How well are your K2s adapting to the US? Are they treated in school?

[Myn4kix 12]

Our petition includes my fiancés children, a boy 14 and a girl 12. Their English is limited. My question is for others who brought K2s to the US. How well are they accepted by others in school and by neighbourhood children?

[Milmauka 80]

Well if you start having trouble, bring them to Honolulu, Hawaii.  The largest high school in the state, students wise.  Where over half the students are Filipino, and half of them are immigrants.  No acceptance problem here.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Milmauka

[demortis1968 21]

When my daughter arrived here in the states, she had no problem.  I would suggest to see if your local schools have a ESL classes.  (English Second Language)  It was required for her to enroll in these classes.  It helped her alot.

[jskibo 588]

When my step daughter started school she had an extra ESL class, basically 1 on1 class while rest of class was doing other things.  This was grades K-2. She won’t need it for grade 3 as she’s now at the same level as the class.  

[sbarbie1914 22]

I am glad someone out there is asking that question.  My husband is immigrating with his two boys, ages 7 and 11 years old.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of input from VJ members bringing kids, both during the process and afterwards.  It would be nice if we could keep this thread going with experiences and suggestions.

 

ESL class is mandatory where my kids will be going to school.  We also live in a school district with the most minority students, 6-8% Latino, which is not much but hopefully they will have other kids to speak Spanish with, that is if school restarts.

[tomigaoka 8]

My kids came here 6 and 10 and "no ENGLISH at all". I remember my VERY SHY 10 year old at first had a hard time with his English homework. I did not help him and he never attend any ESL or special classes then later graduated belonging at the top of his class & now guess what totally americanize lol.. Kidding aside, I say don't worry about it, "normal" kids at those ages will easily adjust and adapt and I'm pretty sure they will be accepted and will gain new friends unless the kids are a jerk which i doubt. Remember this, at any school here there will always be newcomer or new immigrant that just arrived yesterday so its the norm.

Edited June 25, 2020 by tomigaoka

[NoMansLand2020 298]

Hopefully won't be too much of an adjustment. My fiancée has a 4 and 6 year old. They speak some English. More so now that I am in the picture. 

[John & Rose 7,239]

My step daughter came with OK English skills.  She was tested and made it to the grade she expected (junior in HS).  They had special classes to help with English and math since math in the Philippines is just "math".  She was tested in algebra and geometry and tested great.  She started Trigonometry and it was old stuff she learned in the Philippines.  She was very advanced in Math and they didn't know what to do with her.  There aren't a lot of Filipinos in the school but they do offer the calendars and paperwork in Tagalog.  She fit in quickly and made lots of friends.  They were mostly Mexican and they had fun learning each others languages.  She is a solid B+ student and should graduate next May.