Scotschick

I'm finding all the info re the standard of living really interesting and would like to know if anyone has moved recently with young children. My son will be nearly 7 by the time we move over to Canada (assuming we are accepted of course) and I just wondered if anyone had experience with children of a similar age. Specifically how easy was it for them to settle into schools and how is their quality of life better than in the UK? Also was it easy for them to make friends with kids in the neighbourhood. We are considering the Ontario area but not sure exactly the location as yet (husband is a joiner so it depends on where the most work is I guess). We are taking a trip out next year to suss things out so any info re experiences/location would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

derryckl

Hi Scotschick - our kids were all born here - so I cannot provide any insight there, but my Mrs is a teacher (having taught in the UK and here) - she prefers the school system in the UK.
Making friends - from our experience, and that of friends, if you guys (parents) are willing to meet and get to know the other parents, your kids will get integrated quite well and fast - depends on how well you like the area...

You had better get ready for an absentee husband... If he is a workaholic?? There is a tonne of joiner work available - driven largely by the demand for housing - I think in nearly every part of Ontario. A friend of mine gave up being a manager to become a joiner. We have not seen him for over a year now, but his wife just had another kid (I guess she does get to see him sometime... ) - not sure how the joiner trade works, though - there is some sort of certification/accreditation system in place - perhaps yr hubby would be prudent to investigate this a bit (he might have done so already...)

Best of luck with your move!!! DL.

Mans

[QUOTE=derryckl]Hi Scotschick - our kids were all born here - so I cannot provide any insight there, but my Mrs is a teacher (having taught in the UK and here) - she prefers the school system in the UK.

Hi derrckl,

Intersting comment re you Mrs about schooling.....in which way is the system better in the UK.

We have youg kids and are not very aware of the systems and pros and cons of UK and Canada. One thing I did feel was that teaching was more relaxed in Canada without the pressure UK kids seem to be under from a very young age. I also felt that Canadian kids were better mannered and more confident....however I am still in the UK and only made these observations from very limited time spent there on research trips to Canada so my observations may be way off!

Would love to hear your thoughts...after all the more aware we are of the different systems the more prepared we can be re our childrens education...last thing you want to do is set high expections on the system there and feel let down or disappointed

Look forward to hearing from you
Rgds
Mans

debbyathome

[QUOTE=Mans]

When we came here my youngest was 11 just been in secondary school for 2 months and then came over here.They have to go back down to junior school for 2 years at that age,he thought that was terrible at first then realised he was way ahead apart from French ,as for making friends he is the type to make friends everywhere he goes.We lived in one part of Ontatio for 2 months in a condo so he had a few friends but not many ,when we moved north of Toronto to where we are now we moved in to a town with a lot of young people and every house around us has kids so now he has lots of friends.As to quality of life i think it is a lot better he has friends who live on the lake side so every summer is spent at the lake,I also think they are more opportunities in the winter the school run snowboarding and skiing clubs which he loves.Also another thing about here is no pubs allowed until 19 so i know for a fact when he goes out he is not in pubs which i was at his age (16) we live pretty close to Wonderland too so he gets his yearly pass to go there.

skigordi

Hi
We moved here in January with 2 kids aged 7 and 11.

Although we have had our fair share of homesickness and missing friends in the UK, both kids settled into school very quickly and the school staff were extremely welcoming and helpful in the early days. Kids can be hard on each other (especially 11 year old girls!) but they have both made a wide range of friends and as always they are the catalyst for us to make friends as well through all their activities.

The schools here have a different approach, much more relaxed, possible less demanding academically but with a lot of focus on personality, confidence and other character issues. It is undoubtedly different from the UK but has a lot going for it in terms of funding, facilities etc.

Be prepared for some tears but my experience is that the kids will settle in faster than most adults!

Gordon

ola

Hi,
we are going to be moving to Canada with 3 kids ages 5,9 and 12 by the time we move i am so worried on how they will settle in especially my oldest daughter she is so quite and shy how do you guys choose a school ?, is there such thing as School league Table ? I notice that you move in January which is the middle of School year a lot of people say that is best to move at the beginning of the school year please Advice.

ola

skigordi

Hi

For the schools you can look at the league tables

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/report...ex.asp?snav=rc

should help you find them. As always I would take it with a pinch of salt....the best are only separated by a few points and the catchment area has so much to do with the results.

Unless you send your kids to private schools people seem to stick to the catchment areas and not move the kids out of area. Equally (certainly around here) you don't see much in the way of people selling houses based on he school district (which is common in the US and UK).

We live in a nice town away from the city and the various problems that may have, but we were advised prior to arriving that if it is a nice housing area...the school will be nice. In reality we decided to rent for a year when we arrived partly so we could assess the schools etc and if you can, I would recommend doing the same.

