Over 15 million families in the US move each year, while families with one or more small children make up a major part of that number. Summer is the best time to move because the weather is temperate, and the children have a long break from school. However, your busy schedule might not give you the privilege of moving during the summertime and you would have no option other than to move during the school year.
Moving during the school year can be challenging both for the children and parents. Both of you need to make multiple adjustments to ensure a smooth transition. Here are a few steps you can take to make your relocation easier and smoother.
Discuss the move with your children
Before you begin organizing your move, discuss it with your children as their move can displace their whole life. On spur of the moment, your kids will find themselves in a new environment, surrounded by new people, and live in a new house. Of course, to make a big adjustment like this will require a lot of time, we recommend you inform them as soon as possible. Possibly, they will be sad and frustrated to move away from their old house and friends. Therefore, most children object to the idea of moving at the start. Explain to your kids why the move is necessary and discuss with them the numerous benefits of moving. Here are a few tricks:
- Discuss with your kids what you expect them to do. Since their classes are going on, you don't want them to lag in their studies or do homework.
- Motivate them to ask any questions that come to your mind and let them know you understand what they are going through.
Moving to a new school or new city isn’t easy and thinking about grades and school responsibilities might make the whole thing even more stressful.
Hire professional movers
Your children can easily help you with packing and moving if you move in the summer months. Unfortunately, moving in the middle of the school year will keep them more focused on their studies, so can’t expect them to help you. To ensure a quick, safe, and stress-free move, we suggest you hire professional movers.
Don’t forget that the longer the clutters, moving boxes and mess would be in your house, the more difficult it would be for your children to focus on their studies. If you have a good budget, it would be a great idea to hire professional movers or long-distance movers to make your move smoother and stress-free. Moreover, this will not let the moving process interfere with your children’s daily routine.
Benefits
Though it would be easier for you to organize the move, if you are moving during the summer, moving during the peak season can be costly. October to November would be an ideal time to move if you are looking forward to saving your moving costs.
Tips to make your relocation shorter
If you are making a cross-country move, your kids would miss a considerable number of classes while they settle in the new place. It would be great if you can move during the holidays as this will ensure they don’t miss many classes and they will also get the opportunity to meet their new neighbors who might turn out to be their new classmates.
Alternatively, you must try to make your trip as short as possible, perhaps you can book an auto transport company. It sounds worth shipping your car and you can book a flight and move swiftly with your family to your future house. However, if you choose to drive to your new home, it will consume a lot of time causing a delay for your kids to join school.
Research your new neighborhood for schools
- Make sure you research multiple schools near your new locality and help your kids join as soon as possible.
- It would be advisable to review the educational standard, the scope of extracurricular activities, and its proximity to your new house, including other on-site services.
- If possible, consider taking a tour of the school with your kids and if you have older children include them in the process of researching schools.
- Don’t forget to consider the needs and requirements of your children while making a final decision regarding their school.
Here are a few other things that you must research around your new locality:
- Post office
- Police station
- Parks
- Grocery and convenience stores
- A community center or pool
- Public library
Schedule a visit to the new home with your kids
You can consider visiting your new house with the kids and taking them on a tour around their new neighborhood or even town. This will reduce their anxiety about moving as they would know where they are going.
- Motivate your children to suggest ideas for decorating your new house.
- Take them to places where they can have fun in the new city, this will make the process less daunting.
Organize a farewell party for your children
As kids, it is not easy to say goodbye to friends. The complete process might be challenging for them, so, we recommend you organize a farewell party and help them say goodbye to their friends in the right way. Here's what you can do to help your kids overcome the fear of parting with friends:
- Try to make them understand that moving to a place doesn’t mean they will lose connection with their friends.
- You and interchange contact details with other parents and organize online games for your kids with their friends. You may do any such thing to ensure your kids can be in connection with their friends, even if they are moving.
- Help your kids understand that they will make even more new friends after moving to their new home or going to a new school.
How to make the transition from an old to a new school easier?
Transferring from one school to another is complicated until you complete the necessary paperwork. You may begin by informing the current school about your moving plan and in many cases, you might need to show them the address proof of your new house. Here’s how you can make the transition smooth and easier:
Collect the vital documents
Here’s a list of important documents that you must collect:
- Birth certificate of your child.
- The latest report card and other official documents.
- Medical records.
Connect with the teachers at the new school
It would be a good idea to contact the principal and teachers at the new school and here are a few important topics for discussions you need to consider:
- Find out about the school routine.
- Transportation facilities.
- Extra curriculum activities, clubs, and sports.
- If your child is enrolled in some special education course, check with the new school about it.
Choose a transportation option for your kids
- You must check the distance of your new house from the school and how your kids will go to school.
- Check if there’s a bus stop in your locality.
- See if you can drive your kids to school, and you can do a practice run to calculate the distance and the time it would take to cover that distance.
- You must even check if the school is within walking distance or need to drive.
Join the parents-teachers group
Don't forget to be a member of the parent organization of the new school. This will help you track the progress of your child and at the same time, you can interact with other parents.
Make connections with your new neighbors
Connecting with new neighbors can serve as a stress reliever after weeks and months of stress and anxiety about your move. Moreover, if your neighbors have kids of the same age group as yours it could be even more fun. Also, you may find a few classmates for your kids in your new neighborhood.
Plan the essentials for moving during the school year
Here are a few things that you must check while you pack your move in the middle of an academic year:
Maintain a school supply box
While packing your belongings, we suggest you maintain a separate box or bin for keeping the school supplies for your children. You can keep all the items that your child might need before, after, or during the school day. This would include items like lunch boxes, snacks, backpacks, notepads, school uniforms, pens, and pencils among a few others.
Tip: We suggest you keep the school supply box with you during the moving process, heather you are in your new house or old house. You can access it easily without the need to hunt for school items in multiple boxes when you have kept it all in a single place.
Turn on the internet connection at your new house
Many kids are currently learning in a remote environment or digital classrooms or are enrolled in courses for specific subjects like language arts or math. This makes internet connection an essential requirement for them to complete their coursework or attend their classes. Here's what you can do:
- Contact the internet service provider and schedule to turn on your internet connection before you reach your new house.
- You may not have the wi-fi reception at your new location; we recommend you buy a wi-fi extender for your new home. Also, you can arrange for LAN cables to receive a direct internet connection at your new house.
- Alternatively, you can use mobile hotspots, if you don’t have access to internet service at your new house. Mobile hotspots would be an ideal option if you have an unlimited data plan.
Allocate a room for your kids to do their homework
A moving day is boisterous, that would involve a lot of packing, and organizing and you will find moving boxes all around the place. This will make it difficult for your child to concentrate on their studies, here's what you can do to set up a separate homework space:
- You may ask the moving company to arrange for desks, tables, and chairs in the homework space chosen by you.
- In case you have a desktop, you can ask the moving company to arrange the computer take and connect your desktop.
- Establish a moving schedule that will help you set up the homework space first and provide your child with a separate space for doing homework with any further trouble or delays.
Of course, moving is tough for everyone and it might lead to huge stress and anxiety. Your child would be so impulsive that it would be difficult for him to express his feelings. However, they would express it at some time, and you should be prepared for it. In short, you should support your child and help them ensure a smooth transition to their new life.
Homesickness may even affect you, regardless of how happy you are with the decision to move. This would be a major transformation in your life, and you may take time to accept the changes. However, the good part here is that this phase will pass, and, in a few weeks, you will adjust yourself to the new routine. Overall, you will feel positive and start to enjoy your new situation.