Preface and Introduction

Preface

"Education is not something to prepare you for life; it is a continuous part of life."  --Henry Ford

Foreign Service life is an education. For employees and family members our science lab might be the beaches of Oman watching giant turtles lay their eggs. Our history classroom might be the streets of Berlin watching the Wall come down. We practice our math facts by converting dollars to an exotic currency. Civics lessons are learned during dinner table discussions comparing the host country government to the U.S. government. We step out our door and enter an enormous language lab.

Meeting the requirements of traditional schools or arranging the logistics of child care may be more complicated for us. Education Options for Foreign Service Family Members is intended to provide us with the information necessary to make good decisions for our children and ourselves. It puts each stage from infant care to adult education into the Foreign Service context.

The production of this book spanned the tenure of four Education Counselors in the Family Liaison Office (FLO). Special thanks to Judith Livingston and Maryann Minutillo for the work they did creating Educating the Foreign Service Child at Home and Abroad, the collection of papers on which Education Options for Foreign Service Family Members is based. Kay Branaman Eakin, with typing and research assistance from Sylvia Hooper and Giselle Conway, revised the material and updated the information on regulations during her tenure as Education Counselor. Former Education and Youth Officer Sydnee Tyson continued updating and revising. Former FLO Deputy Director Gail Watson Knowles wrote the transition passages which changed the collection of papers into a unified book.  

Note: Since the original date of publication, web sites have been added and the text updated. 

Our friends at the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW), Employee Consultation Service (ECS), Office of Allowances, Office of Overseas Schools, and the Overseas Briefing Center (OBC) reviewed the original text and offered suggestions.

Thank you to each person who contributed to this book and good luck to each person who uses it to get the best education possible to supplement their Foreign Service experience.

Introduction

One of the benefits of choosing a Foreign Service lifestyle is the opportunity to expose our children to other cultures. At the same time, it is important to us as parents to be able to provide our children with the best possible formal education. Because of the moves and varying strengths and types of schools, we may have to take a more active role in planning our children's education. This book explores the resources that are available to help us do this. It provides vital information on the special challenges we face educating our Foreign Service children. It also can be used as a tool to plan for those important events that occur during a student's progression from nursery school through college.

Unlike our friends who do not move around the world, we will sometimes have an overwhelming number of options to choose from. Some of us will want our children to be educated in an American-style curriculum. To others, developing foreign language skills is an important reason for choosing a non-English speaking school system. Some of us will have children with special needs, either gifted and talented, learning disabled, or physically challenged. As our children become teenagers, opportunities to participate in sports and the arts become important factors in choosing a school. Sometimes career demands will require us to consider boarding school options. This book gives us the background information we need to plan our children's education.

While the emphasis is on schools and school-age children, this book looks at Foreign Service family members of all ages. There is information on the day care needs of Foreign Service babies and early childhood education for preschoolers. At the other end of the spectrum, it looks at adult education options for Foreign Service spouses and young adult family members who are not in college. It is organized in general chronological order with the information on related topics interspersed throughout age level material. This book is designed for those people who want information on a specific topic as well as for those people who want to use it as a planning tool to look at the total picture of education for Foreign Service families.

Information provided by the Family Liaison Office.
Contact the Family Liaison Office