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Tring
Newbie
Joined: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 3
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Sep 15, 2004 - 08:40 PM |
 
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| Post subject: Life in Shanghai with middle school kids |
I wrote asking about International schools and received some feedback. But I have notice in watching this forum that is seems many (coud I say a majority) of the families seems to have younger kids. My kids are 8/10/12. What do you think life will be like for middle age kids who are pretty sporty, but also curious about Asia (they were born in Taiwan and Hong Kong x2). I know many of the schools are full right now, but ther than school life what can we expect? We will take Mandarin and travel on vacation breaks, but what about day to day "fun?
When we lived in Taiwan we had a ball, but we were just married no kids for ayear and then only 1 kids for a year. Any thoughts? |
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margarita
Reacher
Joined: July 13, 2004
Posts: 291
Status: Offline
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Sep 15, 2004 - 11:34 PM |
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tnmom
LoopKicker
Joined: Mar 04, 2004
Posts: 923
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
Sep 16, 2004 - 08:37 AM |
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I think that middle school kids are at a perfect age for expat living anywhere - old enough to not need childcare, to go on fantastic school trips, to have some independence, but young enough that you don't have to worry about drinking and partying in a foreign country! It's a great age for them to be in an international setting and shape their world view for the rest of their lives.
We've only been in Shanghai for a few months, so I didn't answer your question about the schools. We are happy with SAS so far. My 15 year old is involved in many after school activities: touch rugby, running club, community service, and she is on a week long trip to northern China this week with the entire 10th grade. She had to give up a lot in coming here, but has adjusted very well. My 13 year old has a very international set of friends and plans to join the school soccer and basketball teams later in the year - for middle school it's a "no-cut/everyone plays" program. My 10 year old has also found international friends = both in school and in our neighborhood and plays outside after school every day just like she did in the US, but with kids from all over the world.
On the weekends we do family activites and outings and attend church on Sundays. We seem to do more together as a family than we did in the US. It's similar to when we lived in Europe when the kids were younger - we went through a process where we had to define what was important to our family vs. the world around us which was suddenly very different. |
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ChinaCat
Newbie
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: 5
Status: Offline
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Sep 16, 2004 - 09:15 AM |
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| Post subject: Homeschooling in China |
Hi - I have a 12 year old. (also, 14, 16, 1 . We homeschool. It is far-less expensive than the schools here and we find it to be the perfect fit for getting an education and enjoying the cultural experience. We are not set to a public school schedule and can travel whenever we want - we just take our books with us! In fact our homeschooling group is going on an overnight trip in October to a city four hours away. We love travelling when everybody else is at work or school  It is less crowded.
There are plenty of extra-curricular opportunities here for children who want to do sports, dance, language, music. My 12 year old is taking piano and guitar, and is involved in our homeschooling support group. She is quite happy.
If I can answer any questions please feel free to email me.
Ewema@aol.com
Catherine |
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