RCMUM21

Hi, Background: We currently live in the South East of London and moved here when my daughter was 6 months old from California. My husband is from the UK, I am from California, my two children and my husband have dual citizenship I have USA Citizenship and indefinite leave to remain in the UK. We are thinking moving to Florida due to my husbands work being mainly on the East Coast and my mom lives in Florida. My questions are really around school for the kids, currently in DS in Year 3 and DD Year 4 and timing. IN your experiences is it easier to move when the kids are younger? Should we try to rush and get moved before school starts in August, move mid year or if we wait until next August will the transition be harder. Any advise welcome!!

Wintersong

I'd wait until the summer so they can start the school year fresh.
Are you eligible for UK citizenship? If so, I'd get it before leaving if I were you!

RCMUM21

Not sure if I am eligible for UK citizenship. I had not thought about that but will look into it. THanks

RCMUM21

I think my daughter will be going into grade 4 (she is currently 9 yrs old) and son grade 3 (currently 7 years old). We have chosen Florida since my mom lives in Florida, and the cost of living and climate.

Pulaski

With youngsters it probably doesn't matter much, but counter-intuitively, someone (Kodokan, I think) recently recommended a mid-year move because it somehow focused the teachers on the child having come from another country, rather than getting "lost in the crowd" at the start of the year when most children are new to most teachers.

You might want to get your children some books on American history (from the US probably), so they have at least some awareness of what their peers already know.

tom169

Definitely do. It's getting harder for families to move from USA to UK. You never know what the future brings with retirement etc.

robin1234

Agree with Tom on this. My wife and I moved back to the US in 1991 - we had a lot to think about, young children, no jobs etc! But she should have got her British citizenship at that time, but we didn't think of it ....

carcajou

Where in Florida? It is quite different end-to-end. Sometimes county-to-county.

Wintersong

Going into 3rd and 4th grade, it's not going to be much, and what there is of it will likely be repeated next MLK day/Presidents' Day/Columbus Day.

RCMUM21

Thank you for all your replys, we are currently looking at the Sarasota or Odessa area. SO I can start up my horse training business again. There is just so much to consider!!!

WEBlue

If you now have ILR, it will expire after two years of living outside the UK. Than you will be in the same boat as all foreign spouses of Brits, and need to meet the new financial income/savings threshold, which are now keeping some US/UK couples from being able to move back to the UK....

I would read up on the rules and make sure you're a British citizen before you move to the USA. Very important, as you don't want to be the only reason your family cannot ever live in the UK in the future....

kodokan

Yes, based on our experiences I'd actively try and move younger kids mid-year, given the choice. That way everyone knows they're new and allowances are made for knowledge gaps or not knowing their way around and being late for gym; they get mild celebrity status in a class keen for mid-year novelty; buddies are allocated to sit with them at lunch; the whole class knows their name because they're told that 'Little Johnny is joining us on Monday'.

My kids when younger would always excitedly come out and tell me 'ooh, and today we got a NEW kid!'; they all seemed to then compete for the new friendship It really works well, socially and academically, at least for elementary age kids.

The other thing to consider for a summer move from the UK to the US is that the school calendar years are different. If you stay until late July, the kids will likely only have a couple of weeks holiday before starting school in early August (assuming Florida is like most states). I'd also avoid arriving early in the summer, then having the kids spend weeks on end not knowing anyone and nervously anticipating the new school start.

carcajou

Florida's school year varies county-by-county. Florida is the only state in the US where school districts are organised at the county level (ie, each entire county is a school district). Each district sets its own calendar and in Florida some counties start in early August while some start in early September and finish mid-June.

In the US, public education is largely run at the state level, not the national level, and funding also primarily comes from the state and local level and not the national level (national funding is only about 8%). While there is commonality between most states there are some differences. Because of that a few years ago there was some talk that a few states would opt out of some standardized testing that was tied to federal funding, because they didn't want to do the testing and the federal funding they got was pretty small - ultimately it didn't happen but it was discussed.

It seems you are moving to the Tampa Bay area - though there will be separate school districts I would bet they have a (more or less) standardized calendar.

I don't think it matters much when you move primary-aged children in regards to US schooling - start, middle or end of the year. That does change in high school (which starts in 9th grade), when all grades count towards GPA and potential university admissions. I would be reticent about moving my own kids mid-year in high school but not in elementary school.

I also agree with an earlier poster who advised you to make sure you get UK citizenship before leaving. The political climate is unstable right now and things can change very fast, especially towards immigration. Don't put it off because you think you can always do it later.

carcajou

By the way - thinking down the track - the State of Florida also has something called "Bright Futures" where if your children get a certain GPA and SAT/ACT score, the State of Florida (essentially) gives them a full university scholarship for all four years if they choose to attend a public university in Florida. That started in the 1990s.

RCMUM21

Thank you so much for all your replies! I am so glad I posted the questions. I have started filling out the paperwork for naturalization and have an appointment next week for document checking.
I had not thought about moving the kids mid year, but that does make since. They just had a new girl join school and everyone was so excited to meet her and be friends. If we do move it will most likely be for next school year so really don't want them to do a few weeks hear and then move. Possibly if we time the move for the start of year here, ie Beginning of Sept then they still will join after the first day but not need to start the year here.
SO much to think about!!!!