How to help kids settle in a new country

It’s hard moving to a new country, finding new jobs, making new friends and having to adapt to a completely different culture.  As a child, you experience all of these changes and problems but at an age where you are far less emotionally and mentally equipped to deal with them. However, with the support and help of mum and dad, these challenges can be quickly overcome opening up a whole new world of experiences.

A lot of children's issues are very similar to the ones that we as adults have, the difference being that they are expressed in a much more public and much more stubborn manner. The first of these, is the concern over making friends. In reality, it is likely to be much easier for them to make friends than it is for you but just telling kids this doesn't provide much comfort! One way of helping them make friends more quickly is to enroll them in any summer school or summer camp programs that may be offered by the school itself. Obviously this only applies to those individuals who move outside of term time but by doing this, you will give them the opportunity to make friends in a more fun environment so that when they do start school they may already know a few people or at the very least recognise a few faces.

Regardless of the local culture and language, engaging your children in sport or other clubs will allow them to have fun whilst also meeting new, like-minded children as well. This could be done outside in one of the clubs or activity groups but it would be much better for the child if it could be done through school in order to make new friends there. There will almost definitely be various different after school clubs available so when you’re signing up for the school, ask about what programs they have and enroll your children into them starting as soon as possible. Short term your children may not thank you for asking them to stay longer at school but long term, when they’re asking if their friends can come round for hot dogs and football, they will do!

You may want your child to maintain their current interests, language and general cultural attitudes but it’s also important that they try and integrate into the local community. The immediate effect of this will be that they feel more comfortable in their surroundings and will make friends much more easily.  Further down the line the benefits will continue as they will grow up with an understanding of both languages and cultures, assets that will be an advantage to them whatever path they choose to follow in life.