[TweetyMom04]

The Boys are in Year One, aka, First Grade.
Nursery and Reception are in a separate building from the Lower School (Years One – Four) and Upper School are (Years Four and on.)
The building that has Nursery and Reception classes, is considered by students (Lower School, mainly Years One and Two) as ‘baby school.’

When the Boys start school in the states, based upon age and not ability, so far, they will be starting Kindergarten. Personally, DH & I think this is a good place for them to start, making friends, getting in on the ground floor, etc. Also, the Boys have had a few setbacks with hearing and language issues. They are just coming to themselves. The Boys know about the new: school, teachers, lunch foods, friends to make, books to read and things to play with. Also, they maybe able to ride a school bus. If not, I will still drive or walk them to school, as I’ve done for 3 yrs.

Our concern is telling them and how to tell them they will be starting Kindergarten. We’ve decided not to tell them right now, as the move and all the changes is honestly and overload for an Adult. Some of their friends are mad/upset that G & L are leaving and have avoided G & L altogether. Additionally if they tell their classmates, they maybe ridiculed and laughed at, viewing it as starting baby school again.

We will tell them that school systems are different from country to country and state to state.
Some schools start Children at age 5 and others at age 2.5, like they did.

Anything else you can add?

[momraine]

WE started our son in K, kind of telling him that since it was the middle of the year it would be helpful. We actually found that there were a lot of kids his age in his K class, some were repeating and some were kept back and started later. He did fine. I would just tell them that this is where big kid school starts here and so they have to start there. You can just continue to explain the differences in the words used. Like elementary school instead of lower. Etc.

[kretzklan]

I would just tell them it's a difference in age and country rules. All "big kids" start in kindergarten in the US. Will their ages make it a problem? Will they be turning 7 during K? As for what to tell the kids there - have them just say - we are starting in the same grade that US kids go to when they are 6 - if that works out age wise!
Good luck with the big move!

[Bcelli]

Technically, kindergarten is year one even though it isn't called first grade. And since kindergarten is not separated from the other grades in most schools, it physically shouldn't resemble baby school for them. It's quite possible there will be so much change going on in their lives at the same time that the terminology differences for grade levels becomes a nonissue.

As for their current classmates, would it be possible to set them up with email correspondence? It would be a great learning experience for their current friends and your boys could share some of the school and social differences with their new friends here. When we adopted DS2 in 2004, we had to take DS1 out of school the last 10 days of kindergarten in order to make the trip. Each day in Russia, we walked to the Internet Cafe and emailed his best buddy back home about everything we did that day. His buddy took the emails to class each day and shared with all their classmates. The kids really looked forward to hearing what Russia was like and all the new things DS1 was doing. And DS1 still felt a connection to his class, who was graduating without him.

[MamaChinch]

My friend moved to the US from the UK when her sone was six and he had to start in K here. She explained it because of the age for starting school here and that systems were different and that he would be like the other kids here. His b-day is in Oct.
He was, although, aware that it was K and not first grade to start off with, but once school started and he made new friends, it was all a wash.
I think if you keep it simple, and you make it a non-issue, they will take their clue from you, espcecially with eveything else going on in your lives!
Good luck, I am sure it will be fine! (probably a bigger deal if they were girls! he he!)