This is a question we have received a lot this year because during this season we have opted not to put any of our three children in a preschool or school here. But in reality, this is the first time since first putting Abby in a preschool at age 20 months that we have ever not had any of our children in a school. We are certainly not against the schools overseas and enjoy having our kids in them when the situation works out right. In the past we have done the following:
Teramo, Italy (2006): Abby was 20 months old, an only sibling and one of the only children of the players on the team Joe was on. So for 2 months at the end of the season, we took her to a preschool 2-3 mornings a week for 2-3 hours. She had a blast and called it “dancing and clapping” because they would sing songs and do movements along with it.
Zaragoza, Spain (2007): We waited once again until the end of the season, but once again enrolled Abby in a school. Elijah was about 10 months old at the time and she was just turning 3 years old. We had some help from friends there who went to the church we attended to find a good school for her. She went 6 mornings a week for 3 hours. After hesitating to send her, the first morning she was so excited to go she didn’t even say good-bye to me as she ran in the door!
Bandirma, Turkey (2007-2009): Both Abby and Elijah attended school in Turkey while we were there. The school was located a few blocks from the first apartment we had there (we were there during 2 seasons) and on a walk Abby mentioned she liked the looks of the school. I did too, so a friend of ours helped us check it out. Elijah was only 20 months at the time, so we had thought about only sending him 3 mornings a week, but the siblings being together seemed to work, so we sent both of them 5 days a week for about 3.5 hours.
So what are some of the considerations we have when deciding on sending the kids to a school over here?
1. Benefit to the child. We try to take each of our children’s personalities, strengths and weaknesses into consideration. Abby is a social butterfly. She has no problem in new settings for the most part and loves to be out and about. Elijah is a bit more of a mama’s boy. He would rather be home with the family or at least going to a school with one of his siblings. This factor played into our decision for both Abby and Elijah for this year.
With Abby being school age this year, we had to decide what path we wanted to start down for her official schooling. The three viable options we had were 1) homeschool, 2) online charter school and 3) international school in whatever city we were in. For Abby, option number 3 was ruled out because one of her biggest struggles is with having consistency in this lifestyle. She has a hard time with change and we felt like having her in and out of different international schools depending on where Joe played in the next 4-5 years (Lord-willing) would not help her. Although she loves to be a part of a school, we felt the constant changing in schools, teaching styles, curriculums, schedule, etc. would not be beneficial to her.
With Elijah, he would have been able to go to a free public school right up the street this year, but as I mentioned, he does not do as well with being in new situations by himself. He was very anxious about the thought of going to a school on his own when we mentioned it. So we decided that for him, it really wasn’t necessary. Since he is able to go to practice with Joe 1-3 times per week, that gave him something to get out of the house to do that he really enjoys.
For Naomi this year, we weren’t as worried about her getting social time in a school as we had been at Abby at the same age. Naomi has 2 older siblings she loves to play with and a teammate’s daughter who lives right next door. Her social opportunities are much greater and what we feel to be at an appropriate level for a child who will be turning 2 years old soon.
2. Cost. With the Euro being stronger than the dollar, the costs of some of these schools in Europe can be a bit steep for our liking. That was another part of the reason Elijah and Naomi were kept out this year. There was a nice school they both could have gone to together just behind our building, but the cost seemed a bit steep. They also wanted them there for a longer time than we were comfortable with for a partial day.
3. Benefit to the family. We want the school setting to be one that will benefit others in the family as well. So if we are trying to get 3 kids into 3 different schooling options in the morning, it can be almost more of a strain on everyone than is worth it. How far the school is from our home and the start time is also a consideration to the family. Part of the reason homeschool was ruled out for Abby this year was due to this point as well. With being away from home and our support network, homeschool would be a much greater burden on me as the main teacher, organizer, and planner.
So those are just a few of the things we think about when deciding on our schooling options. Each season we try to evaluate our situation and each of the kids. For now, we are planning that when Elijah starts kindergarten in another year and half, he will also do the online charter school like Abby does. But as with much of this life, only time will tell!
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