My family and I are Irish from Co. Kerry and have lived in Luxembourg for the past 2 years. My 3 kids all go to the European school, where I work. The youngest two are very happy there and get on well with learning the french and are very good at it. But my oldest daughter (she's 15) is EXTREMELY unhappy. We stay in Ireland during the summers and at the beginning of the summer she told me she did not want to go back to Luxembourg, but I didn't take her seriously. Then when the year started (our 3rd year here) about a week ago, she refused to go to school and locked herself in her room. She won't eat dinner with us and she stays awake all night waiting for us to go to sleep while she then goes up to get food. She tells me that her problem is the french because she has to do history and geography in french also, and she says all the other kids laugh at her because she has an english accent when she speaks french. She also tells me she misses Ireland very very much and she just wants to go back to Ireland. I want to send her home because I can see she is truly unhappy. My problem is that I don't know where to put her. I can't ask any of our relations to take her, because they wouldn't take her and even if they did I know they'd only do it under pressure. I don't have enough money to send her to a boarding school and I don't have the means to borrow money. She can go to the European School for free because I work there. I've tried speaking to a counseller, and she says that she must be being bullied, I have asked my daughter and she insists she isn't, and judging by what other teachers have said I think that's true. I really want to send her home because I'm afraid she'll get ill if this continues. The school have been asking where she is, and I've told them she's sick. I just need to find a place she can stay until July, because after a year my husband, who has a job which he has taken leave of absence from, said he will return to work so we can buy another house and him and her can live there until I and the rest of my children return to Ireland, as we will have to do eventually. Is there any families that would take her in for just a year, or any way of getting a grant for a boarding school? Is there any way she can be home-schooled without hiring tutors? My husband truly has no idea about education and I cannot teach her because I'm at work all day. Please help me, I really have no idea what to do.
Other - Education - 2 Answers
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1 :
Maybe she could stay home and finish school in an online school. They have one here for free in the states, you might have a similar option where you are. Good Luck.
2 :
Are you certain that your relatives feel that way? Have you spoken to any of them about how unhappy your daughter is? Does your daughter have any close friends in Ireland that may be willing to let her stay with them while going to school? Since you are talking about just a few months, perhaps one of her friends could let her stay with them while going to school. I have no idea what the home school laws are where you are living. I would definitely look into what the laws are & how you can make your daughter happier while also abiding by the law. Home education sounds scary at the beginning, but it is do-able, especially considering the age & motivation of your daughter. There is a wealth of educational resources available to anyone through public libraries, internet libraries & websites, and mentors within the community. Is she dealing with an eating disorder? Or an anxiety disorder? You may want to delve more deeply into the cause of all of this unhappiness & refusal to be present during family mealtimes. I would recommend you be honest with her. Tell her exactly what you have written here. Maybe she needs to know the truth about your family's situation & about how much you all want to help, even though you are unsure how to proceed. It may help her understand that her unhappiness is a finite problem. She is not going to be stuck in that school forever, things will get better, but like everything else it takes time.
