Moving to the DR - You must be mad

Freemo

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May 26, 2003
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Moving to the DR - You must be mad

That was the phrase most commonly heard from family and some friends just over a year ago.

My wife is Dominican and moved back to Santo Domingo with our 2 children at the beginning of August 2008. I am to follow as soon as things are sorted here in the UK. I've posted these circumstances before but I wish to make a point here, so stay with me.

Our 2 children, Ana now nearly 13, and George now 11, were doing 'OK' in school in England. I say 'OK' as that was about it.

George was finding things too easy, in Math and computer studies in particular, but was he given any extra work to stretch him, no way. He became bored and was labelled as a child that distracted others.

Ana was no slouch, a very intelligent girl, who was just starting to show signs of taking it easy, her grades just starting to slip.

We decided to make the move to the DR ahead of schedule solely because we believed that the US curriculum and more importantly the US methodology of insisting kids reach the required grade, and that the goal of going to University was the norm, would benefit both Ana and George.

Our close family all held their hands up and advised us that we were 'bonkers' taking our kids out of free education and moving to a 3rd world country.

Now, 1 year down the line we believe our decision has paid off.

George, after perhaps 6 months of missing his dad badly, managed to pick himself up emotionally, bless him, and has since performed like a little superstar. Teachers had gladly given him extra work to maintain his interest and stretch him intellectually as far as they could.

Now to the main point of this post.

Ana on the other hand, decided that she was going to school merely as a means to further her social life and future career as a hair brusher and nail polisher. That sounds a bit flippant, but basically she started off with very good grades, then as soon as she discovered that that she was to be the centre of attraction as the fair-haired beauty with the 'wonderful' English accent 'oh it's sooo cute' ... she promptly decided to hits the brakes, as far as working hard at school was concerned.

The result for her, she failed to reach the required level to advance into the next school grade. She has just completed 6 weeks of summer school, something that doesn't exist in the UK, and has passed the required exams and has recovered her grade avaerage so that she can move up to the next year with her friends.

If she had been in the the UK school system, she would have gone up to the next year regardless of what her grades were. No summer school neccessary. She would then have been in a position to think to herself, 'oh well, that means I can adopt the same attitude for the coming school year.' And who knows what the knock-on effect of that type of attitude may result in.

She has not only had to pull her grades up to the required level, but she has learnt a valuable lesson just at the right time. She hated the extra 6 weeks school, missed an invitation to go to New York with her best friend and her family, I don't think she would go through that experience again for all the tea in china, as they say. Well, I certainly hope not.

My wife and I feel we have already proved our doubters wrong in the matter of the kids education, and I say thank-you to the US system for giving our daughter a chance to get a good education.

We feel so pleased that even though the last year has been difficult and stressful and as emotional as hell for us as a family we have been rewarded for taking the chance to move here from the UK for the benefit of our children

Thankyou for your patience.
Paul
 
Aug 19, 2004
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Intersting post and please to read you are happy with your decision. I am sure the American system has its advantages though to compare the British comprehensive system (which has many excellent schools) against the Dominican private sector with all its resources and social elite is a bit unfair.
 

Freemo

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Intersting post and please to read you are happy with your decision. I am sure the American system has its advantages though to compare the British comprehensive system (which has many excellent schools) against the Dominican private sector with all its resources and social elite is a bit unfair.

The British schools system has just been slated on the national news and in the press for becoming one of the lowest achieving systems in the Europen Community. That is saying something when you are including former soviet states.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Well, first of all, I am glad that the kids are shaping up. However, you keep mentioning the US system, and I am wondering where the kids are going to school??? Carol Morgan or something similar?? This is, of course, out of the reach for many people.

However, there are some good Dominican schools that make kids work too....

Anyway, they are now well on their way, and it just remains for you to cross the waters...
Good luck..

HB
 

Vacara

I love AZB!
May 5, 2009
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Well, first of all, I am glad that the kids are shaping up. However, you keep mentioning the US system, and I am wondering where the kids are going to school??? Carol Morgan or something similar?? This is, of course, out of the reach for many people.

