Education in MENA

[Henia 11]

Hello/Esalaam/Salut

With school just around the corner ... everyone including us getting ready for "Back to School" ... But for us this year will different...actually very different. My daughter will attending school not in the US, but here in Algérie. We weighted all the options here including the local public school, where she would be with familar faces (family of my husband) and also the the King Faud school in Central Alger. But we finally decided that she will be attending an Algérien school, private one with scholarity as the its central focus. Curriculum is taught in French (my daughter knows no French) but of course since we are in Algérie, teaching "Islamic education" teaching the Sha'ria is required. The instructors have said that there are several foreign and melánge (mixed) children in the school so I should not worry, but they would not give me any references.

She has worked with tutors since arrival and interacted with the children here ... but still her skills are lacking. I feel really bad for her, as she never asked for this. Elhamdullah she is young, so excited about attending school and very adaptable.

My thread's topic would begin with that background info ... but go towards asking several questions including:

• If anyone here has taken their children to live in MENA (and esp if they attended the school) to share their experience. I have talked to several foreign women living here. And they have said positive things, but I doubt they would have shared any negatives anyway.
• If any teachers out there, have any comparative opinions or information to share about MENA education to education in the US (or even Europe). And/or the impact of starting education in one place, then relocating ... then locating back to the orginal spot (ie: after our enchallah approval ... returning to the US)
• And if any MENA people (orginally from MENA) would like to express any information wheither it be opinions, resources or really anything in regards to education.
• I am also looking into supplemental education (homeshooling) resources that are availible and inexpensive (possibly free) online, since I cannot just go out and pick up something. If anyone here has links to share....plz do!

Any and all thoughts and replies here are appreciated! Thank you! Choukran bezaf! Edited August 25, 2007 by Henia

[sarah and hicham 3]

Did your daughter want to move to Algeria and go to school there?

[sara535 15]

I considered moving to Morocco at one point with my son but the decent english language schools I found were pretty expensive and things didnt end up going in that direction anyway.

My main concern would be the language, I dont know how old exactly your daughter is but I think entering a school that is conducted in a language she doesnt know is handicapping her a little. You are probably right to think about at least supplementing her education at home. I wish I had some good websites to point you to but I dont, I know a couple of the MENA ladies are teachers so maybe they will chime in with some ideas

[doodlebug 3]

I could never move my kids to Egypt at the age their at now, plus I would never take them away from their dad since he's thankfully so involved with them. I know your situation is different though.

Could you perhaps homeschool her or will you be working? I think if I were in your situation I would totally opt for homeschooling and then make sure she interacts with kids on certain days of the week. I know here that the kids that homeschool all belong to a little group and they go on field trips together, etc. I think at least for the first year that would be a good way to ease her in. Also if this is gonna be a year where you live 1/2 there and 1/2 in the US it would be an optimal situation since her curiculum would stay constant as well as her teacher There's tons of websites out there where you can order books to help you and I'm sure there's a ton of message boards out there for moms and dads helping each other out.

[Henia 11]

Did your daughter want to move to Algeria and go to school there?

It was our choice. Not hers. But she is not old enough to make choices. But yet she is happy to be here.

But I was not searching for smart ### replies or what people would not do. I was seeking sincere replies, resources and info.

Edited August 26, 2007 by Henia

[aya*abouelnasr 0]

I thought long and hard about this also. My children are in the 5 and 6 grade classes in school, and I had seriously considered moving to Jordan to wait out our immigration. The fact that the English speaking schools are so darned expensive there, and my sons don't speak Arabic, made me decide to come back home. I think the idea of sending her to school AND homeschooling her along with it is a good idea, especially in light of the fact that she may be returning to the schools here mid term or so. I know here in Michigan you can actually purchase school books from the schools directly, or at least you can in the school system my children are in. I wonder if you could find out from someone who's children would go to school here if that is an option? I know your daughter is younger than my children, but what a fantastic opportunity to learn another language!

