5 Things To Consider Before Moving Abroad With Children
Relocating to a new city or country can bring an exciting change of lifestyle for yourself and your family. It presents an opportunity to discover different people, cultures, ways of life, and work. Having said this, it can also feel like a great challenge when you’re moving with children. Moving Abroad With Children
It’s because they need extra care to adjust to their new situation, minimize distress and confusion, and adequately adapt well. It can be done through preparedness and being aware of important decisions and factors that you need to think about to help your children ease into their new life. To begin with, here are five things to consider before moving abroad with children:
1. Changing Schools
It will undoubtedly be one of the biggest challenges for your children as moving abroad will disrupt and affect their schooling. Thus, to make it easier for them, it’s essential to find a good district and school for them to attend. It should preferably be multicultural or have other students of your nationality attending and be close to your new home.
Younger children might integrate easier into a new school while teens usually have a hard time due to the social pressure to fit in and fear of prejudice and ostracization because they’re an immigrant. Additionally, moving abroad with children will require a school transfer. So, be sure that you give the new school time to register your children and process their transcripts to continue their schooling as soon as possible when they arrive.
2. When To Move
The timing of your relocation is important to think about and prepare for because it can affect the adjustment period that your children will have before they leave and when they arrive. As a general rule, many moving companies advise getting your children ready for abroad living at least six months before your move. It’s especially necessary for older kids, such as teens as they tend to have closer social ties with people and places in their hometown.
Furthermore, choosing the right time of the year to move is equally necessary because you’ll want to make sure your family can meet up with fellow expats to make friends with. These expats tend to be away during the summer and winter holidays so your children might not get the chance to attend expat events. On the other hand, moving too late in a school term can upset their ability to catch up with their studies and could create a knowledge or education gap that’s difficult to close.
3. Language Considerations
If you’re moving abroad to a country that speaks a different language, then preparedness and time will be your key considerations. For the sake of future social integration, making connections, and preventing isolation for your children, it’s vital that they at least get exposure to the new language.
What’s more, once you’re in your new country, you should consider creating a language policy within your home so that your children can retain their mother tongue and speak the new language at school or with friends, for instance. Even if your children attend school in an expat city or community where they will be taught in their native language, you still need to consider lessons for them to learn the new language fluently.
4. Finances
Consider the new financial costs that will come from moving abroad, particularly regarding your children. You may find your new country needs you to purchase school uniforms for your children or factor in school transport and commuting costs such as bus and railway tickets or getting a bicycle.
On the other hand, schools with no uniforms will need more school-appropriate kid’s wardrobes to wear every weekday. You might also need to buy specific school technology, stationery, and equipment for your children to participate in school activities. If you have very young children who aren’t of school age yet, a childcare budget should be your main financial focus as the childcare industry worldwide tends to run at high fees.
5. Cultural Adjustments
Moving abroad means getting used to new cultural norms and societal values. In many cases, if the country has a very contrasting culture, this is a social aspect you and your children will need to adjust to either through assimilation if you’re permanent immigrants or integration if you plan to move back to your homeland after a few years.
This could impact your children’s ideas of normality and routine such as changing the time they eat and what food they eat or how they dress and talk to people and knowledge they learn for instance. Thus, you can think about ways to adjust your children to the new culture while taking on a new identity. Additionally, don’t underestimate how powerful familiarity can be towards making adjustments to a new country. This could be about keeping a few cultural rituals and practices in your household.
Conclusion: Moving Abroad With Children
The most important things to consider before moving abroad with children are factors that could make it challenging to adapt to a new country. These consist of language, education, accepting new cultural norms, and disruptions of routine, an adjustment period and setting up finances for future items your children will need.
Therefore, giving yourself and your family the right amount of time as well as finding involved ways to navigate these challenges will make the move easier and more comfortable. These can include setting up language rules for your home, retaining old practices and attending meetups at the right time of year with expats to make you feel welcome.