However, there are some good Dominican schools that make kids work too....

Anyway, they are now well on their way, and it just remains for you to cross the waters...
Good luck..

HB

There're many schools in DR that get the best out of children, specially those ran by catholic churches.
 

El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
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Freemo,

I am not sure what you mean by US teaching system. Can you elaborate on this a little? And please do not feel as you are being attacked. I just want to understand.

I have little cousins that graduated from high school this summer here in NYC. One of them graduating with a 2.5 GPA (basically a C student). That wouldn't fly at all in any descent Dominican private school. I came to NYC when I was in 7th grade and I recall how much more difficult the private school I went to was compared to the Intermediate School I went to here. When I got here I didn't have such a hard time adjustting because my mom had me taking English classes since I was very little. And I have relatives/friends that say the same thing...any private school in the DR is way harder than the public schools here in NYC. Hence my question: what US teaching system are you referring to?
 

Freemo

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May 26, 2003
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Which school

Thanks for the kind messages guys.

As far as which school they go to, its the Dominico-Americano. I'm by no means extolling the virtues of the school itself, to be 100% honest we have been dissapointed with their approach to my daughters lack of effort. She has received many of these white slips, for poor homework, etc, but as she chose not to pass them on to us, we were blissfully unaware until we were next due to attend parent/teacher consultation. By then Ana had slid well below par. They should have contacted us directly when the signed slips didn't return.

The school is populated by mainly kids with very well-off parents, many of whom have spent some of their life in New York. I believe they are referred to as Dominican Yorks. They tend to be quite street-wise and the boys are definately prone to agressiveness. George suffered from general bullying for most of the year, nothing nasty just sustained. He's a sensitive lad and whilst his mother believed it would toughen him up I was more worried about the schools lack of concern.

I suppose due to the priviledged upbringing of these kids its not surprising that they sport the latest gadgets, iphones, blackberrys apple laptops etc. This definately helped my daughter to become impressed with possessions, understandable.

We have decided that they will be moving to a Spanish speaking school from now on. They afterall live in a Spanish speaking country and they are lazy with their Spanish in as much as they use only English at home even when their mother speaks to them in Spanish.

My wife knows someone who works in the new school we've chosen and the philosphy is different as there is a lot of emphasis on the happiness of the kids and their inter-action with each other. There are no gadgets/phones allowed, any notes given to the children demand a 'next-day' or as near as possible meeting with the parents to ensure nothing slips anyones attention.
The kids are nearly all Dominican which I think is important, and finally Yes it's a 'faith' school. I'm not strictly religious but I do think church schools tend to instill dicipline better than most.

I guess what I'm saying in my usual long-winded way is that the US process of not allowing kids to flunk unless its virtually impossible to do anything about has come to our aid. I'm sure that the Dominican schools follow the same process. And to under-pin it all I am grateful to be able to pay for the private education that so many in the DR can't afford.
 

Keiser777

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Feb 18, 2008
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huh a bit of bad comparison

The British schools system has just been slated on the national news and in the press for becoming one of the lowest achieving systems in the Europen Community. That is saying something when you are including former soviet states.
well, if I understood teh implication of "soviet states" you should know that education in the said "soviet states" are well well above the rest of EU.
 

Bayx-**

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May 30, 2008
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What is the name of the school or the region? Glad to hear it work out for your family, not everyone can say the same.
 
R

rockero

Guest
OK I am confused on all This Again Why Insane on THE DR?????
 
R

rockero

Guest
OK What other expats can put all info on this???? I would love too see more outcomes onall this for sure,,,Rockero....
 

Freemo

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May 26, 2003
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Freemo,

I am not sure what you mean by US teaching system. Can you elaborate on this a little? And please do not feel as you are being attacked. I just want to understand.

I have little cousins that graduated from high school this summer here in NYC. One of them graduating with a 2.5 GPA (basically a C student). That wouldn't fly at all in any descent Dominican private school. I came to NYC when I was in 7th grade and I recall how much more difficult the private school I went to was compared to the Intermediate School I went to here. When I got here I didn't have such a hard time adjustting because my mom had me taking English classes since I was very little. And I have relatives/friends that say the same thing...any private school in the DR is way harder than the public schools here in NYC. Hence my question: what US teaching system are you referring to?

