Dayna, did you work out the car thing yet?
I asked DH and he said it depends on what type of car you have, as some are not allowed in until they are a certain number of years old. But really, the process is simple as long as you don`t have a forbidden car, lol. Just call boarder services. They will need 72 hours notice to receive your car and you will have to pay American tax on it, as it is new to their economy. And to bring it back is the same, but you will not need to pay the tax. Once you get there you will have a week or 10 days to complete a vehicle inspection, but since it is new, you should be fine. DH has imported a few cars to Canada, and it was really quite easy. But it is a boarder services thing, so they will be your easiest/fastest way to figure it all out.

Thanks for the banking advice! We have to open a bank account as soon as we get there, during our househunting trip. No time to waste, sort of thing. So I really really appreciate it!

LOL, the Chocolate Donut God. That's great! We always grew up blaming things that went missing on the "Time Builders" based off a Twilight Zone episode. But a Chocolate Donut God would have been welcome in our home! hahaha!



Thanks DG! George confirmed your post - his chain of command informed him that we go to the military hospital whenever possible, and go to local hospitals when we can't. Then various insurance companies reimburse us the fees or something. We won't have Tricare Prime, as we're Canadian and have to keep our Cdn military insurance, but I assume it's something similar.



Thanks Jcent. I think it will be fine - we bought it a year ago, but it was pre-owned, it's a 2009. And I don't know how to do the import thing the normal way, but it works a little differently with this move. We've been briefed on it by our rep. The military is paying to ship it, and they pay the import fees, if any. They also are re-imbursing us for registration, new plates, our new driver's licenses, etc. I will call them to make sure our make/model isn't on any forbidden list though. Good call. I did already check to see that they don't sell our model on the island, so parts will be expensive when it comes to fixing it there. The dealership can order them in, but they're coming a long way.

You ladies are definitely helping me think of extra stuff that needs to be done, so I am getting it checked off my list early! Woo!

New Good/Bad news: The military has informed us that they WILL pay for DD to go to a private school for grades 1, 2, and 3 - so that when she returns she will be at the same level academically to go into Canadian Grade 4. Yay! (The HI public schools can't keep her at the Ontario levels, and she'd have to repeat a few grades if she went with them.) Now the bad part - we contacted the private school... and they are pushing some "minimum age" agenda and making me angry today.

Apparently, although my Abbie has graduated Nursery School, Junior Kindergarten, and Senior Kindergarten (will be done this last one by June)... they will NOT allow her to go into Grade 1 there "because she doesn't turn 6 until Nov, and to be eligible for Grade 1, she has to turn 6 in September". They want MY government to pay them tuition to FORCE her to RE-DO Senior Kindergarten, because she's born 6 weeks too late to be "old" enough for grade one. (We weren't aware of it, but apparently even the public system has this rule)

Yet, academically, she reads. She does basic math. She does problem solving, is interested in science. AND DOESN'T NEED a fourth year of "circle time" and "lets do crafts and eat glue" time. She needs structure and motivation.

Sigh. This entire school year, all Abbie can talk about is going to grade one, and writing more, and reading books. And this new school said that they are about 90% sure they will not allow her to do the Grade One curriculum, even being 6 weeks younger than their youngest students, even if she shows readiness for Grade 1.

I don't get that. It's NOT in her best interest to BORE HER TO TEARS for an entire school year. She's ALREADY bored with kindergarten. An entire extra year, and she'd probably be acting out, disobeying the teacher, etc. And I have a REAL problem with her not being challenged to do her best. Or having my government pay them thousands in tuition to basically babysit her and bore her to death.

Homeschooling has never looked so good right now!

Sorry. Rant over. I'm sure it will work out. But Abbie is my # 1 priority. I'll rent a TENT to live in, I don't care, as long as it lets me live where I can get her decent schooling where she will be accepted, and have fun learning.

ETA: I didn't rant to look for sympathy. Sorry if it looks that way. Has anyone been able to do a move and smoothly get their children the education they needed? Even when it goes against the "norm" for the state? Share experiences if you have! I'm 'all ears'...

Dayna that unfortunately is a norm for schools in the USA (age and cut off date). You could ask the school if they have a test available to allow her to skip a grade (even though she already did the grade technically). Our school system is not set up the best IMO (NOT criticizing teachers at all). Wish it was set up so that you learn X subject when you are in grade 2 and Y subject in grade 3. When you move ever year to two years it gets quite interesting to say the least (my eldest was in 5 primary, 2 middle and 3 high schools). Sorry I digress. Fighting to get your daughter the best education possible is worth it in the long run. Please check with the school about the skipping a grade testing or if they offer gifted classes at her grade level which may alleviate some of the boredom. If your daughter will be behind her peers when you return to Canada you may want to consider the homeschooling option. ~Red

Hi Red,

Yeah, age and cut off dates are the norm here in Canada too, but our age cut off date is in December. We mostly have issues moving to new provinces... some start kids at school at age 4, others age 5, etc. I'm used to that kind of crap happening. I grew up moving every two years, and the curriculum was so vastly different, sometimes I was ahead, sometimes I was behind. It wasn't ideal. But I didn't think about the cut off being September 1st elsewhere. **I should also have a disclaimer that I'm not criticizing teachers, or even principals. The system (regardless of the country, it seems) can be a nightmare, but it's not THEIR fault.**

I just thought, if she's graduated Nursery School, and has report cards showing she's done Junior Kindergarten, AND Senior Kindergarten... and has a letter from her school with the recommendation for Grade One in the fall... that we could just en-roll her in Grade One. I didn't think they'd balk at it from an age perspective, when it's just 6 weeks later she turns 6, AND when she's already completed Kindergarten curriculum. I thought since she's been in the system for 3 years, that she'd be okay to just continue on.

One of the schools has said they want to test her before enrolling her. So we MIGHT be able to get her into the proper grade there. *crossing my fingers*. We are bringing a portfolio of the work she's completed to date as well. I hope they allow her to explain things to them, show them her aptitude for learning and understanding what she's learned. She's quite articulate, when not being shy! lol.

Otherwise, you're right, homeschooling is my best option for keeping her at grade level. (Weird enough, homeschooling WAS my first choice after I had her... I really wanted to try it. But Abbie DEMANDED to go to school. Even though she was anxiety ridden for awhile, she wanted it. And now she loves it. So I hope I don't have to take that away from her. )