[Carolyn 1]

I think that your daughter will have an amazing educational experience. I have several friends that have grown up living with their families to different countries (parents were diplomats, or on business tranfers) and they are wonderful, well-rounded, open-minded and multi-lingual people.

My college roommate went to kindergarten in Belgium (classes were in Flemish and French), returned to the US for the next eight or nine years, then finished up her last 3 years of high school again in Belgium. She loved it.

A fellow teacher spent almost his entire growing up years in Colombia and Guatemala. His Spanish is impeccable, and he has a great ability to deal with people from all sorts of backgrounds.

Of course you will need some resources...I know how difficult it can be to find English language literature in Morocco, so I imagine that teaching materials are less than readily available in Algeria. I'm a teacher, but I teach in a high school, so I don't think my materials would be so helpful. I do, however, teach MANY ELL students (English language learners), so I have some idea of what you are going through.

Take a deep breath and trust yourself that you will do the best you can to educate your daughter. Remember: skills are skills, no matter the language. Help her to comprehend and decode in English at home, and she will be able to transfer those skills easily to another language at school (of course she will be confused and frustrated at first--expect this!--but she will learn quickly if she knows the skill in her native language, English). If you have convenient internet access, I'm sure you will be able to find all kinds of appropriate lessons online. Let me know if you need to have a contact with a family that has home-schooled here in the US.

Bissalama,

Carolyn

[aya*abouelnasr 0]

http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/

Henia, I looked at this site and it had some really helpful hints, IMO. I thought to myself, Hey, this would be good for my sons to do at home! LOL Hope it helps you out some in deciding to homeschool also.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Did your daughter want to move to Algeria and go to school there?

It was our choice. Not hers. But she is not old enough to make choices. But yet she is happy to be here.

But I was not searching for smart ### replies or what people would not do. I was seeking sincere replies, resources and info.

Henia- that was NOT a smart ### reply. My question was sincere and I was just wondering if she wanted to go, that's all. Gosh.

[sandinista! 1,816]

Did your daughter want to move to Algeria and go to school there?

It was our choice. Not hers. But she is not old enough to make choices. But yet she is happy to be here.

But I was not searching for smart ### replies or what people would not do. I was seeking sincere replies, resources and info.

Henia- that was NOT a smart ### reply. My question was sincere and I was just wondering if she wanted to go, that's all. Gosh.

one would think that all this would be something planned for WELL BEFORE moving a child to algeria in the first place. at the very least, bringing as much supplemental home-schooling stuff in the child's predominantly used language with you anyways, since one cannot "just go out and pick up something." it's depressing how much of an afterthought some people's children are to them.

most of the replies here-"yeah go for it, wow, it will be such an awesome experience for her!" (because someone relaying wonderful experiences in belgium, colombia and guatemala are so relevant to algeria) are applicable only if large sums of cash are invested in said education overseas. otherwise, not so great esp. with such gaping language barriers.

[Aymerlu 3]

My husband worked in an international school in Egyptand taught elementary students from all countries. He said most kids surprisingly adapt very well to changes like your daughter and just to be involved in her schooling as much as possible and she will do fine.

[sandinista! 1,816]

My husband worked in an international school in Egyptand taught elementary students from all countries. He said most kids surprisingly adapt very well to changes like your daughter and just to be involved in her schooling as much as possible and she will do fine.

were the children there taught in a language they spoke and understood?

[Jenn! 918]

I worked at an American International school in Italy, where curriculum was in English. I worked with a lot of kids whose families were in Italy temporarily, and they would attend the school for a year or two, until the family moved back or moved on. Quite often these kids spoke neither English nor Italian, and I would work with them on their English skills during the time that their classmates were in Italian class or arts/athletics.

To be honest, I'd say that the majority of these students had a pretty rough time. They fell behind quickly in all subject areas. Although they would eventually get to the point where their English skills were decent, by that time, they were behind in the subject material and were constantly playing catch up. This was more apparent in the later grades, i.e. middle school and above. And this was even with special ESL instruction during school time.

