One Expat Family’s Experiment in Enrolling Kids in School Abroad

New York Times writer, Clifford Levy recounts his experience in moving his family in 2007 from Brooklyn, New York to Moscow, Russia. His children, who were in the fifth grade, third grade, and kindergarten, were “among the first foreigners to attend Novaya Gumanitarnaya Shkola, the New Humanitarian School. All instruction was in Russian. No translators, no hand-holding.” The writer touches upon the struggle his kids went through in learning an entirely new language in a foreign environment and their transition from the first to the fourth year.

In an article written by the mother, there is a video of the kids speaking about their expat experiences in coming to school every day and how they dealt with the transition difficulties.

Both articles are a great read and it’s an especially interesting read for an expat family thinking of what kind of school to place their kids in (English speaking, non-English speaking, or a mix). The article helps you reflect on the effect this transition could have on your child’s lives (good and bad).

Picture credit: NY Times

Transition Tips for Expats with Kids

ExpatFocus offers tip for expats with kids on how to make the transition abroad easier on you and your family.

Photo credit: escapefromamerica.com

One Reason that Raising Your Child Overseas is the Right Idea

There will be challenges and rewards of raising an expat child. One of the rewards of raising an expat child is that your offspring will learn how to get along and understand others of different cultural backgrounds.

Expat Info Desk delves into this life skill:

One of the best things about an expatriate lifestyle is that it will introduce your children to new people and cultures. In today’s global economy it is crucial that individuals are able to interact comfortably and confidently with people of all backgrounds. By introducing your children to different cultures, beliefs and languages early on you will educate them that people are different and that it is important to accept and respect one another’s views and beliefs. Communicating with people who are different from themselves will hopefully become second nature as a result of living overseas and they will learn an invaluable life skill.

Book Recommendation For Expats Raising Bilingual Children

For those expats thinking of raising their kids to speak two languages, take a look at the book “Raising a Bilingual Child“.

The book is a step-by-step guide to raising bilingual children and provides:

“parents with information, encouragement, and practical advice for creating a positive bilingual environment. It offers both an overview of why parents should raise their children to speak more than one language and detailed steps parents can take to integrate two languages into their child’s daily routine.

Raising a Bilingual Child also includes inspirational first-hand accounts from parents. It dispels the myth that bilingualism may hinder a child’s academic performance and explains that learning languages at a young age can actually enhance a child’s overall intellectual development.”

Amazon offers a look inside the book, so people can take a look at dozens of pages and table of content to get a feel of what the information the book offers.

Photo credit: Amazon