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We kept our kids' Russian names and waited 6 weeks to put them in school. They are 6 (first grade) and 10 (4th grade). The first grader hadn't yet started school in Russia, but we put her in first here because that was the only way to get her in ESL and to have a full day of school.
I don't think there's a right or a wrong answer to either of your concerns. A commited and understanding parent could make either option work fine. We never really considered changing our kids' names, and we like their Russian names. It's really hard for me to imagine them with different names, but I think there's a symbolic value (as Michelle said) to a name change as part of integrating into a new family. My kids would probably have seen it as a loss rather than a gain at first, and we would have had to struggle with that. On the other hand, it would have sent a strong message about permanence that has been slow in sinking in with them.
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Mother to Anastasiya, age 10, and Alesya, age 6, from Tyumen. Hosted July 2005, home forever November 2005.
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