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[quote=Anonymous]I think the biggest challenge is curriculum level differences in elementary school and high school exams. Having seen kids switch back and forth between British schools in Britain, British schools abroad, American international schools, and American schools, it can get messy.

British schools start things far earlier than American schools and have younger entry points. If kids transition to American schools, they can end up ahead in the curriculum and not with their age cohort. My friends who had to make the switch back did it early but are now dealing with a very young-for-grade middle schooler in the US.

British curriculum for high school is pretty pointless for American kids in terms of exams, specializing, etc. *unless* you know for sure that your child wants to go to college outside of the US. Same for French and German in HS- it isn’t worth the effort to go to a US university after all that.

The location-specific comment is important to pay attention to. Depending on what city you’re in, a British or American school can actually be neither and is really just a school for expats or rich locals or both, with curriculum somewhere between the two. You need to do your research on curriculum and pay attention to exmissions to contextualize these schools.[/quote]

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