Canadian Students?

[David and Karen 0]

Ok this is for those of you that have smaller children. Still in grade school. I anticipate moving late in 2006. Perhaps over the Christmas break. My concern is that I have two daughters aged 7 and 10. They are starting 2nd and 5th grade respectively. The main differences I can see that they will encounter moving to the USA is temperature and geography/history. Although the geography and history will likely only be a difference for the older child.

What did those of you with children do to help your children adjust to the american education vs what they have had for a few years. I was thinking about work books etc but I would love some further input. Anything I can gather on my current visit in the USA and bring back is awesome.

Thank you as always for your support.

Karen

[Reba 2]

I don't have kids myself, but I would suggest you stop in at the school where your children will be enrolled and see if you can get a copy of their curriculum for the coming year. You may have to go there anyway, to find out if there is even room to enroll them.

[wally 0]

Hey Karen,

congrats on getting the permission from your ex for your kids. I'm trying to remember what I did for my son who transferred from 5th grade last year. I think the biggest thing was meet the principal and their teachers ...get the routine of the school...ie. here they provide hot lunches vs. bag lunch at his Ontario school..scope out the schedule of sports/ girl guides etc. your kids might want to be involved with. I also asked that both my kids got somebody to take them around their first day of school.

As far as prep...do give them the Imperial vs. Metric comparison and some geography...how far Ontario is from your state..how long it takes to travel by car/plane...president vs. prime minister. What I learned is the kids here were way more curious about 'Canada' then they were about my kids being new.

[ljs 1]

The one thing my kids benefited from was a big map of the USA in the dining room...they all at different stages of grade school had to learn the states and state capitols...and there are a lot! lol We also got placemats with the USA map on it and some star stickers to play a variation of "license plate bingo" in the car (they put a star onthe state when they saw an out of state plate) which again just got them used to the states and where they were on the map.

They assimilate so quickly, american schools are not that much different from Canadian ones.

[smoochies 0]

my daughter just completed 3rd grade in Texas after moving from Ontario last year. Try talking to the teacher and getting to know them. my daughter's teacher would call me every time something was coming up in the ciriculum that Taylor might need some extra time with (ex. recognizing U.S. currency in math class)

otherwise she transitioned remarkably well, making the honor roll with a 98% average, and a year younger than her classmates! *insert proud mommy smile here* LOL

[KarenCee 3]

Ok this is for those of you that have smaller children. Still in grade school. I anticipate moving late in 2006. Perhaps over the Christmas break. My concern is that I have two daughters aged 7 and 10. They are starting 2nd and 5th grade respectively. The main differences I can see that they will encounter moving to the USA is temperature and geography/history. Although the geography and history will likely only be a difference for the older child.

What did those of you with children do to help your children adjust to the american education vs what they have had for a few years. I was thinking about work books etc but I would love some further input. Anything I can gather on my current visit in the USA and bring back is awesome.

Thank you as always for your support.

Karen

Definately bring along any records of their school performance if you can. As for acclimating them to the US schools, maybe looking at the website of the school where they will attend will give them a glimpse of their new school. There are tons, and I mean TONS, of educational websites that you can get books, free downloads, worksheets, etc. for them to peruse, most of them are found by doing a google search for homeschool materials.

Another thing: Look at the state department of education website (Like here in Georgia its www.doe.k12.ga.us) and see if they have posted the curriculum for each grade. By that I mean look for what they are required to know for that particular grade level. In Georgia its called Georgia Performance Standards and it tells what each child must know at the end of their school year for whatever grade they are in. Hope that made sense Pres. Bush enacted the No Child Left Behind Act and it basically set the standard for what students across the country should know and also makes the teacher accountable for making sure that child knows the material.

Sorry this was so wordy. I teach grades 3-5 and thought that here was an area I could help someone in. If you need any help, PM me and I'll do my best.

[Amanda-Lise 0]

This is one of my biggest worries, premature maybe as we are just filing the I-129F on monday, but when it comes to my girls, Id like to ease them into the move as much as I can. We figure the waiting time could be used productively. My eldest daughter is going into grade 4 this fall, and my youngest into grade 1. Ronnie is looking into curriculum, just dont want to overload the kids on top of their canadian schooling until we get the visa. The map idea sounds like a fun way to learn though, will try that out!