What is Right for Your Kid

Being a military family over here in the UK we have some decisions to make when it comes to schooling. These decisions will not just affect our years here in the UK, but will affect our children's lives once we move back to the States. One route to go is to put your child in DoD (Department of Defense) schools. The other route is to use the UK school system. We chose to use the UK school system. There were many reasons for our decision. The first is that the UK schools are extremely structured. With LaLa being the type of hypersensitive child she is, the stability of the school's schedule and the year round schooling was important to me. The school she attends is also within walking distance of my house. This was important to me in case of car failure. My husband has got to go to work one way or another and I have to get LaLa to school one way or another, this way if one of the cars dies I don't have to 1) wake up ridiculously early to take him to work 2) get the kids up in the middle of the night to pick their dad up from work. We can just walk if all else fails. We know that their will be some adjustments to be made once we get back to the States such as making her drop the u's out of the word colour and that tire is not spelled tyre. Overall they are minor adjustments that we think she will make with ease when she is a bit older. Another reason?

UNICEF rankings of educational systems in the world's richest countries, indicating the percentage of 14 and 15 year olds scoring below a minimum level in literacy, math and science.
1. South Korea 1.4 percent
2. Japan 2.2
3. Finland 4.4
4. Canada 5
5. Australia 6.2
6. Austria 8.2
7. Britain 9.4
8. Ireland 10.2
9. Sweden 10.8
10. Czech Republic 12.2
- (tie) New Zealand 12.2
12. France 12.6
13. Switzerland 13
14. Belgium 14
- (tie) Iceland 14
16. Hungary 14.2
- (tie) Norway 14.2
18. United States 16.2
19. Germany 17
- (tie) Denmark 17
21. Spain 18.6
22. Italy 20.2
23. Greece 23.2
24. Portugal 23.6

I have however ran into some American parents at LaLa's school who are pulling their children out of this school once they are old enough to attend the American DoD elementary school next year. Although that is completely their decision, I don't understand putting the child into British schools to start with, and then moving them to an American school. The teaching methods in British schools are extremely different than in American schools and it just seems like it is going to be confusing to the kids. For instance in British schools when children are learning their alphabet, they learn the sounds the letters make as opposed to the names of the letters. The names of the letters are mentioned of course, but not emphasised like in American schools. This actually lead to my friend Domino's little boy to be extremely confused when he first entered British schools, but now he is straightened out and is caught up to his class and excelling.

I asked one of the American parents why he was moving his kid out of the British school and I got the most ridiculous answer. "Well he has to learn the Pledge of Allegiance somewhere." Now while I agree that learning the Pledge is important to Americans, I don't know if it is a reason I would move my kid out of a school. This is something you could teach your kid at home. Also if you are worried that they won't have the "typical American experience" of saying the Pledge at the beginning of the school day, remember, they are young enough that by the time you return to the States they will still get this experience when you return.

Now, if the DoD schools were better than British schools I would move LaLa. However, I have heard some iffy reviews of the school. Whereas I have seen the progress that LaLa is making here in her English school. She is sounding out words, adding, and becoming quite the little artest. I can't argue with results. She is happy. She loves going to school. She is learning. I see no reason to pull her out of this school, even if she isn't learning the Pledge of Allegiance. That is what Mommy and Daddy are for at home.