Moving During the School Year: Pros and Cons

1. Children are naturally social and when they are young they generally have a tight group of friends in school that they spend most of their time with. One pro to moving during the school year is that children can make new friends quickly and adapt to their new routine. They can also stay in touch with their old friends and visit (if possible) to ease this transition. When the holidays come around, they will have already formed friendships and be invited to visit other children at their homes, and will be able to invite their new friends to their new home too. 
2. Moving to a new area and starting school mid-year may make your children the center of attention as other kids will be curious about them. This is a sure fire way to boost your child’s self esteem and make him or her feel part of the new class almost immediately. Remember, children are not nearly as self conscious as adults are, so however much you worry about your child fitting in to a new school, this is, in fact, rarely the case.
   

1. If you use a moving service at the end of the school year, chances are that when they arrive in their new home, children who will be in their new class will be on holiday, so there is little chance of them meeting a peer group. Thus, they will have nobody to play with, to invite to their new home or to be invited to other children’s homes.
2. If your children are good at a certain subject or activity, like sports or music, try to find a school in your new city or state that offers the same activities. If there are no such extramural activities or the school is not well known for being ahead of the game in the subject or subjects your kids are particularly good at, you will have to spend quite a lot of time in finding satisfying alternatives. A final word – involve the child or children in the move and listen to what they have to say, as it will make the entire move that much easier.