Need some direction....

 We are thinking about home schooling our children if unable to get into a good school. Does this happen and are there groups of Mother's that get together to socialize the children?

"life is short, live it"

would be great!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have good news from ASD in mid April.  They are hopefully going to let us know if they have seats available.  Qatar Academy is second on our list because it follows the IB program.  Our son(9) would have a seat, but I prefer all of them to be at the same school.  I think at this point though I would separate them.  I would have the driver take John and then on to another school or TWO?  Who knows.  I'm just glad we have the luxury of the driver.  I think I'll stick to that for awhile.  If you have any positive feelings of a particular school, please let me know. 

I have a degree in elementary education, so I may decide to teach in the next couple of years.  I've been home for ten years and loved every minute of it with my three.  We have a son(9), two girls(6 & 4).

When are you guys moving?  My husband leaves April 4th.  I will be visiting for school interviews in mid April. He will come back in June, and then it's on to London.  The next stop is our new home in Doha! 

I know I gave you lots of info, but I think  we are looking at the same timeline.  Hopefully, we can be resources for one another.  Good luck to you and family!

Good luck with your adventures to come!  Any help, especially in the schooling area, would be MORE than helpful!!!!  If we find out any info we will pass it along as we too have reached long waitlists!!!

Let's keep in touch.....

TexasMom

 We're moving from florida.  We have three children (9, 6, and 4)  We have had some trouble with waitlists.  I'm in a hurry, but would love to chat more with you. I'm going to visit schools next month.  I'll send more info that have received from the schools later.  Good luck!!!  I'm in the same boat.

<td hei

I'm picturing TexasMom sat at the family computer while Tex is sat with his laptop, both in the same house, communicating via Qatar Living. Don't you just love technology!

You may find this page useful for school info.

one of the fun thing would be to logged onto QL :)

Thank you all for responding to my email so quickly!  I am trying not to feel too overwhelmed....this is a lot of stuff to read and take in!  LOL!!  I look forward to reading it all.  I also love that my husband (TEX) responded to my email -- he is such a supportive husband!! He is right, we do love our state. 

 Anywho, I look forward to meeting some of you in the not to distant future.  I'm sure I will have many more questions when it comes time for us to move.  Here's to making new friends and finding new adventures to write home about!!!  CHEERS!

Yes, big shocker that my wife joined with the TexasMom and mine is Tex. Think we are proud our our state! We have never lived outside of it and are looking at this oppurtunity as an adventure. Thank you pw78 and novita77 for your input. We are already working on the schooling and I think it will be some time before we arrive if the contract process has tought us anything.

our family life revolve to house parties ... we inviting friend to each others houses for dinner with the kiddies. In the cooler months you doing more camping, dune bashing or beach trip.

when your kid/s starting school ... you can try to invite some of his/her friends for playdate, then normally the other parents will return the invites. Before you know it you would be staying on the road become a taxi driver. My son have a better social life than i do .

there some activities for kid/s around Doha ... aspire have gym class for kiddies (but i think it is waiting list). Here is the site for aspire :

http://www.aspire.qa/intro.htm

There are swimming school for childrens too around Doha, the one i know with the website is Doha Dolphin, here is the link if you want to hv a look :

http://www.dohadolphins.com/

I tried to put my son on ice skatting lesson in Villagio, but apparently 50 kids on the waiting list.

If your husband coming to Doha, tried to get a marhaba book ... alot of infos on it.

There is a new site that run by one of QL member call Gypsy :

http://www.qatarhappening.com/

Have a look at it , hopefully you can get a feel what is like living in Qatar.

Apart of that just tune in on QL and read whats going on in the country Lol.

Good luck with the move.

Anything else you want to ask just shout away.  

Dont look into,

Middle East International School

Cambridge

Qatar International School

English Modern School

It's always the small things that make big differences.

Hi -

Try doing a search on here - there's loads of info regarding school and family life here. Another good site is www.expatwomanqatar.com. Lots of moms and mom questions on there. See this link for a mom newsletter:

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/70627

Top 3 schools in my opinion (no particular order)- American School, Doha English Speaking School (DESS), Doha College. I believe the waiting list is closed for DESS and DC, possibly American School as well, for Sept 08. You will probably have the best shot at American School. Hopefully your husband's package includes education because ASD is the most expensive. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't even come here without education paid for...Don't be upset if your kids have to sit it out at a less-than-your-idea-of-perfect school for a bit while they ride out a waiting list. It usually sorts itself out quickly seeing as people are in and out of here all the time.

Keep your sense of humor, look at it as an adventure and try to stay positive. Good luck with the move and I hope you get lucky with a school!

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.