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Hi, I am new to this forum, and this is my first post here, so please be gentle with me.
I have just posted this on the Cyprus forum also.
I am considering a move to either France or Cyprus in the next year, I have already moved from the UK once only to find that after doing all the research into things I thought were most important, there are issues which we did not even consider questioning, so I will be asking different questions than I did first time around. Not that they were not important last time, I just did not think that these would cause an issue.
One of my main concerns is the family life. How do the French treat their children? Do they lavish them with expensive gifts and every time they ask for the new one of this or the latest one of that do they run out and buy it for them. Or do they try to fill the childrens lives with time spent with them doing things together, etc.
My reasons for asking is that the latter attitude is what I am looking for and sadly it seems that because Swedish people often compensate for their absence by induldging their children with everything they ask for, they are breeding a generation who's attitude is I want everything now. The children here have so much to offer them, they have snow for 5 months of the year, giving opportunities to ski, skate, snowboarding etc and in the summer, there are so many beautiful lakes and forests to explore, and yet they continue to crave all the material things.
Schools also, I knew that they would be much more laid back than England, and also they do not start till the year they turn 7. But I was shocked at the difference in developement, and how they really do not encourage children to achieve the best they are capable of, as long as they attain a certain level, that seems to be accepted. The christmas production by the school last year compared to our English primary was comparable to kindergarten. Please don't misunderstand me, the school and the teachers are fantastic, and the children have done things in primary that would not be offered until high school in UK eg woodwork, metalwork and sewing, but although I want the children to be allowed to be children, I also would like some encouragement for them to stretch their strengths and abilities, and not to be taught that average is best. Please could someone tell me if this is also the case in Cyprus.
I would also like to say the above are only my experiences of moving here. There are a great many positive things about the country.
These are just a couple of my questions, I am testing the water to see what you good people feed back to me. What I am looking for also is to know whether perhaps I am chasing an ideal that does not exist anymore.
Thank you in anticipation for your sensible answers
I have just posted this on the Cyprus forum also.
I am considering a move to either France or Cyprus in the next year, I have already moved from the UK once only to find that after doing all the research into things I thought were most important, there are issues which we did not even consider questioning, so I will be asking different questions than I did first time around. Not that they were not important last time, I just did not think that these would cause an issue.
One of my main concerns is the family life. How do the French treat their children? Do they lavish them with expensive gifts and every time they ask for the new one of this or the latest one of that do they run out and buy it for them. Or do they try to fill the childrens lives with time spent with them doing things together, etc.
My reasons for asking is that the latter attitude is what I am looking for and sadly it seems that because Swedish people often compensate for their absence by induldging their children with everything they ask for, they are breeding a generation who's attitude is I want everything now. The children here have so much to offer them, they have snow for 5 months of the year, giving opportunities to ski, skate, snowboarding etc and in the summer, there are so many beautiful lakes and forests to explore, and yet they continue to crave all the material things.
Schools also, I knew that they would be much more laid back than England, and also they do not start till the year they turn 7. But I was shocked at the difference in developement, and how they really do not encourage children to achieve the best they are capable of, as long as they attain a certain level, that seems to be accepted. The christmas production by the school last year compared to our English primary was comparable to kindergarten. Please don't misunderstand me, the school and the teachers are fantastic, and the children have done things in primary that would not be offered until high school in UK eg woodwork, metalwork and sewing, but although I want the children to be allowed to be children, I also would like some encouragement for them to stretch their strengths and abilities, and not to be taught that average is best. Please could someone tell me if this is also the case in Cyprus.
I would also like to say the above are only my experiences of moving here. There are a great many positive things about the country.
These are just a couple of my questions, I am testing the water to see what you good people feed back to me. What I am looking for also is to know whether perhaps I am chasing an ideal that does not exist anymore.
Thank you in anticipation for your sensible answers