About katiequirkauthor

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Some Forum Posts:

Costa Rica: Moving to Guanacaste with teen daughter:

Sounds like an exciting opportunity for you and for your daughter. My family is currently living in Monteverde for a year. Our kids are younger than your daughter, but we had some similar goals when we began our search, including learning Spanish with kids who had little to no Spanish before we left. I have a website about planning family gap years abroad. You might find my post about "Finding the Right School" helpful. https://warmerthancanada.com/planning/schools/ I also have a few articles about learning Spanish, which you'll be able to find on the website. We started our year with a month of intensive Spanish and a homestay in Guatemala, which turned out to be a great choice for our family. Good luck and good for you! What a great opportunity for your daughter!

Costa Rica: Wish it were here...:

We came to CR each with one large bag. The two things I wish I had brought would perhaps be silly to some, but are of course situation dependent (we are a family with young kids and I love to cook). I would have brought the less common spices I like to cook with (mostly Indian spices, which I can't find here) and more travel-sized games to play with kids. Otherwise, we have been happy with what have found here.

Costa Rica: Newbie Questions:

We enjoy the Monteverde region very much (very temperate and beautiful cloud forest), though it can be expensive and perhaps more gringos than you would like. Of course, if you lived in or near Santa Elena, you could build a community of Tico friends. We recently visited Tilaran--in the same mountain range--and found it to be a nice, temperate Tico town. In terms of Spanish, I couldn't tell from you message whether you have begun your study yet. If not, we studied Spanish in Guatemala and could not have been happier with the experience. You can find a description here: https://warmerthancanada.com/2016/11/28/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-spanish-school-student-in-guatemala/ I'm sorry I don't have answers to your other questions. Good luck!

Costa Rica: katiequirkauthor is promoting her website over and over and over!:

My sincere apologies. A year ago when I was exploring different school and living options for my family in Central America, I found very few lists/blog posts with extensive writing on the topic of choosing the right school for North American kids. So, having been through the process, I have decided to share what we learned on my website (which certainly is not earning me any money, FYI). Many of the questions I've written about I see being raised by posters on these lists: Are public schools an option? What kind of school do I need to look for if my kid doesn't yet speak Spanish? What questions should I be asking prospective schools? So, I thought I'd reach out to each of the families who recently posted and posed questions about the school search process. What I failed to realize is that some folks are subscribed to get an email every time someone posts to any thread at all. Yikes! I apologize for the inundation of emails you received yesterday--not my intent to flood you. I did, however, get a few personal emails from individual posters who said they were so grateful to have heard from me and to have learned from my family's experience. I'll leave you in peace now. Best, Katie

Costa Rica: Moving to Costa Rica from Colorado:

After visiting schools on the Pacific Coast and in the Monteverde region, our family settled on the Monteverde Friends School up in the cloud forest, and we have been very happy. What we like about Monteverde: the incredible hiking/outdoor opportunities, the temperate climate, and the very welcoming community. What we like about the school: experienced teachers, many of whom have been there for years; a very positive ethos and community feeling; and the fact that our kids are rapidly learning Spanish, even though more than half of the day is in English. I am an author and have a website about our family gap year in Costa Rica: https://warmerthancanada.com/ If you go there, you will find tabs with information about how we settled on Costa Rica, Monteverde, and our kids' school, along with other planning information. Good luck!

Costa Rica: Seriously Considering Moving:

Hi Erik, I can understand your frustrations with the U.S. I'm an American author and my family and I are living in Costa Rica, just for a year, but so far we are very grateful to be here. I am keeping a website about our gap-year in Costa Rica: https://warmerthancanada.com/ If you go there, you will find links with articles that address a number of common questions about the costs, why we chose CR over other countries, how we chose our kids' school, and how we all got a jump start on learning Spanish. I hope you find some of the articles helpful. Best, Katie

Costa Rica: Expat Family Considering Tamarindo or Nosara area for 10 months...:

I know you said you are interested in a beach, so you likely won't be interested in Monteverde, but I thought I would mention it just in case. My family is in Monteverde for a gap year (and, no, we don't have a car and have been quite comfortable). Finding the right school for our kids felt so important that we actually chose our location largely based on the kids' school. Last January, my husband and I visited three schools, each for a full day on a scouting trip (in fact, Samara was one of our stops). In the end, we chose the Monteverde Friends School. We've found it to be a very welcoming community and our kids are very happy. If you're interested, I've written several articles about our gap year and how we chose Monteverde: https://warmerthancanada.com/ Good luck!

Costa Rica: Veteran 2 Expat:

Best of luck with your move! I'm an American author, living abroad with my family in Costa Rica this year. We're up in the cloud forest in Monteverde. You might find my website about family gap years and Costa Rica useful: https://warmerthancanada.com/ I'm posting articles there weekly, covering some practical topics (costs, how to pick a region or school), and also writing more generally about CR (politics, birds in our backyard, etc). I hope you enjoy CR. We sure do!

Costa Rica: SCHOOLS in Costa Rica...need advice:

Hi all, I read this thread when choosing a school (and thus home) for our family. After my husband and I did full-day visits at three different schools in Costa Rica, we ended up sending our kids to the Monteverde Friends School up in the cloud forest. We have been very pleased with the community, the inclusive/thoughtful ethos of the school, and our kids' ever-expanding Spanish. Finding the right school for our kids was our highest priority in settling on a location for our family in Central America. For those who are interested, I've written an article about our school search process: https://warmerthancanada.com/planning/schools/ Feel free to leave a comment on the website if you have further questions about Monteverde or the Friends School, and good luck in your school search! Katie

Date Joined:

12/14/2016

Total Posts:

10

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