Accommodation in transit

Hi RPearman,

Your topic was moved to the California forum for better visibility.

I suggest you to post an advert in the Housing in California section, this might be helpful.

Regards,

David.

If your child is 4 now but will be 5 by September they will enroll in Kindergarten in the public school system when you arrive in December.  If they are 4, many public schools have pre -k as well. Public school enrollment depends on where you are going to live so have your husband lobby his boss for a house hunting fact finding trip for the both of u so that you can speak with a relocation specialist and secure a place to live before you have to move here.  Hotel living is not ideal and while you may opt to enroll your child after the winter break 1st week of January to help smooth the transition there is no reason why they can't fly you here for a 5 day fact finding mission.  You depart your home county on the weekend and hit the ground running so as to give u time to decide where u want to live.  You can opt for private pre-k and kindergarten there is a variety of them some faith based others that emphasize different learning experiences like the montessori schools.  One thing you won't lack is choice.  If you aren't going to be in the US for your child's entire k-12 education u might be able to convince your husbands boss that your child needs a school that is going to support an IB International Bacalauriate program which can only be found in a private school and see if they will reimburse tuition. My friend is a MD and was just posted in the Middle East and his children's private school tuition is reimbursed to them Orange County has some great private schools. The public schools also provide extra tax payer funding to keep classes small in the so called 1st 5 which r actually pre-k-5th grade.  The primary or foundational schools are getting more resources so that our students can succeed in University when they grow up. My cousin is a retired teacher and administrator so I will pass any questions that u may have along 2 her.

Thanks so much for your help. Flying there for a fact finding mission is not possible, but we are arriving at least a month earlier to settle in. My son will be 4 on 9 September and we will arrive in California on 20 September, I'd like to find a school for him straight away. We are looking at staying in Laguna Niguel. Would pre-k be public or private? What are the requirements I need to make sure he is meeting in order to enrol at school? When does he start Grade K - at 5? My daughter will turn 1 in October, so I expect she will be home with me, but I would like to look into perhaps half day care - I expect this will be private. In terms of public transport, do you know if there is public transport in Laguna Niguel area? Also its very difficult to find an apartment to lease and move into from the day we arrive. we need a guest house type accommodation to live in for about 2 weeks while we find the most approprate place and area, as who knows maybe Laguna Niguel is not it for us?

You will like Laguna Niguel.  I have never met anyone that doesn't.  So if your son is 3 but will be 4 Sept 9 so he will enroll in pre-k. Even though he will be 5 in Sept of next year California changed the age cutoff date this past year for kindergarten enrollment.  I will have to find out what it is.  It was always different for girls than boys because socially it is better for boys to be a bit older.  I was born in Nov but started kindergarten at 4 my brother was born the following Dec so he waited a year.  In other words he was a year younger but two grades behind me in school.  It did seem to help him socially and with sports because instead of being one of the youngest in his grade he was one of the oldest/biggest.  Anyway, I was digressing.  I will have to find out the age cutoff for you. As for 1/2 day nursery school for your daughter.  Look online also Laguna Niguel should have a web portal with school calendar locations etc.