Travelling with families
Please note information supplied on this page is for the benefit of Fulbright Scholars travelling to the U.S., to assist with travel preparations and also to support Scholars in their transition to life in the U.S. Please note: the information has been extracted from recent Fulbright Scholar Final Reports and is not necessarily the views or recommendations of the Fulbright Commission.
| Our 15 year old son came with us and joined Grade 10 in High School. It was a very positive experience for him; his peer group was extremely interested in the fact that he was Australian.... It is important to find an activity that gets you out into the community – a way of meeting people, learning its history, its stories – in the US I found that this was easy to do - I had good access to a range of libraries and historical societies, and I used public transport which meant I met people from all socio-economic backgrounds on a daily basis. Partner 2006 Senior Scholar |
| Yes – the children came with us. They had a wonderful learning experience. They did not go to school (US summer holidays when we arrived, and we departed 3 weeks into the US school year). We joined the city library in Seattle – a wonderful treasure trove of books, CDs, DVDs and learning experiences. Membership was free, and we were able to withdraw 100 books (!!) at a time. This was only because we mentioned that were there on the Fulbright program (otherwise, for some reason, we would have been capped at 10 books). Partner, 2006 Senior Scholar |
| This openness also extended to the) school my son attended, which accepted him without question for the six weeks. He had been apprehensive about possible US chauvanism, but he was enthralled by the thoughtful teaching of US history and its lack of dogma. We made full use of the amazing Washington museums on our days off, and these, like the think-tanks, underlined the value of private sector support for public life in the US. 2006 Professional Scholar |
| My 12 year old son came with me for 6 weeks, and attended an Arlington high school. He was made very welcome by both staff and students, and thrived in the school's competitive and disciplined atmosphere. However, the school day starts very early and there are few breaks in the school day, so he 'hated America' from 6.30 to 7am .The Arlington public school website is very useful for parents planning to live in that area. If you can have the TB test school pupils need done in Australia it is much less hassle. 2006 Professional Scholar |
| Local/community newspapers have details of interesting events and activities. Get involved early in an interest group in order to make some friends independently of partner. Partner, 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| One thing to be mindful of is that pre-school hours here differ to pre-school hours in Australia and a typical day is 9am-12pm. Perhaps something to bear in mind when deciding where to place your children. Long day care centers, do of course offer longer hours for children. Partner, 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| On Capitol Hill, almost the day we arrived at our sub-let, I found out about a listserver called Moms On The Hill (MOTH) which turned out to be our major social connection – we met other families, found out about events, borrowed kid’s gear e.g. a baby bath, got medical advice, etc. etc. from this site. I set up a playgroup for two-year olds through it and after connecting online, we would meet up with people and soon we had a regular network of people in our area. Partner, 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| This was the easiest aspect of the trip. Essentially, you can turn up to the nearest public school (in Tennessee) with your child, and they can start school the next day. You need to bring vaccination records and report cards. 2005 Senior Scholar |