Guidelines To a Successful Exchange
To welcome
What you need to do when hosting an exchange child:
Make contact with your cultural french, spanish, italian or german exchange family and try to get to know them a little. Also encourage your child to do the same—by emailing or phoning the exchange child.
With your exchange family decide on dates. We recommend that you do not make the initial visits longer than ten days but it can be more when you are older. In France and Spain, they are used to do at least 3 weeks to 1 month each child.
You might want to make up a provisional timetable of activities and excursions for the duration of your guest child’s stay. For example :
Let your exchange know who will meet their child at the airport or station.
You are responsible for the day to day costs of any activities or expeditions for your guest child. Should you wish to send the exchange child on a longer cultural or sports course we recommend that you gain the approval of the exchange family and to ask for them to defray the costs.
We recommend that, while the guest child is staying with you, you send your exchange family photographs of their son or daughter doing whatever activities you have laid on for them. Families always like to get pictures of their children and it will reassure them that all is going well.
Remind your child about good manners and how they should behave towards a foreign guest.
Treat the guest child like you would a member of your own family.
Especially with regards to adolescents, you should give clear guidelines to your exchange family about your rules concerning bedtimes and whether the children are allowed out in the evenings, and under what circumstances.
We suggest that you could even go so far as to write down a list of family rules regarding bedtimes, meals, the locking of doors and so forth.
Please ensure that whatever activities and outings you arrange are undertaken as safely as possible.
Please also check again with the child and family that there is any medical treatments.
You will of course ensure that the guest child has a comfortable bed either in a room of their own, or sharing with their exchange child.
Make sure that the exchange child is eating three proper, healthy meals a day. If need be also follow other nutritional requirements as requested by the exchange family.
To leave
What you should do when sending your own child abroad on exchange:
Make contact with your french or spanish exchange family and try to get to know them a little. Also encourage your child to do the same—by emailing or phoning the exchange child.
We recommend that you do not make the initial visits longer than ten days but when it is a teenager, it can be longer espacially in France.
Book your ticket and inform your exchange family of the place and time of arrival and departure.
Please obtain travel insurance for your child. This should cover medical treatment and repatriation, loss of luggage and other typical eventualities.
Help your child to pack and ensure they include adequate changes of clothes and take into account climate/season.
Provide your child with pocket money for his or her expenses and keep them abreast with the exchange rate.
Give your child a gift to take to the exchange family. Ideally it should be something typical of your country or region (bearing in mind suitability for travel and customs regulations).
Shortly before departure, we suggest you write and send by e-mail all the relevant information about your child (travel details, medicines etc) in one document that you send to the exchange family, or place in your child’s suitcase. It is the best way not to forget anything.
If your child has specific dietary requirements, please inform the exchange family.
It is of paramount importance that the exchange family has all the medical information necessary concerning your child : allergies, health problems, medical treatments, orthodontic plates, spectacles, contact lenses, prosthetics etcetera.
Find out who will be meeting your child or teenager at the train station or airport. Do likewise for the return leg of the trip.
Once your child has arrived at his or her exchange family, do telephone to make sure that everything is okay. After the first couple of days we recommend that you do not call your child too regularly—it can make them more prone to homesickness. Instead encourage your child to call home if he wishes to, or to send you emails.
Remind your child of the rules of good manners and how to behave while in a foreign country. You might think of consulting guidebooks about the country your child is visiting—sometimes there are sections on customs and traditions.
We recommend you take out insurance directly with an insurance. Choose an international partner to ensure you when you travel abroad.