Is JET possible with children?

15 comments

1. Most placements are in rural areas where you would have no chance of finding schools that instruct in English.

2. It is possible. There is a section, both on the application and acceptance form where you can specify if spouse and/or children will be accompanying you. I don’t know how much they will do to accommodate your family joining, but I do know that all expenses and legalities involved in their move is on you. There’s also an option to have them join you later (that you can tick off on the acceptance form) which I would expect would be better, after establishing yourself and figuring out the logistics of their move. I opted to leave my children behind initially, and will see how things go. Their father and I are not together any longer so they’ll be living with him for the time being. Good luck.

3. There is a lot of assistance available for expats living in japan with children. There are schools and extra lessons offered to help children catch up, however as they’re young they would be expected to attend local schools. They’re young so they should be able to pick things up pretty quickly and among peers even quicker.

   I would be more concerned about costs, children are expensive. Elementary school kids have uniforms and pre-school care is expensive. However, there should be financial assistance. I know plenty of mixed couples, not all JET/ALTs, with kids. JET won’t stop you, they can come on a dependent visa.

   You should certainly seek out more official opinions on this, but i don’t think it’s impossible as long as you can address the costs. I would think the JET partner would come over then find better larger accommodation then the rest of you can come over at a later date.

4. Yeah, don’t do JET with kids. The pay is crap and you don’t have the benefits that come with a real job. JET is for recent college grads with no real commitments or responsibilities. It’s not for families.

5. To answer your questions directly.

   It is possible.

   They do not need to speak Japanese to be enrolled in school. (There is no rule)

   It is possible to send them to a school for foreign children (if you can afford it)

   Homeschooling is technically possible.

   Here’s the rub.

   JET doesn’t pay you a salary that can really support a family well.

   If your kids don’t know Japanese in Japanese school they’ll learn nothing as the schools aren’t equipped for that. Might be possible if they are half and already know alot or something, but otherwise it’s a fucking terrible idea, emphasis on the profanity for strength of how bad an idea it is in this specific sort of context. (You as a JET participant).

   Foreign school is unlikely to exist in your area of placement and even if it did you couldn’t afford it on the JET salary for one kid let alone two.

   Homeschooling is such a bad replacement for a normal school life I’m not even going to get into the massive educational and social ramifications it might have on your children’s development if you fuck it up. And it’s very very easy to fuck up and not realize it for decades if ever. Your kids are no doubt better off in the Japanese school where they can’t understand anything over that.

   So basically, it’s an absolutely terrible idea. I’ve known parents who have done it. I think they are idiots or selfishly putting their own desires over their children’s needs. Unless your children are half and they have family over here or unless they are very young and not yet to primary school age or old enough to leave behind so they can live on their own, you shouldn’t do JET in my very strong opinion.

6. I mean I doubt they’ll have to know Japanese when applicants don’t. But I wouldn’t recommend it. Honestly my opinion is that it’s not really fair on them though. It’s not really an environment I’d want to bring kids on. I moved countries from an English speaking one to and other English speaking one as a kid and it gave me a bunch of cultural identity issues. Going to Japan then back again as small children will be tough and probably hinder their future education in either country.

   Your kids, your life, your choice, but I wouldn’t do it. Sorry if this is rude, but I’d rather be clear than beat around the bush.

7. Personally, as you have kids..a family…I do t think it’s in the best interest of the family to uproot their lives to do this. Better if you guys take a nice long vacation and maybe make 1 place your home base so you can travel the country

8. I have see people that brought a child over but I wouldn’t recommend it. It was usually only 1 child who was still very young (like still a baby). I think it would put your elementary school child behind in their academics.

   You can’t choose where you are placed for JET. You could very well be placed in a rural area or even a ‘city’ that isn’t actually accessible to non-Japanese speakers. There are no schools for foreign children within a 3 hour drive for me. And even the ones I sort of know about, aren’t exactly accessible to just anyone.

   If you are in a situation like this, your elementary school age child will be placed in a Japanese school where there is no support for students who can’t speak Japanese or you home school them in a very strange and difficult process where they won’t have any friends because being abroad means you won’t have the home-school gatherings available to you. Your children won’t be able to speak Japanese and they probably aren’t going to learn it very well even if placed in a Japanese school because their home life is in English. It will only make them struggle.

