Hosting an exchange student

Each year, students from all over the world come to the United States to learn English and experience our unique culture. Hosting one of these students in your home is an incredible opportunity for your family. My parents hosted six students for a year each, as well as countless short-term stints with summer programs from Japan.

What is a welcome basket? Well its a basket that welcomes. Duh. Seriously though, we use to introduce our students to some local snacks and goodies, we include some useful items, and of course it is supposed to make them feel welcomed into their new home. So what do we put in them? It varies every year but we do have some standards that go in such as:Snacks and candy (we are from North Carolina, so we lean towards southern goodies but branch out to include just Americanness)(do not forget to…

Interested in learning more about hosting an exchange student from a seasoned host mom? Read some helpful hosting tips here.

Hosting an exchange student can be a rewarding experience, enriching your family’s life with diverse cultures and fostering global connections. As you eagerly anticipate the arrival of your new guest, it’s essential to ensure that your home is welcoming and secure. Home security is paramount, providing peace of mind for your family and the exchange… Read more »

Make rules. If you have kids, expand on their rules. If you don’t have kids (in living the house), make rules. It is better to have too many rules than too few. It’s easier to take away something, or be slack on it, then it is to add a rule. And each student presents you new things that you will need new rules about. For example: I thought it would be common curtesy not to talk to FaceTime/phone on speaker in the common areas where people are trying to do other things. It is not. We had to…

Do you get paid for hosting exchange students and other questions are answered in this part 2 of a series about our experience hosting exchange students

What If Our Exchange Student Doesn’t Like Our Family? – Foreign Exchange Student Hosting Answers

Make them feel at home with welcome gifts for exchange students. They will appreciate the thought you took to pick out a present just for them.

1. Do you have any questions for us? I usually start out communications with a quick summary of us, the school, and our area. And then open it for questions, some students need the invitation to ask. And don’t be surprised if they don’t have any questions right away, do not worry they will come. 2. How do I pronounce your name? Because it isn’t always what you think it will be. We had an IEC student that we found out that we had been saying her name wrong for six months, she decided that she…

Now that you have decided to become a host family, it's time to learn the best ways to prepare for your exchange student.