Is That Legal?

Not exactly what you're looking for, probably, but Tim Dunlop, an Australian blogger over at The Road to Surfdom recently spent several years in the United States getting his Ph.D. At least one kid, I think.

OK, First, the ages are right. The earlyer you do it the more likeley they are to get the language and adapt quickley.

Just do it. Gobal boat kids, (kids who live on sailboats with their parents and travel around the world) turn out to be mature, balanced and way ahead of kids who don't travel.

Education is more general when young and gets more specilized as the child ages. At 9 and 11 things are still very generlized. At that age, Math is Math, all else is to develop anilitical and reading skills.

Try to make sure they spend a lot of time with local kids, not in some special school for Americans.

The "imagined logistical difficulties" are a lot less than you think. Make sure you and your kids shots are up to date and you get translation of the documents into local language.

Create structured time where they play with a GROUP of local kids. With play dates its the other kid meeting yours, with imersion into local groups, like a soccer team, it's your kid who is adapting.

Let them hang with the local kids.

Your kids won't learn language by osmosis, just like you dont get rich just because you shake the hand of a rich man. You need to have them in language classes or in a place that has some english. For example Norway has some English.

The real logistics are what to do with your US stuff, mail, credit card bills, etc. when you are overseas.

Do you keep stuff in storage? Sell or rent your place? Keep your US bank accounts? Run financil life in two places or just keep an account and line of credit in the US as backup. Do you have your mail go to your parents house? It's not the problem of being there, its the problem of what you still have here. (As little as possible) After all, you may stay two years, or ten.

The need for good schools is allways true, but a year out in the African bush with no school may teach your kid more.

Kids will follow your lead. If you intergrate with the local community then the kids will too. If you work for a US company, attend parties with other ex-pat's and hold the local culture at bay then they will too.

Kids learn all the time, it's biological. You dont need a school for that. Just make sure that the inviroment, every day, is intresting and chalanging. If they are spending a lot of the day with you, and you are interfacing with the locals, then so much the better.

It is unlikely that a year abroad will give your children lifelong fluency in another language (especially at their ages). That said, living abroad would certainly open their eyes, minds, and horizons in ways that living in America could not. They would also return with a new appreciation of home (ie. the mall, tv, the library). I would actually recommend they attend an International (English-speaking) or American school while abroad to reduce their stress, maintain their educational levels, and keep their social life. However, make it a point to join local sports teams or something else that increases their exposure to native-speaking peers. I am an American living in Switzerland and know tons of people who are doing this successfully (my daughter is only four, though). All these kids flourish (sometimes in surprising ways). Just do it. It will get harder to pull them away in just a few short years.

Do it. Don't even hesitate. The opportunities for your children (not to mention you and your wife) will be invaluable. Living abroad is one of the greatest experiences I think you can offer anyone. It truly opens your eyes to how myopic American life and culture is.

I wouldn't worry too much about the English-lanugage aspect. When I lived abroad back in the early 1980s, the Europeans didn't have 24 hour TV like the US did. They do now, and many of the programs are in English. (Not that you will want your children learning from the television.) I can tell you, however, that a year abroad did give my sister and me fluency in a foreign language that we both have retained.