Transition to US School

[hankster]

Hey everybody,

My 13 year old stepson will be coming to USA with his mom (K3/4) fairly soon, I hope.

He is an outgoing young man, tall for Chinese, and with a good sense of humor.

He is athletic, and makes good grades in his Shenzhen school.

He speaks, reads and writes English fairly well and is taking weekly private English lessons.

Can any of the CFL family relate their experiences regarding how their Chinese children adapted to US schools and curriculum?

Also, Any advice concerning school documentation, transcripts, translations needed etc will be appreciated.

 

Thanks…..

Hank

[egolessvegan]

Hey everybody,

My 13 year old stepson will be coming  to USA with his mom (K3/4) fairly soon, I hope. 

He is an outgoing young man, tall for  Chinese, and with a good sense of humor. 

He is athletic, and makes good grades in his Shenzhen school. 

He speaks, reads and writes English fairly well and is taking weekly private English lessons. 

Can any of the CFL family relate their experiences regarding how their Chinese children adapted to US schools and curriculum?

Also, Any advice concerning school documentation, transcripts, translations needed etc will be appreciated.

 

Thanks…..

Hank

232350[/snapback]

Our 2 children have adapted very well to US schooling. However, all school systems are different and that could be the determining factor. Here in Jupiter there are very strong ESL programs within the curriculum.

That is a major factor.

 

Based on the description of your son, he should fare quite well.

 

Ken

[Tine & Ella]

Hank,

 

I think your stepson will do well here in US schools. This will be Kelly's 4th year here and will start Jr.Hi in a few weeks. See was a little shy at first but now you can't her to shut up. She hardley has any accent now. See is A-B student and excels in math and english. First year here they worked with english 30 min. each day and after that she was tested and was up to speed or above average in reading and comp.

 

Tine

[Guest pushbrk]

Hey everybody,

My 13 year old stepson will be coming  to USA with his mom (K3/4) fairly soon, I hope. 

He is an outgoing young man, tall for  Chinese, and with a good sense of humor. 

He is athletic, and makes good grades in his Shenzhen school. 

He speaks, reads and writes English fairly well and is taking weekly private English lessons. 

Can any of the CFL family relate their experiences regarding how their Chinese children adapted to US schools and curriculum?

Also, Any advice concerning school documentation, transcripts, translations needed etc will be appreciated.

 

Thanks?.

Hank

232350[/snapback]

My step-daughter will be a senior in high school. I've spoken to the registration office at the school in preparation for her August arrival.

 

She'll need the required vaccinations, which we'll get at the County Health department upon her arrival.

 

Once she dropped out of her school in China, we requested a transcript and took it to be translated. The US school will need this to determine her placement and credits for graduation. Fortunately she left school at the end of the semester, June 30.

[Dean Hall]

My son came here at the age of 14.

 

He had very little English, but despite starting 9th grade with no English, he will graduate in 4 years with his class.

 

He has loved school from day one, and tell's his mom he's never going back to China except to visit.

 

However, a word of warning. As Pushbrk mentioned, it is most likely that the school will require immunizations. In our case, this was done by the Health Dept. All of our other medical work does not count. They want there own medical before being allowed in school.

 

Here's where you need to be careful. Health Service determined that he did not have all the innoculations that he should. They gave the correct shots. However, some of the shots were multiple, and spanned a six week period. Had we not got right on it as soon as I brought him here in June, he would not have been allowed in school until the series was finished.

 

My point is, it's tempting to do all the fun stuff as soon as they get here, but you need to get with the medical and ESL people as soon as they get here and are rested.

 

Finally, every state is different. Pushbrk has already worked a deal with their high school. In our state, it does'nt work that way. The ESL program within the State tests the students, regardless of their China placement or accredidation, and it is the ESL program which determines where they start school. I had made arrangements with them for testing before his arrival.

 

Every place is a little different, so I suggest you start talking to your school now.

 

Dean

[hankster]

Thanks for sharing your first hand experiences. This is precisely why CFL is so helpful to me.

 

Thanks again, egolessvegan, Tine & Ella, pushbrk, and Dean Hall.

 

 

Hank

[esun41]

Our kids really flourished when they went to school in California. Other states schools may not be the same as California but the social experience itself will be a big benefit. The children seem to adapt more quickly than the adults although my kids are not young (15 and 18) Jack is going for 1 more year to finish and have a High School diploma and Lulu will be in the 11th grade.

 

The good thing about smaller schools is that there is not such politics because it boils down to be about the kids education... (My opinion)