I can't deny that a 12 year old girl will have the hardest time. The others I wouldn't worry about at all. However I don't think she will have any more issues coming here than she would going anywhere else in the UK, once she gets over the initial 'strangeness' of it all. Lots of support and tolerance from you and a lot of patience..within 6 months she will be fine I'm sure. Plan to schedule lots of non-school things that are fun - girl guides, skating lessons, skiing....takes their mind off old friends etc.

I guess it would be easier to start when school starts in September but a lot of people move here so it certainly wasn't an issue to the school. One advantage in my mind is that when they started (actually in mid Feb by the time my family arrived to join me) they only had 4 weeks till March break...and it always seems easier to go back after break and not be 'new' anymore. If they start in September it is 3 full months before they get a break.

R2D2

When we moved here in May with our children 5 and 2 years, we were fretting like mad over our 5 year old, as he had almost done his first year in reception class in the Uk, settling really nicely and we were about to uproot him BIG TIME. But we needn't have worried. He adapted without questioning it for a second and after his first half day at Kindergarten he announced he had a new best friend. Children up to a certain age adapt very well to new situations, much better than us. We have found the Canadians so friendly. People passing you in the strret say Hi, and everyone is interested in you because you are English, but again at my sons age, the other kids barely notice that he talks differently. At times he is already subconsciously talking 'Canadian' during his play. As long as they have you there, they tend to adapt. The only problems I've ever heard are from families with teenagers, whose peers are very important to them.

Cowtown

Our son was four when we brought him here - he started kindergarten just before he was five and it was a nightmare. Dont assume because children are young that they will adapt quickly - they suffer the same homesickness feelings that you do. Give them credit for their emotions and remember that they might not be able to understand the feelings they have and therefore not be able to express themselves!

R2D2

Sure...they are little people after all and I'm sure that SOME children of this age may struggle, but I was just expressing that on the whole it is the younger children that TEND to settle better than older ones. My son hasn't shown any signs of homesickness at all and has adapted far better than I could ever have hoped for. Whatever your childs personality, you just have to take it as you find it and deal with the emotions as they occur.

Cowtown

And I was expressing the other point that not all children settle well even if they are young! It does no harm to be prepared for it to go either way.

GillyC

Dear Scotschick

I can't help on the subject of kids, having none myself, but if your hubby's a joiner have you considered Vancouver? Accomodation wise it's not cheap but there's tons of work here right now for skilled trades and the money is good from what I hear. My husband Steve is a project manager for a construction company in Vanand they can't get enough skilled trades due to the construction boom here. Of course booms don't last forever but it might be worthy of consideration. Please let me know if your husband would like more information on this as I'm sure Steve would be happy to pass on info or put him in touch with some people here. Also Vancouver is the land of wood frame construction!

Gilly

sam/stu

Just to add my 'two pence worth'. My husband is a carpenter and joiner also and believe me there is plenty of work in most areas. I sent off his CV to a few companies and had plenty of good feedback. Just to add that one firm in particular are completeing the paperwork as we speak so we can all go over on a work permit. It looks like we will be landing in Nov'05. I have 3 kids (5,6,13) and could not chance waiting for PR from this country because of the timelines involved (3 years +). It would of been too much of a distruption for my teenager as he would of left school by then or gone onto further education. We will be living in Ontario, the east side of Toronto in either Whitby or Brooklin, although I have family on the west side (Cambridge). The firm that is employing hubby is based in Pickering so we will have to head in that direction. Why don't you look at the work permit option whilst your child is still young. I believe that it will get a lot harder once they get older. Believe me , there is nothing worse then a stroppy, hormonal teenager!!!! :scared:

ramac

We too came on a work permit 6 years, ago and for some it is the way to do it. Be prepared for the pitfalls of a work permit. For instance, what if you husband does not like the company he works for? What if the company dont like him?
You need to have an "back up" plan.
I am not trying to throw salt on anything honeslty, I am talking from experience. My husband worked for a company that insisted he work 12 hour days/6 days a week. He didn't have a leg to stand on, as NO work Permit/ no Job/ and possibly having to go back home.

With regard to children, we came from Glasgow when our children were 6 years old and 3 years old. I completely discounted my sons feelings (the 3 year old). It was a few months later when he started crying and asking "why did we take him away from everybody that loved him". I will never forget that day. Just be prepared!! He is now very Canadian, an ardent hockey player and considers Canada as home.
My daughter who was 6 when we came over and who is now 12. Loves it here, made loads of friends instantly, but is still so connected to back home, she would go home at the drop of a hat.
You just never know how it affects the kids.

skigordi

Ramac's comments on Work Permits are very wise and are something all WP visitors should take heed of. Think carefully before you sell up in the UK and always have a 'plan B'