Raising young children in Las Terrenas

ladysnow89

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Apr 4, 2016
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Hi, I'm new to this forum and I've been reading through many posts. I don't see much on relocating to the DR with young children. Our boys are 1 and 3 yrs and their female cousins are 3 and 6 years. Their cousins will be moving to LT in the next 12 to 18 months. They've bought a condo.
I'd love to hear about your experiences raising expat children in Las Terrenas, the NC or just the DR in general if LT is too specific. If this has already been covered in another post...apologies and maybe you could provide a link.

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Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
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So far so good, French school is really good. Otherwise the american school is run by Annette Snyder, and I heard she does a great job.
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
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Hi, I'm new to this forum and I've been reading through many posts. I don't see much on relocating to the DR with young children. Our boys are 1 and 3 yrs and their female cousins are 3 and 6 years. Their cousins will be moving to LT in the next 12 to 18 months. They've bought a condo.
I'd love to hear about your experiences raising expat children in Las Terrenas, the NC or just the DR in general if LT is too specific. If this has already been covered in another post...apologies and maybe you could provide a link.

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I'm curious. Do the parents have a business that can be operated out of the DR. Where are they from? Las Terrenas has a large European population. Many French, German and Italian ex-pats. My wife and I lived there for about 6 years, 7 months out of the year. There are schools and good people that run them. I am not sure the quality of education is equal to North America. Although exposure to different cultures and languages is a definite plus. Your relatives will need to apply for residency and that process starts in their home country. They need to contact the closest Domincan Consulate to see what the requirements are. Good luck. If you have other questions ask.
 

kampinge

Member
Jan 18, 2012
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We raised three kids in Santiago. Vi came to Santiago when the kids where 6,4 and 3 years old.The eldest start preschool in New Horizon Santiago
the other 2 Montessori preschool Santiago_Our eldest son( now 16 ) finished 9 th grade at New Horizon (a bilingual privat school) last year and went to Germany as a guest student in the 10th grade . He has now decided to stay in Germany until 12 th grade. His knowledge in Spanish andEnglish
are excellent, German too. But Math,History,science and social studies are behind German (and I believe North American) standard .Personally

he said that the school in Santiago was very easy, in Germany he has really to work. thats my experience from Dominican school. They are more or less 1 year behind European/American standard.
My other 2 children still attend New horizon in Santiago. I believe they too has to go back from 1o th grade to 9th grade when continue school in Germany or North Amerika.
 

ladysnow89

New member
Apr 4, 2016
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I'm curious. Do the parents have a business that can be operated out of the DR. Where are they from? Las Terrenas has a large European population. Many French, German and Italian ex-pats. My wife and I lived there for about 6 years, 7 months out of the year. There are schools and good people that run them. I am not sure the quality of education is equal to North America. Although exposure to different cultures and languages is a definite plus. Your relatives will need to apply for residency and that process starts in their home country. They need to contact the closest Domincan Consulate to see what the requirements are. Good luck. If you have other questions ask.
We have so many questions! Thank you so much for replying.
They/we are from Canada and will be operating a business. They are also drawing a pension. We are considering joining them in a couple of years when our kids are slightly older. Good to hear that there are a couple of schooling possibilities. I speak French and I'd pick up Spanish within a year. I'm just hoping that the kids can make friends with expat kods amd locals. I've read a lot on here about safety/security and I don't necessarily want to be isolated from other families and kids in a gated community. Is a gated community the way to go in LT?

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Abuela

Bronze
May 13, 2006
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As a self proclaimed worrywart mom, one of my concerns moving to Lt with young children is a lack of nearby hospital as well as availability of quality education
 

ladysnow89

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Apr 4, 2016
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So far so good, French school is really good. Otherwise the american school is run by Annette Snyder, and I heard she does a great job.
Thanks! Has it been easy for you/the kids to make friends?

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Derfish

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Jan 7, 2016
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Kids make friends as easily as puppies. They will be speaking Spanish in a few weeks at most. Worry not for the kids!
 

LTSteve

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Jul 9, 2010
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We have so many questions! Thank you so much for replying.
They/we are from Canada and will be operating a business. They are also drawing a pension. We are considering joining them in a couple of years when our kids are slightly older. Good to hear that there are a couple of schooling possibilities. I speak French and I'd pick up Spanish within a year. I'm just hoping that the kids can make friends with expat kods amd locals. I've read a lot on here about safety/security and I don't necessarily want to be isolated from other families and kids in a gated community. Is a gated community the way to go in LT?

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In any third world country, including the DR, security is the number one priority. I would not suggest getting a free standing home because of these exact reasons. Your relatives will new to the DR, Las Terrenas and a new way a life. There is a learning curve. They should consider renting initially before buying anything.
 

chic

Silver
Nov 20, 2013
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In any third world country, including the DR, security is the number one priority. I would not suggest getting a free standing home because of these exact reasons. Your relatives will new to the DR, Las Terrenas and a new way a life. There is a learning curve. They should consider renting initially before buying anything.

is that standard advice??? of course some peep do the opposite...free standing home???whats the rule there....robbers???me i have very rarely lived in attached housing...i had good lucks in all my rentals and prefer a free standing one...
 

LTSteve

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Jul 9, 2010
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is that standard advice??? of course some peep do the opposite...free standing home???whats the rule there....robbers???me i have very rarely lived in attached housing...i had good lucks in all my rentals and prefer a free standing one...

Do you have kids? I think that throws a whole different twist into the mix.
 

TravelHippo

Active member
Mar 24, 2008
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We aren't in Las Terrenas, but not too far down the road in Cabrera. I have a 1 1/2 year old and 4 year old (both born here so maybe a bit different because they don't know anything different from this), but we are extremely happy raising our kids here. They are both speaking English and Spanish, my eldest has many friends both expat and Dominican, and they just love playing outside 365 days a year, whether it is catching bugs in the yard, riding their bikes, going to the beach or just running around. My good friend runs the preschool program my eldest attends and my husband and I run a school for kids beginning at the age they would leave the preschool so luckily for us, education isn't a concern.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
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I was brought up in an Air Force family so travelling every couple of years was the norm. When I was 7 we moved to Singapore and that was in the 1960's when it was more a third world country than how it is today. I loved the time there, swimming, playing outside, we lived among expats, Chinese and Malays. I adored the different food and culture and it instilled in me a life long love of different cultures and food, of travel and of a deep appreciation that other nationalities and cultures are not "wrong" they are different and that difference should be celebrated. I think the best thing you can ever do for your children is to expose them to different countries, races, languages and cultures.

Matilda