I'm speaking from a position of reletive ignorance really. I say 'US' system because I assume that the Dominican private schools all run to the US curriculum. I don't know that to be a fact, I am a great assumer.

No what I mean by the US system is the way the kids are made to 'reach the grade' or do it all again. I thinks its fantastic. If only that was a universal standard. I appreciate, having said that, that not all school systems could accomodate that way of operating. There would no doubt be certain regions in certain countries where due to unfortunate local circumstances they would end up having virtually every kid staying behind for the extra year to 'make-up' and the system would become bottom heavy and collapse.

I'm just crowing a bit because this lack of effort on the part of my daughter Ana, has been nipped in the bud, if you like. I can only compare the situation to what might have been had she still been living in England.

If a kid starts rebelling, it's very difficult for the parents to find an effective method of turning things around. With the 'summer school' pass-or-do-it-again thing the schools are handing the parents a massive helping hand in getting the child back on track. I'm not saying we had a full scale rebellion on our hands exactly, just a pre-teen warm-up, she was flexing her 'let's try it on' muscles. But she very nearly wasted a year at school. The extra 6 weeks she has to do brought her down to earth with the most enormous bump.

As far as your not wanting me to feel attacked, thats very kind of you to say that because I sometimes probably deserve to be slightly attacked, I feel my views are very narrow and inexperienced with regard to life in the DR considering my wife is from there and we have been planning a move back for so long.

I have a tendancy to get carried away with some of the subjects I join in on, and I honestly think, it's that I think I know a lot more about the DR and it's ways than I actually do. But if I step in at times and make some daft comments I welcome criticism because there are so many here who know better than I do.

I'm so passionate about the DR though and can't help giving my 2 cents worth even though I may not be qualified to do so.

I also go on a bit LOL, you may have noticed
 

laurajane

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May 23, 2005
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I am glad that you childrens move does seem to be positive, but was your families concerns just about if the children would recieve a good education or not?

That is just one of many influential parts in a childs life here. Obviously the more financially stable you are means some other problems can be lessened.

The reason i say this is because i live here and have a 2 year old girl who was born here and quite recently especially with all the violent break ins and so on i question my decision to have my child living here. I think maybe my worries and concerns that i all ready knew about worsened when i became a mother, which i presume is normal.

Many will say that the U.K is getting worse with relations to crime, but i do not think that it can be compared to the DR. This has been discussed many times at length on DR1 so i wont go on and i dont in any way mean to suggest you did the wrong thing for your family.

It just interests me why couples or singles would move from the relative safety, good health care, good policing and judicial system etc (the NHS may be joked about at times but it is still light years ahead of medical care here in my own opinion) to move here. Again i am not implying the discission was wrong, but it is different to move here as a single or couple than as a family. I am not bashing the DR either but as a parent it would be irresponsible of me not to question if i am doing the right thing by living here for the benefit of my child.

I do agree that the school system would be better off in the U.K if you had to pass at a certain level to continue or failing that re sit the previous year. Yes you are right even if you are a student in the U.K with terrible grade or attendance record you still progress to the next year becuase you are a year older, thats it.

Hope you get to join your family soon.
 

El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
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I'm speaking from a position of reletive ignorance really. I say 'US' system because I assume that the Dominican private schools all run to the US curriculum. I don't know that to be a fact, I am a great assumer.

Understood.

Public schools here are a disgrace. However, privat and charter schools are not. Those are the schools where kids excel in everything.

I am happy that your children can benefit from the education of a private school. It sure does go a long way.
 

Freemo

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May 26, 2003
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I am glad that you childrens move does seem to be positive, but was your families concerns just about if the children would recieve a good education or not?

That is just one of many influential parts in a childs life here. Obviously the more financially stable you are means some other problems can be lessened.

