Moving Your House With Older Children - General Info

Moving can be stressful on families, regardless of the ages of children involved. Whileit is common knowledge that younger children do not always respond well to the prospect of moving house, moving with older children also necessitates careful organization. In the case of small children you will discover that usually they are quite tied to the family residence but older children will usually have broadened their horizons to contain the local town, their school and an extensive group of peers and friends. In this way changing locations can be quite an upheaval for older children, especially in situations where they were brought up in the house or in the area.

Older children in general spend a considerable amount of time socialising. As they move into their teenage years, their social circle is crucial elements of their day to day lives. Whether they have friends from when they were children, or have formed strong bonds with a group of people during high school. Suddenly telling children in that age group that it is necessary for them to enrol in a new school, adjust to a new neighbourhood and perhaps a new county can prove quite a shock to them, and may result in bad behaviour etc.

As the principal problem is typically connected to socialising certain steps exist that parents can take that will make the move easier for older children. Normally you can assume there are two main issues affecting the child or children. Firstly parting from their friends will be very hard for them and they will normally be very emotional. In today’s day and age however, there are lots of options open to people who wish to communicate over any distances. Cellphones and social networking services guarantee that despite the fact that your child or children might have to move away from their friends, methods of communication are still available to them.

The second concern that confronts older children when changing locations is the necessity of a change in schools and the reality that they will have to make new acquaintances and friends. When going about your move it is recommended that you accommodate your older children when picking their of schools. If you are going to visit some schools you could take them as well, so that they will already have a feel for the premises early on. While it is true that you will probably rather have the ultimate say on which school your child will go to yourself, it is good practise to speak to your child about each location before you make your decision, and to see how they feel about each option. As soon as your school or schools have been selected, it is advisable for you to ask that the documents for your children be forwarded from the old schools to the new ones as soon as possible.

Additionally if you are moving with older children who are specfically intersted in certain topics e.g. football or music, help them to find special interest groups in the new neighbourhood before to the move. Signing them up for some extracurricular activities will permit them to make friends in the neighbourhood and distract them while they are settling in to the new neighbourhood.