{"id":1023,"date":"2017-05-05T06:30:08","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T13:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2017-05-28T21:54:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T04:54:46","slug":"helping-your-international-student-adapt-to-american-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/helping-your-international-student-adapt-to-american-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Your International Student Adapt to American School"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter what you remember about school, you probably recall that it could be quite the challenge at times. The rigors of academia and trying to \u201cfit in\u201d are just two daily features you may recall from those days.<\/p>\n

Your international student is going to face these same challenges and many more, so make sure you understand the following ways to help them adapt.
\n\"\"
\nUnderstanding American Sports<\/p>\n

American sports are a big part of American school. For most, this means football and basketball, but every school has their own versions of the ones they excel at the most.<\/p>\n

Most schools around the world have sports programs, but they often aren\u2019t as extensive or as big a deal as they are here in the U.S. Your student may have never seen something like a school football stadium that was constructed solely for its students.<\/p>\n

Early on, it might help to explain some of these sports to your international student, so they\u2019ll feel more comfortable going to the games. As you probably remember, school games are a big part of socializing, which means your student shouldn\u2019t miss out.<\/p>\n

Of course, they may want to go out for a sports team, too. That\u2019s something we\u2019ll cover a bit more in a moment.<\/p>\n

Tell Them About Homecoming, Prom, and Other Dances<\/p>\n

Another big difference between American school and many others is that ours have dances throughout the year. Once again, this isn\u2019t some minor difference, either. At every school in America, homecoming and prom are two very big events. You don\u2019t want your international student to feel as though they missed out simply because they didn\u2019t sufficiently understand the event beforehand.<\/p>\n

Of course, depending on where they\u2019re from, something like a dance may not be outside of what their culture would deep appropriate. Nonetheless, this is all the more reason to explain it to them.<\/p>\n

Encourage Them to Join Groups<\/p>\n

International students often have a hard time making friends. A lot of times, it\u2019s no one\u2019s fault. Every student is doing their best to maintain a social life, do their schoolwork, excel at sports, maybe hold down a job, and much more. It\u2019s easy for these new students to slip through the cracks.<\/p>\n

By joining an extracurricular group or going out for a sport, they\u2019ll have a much easier time meeting people and making friends.<\/p>\n

Let Them Know It\u2019s Okay to Invite Friends Over<\/p>\n

Even when your international student is plenty comfortable with you, your family, and your home, they may have a hard time treating your house like it\u2019s really theirs. This, in turn, could hurt their social life because they\u2019re not inviting friends over, something every American student does often.<\/p>\n

To avoid this problem, let them know early on that you would love for them to invite friends over. While you might have some ground rules about this (making sure you\u2019re told a day in advance, the house has to be cleaned first, etc.), giving them the option to have friends visit will go a long way toward helping them in school.<\/p>\n

Speak with Their Teachers<\/p>\n

Make sure you speak with the teachers who will be having your international students in class. Give them your contact information and ask them to call or email you if they sense your student is having any problems adapting to school.<\/p>\n

This could happen even if their grades are perfect, which is why it can help to have a teacher\u2019s perspective working for you. They may notice that your student sits alone at lunch or is otherwise having trouble making friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter what you remember about school, you probably recall that it could be quite the challenge at times. The rigors of academia and trying to \u201cfit in\u201d are just two daily features you may recall from those days. Your international student is going to face these same challenges and many more, so make sure you understand the following ways to help them adapt. Understanding American Sports American sports are a big part of American school. For most, this means…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[35,66],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1023"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1089,"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023\/revisions\/1089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ushhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}