paddingtongreen

First, learn how to spell "Connecticut".

cindyabs

good point, or just put CT, or even for us oldies, Conn.

tonrob

Well I've been where I am for 5 years and still can't bloody spell Massawhatsitts...

MA for me every time.

cindyabs

or even Mass,

moving2nyc

Hi Stacey,

My family are moving from Bath to New York next year, I'm looking at Greenwich because it's an easy commute to manhattan.

Happy to keep you upto date with our progress if you like, I'm already here which makes it easier. The wife and youngest daughter are here for the next 2 weeks for a reccie.

Good luck

Ozzidoc

I wonder if part of the testing related to the test content? Did he have to do a spelling test? Spell US-words that he'd never heard about? Anything to do with US history?

I wonder how the other kids at his school would have done with UK testing

Food for thought....

Sally Redux

From my small experience, I don't think the US system is 'behind', except in foreign languages.

Jerseygirl

We thought our 11 yr old daughter would be at least a year ahead but we were wrong. Admittedly she went to a private school in the UK and US but we found her US school was ahead in English...especially grammar...science and French.

Englishtart

He had to do a reading test and some math from what I remember.

I just think that a lot of families moving to the US have heard that 'old' generalization that the schools in the UK are better/further ahead than US schools, I really don't think it's true anymore, not from my experience anyway.

It doesn't do anyone any favours to put that out as a 'general rule' here, I was in shock when I heard how far behind my Son was and actually considered getting him tested, I thought he 'must' be a slow learner (or worse) to be that far behind after being in school in the Uk for over 3 years

There was nothing wrong with him, he just hadn't been taught to the same level

Ozzidoc

That's what I suspected

nethead

When we moved my daughter went into 5th grade (2005). I wouldn't say that the UK system was ahead nor would I say the US were behind, but they each teach certain subjects differently. History in the US is definitely based on US history only in elementary school, and by 5th grade most American kids will know quite a lot about The Constitution and The Bill of rights etc. Luckily my daughter loved history and had some knowledge of these things and by 6th grade her social studies teacher said she knew more about American history than most of her American peers

The subject my daughter had most trouble in was maths, but only because she was used to metric measurements and had had no exposure to imperial measurements, that took a bit of getting used to for her.

paddingtongreen

When oldest daughter, born here, was in kindergarten, we had a note that she wasn't making the target of knowing her address. We thought this strange and asked her and she did know it. The penny dropped. I went to curriculum night a few days later and explained to her teacher that if she had asked, "Where do you live?" she would have told her.

Ozzidoc

LOL.

I had a slightly different issue. Growing up in Oz if someone asked me what my address was, I had to establish if they were asking where I lived, or where our mail was sent Not a very foreign concept to most Aussies.

COMPLETELY foreign concept to a lot of Brits that I've encountered though.....even some utility providers had a problem with this about a dozen years ago.

meauxna

heh, just reminded me of the first time I learned that British houses don't necessarily have numbers.

"What do you mean just address it to 'Whispering Willows' in Village Name?! How will it ever get TO you?"

Kaffy Mintcake

You just reminded me of when I sent a thank you to a gentleman in Ireland for showing us around. I think he finally gave me a formal address because I persisted, but had initially said that we just had to put "Swanlinbar, County Cavan, Ireland" and it would reach him.

Now granted, you could blink and miss Swanlinbar, but I still found that wild!