum by subject;
7. Gather awards, certificates, or physical evidence of qualifications achieved;
8. Bring medical certificates in hand luggage.

Tune in tomorrow’s for Tips for Academic Arrival Success!

Do You Have a Contact at the “A” List School?

When parents move to another country, the stress of moving their children causes them to fixate on getting their children into the “right” school in their new home.  But the definition of “right” may not always be thoughtfully derived.  During times of change, in the absence of complete information, rankings and other superficial criteria often rise to the top of expatriate wishlists as they seek new schools for their children.

Even in current financial times, parents seeking admission to a highly desirable school will often look for high level contacts, loopholes in policies or be willing to make financial donations to gain entrance.  But admission secured through these methods ignores the fundamental truth that, in order for a child to learn and succeed socially in an academic environment, s/he has to feel comfortable both with the schoolwork and the peer group.

Admissions based on connections rather than through genuine effort on the part of both the school and the family to identify the right fit can do a disservice to the child, who may feel inadequate, struggle to succeed and lose interest in learning.  And an unhappy child can jeopardize the overseas assignment.

Liz

A PreSchool Closing

On December 5, parents of children enrolled in New York’s Greenwich House Preschool learned that the school would be closing on January 5 for financial reasons.   Will there be others to follow?

Moving Abroad with University-Age Children

Moving internationally can be daunting as well as richly rewarding. Families must acclimate to a new culture, a new language, and where children are involved, a new school system. For families with children of all ages, the educational component requires heavily weighted decisions that will lay out the frame work for the next several years of the child’s educational path as well as have important implications for years to come.

This is a time that offers a unique opportunity to the parents to reassess their child’s academic future in the context of an international move. For families with older children who will either soon graduate from high school or are recent high school graduates, the decision of the parents to move abroad could force an early separation from their older children that some families are not ready to face.

Many families opt to stay intact by seeking out postsecondary options in the country they plan to move to for their soon-to-be graduate or recent high-school graduate. In addition to remaining geographically close, families who consider postsecondary options abroad say that they hope to experience the deeper bond that moving to a new country can bring. Parents also cite the desire for their university-age children to have the opportunity to participate in the intrinsic educational experience that defines living in a new country.

Understandably, most families do not want to forfeit several years of their child’s education and are eager to understand the post secondary options that exist. What families learn along the way is that educational systems vary greatly from country to country and are dependent upon the educational considerations of the student. As a starting point, families must consider the following:

• Does the student speak the language of the country that he or she will move to? If not, what English-language universities or post-secondary schools exist?

• What area of study does the student wish to undertake? Do any of these areas of study exist in the country you will move to? If not, is there something nearby, perhaps in a neighboring country that the family is willing to consider?

• How long do you as a family plan to live abroad? Will the student be able to complete the studies within the proper time frame or will it be necessary to transfer the credits to the home country at some point?

• Will the credentials of the degree program be accepted in the country the student will return to? What accreditation may be necessary upon returning to the home country?

• Is there an American university in the region? What advantages and disadvantages might there be to considering an American university?

• Is an online program an option that is compatible with the student’s desired path of study as well as academic and study habits?

• Various financial implications exist for all of options. How much of a consideration is the financial component? If it is indeed a major component, this will be a very critical component in assessing the options that will be feasible.

Moving abroad with university-age children can be wonderfully rewarding and offers the possibility of a rich experience for the entire family to share together, but it is fundamental to move forward intentionally with a well defined plan and to remember that many countries have a vastly different post-secondary education system in place. Many families have already gone through the process of moving abroad with university-age children and have had an excellent experience and created memories together that they will enjoy for years to come.

 

Continuing Education Suggestions for Training Spouses, or Your Children Shouldn’t Be the Only Ones in School

 

You have done the seemingly impossible. Your family is all together in your new country, in your new residence. All your belongings have arrived and have been put into their proper places. And (with the help of your School Choice consultant) your children are enrolled in their new schools and have begun their studies. You are relieved, but after a few days or weeks, you find yourself with a little too much time on your hands and little constructive activity to fill it with.

 

For a trailing spouse, this scenario is all too common. Your husband (typically, it is the woman who follows the man) is busy with establishing himself in his new office. Your kids are busy adjusting to a new school and making new friends. Their days are full. But if you held paid employment before your move, you may have left behind a fulfilling job to follow your family. You may find yourself in a situation in which you are not permitted to work or in which work is not possible because you lack the necessary language skills. One solution: consider your time away from paid employment as a well-deserved “sabbatical” and use the time instead to refine your professional skills or develop new ones. You might make some new friends or even discover a path to a new career!

 

Here are some suggestions for continuing your own education abroad:

 

• The obvious choice if you are in a country with a different language…language lessons. Chances are that you will be able to find numerous language schools near you. A course or series of courses in the language of your host country will provide you with at least the foundation you will need to be able do your shopping, for example, and to interact with the locals. Check with your partner’s employer—sometimes companies will offer language course fee payment or reimbursement as part of their compensation packages for expatriate families. Your new city might also have English-speaking social clubs that provide language lessons as part of their membership dues.