The reason i say this is because i live here and have a 2 year old girl who was born here and quite recently especially with all the violent break ins and so on i question my decision to have my child living here. I think maybe my worries and concerns that i all ready knew about worsened when i became a mother, which i presume is normal.

Many will say that the U.K is getting worse with relations to crime, but i do not think that it can be compared to the DR. This has been discussed many times at length on DR1 so i wont go on and i dont in any way mean to suggest you did the wrong thing for your family.

It just interests me why couples or singles would move from the relative safety, good health care, good policing and judicial system etc (the NHS may be joked about at times but it is still light years ahead of medical care here in my own opinion) to move here. Again i am not implying the discission was wrong, but it is different to move here as a single or couple than as a family. I am not bashing the DR either but as a parent it would be irresponsible of me not to question if i am doing the right thing by living here for the benefit of my child.

I do agree that the school system would be better off in the U.K if you had to pass at a certain level to continue or failing that re sit the previous year. Yes you are right even if you are a student in the U.K with terrible grade or attendance record you still progress to the next year becuase you are a year older, thats it.

Hope you get to join your family soon.


The main reason we decided to move to the DR was to expose the kids to the Latin culture and their large Dominican family. In the UK we have a very small family. My parents and my sister and her husband. Ana and George have no cousins here. In the DR they have I believe 35 cousins, and more if you count second cousins. My wife had about 8 brothers and sisters.

Each time we returned from visiting the DR we were more and more aware of the 'private' lives that the English like to live, the front doors shut and stay that way. You are often lucky if you know your neighbours well enough to speak to. I must admit our neighbours on one side were fantastic. But I think life on the edge of London is becoming more and more rough to put it bluntly. There are so many economic migrants now that many schools are swamped with kids who need extra attention just to learn basic English. I could go on and on, but basically we seemed to be able to capture the joy and warmth of friends and family we were lacking here in England.

Early days yet, we've had plenty of ups and downs, many things are so much easier in England, but I love neighbours wandering in and out, sharing food, doing your washing when the machine breaks down, doing your cooking when the electric goes off (they have gas)

Security-wise - I agree that Santo Domingo is a place you have to be very careful in - we are very security minded and very careful going about here and there. But as long as you take all the precuations you should be ok.
 

laurajane

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May 23, 2005
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The main reason we decided to move to the DR was to expose the kids to the Latin culture and their large Dominican family. In the UK we have a very small family. My parents and my sister and her husband. Ana and George have no cousins here. In the DR they have I believe 35 cousins, and more if you count second cousins. My wife had about 8 brothers and sisters.

Each time we returned from visiting the DR we were more and more aware of the 'private' lives that the English like to live, the front doors shut and stay that way. You are often lucky if you know your neighbours well enough to speak to. I must admit our neighbours on one side were fantastic. But I think life on the edge of London is becoming more and more rough to put it bluntly. There are so many economic migrants now that many schools are swamped with kids who need extra attention just to learn basic English. I could go on and on, but basically we seemed to be able to capture the joy and warmth of friends and family we were lacking here in England.

Early days yet, we've had plenty of ups and downs, many things are so much easier in England, but I love neighbours wandering in and out, sharing food, doing your washing when the machine breaks down, doing your cooking when the electric goes off (they have gas)

Security-wise - I agree that Santo Domingo is a place you have to be very careful in - we are very security minded and very careful going about here and there. But as long as you take all the precuations you should be ok.

Yes i know what you mean, i like that when a stranger gets on the bus here they say good morning to everyone and so on. In the U.K we keep our heads down and keep ourselves to ourselves.

I must say though there are times when i very much wish the family would get the hint when you dont answer the door and want a bit of alone time. I remember when i first moved here i was watching telly in bed under the covers all comfy like and did not have a stitch on..well you know its hot right? When half the family decided to pop round and they all came flooding in the bedroom and sat on the bed. I felt sooo uncomfortable and they seemed to have no idea ha ha.

Well i wish you all the best and i have heard your concerns about the U.K from others regarding immigrants also.

As a fellow brit, should you ever need a hand with anything just PM me.