{"id":5683,"date":"2016-08-31T15:38:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T15:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=5683"},"modified":"2016-09-03T10:21:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T10:21:57","slug":"many-teachers-choose-raise-kids-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/many-teachers-choose-raise-kids-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Many Teachers Choose To Raise Their Kids Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was a kid, three of my closest friends went off the rails.\u00a0 They ended up in prison.\u00a0 In each case, they apprenticed with a bit of shoplifting.\u00a0 Things went downhill from there.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t grow up in a bad neighborhood.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t all sugar and lollipops.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why my mom didn\u2019t work when I was young.\u00a0 She stayed home.\u00a0 She wanted to give my brothers, my two sisters and me stability in a world that wasn\u2019t stable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"family<\/a><\/p>\n

My mom was careful with money.\u00a0 My dad was a mechanic.\u00a0 They had four kids.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I was surprised when my parents asked if I wanted to take trip around the Mediterranean Sea with a bunch of other 7<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> grade students.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll take a part-time job to cover the cost,\u201d said my mom.\u00a0 \u201cBut you have to save at least $350.\u201d\u00a0 It was 1982.\u00a0 I was a 12-year old with a paper route.\u00a0 The trip cost $2,800.\u00a0 That was five times more than what my cash strapped parents had paid for their family car.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, I understand why they wanted me to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

For 4 months, I took weekly night lessons with a dozen other kids in a retired teacher\u2019s home.\u00a0 The teacher volunteered. We learned about the countries we would see.\u00a0 We studied their geographies, cultures, architectures and religions. I became our 12-year old expert on Islam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I left for my month-long trip on March 28, 1982.\u00a0 I still remember the date and most of what I saw. We went to England, Greece, Egypt, Israel and Turkey.\u00a0 I spent two extra weeks with relatives in England.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was, by far, the best educational experience that I ever had.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thousands of parents take it one step further.\u00a0 They raise their children overseas.\u00a0 Their kids attend international schools.\u00a0 These aren\u2019t French schools servicing French children, or Thai schools servicing Thai students.\u00a0 Instead, they support the families of expatriates working abroad. They\u2019re like the United Nations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For many kids and parents, these schools are a dream. Almost every child who graduates from an international school eventually goes to college.\u00a0 In the 12 years that I taught at one, I wasn\u2019t aware of a single high school drop out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although it may have happened, I wasn\u2019t aware of a single teen pregnancy. Racism was almost non-existent.\u00a0 There was a heightened awareness of different religions, cultures and demographics, both social and financial.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Singapore<\/a><\/p>\n

I taught at Singapore American School.\u00a0 It\u2019s the largest American school outside of the United States.\u00a0 There are 4000 kids from Kindergarten to 12<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> grade. Most are U.S. passport holders.\u00a0 But the student body represents more than 50 different nationalities.\u00a0 Most of the teachers have children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2014, ICEF Monitor<\/span><\/a> stated that there are more than 7000 international schools worldwide.\u00a0 Devin Pratt and his wife Dianna have worked at six of them.\u00a0 Devin began his career as a Social Studies teacher in Texas. He\u2019s now the Assistant Head (Superintendent) at Frankfurt International School. <\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Dianna works at the same school as an educational technology coordinator. Their two children, Dagan and Dominique, have lived in Cote-d\u2019Ivoire, Africa; Saudi Arabia; Taiwan; India and Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n

