Best age for kids to live abroad

Hello "Lasha" - Well, we just moved back from living in the middle east, Dubai. We moved there early 2015 and returned last November. Though I have visited other places in the world, but only lived abroad in Dubai. As you may already know, Dubai has become one of the most famous cities in the world to visit. It is a fully-developed city, immaculately clean and extremely safe. As a mom of 2 girls (8 1/2 and 2), it was a great experience for my kids, especially my 8 yo. Dubai is very westernized (English being the second language after Arabic) and respectfully open-minded, though it is a very religious muslim country - - they  really do respect expatriates' (expats) religions and cultures. Yes, there were a few culture shocks, but we got used to it and was no big deal.  The quality of life there is better than the US as you can find domestic help at a very cheap price (according to the UAE market). Though, I did not live the "quality and high" life that most people expect, I was lucky to find people to help me at home. Also, the cost of living is expensive there, similar to CA - - in my point of view. We were lucky to have housing and school paid. Expats are sponsored in Dubai and a lot of companies offer housing and school. Just a thought. I hope this information helps. Take care and best of luck.

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I can't speak from experience, but my husband and I would like to do the same thing and have talked about it a lot. I think first thing is the child's health, especially depending on where you decide to go. In many places, over age 5 is much safer -- plus, the added advantage of your child being able to tell you what's wrong or how they are feeling, if sick. Younger is obviously better if you're hoping for your child to learn a second language. Socially-emotionally, I think anytime before or through middle school might be a good time, when they're still pretty resilient and can soak up and learn from the experience. By the time they get to high school, stability is really important. So, sometime between age 5 and 12, is what my husband and I have decided. :)  

We spent a year in Kenya when my kids were 9 and 13. It was great for my 9 yr old, hard for the teenager! Being a teen is all about fitting in, and as white Americans in Kenya, that was not possible :)

I am so glad we did it, and both "kids" are glad now as young adults, but I would say if you can choose, maybe 7-12 is ideal.

I moved a lot as a kid, into and out of the U.S., and as a person in my mid-forties now I would say that giving your kids the chance to feel "uprooted and alienated" is actually a good thing.  Living abroad is a paradigm-changing experience and it's not easy.  I always found that our first year in a new country was tough, then it became amazing.  Giving ourselves that first year to recognize that living in another country is a major adjustment was really important.  Then we learned to appreciate what was great about where we were, and what was great about where we came from.  As an adult, I've found that I have a much better sense of what outsiders - those new to our workplace, those who don't travel in our circles, those who are just different from me - need to feel included, what they need as a platform to thrive.  I am certain I got that because I was an outsider myself several times as a kid and teen.   That said, I think ages 10-13 are great for this experience.  Enjoy!

We took our girl to live in Paris for 2 school years, at the age of 10.  As long as you prepared your kid sufficiently for the new country's language (if moving after kindergarten year), there is really not a problem.  I think the best break year will be befeore middle school.  We put our daughter in a local public curriculum school, not an international school.  I highly recommend (depending on the country you are going), that's the only way to assimilate and build friendships of natives, in my opinion.  Taking your child to live overseas, locally, is a great experience for the whole family.  Plan ahead, do a lot of research (in fact started my research on this website!)  and it is well worth it and not as daunting as many think.  Happy to share my experience if you need more.  Good luck.