Moving states a few times with school-aged kids

[hagel]

I'm interested to learn about peoples experiences who while growing up moved states a few times with their parents or who are parents that have moved around with their kids.

Was it a positive or negative experience?

Experiences gained or lost?

I've met a couple of people who travelled extensively when they were kids. Their experiences were negative as they were never in a place long enough to establish long-term friendships which impacted on them as adults.

I don't want to travel extensively though, probably just twice during their schooling years. I realise each state is a bit different education wise but I think it would be a great experience for them.

 

[ianvestor]

I've been to about 10-12 schools, some schools on more than one occassion. I actually lost count so I'm not sure of the number.

My family was always torn between a) QLD and NSW, and b) city and country (More specifically, my dad was a city guy who married a country girl).

At about year 10 (about 15 years old), I went to the same highschool for a few years straight, so I've kind of had both experiences.

Oh, mix that in with a lot of home-schooling, but that's potentially another topic.

Overall I'd say the negative is having to make new friends every 6 months, and the positive is... having to make new friends every 6 months. All-in-all there have been no negative impacts on my education.

Looking back I had an awesome upbringing, with fond memories of being packed up to the eye-balls in the Tarago (lots of siblings) and hitting the road.

One thing that is foreign to me is the concept of a 'home'. Eg, some people refer to the "home they grew up in". Well, since that for me was 20-30 different rental properties, I've never had that kind of long-term connection with a house or street as many of my friends have.

-Ian

Edit: Forgot to mention, the majority of the friends of have today were made after finishing school during leisure time; I don't really see school friends at all, but I don't see anything negative about that.

 

[hagel]

My family was always torn between a) QLD and NSW, and b) city and country (More specifically, my dad was a city guy who married a country girl).

So who one?

I'd love to hear your homeschool experiences also. I heard some fantastic stories from a lady who would travel around Aus for a year at a time and homeschool. She Was a school teacher though, so she had an advantage.

 

[Amadio]

If you are going to move around a lot with children, homeschooling is the way to go. We travelled between California and Australia so much, sometimes twice a year for 2 decades, so it was just easier to homeschool the kids. Worked well - they both ended up going to Uni in Australia. One looks back passionately in favour of homeschooling, the other would have liked a more competitive environment than what h/s offers.

 

[ianvestor]

So who one?

I'd love to hear your homeschool experiences also. I heard some fantastic stories from a lady who would travel around Aus for a year at a time and homeschool. She Was a school teacher though, so she had an advantage.

I'll come back to this thread later tonight, but for now just a quick post.

Both my parents won... They are divorced now and Dad lives Brisbane, while Mum is a travelling hippy staying mostly in (what I'd call) remote areas. Best outcome for everyone.

My view of home-schooling is that it is very academic, and that causes some people to think it's a better education, forgetting that a good education also includes what to wear, how to be cool, teenage slang, who not to rat out to the principal, etc. In year 6 home-schooling I was pretty much at a year 8 level, however when I fronted up to a real school in year 10, I was sadly lacking in other areas. ie. Not cool or fashionable at all, which can be distressing for a 15-year-old. Luckily though I was a fast learner

Moderation is good. I'm glad I wasn't 100% home-schooled, and I'm also glad I wasn't 0% home-schooled.

-Ian

 

[lizzie]

as a parent moving from large city in nsw to small town in sa and back in a period of 10months was very frustrated with juniors kinder year.

the education levels and systems were so different - in nsw all kids who are around the age of 5 start at the beginning of the year - junior started at 4yr10mths (nsw have a separate program called early starters for mid year babies), in sth aust kids start on their 5th birthday. it was frustrating because we moved mid year - junior was up to sums and high reading (for her age), yet every week or two the teacher would get a new kid in who couldn't even spell their name ... so the whole class was held back. the teacher just didn't have time to stretch herself between all the different levels of requirement.

by the end of the year she was only up to work in sth aust that she had been doing 6 mths earlier in nsw - so was bored and playing up. then when worked moved us back to nsw, she was struggling for the first 6 months playing catchup.

i also didn't like it that she'd have to make new friends at each school and leave her old ones (preschool, kinder nsw, kinder sa, yr1 nsw).

not a good experience - she's in a brilliant school here so i'm determined she stay put for at least a few years unless work moves us again!