I sat with Devin on his porch in Frankfurt.\u00a0 Some of the neighbor\u2019s homes peeked through the trees on the sunny hill below.\u00a0\u00a0 Birds chirped.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see or hear a single car.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t hear another voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor part of my childhood, I grew up in government subsidized apartments in the Dallas, Texas area,\u201d said Devin.\u00a0 \u201cWe eventually moved to Plano when my mom remarried. It\u2019s a high socioeconomic area where many of the kids\u2019 parents expected them to go to college.\u00a0 Just having that influence helped me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Devin says that there are few negative distractions at international schools. \u201cAlmost all of the kids are focused on education and their school based activities.\u00a0 Most don\u2019t consider not<\/i> going to college.\u00a0 They\u2019re positively pulled by their peers and by supportive communities that value global education and diversity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At many of the schools, teachers can also save a lot of money.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written two columns, here<\/span><\/a> and here<\/span><\/a>, describing some of the schools.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But raising kids overseas isn\u2019t perfect. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Derek Swanson is from <\/span>Colorado Springs, Colorado<\/span>.\u00a0 He teaches at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi<\/span><\/a>, in the United Arab Emirates<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Previously, he and his wife taught in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The couple has two sons. The youngest is four years old.\u00a0 The oldest is seven.\u00a0 \u201cMaintaining relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family members is challenging at times,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cBut technologies [like Skype] help considerably.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Derek\u2019s children follow a U.S. curriculum.\u00a0 But they learn much more. \u201cOur two boys have learned a fair amount of Vietnamese, Arabic, and Tagalog,\u201d says Derek.\u00a0 \u201cThey also have a fair understanding of the conflicts in Vietnam and how that affected the people there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kate Smith (I\u2019ve changed her name to protect her identity) is another American overseas.\u00a0 She teaches 2<\/span>nd<\/sup><\/span> grade at Pechersk International School,<\/span><\/a> in Kiev, Ukraine.\u00a0 Kate, her husband, and their thirteen year old daughter have also lived in Turkey and Belgium.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"multicultural\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter has been exposed to many different cultures, languages and different ways of thinking,\u201d says Kate.\u00a0 \u201cShe has grown up thinking it\u2019s normal to be able to speak 3 languages. She isn\u2019t as materialistic as her cousins who live in the U.S. and she has learned to value experiences and people over things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kate credits a lack of exposure to U.S. based television. \u201cWhen she was younger, I asked my daughter what she wanted from Santa.\u00a0 She looked puzzled and didn\u2019t know how to reply because she has what she wants and needs.\u00a0 She hasn\u2019t been exposed to the advertising on American TV.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But living overseas, for Kate, isn\u2019t without its challenges.\u00a0 \u201cBuying clothes and shoes in foreign countries is always interesting. In our current country, they speak Russian or Ukrainian (and I know neither). I have bought some foods expecting them to be something they are not!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gael Thomlinson and her husband, Brad, teach at the British Columbia Canadian International School<\/span><\/a>, in Cairo Egypt.\u00a0 It follows a Canadian curriculum. As with most international schools, the students come from dozens of different countries. Gael teaches music.\u00a0 Brad teaches math.\u00a0 Previously, the couple taught in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their two nine-year olds, Lisa and David (I\u2019ve changed their names to protect their identities) enjoy living overseas.\u00a0 Gael says, \u201cWe\u2019ve made great friends from so many different countries. We travel a lot and have visited places like Sri Lanka and Nepal\u2013 places I had never dreamed of going. My kids are comfortable amongst many nationalities and they get over language barriers quickly so they can play with new friends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Broad cultural acceptance and confidence are common traits among these global kids. Stacy Bradshaw (I have changed her name) is a high school English teacher.\u00a0 She\u2019s a single mother of two children, aged nine and six.\u00a0 For two years, she and her children lived in Taiwan.\u00a0 They recently moved to Korea.\u00a0 This fall, her children will attend Osan American Elementary<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a U.S. Department of Defense School.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"writing<\/a><\/p>\n

Stacy and her children have visited 10 different countries in the Pacific Rim region. <\/span>\u201cMy daughter is now a fluent speaker of traditional Mandarin,\u201d says Stacy.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s also my translator. My children love the adventures that come from exploring new cultures, which have provided a hands-on, visual learning experience that they continue to reminisce.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Devin and Dianna Pratt\u2019s daughter, Dominique, is now a Master\u2019s student at Clark Univeristy<\/span><\/a>, in <\/span>Massachusetts. <\/span>She earned a scholarship through the Global Scholars Program<\/span><\/a> for international students.\u00a0 She grew up in six different countries.\u00a0 Dominique graduated from high school in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of how I grew up,\u201d she says. \u00a0But Dominque admits that living overseas has created a pull to live in other places.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m a local anywhere.\u00a0 I like the idea of moving on.\u00a0 I feel myself getting antsy about moving somewhere else.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I asked her about U.S. based teachers.\u00a0 If they have kids, and a sense of adventure, should they consider moving abroad?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were to have kids,\u201d she says, \u201cI would see it as a positive thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"155595-linebreak\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This article was originally posted on Assetbuilder.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was a kid, three of my closest friends went off the rails.\u00a0 They ended up in prison.\u00a0 In each case, they apprenticed with a bit of shoplifting.\u00a0 Things went downhill from there.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t grow up in a bad neighborhood.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t all sugar and lollipops. That\u2019s why my mom didn\u2019t work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[2299,2300,2301],"class_list":["post-5683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlighted-articles","tag-international-school-families","tag-international-school-teaching-couple","tag-living-abroad-with-kids"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/187141460_3f7b83898a_z.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-1tF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":501,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/blogs-of-international-school-teachers-dkceci\/","url_meta":{"origin":5683,"position":0},"title":"Blogs of international school teachers: “dkceci”","author":"ISCommunity","date":"March 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad? Our 16th blog that we would like to highlight is called \u201ckdceci.\u201d\u00a0 Check out the blog entries of this international school teacher who has worked at Yokohama International School. 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My name is David and I have been working abroad since 2005. I am originally from an area just South of London. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Member Spotlights"","block_context":{"text":"Member Spotlights","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/member-spotlights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"6239_unnamed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/6239_unnamed.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1897,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/blogs-of-international-school-teachers-a-veteran-intl-educator-at\/","url_meta":{"origin":5683,"position":3},"title":"Blogs of international school teachers: \u201cLife in Kunshan, China\u201d (An international school PARENT at Kunshan International School)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad? 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