By Lorne MacInnes
Moving can be a difficult transition for many children. Among the many challenges children face when moving, changing schools mid-way through the year can be stressful. The curriculum has already begun, they've already gotten into a routine for the year, made friends, gotten to know their teachers and have settled down.
Uprooting your children mid-way through the year will be difficult at best and traumatizing at worst. They'll be faced with the challenge of meeting new friends and fitting into an already established routine. Not only can this cause adjustment problems at school, but it could also cause undue stress at home. Kids who are stressed out tend to do worse in school both academically and socially than kids who are under little or no stress.
Instead of having your kids switch schools midway through the year, if you know you're going to be moving ahead of time, enroll them in a nearby private school at the beginning of the year. September is a time of transition for everyone, not just the new students. Everyone is faced with new classes, new teachers, new classmates and new routines. At the beginning of the school year, no matter how long they've been at the same school, everyone is adjusting to the new situation. By sending your child to private school, they'll be there while everyone is adjusting and will be part of the adjustment process.
It's difficult enough to be the new student in school, but by planning ahead a little and sending your child to a private school you can ease the transition period. Many new students start at the beginning of the year so it's likely that there will be other new students in the same boat. The teachers are new as well so there will be a natural period of everyone getting to know each other. Your children will have a natural window for making friends not only with other new students but also with returning students before everyone re-establishes their social groups and routines for the year.
By enrolling your child into a private school, when you do move there will be one less change to have to worry about. Throughout the process of uprooting your child from his home, his neighborhood friends and his routine, at least he will have the stability of staying at the same school. Having the consistency of the same school, friends, teachers and school routine will ease the transition for your child. Not everything will be uprooted and changed; it's important to keep as many aspects of your child's life as consistent as possible.
So, if you know you're going to be moving within the same area sometime during the school year, but not within the same school district, plan ahead. Something as simple as enrolling your child in a private school at the beginning of the year can make a huge difference in the adjustment period for your child when you move.
Lorne MacInnes is a managing partner of Ferguson Moving & Storage, one of the oldest Vancouver moving companies, and an industry expert in the moving and relocation sector in North America.
Source:www.isnare.com |