 

[wobbycarly]

I went to 4 different primary schools and 3 different high schools. I HATED it!

Not one for making friends easily anyway, it didn't teach me how to, and always being the new kid was horrible. (Especially when Mum made me wear my "old" green school uniform jumper at the "new" school which was maroon jumpers!)

But some kids thrive - I didn't. I'm still scarred, I think!

 

[65fbk]

I went to 4 different primary schools and 3 different high schools. I HATED it!

Not one for making friends easily anyway, it didn't teach me how to, and always being the new kid was horrible. (Especially when Mum made me wear my "old" green school uniform jumper at the "new" school which was maroon jumpers!)

But some kids thrive - I didn't. I'm still scarred, I think!

I went to 6 schools in 12 years and feel exactly the same. I was quite clever at school, so that wasn't a problem, but being the 'new kid' is not nice.
Kids can be nasty critters and its not easy to break into the existing groups and make new friends.

 

[Nards]

I went to a few different primary schools in WA and QLD, and I don't remember it bothering me...I remember making good friends at all the schools I went to, and my parents tell me I was pretty devastated to leave the latest best friend, but I dont really recall it, so obviously I havent' been adversely affected!

I do recall there being pretty big differences in the way things were taught (like handwriting for example), but seem to have coped ok. There were also lots of funny language differences - like in QLD a school bag is called a "port". Took me a few days to work out what they were all talking about!

I am glad I had the experience of living in different places and seeing other parts of Australia while I was still a child.

I did however go to the same highschool for the 5yrs, and I am grateful for that..having a good, supportive group of friends in high-school is like an armour!

We have moved a bit in the last couple of years and our 6yr old is about to go to her 3rd school (and she is 6)..she seemed to have coped just fine, and makes friends wherever she goes...I can imagine there are some kids who aren't quite so confident who might struggle.

Nadia

 

[lizzie]

i do also suspect it has something to do with gender ... girls tend to be more clique-y and policitiking at school (even in lower primary ), so breaking into a new group of girls, and being the new girl, can be very very hard.

i assume - but might be wrong, having had only girls - that it might be a bit easier for boys as they can just run out and join a game of scoccer etc to be part of the pack.

 

[wobbycarly]

i assume - but might be wrong, having had only girls - that it might be a bit easier for boys as they can just run out and join a game of scoccer etc to be part of the pack.

Unless you're a nerd and not into sports... and this was in the days before computers were cool!

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

I don't want to travel extensively though, probably just twice during their schooling years. I realise each state is a bit different education wise but I think it would be a great experience for them.

Is this travel on a 'want to' or 'need to' basis? If it's the former, I think you should reconsider.

 

[Mooze]

My experience was across two countries so a bit different.

Moved to US in mid year 7 (so went straight into year 8 there). Not a good year as was last year of their junior high - cliques already fully formed etc. Also I'd just started at a selective high school in Australia six months earlier (no one else from my primary went there) so two big changes in a few months - was not a happy girl.

Also got to the point where whilst I knew Australia was home, I didn't have the strong connections that you get in HS (or even just via parents/family friends). Made it all rather hard as you don't have the support networks in place that are developed over the years.

 

[hagel]

Is this travel on a 'want to' or 'need to' basis? If it's the former, I think you should reconsider.

It's kind of a selfish need. I'm from Qld, been living in WA for 11 years. Badly miss my family. Had serious health issues last year and health still being reviewed. I'm unsure if I'm even allowed to fly at present. Their will be some familiarity in Qld as I have friends and family with kids and a couple of friends who have kids at the same school I'll be sending them to. I'm prepared to put in a huge effort to help them adjust as I'm not working. Help out at the school, organise plays, sus out potential friends.

I've already changed my daughters school once, which was really difficult for her to adjust so I realise there will be some challenges. My kids are adventurous though so I think that may in part enjoy the different scenery. I have promised also if they weren't happy after a year we would come back.

My son isn't sporty so I can relate to some of the above posts. (wobbycarly's post) The sporty kids do tend to click easier.

 

[our obsession]

I'm interested to learn about peoples experiences who while growing up moved states a few times with their parents or who are parents that have moved around with their kids.