 

• Check to see if there are any universities around you that offer training programs or individual courses in an area in which you are interested. Many cities around the world have branches of American universities or may even have a local university that offers some of its courses in English (often the case with business programs that offer American-style degrees such as the MBA and seek to attract an international student body). Other cities have local universities that partner with American universities in delivery of a particular type of program such as art history. Check the Web or with local “welcome to” guides to see what might be available.

 

• You might want to take a training program or course on-line (commonly referred to as distance education). This type of study enables students to study on their own time away from a traditional campus setting. Although distance education has been around for a long time—many training institutes and universities offered “correspondence courses”—the internet makes delivery of these courses and the ability to communicate with instructors and fellow students easier and more sophisticated. The UK’s Open University (www.open.ac.uk) is one of the best-known and highly-regarded providers of distance courses.

 

• Do something fun for yourself…find a course in painting, cooking, or whatever strikes your fancy. Finding a course in a regional variation—for instance, a step dancing class if you have relocated to Ireland and enjoy different types of artistic movement—can help you feel better connected to the people and customs of your new area as well as provide you with an enjoyable creative outlet. An appropriate course might be difficult to locate if the available options are taught in a language that you do not understand. However, check with any English-speaking social clubs to which you may belong. These clubs may have groups with particular interests in activities you enjoy. Sometimes, too, they will form new groups or offer special activity courses taught in English if there is enough interest within the club’s membership.

Choosing Schools

 

How do you assess a school?

        a. By the children?

        b. By the teachers?

        c. By your friends’ impressions?

        d. By the facility?

Liz Perelstein

Creating a Website While an Expat

My family and I lived in Australia for three years. In order to keep family and friends back home informed as to what we were experiencing, I created our family website. This is very easy to do and does not require a lot of tech savvy.

Usually your internet provider will give you a certain amount of space for creating your own website. In AOL, it is called AOL Hometown. They advertise it as “the place to get your own page – you don’t need to know anything about Web publishing to get a free page in AOL Hometown.”

For Beginners? They provide the 1-2-3 Publishing Tool. This is for people who have never had a home page before. Their claim is that in in less than three minutes you can have a home page. They provide templates that make it very easy.

Below is one of the pictures that was on our website of the boys in their uniforms with Jackie.

Once we returned home to the US, it was time to keep in touch with all the friends we had made overseas. My new internet provider came with the easy-to-use Site Builder. This again allowed me to create my own web site and to share photos and activities. There’s is no software to download and everything can be done online.

I haven’t updated the site in a while, but you can view it by going to the following link – http://sitebuilder.verizon.net/trellix/sitebuilder/f_edit_page.html

Trust me, if you have access to the internet, you have a very easy and inexpensive way to share all you are experiencing with family and friends while on assignment or even when you return home!

When is the best time to move? During the school year or summer vacation?

If a client has the “luxury” of deciding when is the best time to move the children, when should that move take place, during the school year or over the traditional summer break?

For example, I have a client who is most likely moving in September for work but is not going to move the children until their school year is over in 2008.  This client is moving from Irvine, CA to Dallas, TX and will commute until the remaining family can move in 2008 at the end of their school year.  My personal experience would lead me to advise the client to move the children during the school year for a couple of reasons.  Summer is very, very hot here in Dallas and many people leave for extended vacations.  I often relate that the summers of Texas are much like the winters of the Northeast,  except that everyone stays inside to keep cool rather than warm.  Recreational sports teams take a break over the summer, parks and playgrounds are empty by late morning, and pools and waterparks are fun but expensive, and how much fun after the second week of constant  swimming?

If a client moves during the school year, I understand that the children are interrupting their school year, but they do move into an environment that has organized activities already in place.  As difficult as a move can be, maybe jumping in feet first is a good choice.

Of course there are many factors to consider  when planning the timing of a move with children.  School calendars, climate, community, ages of children and their activities are just a few.

What are other experiences that consultants have had?

Regards,

Doreen

New 8th Graders

You are the top class in school.  You feel a sense of your own importance.  You also feel unsure of the future.  Your hormones leave you reeling.  Try a smile!  See below for what happened to the unhappy 8th grader.  The 8th grade class was in rehearsal for graduation ceremonies.  All was going well.  Suddenly the coordinator of the certificates received notice to change the order of recipients.  John Doe was to be moved to the end of the line where he would not be in full view of all the proud parents’ cameras.  He had sat in rehearsal, arms folded, looking totally grumpy instead of reflecting his pleasure at his achievement.   Will he carry this attitude forward? I wonder what he will think years later as he shares the photograph with his future family?  Past grumpy 8th graders please reply, you know who you were!!

Alison