Parents on the Move is a concise and practical source of advice for parents TCKs. It focuses on strategies for successful family relocation and family health, through a unique lens of the Christian faith. In it you will find real-life experiences combined with a systematic break-down of the unique challenges of moving internationally with young ones.
This book would be best for younger families encountering an international move for the first time. It could also benefit HR staff in organizations that regularly deploy internationally to set up their employees for success at their new assignments. It is not a dense read, and can be easily skimmed for the information most pertinent to one’s own situation.
The appendices provide workbook sheets to help you brainstorm in preparation for your family’s move, along the lines the book has presented. They are perhaps most useful for making sure you articulate your expectations and think through all your options before your move.
Chapters:
- Strategic Priorities
- Seven Levels of Moving
- Checking Out the Giants (Schools, Neighborhood and Home, Social Network)
- The ACE Card (What to look for in when assessing potential schools)
- The Home Schooling Option
- Your Support Team – Do you have one?
- Grandmothers as Communication Central
- Expecting and Delivering a Baby Abroad
- Heading Home – Heading Out Again
Appendices:
- Family Relocation Listening Exercises
- Relocation Level Questionnaire
- Sample School Visit Schedule
- School Visit Strengths and Weaknesses Chart
- ACE Checklist
- Support team Contact Information
Bia Fish loves her part of river, living under a lily pad with her parents. So when they move upstream to a place her parents call “home” she hates the new food and misses her old friends. Then a little bird tells Bia about how birds migrate between two homes but always belong to the Creator’s sky and that helps Bia Fish to accept that she also has two homes.
What makes this book extra useful for parents and caregivers is that it comes with eight discussion questions at the back of the book to help kids process the concepts of moving, culture shock, making new friends and belonging to more than one home.
Reading level: age 3 to 7 years
This book is rather different from other entries on this site. It’s part autobiographical and part treatise on what it means to belong. Greg Cole’s TCK background of growing up in Indonesia informs his understanding of belonging, since he grew up in a highly mobile community and his third culture-ness makes him different from most “normal” monocultural people. Another large aspect of Cole’s identity that informs his treatise on belonging is his sexual orientation and religion. As a celibate gay Christian, Cole doesn’t fit into the typical stereotypes of the LGBT+or Christian communities. Where does he really belong if he can’t find people who look and think like him? He proposes that similarities are not what tie people to each other, but that we can belong to each other in deeper ways.
I’d recommend this book to MKs and other TCKs who are struggling to “fit in” and find belonging outside the TCK bubble. For those who aren’t Christians, some of the messages about homosexuality may be unwelcome but the main points of the book are not about sexuality or arguing for or against celibacy.
Benito hat eine Riesenreise hinter sich: Vier Jahre lang haben seine Eltern in Jerusalem gearbeitet – eine aufregende Zeit für den kleinen Weltenbummler und seine Geschwister.
Natürlich hat er auch einen dicken Reisekoffer voller Erinnerungen mitgebracht. Einen Teil seiner spannenden, lustigen, ernsten und absolut lehrreichen Geschichten hat seine Mutter schon in dem Buch “Reise nach Jerusalem” niedergeschrieben. Doch nun ist Benito bereits 12 Jahre, viele Souvenirs hat er noch gar nicht ausgepackt und er kann manche Erlebnisse ganz anders einordnen und beschreiben. Von der internationalen Schule, an der fast täglich ein Fest steigt, bis zu den verschiedenen Haustierchen, die man am besten mit Schnapsflaschen jagt – das Leben in Israel gleicht dem kunterbunten Basar in Jerusalem. Es lohnt sich, hineinzutauchen in dieses Gewimmel der unterschiedlichsten Kulturen, Religionen und Völker.
Four years ago, Benito returned from his huge journey: his parents worked in Jerusalem for four years – an exciting time for the little globetrotter and his siblings.
Of course, he also brought a thick suitcase full of memories. His mother wrote down some of his exciting, funny, serious and absolutely instructive stories in the book “Reise nach Jerusalem”. But now Benito is 12 years old, and he can view and describe some experiences differently. From the international school, which has a festival almost every day, to the various pets that are best trapped with liquor bottles – life in Israel is like the colorful bazaar in Jerusalem. It is worth diving into this swarm of different cultures, religions and peoples.
THIS BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN GERMAN
1951: Auf einem Flugplatz in Nigeria klettert die kleine Ruth in ein Flugzeug, das sie in ein Internat bringen wird – weit, weit weg von Papa und Mama, die als Missionare für Gott arbeiten. Und sie weint. Das ist der Auftakt eines verbissenen Kampfes, mit dem sie einen Schmerz niederzukämpfen versucht, der mit jedem Abschied von ihren Lieben tiefer geht und doch so gar nicht zu einem Gotteskind passen will. Jahre später: Ruth führt ein Bilderbuchleben als Missionarsfrau und Mutter. Dennoch leidet sie unter Depressionen, Wutanfällen und bohrender Kritiksucht, so sehr, dass ihr Glaube eines Tages Bankrott anmeldet. Doch dann: „Irgendwie beugte sich Gott zu mir herunter und sagte freundlich: Ruth, ich habe die ganze Zeit darauf gewartet, dass du endlich aufhörst zu kämpfen. Ich möchte dich in die Vergangenheit zurückführen, um dir zu zeigen, wo du Verletzungen erlebt hast. Ich hielt mich an Christus fest und erlebte im Rückblick all die Gefühle, die ich mir nie eingestanden hatte. Und so schrieb ich sie auf, diese Briefe, die ich niemals schrieb.“ Briefe einer Reise hinter den Schmerz, wo Ruth van Reken Heilung fand. Und eine Hoffnung, die allen Menschen gilt, egal unter welcher Art von Verlust oder Verletzung sie leiden.
This is the German edition of “Letters Never Sent” by Ruth Van Reken
Jesse vindt het helemaal niet leuk om te verhuizen naar Boma, een dorpje in het binnenland van Papoea. Maar zijn vader gaat er werken, en dus moet hij wel mee. Gelukkig wordt hij goed opgevangen door Rafaël, die er al jaren woont, en die samen met zijn Papoeavrienden een jungleclub heeft opgericht. Jesse mag ook lid worden. Maar niet meteen, natuurlijk. Hij moet eerst een overleven-in-de-jungle cursus volgen. En allerlei moeilijke opdrachten uitvoeren om te bewijzen dat hij moed heeft …
De overleven-in-de-jungle cursus: een spannend, stoer en grappig boek, dat kinderen zelf laat beleven hoe het is om in het oerwoud van Papoea te wonen.
Benito is 5 years old and quite excited. He is going to Israel with mom, dad, and his two little siblings. And not just for vacation! They will be working in the Johanniter hospice in the old city of Jerusalem where, in years past, sick knights were cared for, and where you can still hear the clatter of rusty armor! They soon feel at home – in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Jerusalem bazaar, between all the religions and cultures of the country that knows no peace. For four years he and his family enjoy the magic of Israel. Everything is exciting there – from the “grave kitchen” to the Turkish tower, from the Dead Sea on which you can sit, to the books you have to read backwards; from the many fun festivals that the Israelis celebrate to their delicious food.
THIS BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN GERMAN
