FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS

Homebound for awhile by choice or circumstance? Bring the world (and the road) TO you by hosting a foreign exchange student. Homestays can be as short as ten days to a whole school year or more. Through experience, we've decided our outer limit is four weeks, with three weeks being the optimal time. Shorter than that and you don't really get to make an impact. We decided longer than that would leave our young children potentially open to negatives. The first week, the student is trepident. The second, relaxed. The third, like one of the family. By the fourth, they tend to start acting like a guest who's stayed too long ;-). Because we have two girls and two boys, we have opted only to host girls. The chance of something inappropriate happening may be miniscule, but it's never zero. The girls have that natural mothering instinct as well, and with few exceptions have been absolutely a joy to have in our homes.

The biggest benefit to a homestay is cultural exchange. What an eye opener to the rest of the world! Many of our stereotypes have been confirmed, and many others have been dispelled. Hosting Rie confirmed that many Japanese women are lovely, classy, and considerate. Hosting Eunji dispelled the notion that Koreans are naturally clean ;-). Because we lived there, our children already had a lot of exposure to Japanese culture. But spending a month of evenings discussing its similarities and differences to American life was still eye-opening. In some ways, it was sad, seeing their women on the verge of Westernization, choosing to work over raising a family; we already know where that road leads. In other ways, it was exciting to learn of the openness to Christianity where once the Shinto religion was almost exclusively practiced. There are practical as well as theoretical benefits. Ryoko and Rie practiced karate with David the whole time they were here. He uses chopsticks as well as a native. Hae En's English improved ten-fold when she and Jenna started playing together; Jenna's Korean improved tenfold as well -- from one word to ten :-). Did you know that Rock, Paper, Scissors is a fairly universal game? A great ice breaker.

Hosting an exchange student can tax your budget. We tried the strictly volunteer ones. It was just too much. Now we only do programs where a stipend is paid. No, we're not making any money. That's not the purpose. But neither do we want to lose any when we can ill-afford it. Stipends allow us to do things we might not otherwise be able to afford -- we took one group kayaking, one to an amusement park, one hiking at Mt. Rainier, and many other activities. Each interaction was an opportunity for our children to get to know others who do not share their background nor religious convictions, under the protection and supervision of their parents. Their observations are precious, not always needing a common language to communicate.

Geography is ever-present in their minds, wanting to know where the students live, and to which countries they have traveled. It is not just physical geography, though. It is cultural as well. Elisha can tell you the differences between North Korea and South Korea in worldview, not simply location. Ask Jenna why she thinks Kyoto is no longer Japan's capital. Or listen to David compare the value of the US dollar with the Canadian dollar. These aren't abstract questions from a textbook -- they are now relevant facts in their lives.

Foreign Exchange is a wonderful way to spread the message of homeschooling, especially where it's not currently allowed by law (such as for Japanese nationals).  When they first arrived, Keiko and Kae were a little alarmed to think that our children did not attend government school. By the time they left, Keiko did her mini-thesis and public presentation on the benefits of home education.  It was not that we argued the point, but her observation of our children's love for learning.

Most of our students have been a joy to have in our home. They have added to our education and our view of the world. It's what homeschooling is all about -- an education in the home.

Interested? You can post a FREE host ad at www.homestayweb.com. Students from other countries search for compatible families, then contact you directly. They pay a small fee to the site owner.  

Do you have a recommendation for a foreign exchange resource? Email us and let us know.