Liz Perelstein, President of School Choice International, discusses how to choose the right international school for your children when posted abroad and what questions parents should consider when making such an important decision.

Introduction:

How can I get my child into the top school? The best school? The most challenging school? The one that my colleague’s children attend? How do I make sure my child can transition back into the home curriculum when we repatriate?

These are the questions that I hear daily from anxious parents, as much today as before the recession.

Moving is stressful, there’s no doubt about it. And as a child-centered generation of parents, we want to protect our children from adversity of any type. Just as we buckle them into seatbelts before driving and make sure they have on their bicycle helmets and sunscreen before playing outdoors, we want to control the school experience our children have abroad.

To many, if not most parents, choosing the right school is probably the most important factor in a relocation. And yet, the factors they look for in a new school rarely reflect their children as learners or even echo their own family values. Frightened by the little they know about the new country, often a new experience for highly educated and successful professionals, parents reach snap judgments based on word of mouth, stereotypes or assumptions, when these may have little or no relevance to their own child.

So how do you find the school that is right for a child?

It begins by looking inward, at your child, rather making the common mistake of starting with schools or homes. Does your child learn by doing, in a child-centered classroom, or by listening, with the teacher at the helm? Is she at her best with a great deal of external structure, or does he do better when he is given choices over activities? Does she ask the questions or answer them? Is he a risk taker or does he need extra encouragement in this area? Does she love and excel at music, drama or sport?

Moving is a fantastic opportunity for a family to re-evaluate a child’s past educational experiences and, based on a true understanding of who a child has become, to make the new international school one in which he or she will thrive, rather than simply survive.

What are the schooling options in your new location?

Families moving to a new culture often consider international schools that are either affiliated with their home country (national schools abroad), truly international schools such as those that offer the International Baccalaureate, or those which teach in the same language which is native to their children.

As expatriate packages become lump sum allowances and localization becomes prevalent, good local schools are an useful alternative especially in those countries where the language of instruction is the same as the home language.

Which school is the right school?

International families should take into account the mix of international children, and the extent to which the school is the center of the community.

Parents will want to know that teachers understand a child coming from a different curriculum, knowing how to challenge him when appropriate, or provide support when needed. What system do they have in place for integrating new children? What pastoral and academic support is available?

Logistics are also important for the journey time to school and the proximity of friends as well as the distance from your work.

While all schools put their best foot forward in their marketing materials, they also describe themselves as they wish to be portrayed. For example, a school that describes its facility in great detail is telling you something different from one that focuses first, and most importantly, on teaching respect and tolerance.

Start with their websites, and move on to visits; if you have the time, have your child spend a day at the school, A productive visit, should include speaking with administrators, teachers and students as well as classroom observation at various grade levels. No question is too silly to ask. If a question that is important to you alienates school personnel, you have simply learned that the school is not the right match for your child and family.

Remember, the unexpected may be a pleasant surprise, so be sure to expose yourselves to schools that you do not expect to like. Similar curriculum may make transitions easier, but it may not be the best learning environment for every child, and it may not offer the same learning opportunity as a new educational experience.

In almost all cases, children adjust easily both on the way over and on the way home, whilst we feel their pain. Even adversity can be a positive experience eventually. Children who experience loneliness learn to be independent, learn that they don’t have to follow the pack, and can develop a tremendous sense of self-confidence when they overcome obstacles, make new friends and integrate into their new school.

Make sure to think beyond the immediate hurdles of the transition to the long run, and you’ll be surprised at what a wonderful experience will be at your child’s door.

Bio:

Elizabeth Perelstein, President of School Choice International, is a seasoned educator who founded School Choice International as an expatriate in London over a decade ago. School Choice now has 90 consultants in 50 locations worldwide, throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.

In 2006, Liz co-founded the British International School of New York, the first British curriculum school in the New York metropolitan area. Prior to founding School Choice International, Liz was a teacher, an educational administrator, elected for two terms on a public board of education, and worked at all levels of education, from nursery school through university. Liz holds two Master’s Degrees in Educational Administration and Public Policy from the University of Chicago.

Her name has appeared in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and the Westchester Journal News. She is on the board of Families in Global Transition (FIGT) has spoken recently at the Deloitte client conferences in Hong Kong and Chicago, at the Employee Relocation Council Conference, and at the Global Society for Human Resource Management, and at FIGT.

Liz frequently writes and speaks on topics related to education, relocation, and women owned businesses.