Yes, (as a child myself), moved about 9 times...and some of that interstate.



Was it a positive or negative experience?

It had it's pros and cons, for me, personally I enjoyed it, it probably instilled the (later) desire to travel/experience overseas. I enjoyed the different physical scenery, from desert country, to ocean seaside living, to mountains, from rural and quite isolated to city life..admittedly a school change of initially 200children to a school of 2000(ish) children was a bit of adjustment, I did get lost at times..

By that I mean just sheer logistics of navigating my way around. Oops, where's the new kid? Wrong class, wrong room...oops again...where is that damn locker!

I loved the new libraries, loved my athletics, running and hockey, I didn't have difficulty making (a few) new friends, and some of those are still in my quality world-lifelong friendships. Having said that I'm not exactly a social butterfly type, not a small talk, chatter type, but I think it helps I just like people.

Plus, I could mix it with boys, kicking football or girl adventures too..It didn't matter the gender, there is always something interesting to do, explore or play at..

I have always enjoyed school/the education system, learning...it's a passion, always was, always will be..there are some children that our school system does not bring the best out of however, it is not necessarily structured one size fits all.

My younger sister, very much a different personality to myself, found "change/shifting" more challenging. Although her schoolwork was always at good levels. That was a bit sad to see her struggle emotionally with it all for a while, eventually she made some good buddies and had fun.

Experiences gained or lost?

Gained, shifting into Port Fairy,Warrnambool and Apollo Bay, near Christies Beach for example, was fantastic, surf, learning to surf, going out on the Port Fairy cray fishing boats, hunting eels at twilight, riding horses through sand dunes, going down to Port Fairy wharf to pick up our Friday night order of (fresh) fish and chips, doing the Moyne bike ride around the historic cottages/buildings, fishing in the rivers and creeks...meeting, experiencing different cultures/nationalities, my first real, dinky di job, was for a German guy married to a Japanese lady, I adored them...I am someone that adapts well and embraces change, but not everyone is like that, and that is okay.

I've met a couple of people who travelled extensively when they were kids. Their experiences were negative as they were never in a place long enough to establish long-term friendships which impacted on them as adults

I think there are lots of things that impact upon our lives, perhaps especially as children, however we have the power of choice within ourselves for how to react...deal with any of that stuff...remember the late and great Viktor Frankl...

“The last of human freedoms - the ability to chose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.”

~Viktor Frankl

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[Deena]

I was very shy as a child, shifted up north in primary school and did adjust. In high school shifted again back to the city, and shifted twice in one year, affected me greatly, suffered with detrimental effects on my grades and still think it was a bad move on my parents part, lol they had no choice with my dads work.

I changed my kids schools from public education to private, the kids hated it and it took them a few years to settle down, from small country town to city. My daughter now reflects it was the best move I made for her. My son hated the new school especially going from the public system to private, so last year shifted him to yet another school and back to the public system which he loves.

I think it does depend on personality and they do adjust even when they protest greatly. You have to do what is right for you.

 

[ianvestor]

I'll come back to this thread later tonight, but for now just a quick post.

Whoops, after posting that my wife and I went on a very spontaneous road trip for 5 days with no laptop just for fun. Is that ontopic or offtopic?

I guess it brings up a point; if you're going to be travelling, I think it's good to give your kids a bit of notice before moving to the next destination. Don't be too spontaneous!

 

[INVSTOR]

Ianvestor and other homeschooled people - Homeschooling for 6 months - what do you think of that? 2nd part of the year.

Year 2 and year 5. thanks. L

 

[Amadio]

Ianvestor and other homeschooled people - Homeschooling for 6 months - what do you think of that? 2nd part of the year.

Year 2 and year 5. thanks. L

Are you travelling for that 6 months? If so, it would be a big adventure. However, it you just decide to take them out of school for that amount of time there isn't much point.

Homeschooling doesn't usually occur in isolation - our kids were part of a large community of families who also homeschooled.

Ultimately, imo, the social environment for a child is more important than the academic environment.

 

[ianvestor]

Ultimately, imo, the social environment for a child is more important than the academic environment.

Definitely.

If you're going to take them out of school, make sure you have a good reason, other than just to homeschool them for the sake of it.