   Money would also be an issue. As a first year JET, ou won’t be making much, along with not knowing exactly how much your rent will be, it will be difficult to navigate paying for and caring for a family of 4. If your wife were to get a job you would then have to consider care for your young children which will also cost money. If you are in an area with an international school, those are pricey and I don’t think an ALT salary will cover it but I don’t know if there is any help for costs.

   Food should also be considered if your children aren’t accustomed to Japanese food and having to get food they are willing to eat will be more costly than eating local food. If there are dietary restrictions, it’s also going to make shopping a challenge.

   There’s a lot of think about for this. I’m mostly worried on how your child will do because they need to go to school but there’s no guarantee that they will receive any support or help.

9. It is absolutely possible. I came and then my wife and 2 year old came over a few months after. I was not in the deep inaka, but it was still a small town. My town has a large population of Filipino immigrants and they held gatherings that anybody could attend. My city also had a special school for foreign children to attend before they integrated into Japanese schools. They learned about the language and culture, so they weren’t just thrown in cold turkey. . Money was a little tight at times, but manageable. We just had to save a little to travel. Had we stayed longer, my son would have entered a Japanese school and I more than certain he would have been fine. My BOE was very supportive and my students loved seeing my family out and about. Also, you might be eligible for a child stipend to help cover the costs. I’ve seen several families participate and thrive on JET. Ultimately, only you and your spouse know what’s best for your family.

10. I know a couple of folks who came over with kids. One came with toddlers and they were able to enroll in a local nursery school and achieve age level fluency pretty quickly. The family made sure to speak English at home and do lots of English enrichment things at home to make sure they didn’t loose their English.

    Another person came with two Elementary school aged kids. It’s a pretty rural area so they’re the only foreign kids in the area. The kids can’t speak Japanese or English (Filipino JET. The kids only speak Tagalog). The kids attend the local Elementary school and are considered members of the class, but they do online school following the Filipino curriculum in a separate room during core subjects. They join the rest of their class for art, music, PE, etc. I believe the kids are trying to learn Japanese.

    Something to keep in mind is that while international schools do exist, they’re only in urban areas (JET is famous for sending people to generally rural areas), and you absolutely cannot afford the tuition on a JET salary. Annual tuition at a lot of those schools is near the price of a JETs annual salary.

    There’s no real regulations for how to handle JSL kids, so it’s really just left up to each individual school/BOE. Some have really good programs, most have no idea what they’re doing, but would probably try to work with you to design a solution

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12. i had a CIR coworker who came in with 3 kids and a pregnant wife. the pay was higher than his home country and his wife also worked part time ( after giving birth of course ), from what i have heard JET will let you in even if you’re married / have kids but my boss said placements get to request certain features about each JET they want so single or not. and he said CLAIR tries to place people with families at placements willing to accommodate them which makes sense.

    I also have another coworker who while a CIR, married a JET ALT and they had a kid and weren’t particularly struggling as the country gives many benefits for pregnancies plus not living in tokyo ( but not the middle of nowhere ) childcare wasn’t super expensive.

13. I am a current JET who brought my young child and spouse with me. It is completely doable, but a lot will also depend on where you get placed. Since your children are young, if they start attending Japanese public schools they will pick up the language quickly. You elementary-aged child might have a helper assigned to them to help get them started.

    We moved to a rural placement and my son started attending daycare and attended all three years of preschool/kindergarten, and just started elementary school 1st grade this year. He speaks great Japanese, no need for additional English assistance.
    Depending on your placement, you may not have an international school available (plus they are expensive). I recommend just placing your kids in the local public school. We also do some homeschooling so my child doesn’t fall behind on his English skills.

    I highly recommend checking out the JET Couple and Families facebook page. There aren’t very many family JETs on Reddit and you’ll get a lot of negative comments. Feel free to DM me if you have questions.

14. The program itself is designed for one person, not couples or families. The more people who come the harder it will be. Not impossible but not easy.

15. I was a JET with a 2 year old and 4 year old . My wife worked at a language school in the evenings part time. Financially was tough. But it was an amazing experience. Kids are bilingual to this day. The family was also covered by National Health Insurance.