Moving Overseas with IntlMOVE and Preparing your Children

IntlMOVE has successfully moved many families overseas.
International moves require a lot of planning and time to adjust to new surroundings.
IntlMOVE can help facilitate your international move and help make the move easier.
The one thing you don’t have to worry about is shipping your household goods overseas because IntlMOVE will take care of it.
Whether you will be moving short-term or long-term, you will want to take your personal belongings with you.
IntlMOVE has been around for many years, so your personal move consultant has the knowledge and experience to coordinate the shipment of your household goods overseas.
You have a whole new way of living to prepare for, so leave the international shipping details to IntlMOVE.

When moving your family overseas, you will want to make the move as easy as possible for your children.
Children often have an easier time adapting to change than adults, but there are still many steps you can take to make the transition easier.
IntlMOVE has put together some guidelines to help prepare your children for an international move.

New Language
If you are moving overseas to a country that speaks a different language, do everything you can to help your children learn the language.
Enroll your children in language courses so they can get the one-on-one attention they need to practice the speaking and writing.
You can also make learning a new language fun by purchasing video games, books and DVDs and other tools that help children learn.
Your kids will get accustomed to being entertained in the language they are learning, which will make them more comfortable in their new country when you make the move.

New School
Get a picture of the new school and your children’s classmates if possible.
If your children’s new school is willing to cooperate, you might even be able to put your children in touch with kids from their new class.
They can communicate through email before you actually move overseas, so your children will have one familiar classmate when they start school.
If possible, bring your children to their first day of classes to introduce them to their new classmates, but only leave them there for half the day.
This will give your kids time to adjust to their new surroundings without overwhelming them for long periods of time.
The kids in your children’s classes might be interested in your home country.
Have your children bring a picture of their old classmates or a book they were reading in school so they have a conversation piece to share with the other children.

Culture Shock
Even though all children will most likely go through culture shock, children 12 and older will have a harder time adjusting to new surroundings.
Prepare your children for what they will experience.
Introduce new foods native to your new country to your children before they move.
If possible, take them on a trip to your new country so they can get a feel for where they will be living.
About three weeks after the move, watch for signs of depression, change in sleep or eating patterns or other behavioral changes.
These are the beginning stages of culture shock.
Most children adapt well and learn to accept their new home rather quickly, but it is important to be patient and supportive.
There are little things you can do to make your children feel more at home.
You can pack some of their favorite foods from back home for their lunches or decorate their rooms in a similar way.

Friends and Family Back Home
Your child will inevitably miss his friends and family back home at some point.
Before you move overseas, make sure your child has an email account and learns how to use Skype.
Depending on the age of your children, they might have to be supervised while using the internet, but online technology makes it easy to stay in touch.