Now there were exceptions. There was one Korean student who came to the school in grade 6, and he achieved English fluency with almost no detectable accent within 6 months and was able to proceed with the material at his grade level. I believe this kid was receiving instruction in Korean at home in order to keep up with material so that once his English was up to par, he knew what was going on during class.

I'm pretty sure that kids that went to the school for one or two years had a good amount of catching up to do when they returned to their home countries. Kids that came into the school with no English, but were at the school permanently would be able to catch up and be on par with their classmates after a few years. In other words, I don't think it's likely that putting a child in a school where the instruction is in a foreign language will not have negative effects on his progress.

In order to make the best of the situation, I do think that there must be a great deal of instruction at home in the child's native language. That way she can not fall behind with the material, and focus her school-time efforts on learning the language. Do you know what kind of programs, if any, they have at the school to accommodate non-French speaking students? Are there "French as a second language" classes that they pull students out of their regular classes for?

Edited August 26, 2007 by jenn3539

[Jenn! 918]

I wanted to add that you should look into getting a copy of the curriculum in your U.S. school district for the grades which your daughter will be missing. I don't know anything specifically about curriculum in Algeria, but I would imagine that there are significant differences. You will want to make sure that she's keeping up with U.S. requirements, since these will be the expectations of her knowledge when you return to the U.S.

Ideally, you could purchase the texts that her peers back in the U.S. would be using, however that could be quite expensive. There are so many resources on the internet nowadays, and it won't require too much effort to find instructional aides to address the various standards in the U.S. curriculum, even from Algeria.

[Henia 11]

Did your daughter want to move to Algeria and go to school there?

It was our choice. Not hers. But she is not old enough to make choices. But yet she is happy to be here.

But I was not searching for smart ### replies or what people would not do. I was seeking sincere replies, resources and info.

Henia- that was NOT a smart ### reply. My question was sincere and I was just wondering if she wanted to go, that's all. Gosh.

one would think that all this would be something planned for WELL BEFORE moving a child to algeria in the first place. at the very least, bringing as much supplemental home-schooling stuff in the child's predominantly used language with you anyways, since one cannot "just go out and pick up something." it's depressing how much of an afterthought some people's children are to them.

most of the replies here-"yeah go for it, wow, it will be such an awesome experience for her!" (because someone relaying wonderful experiences in belgium, colombia and guatemala are so relevant to algeria) are applicable only if large sums of cash are invested in said education overseas. otherwise, not so great esp. with such gaping language barriers.

Sarah: Sorry your comment sounded sarcastic. Sorry sometimes it is happened to understand thing on the Net. I do apologise.

Ta me go hiontach: This has been thought over and planned well. I have brought many materials with me. Including all the books I found at Walmart, Kmart and Borders. But I still feel it is lacking. I am just a worry wort at heart.

Tammy: Thanks Tammy for the link. Checking it now...

Carolyn: We are sure hoping it will be a great experience. She has adjusted very well so far to the new enviroment, people and lifestyle. I know I grew up in a multi-langual family... and it is helped me in my adult life.

Jenn: I appreciate your input since you are a teacher and have taught aboard. resources are very limited here for non-Arabe and French speaking people. My husband does have 2 middle school teachers who are tutoring her. As well a high school aged girl I am paying. My husband works with her in Mathematics as he is a profi in finance. I am the one doing the English (and other lang) part.

There is a Saudi school in the capital called King Faud school which my husband was pushing... since they do deal with the majority of fforeign children in Alger. Teach in English as well as classical Arabe. Buuut we just do not agree with their mentality. Sooo that is out.

I wanted to add that you should look into getting a copy of the curriculum in your U.S. school district for the grades which your daughter will be missing. I don't know anything specifically about curriculum in Algeria, but I would imagine that there are significant differences. You will want to make sure that she's keeping up with U.S. requirements, since these will be the expectations of her knowledge when you return to the U.S.

Ideally, you could purchase the texts that her peers back in the U.S. would be using, however that could be quite expensive. There are so many resources on the internet nowadays, and it won't require too much effort to find instructional aides to address the various standards in the U.S. curriculum, even from Algeria.

Would I be able to find this online per chance? Thank you...