I believe in mental health days. I believe in taking days off to have fun or to learn in different venue than school. I believe this should be a thing for all children but especially for exchange students.
Our school is really cool about taking days off for our exchange students, they believe anything they do is an “educational experience” because they are here to learn about what it is to be American. So, as long as we fill out some “educational trip” forms and get them approved the students can get the days off without penalty. So we usually use these for long weekend trips: Raleigh, NC (our state capital) with a NC State visit, Colonial Williamsburg, Washington DC, or Richmond, VA. Sometimes we will use it for longer trips too or even just a Friday off of school. We usually incorporate something fun and something educational, like one year I took the girls to Richmond for a concert and then we added educational activities so that we justified the days off. We try to plan around testing and major projects and we definitely try not to abuse it. Now, you will have to check with your school and see how they feel about it before making any promises.
Mental health days are very important for exchange students. I do not let them get away with a lot of them, especially since I will add in a “lets go to the beach instead of school” day randomly. But sometimes the pressure of suddenly being English-all-the-time and everything is new is too much. Sometimes the student will just be struggling at school and needs a day to breathe. I’ve had two students that I believe had minor panic attacks and needed to be away from school for little bit. One happened mid day and I had to go pick her up and one (different student) was first thing in the morning and she just chilled in her room all day getting her head back in focus. So, having dealt with this I will put in some random “mental health” days for them and we go do something fun or chill on the beach. If they need a mental health day to themselves, that is fine too, but it needs to be a mental health day and not an “I am lazy” day, so use your judgement (and since we double host this allows the other student to go to school).
On the note of mental health, if your student needs time to themselves because things are a lot, too much English (all the English all the time can give them a physical headache and make them very tired at the beginning), or for whatever reason, let them chill in their rooms alone for awhile (with the door closed, I know some host parents have an open door policy, but honestly sometimes you need a minute alone). I understand this, I am introverted. I get socially wiped out quickly. And sometimes I need a whole day of just being alone, doing my own thing. I get that 1,000%. BUT do not let it go beyond a day. If your student needs more than a day, a conversation about what is going on needs to be had. And always feel free to call for backup with your IEC or organization if you need it.
Also with unexcused days off, make sure you are following the school’s rules, regardless of if the student’s year counts back home or not. So when they are being lazy and ask for a day off, I’m either like “no, you are fine” or “would you rather wait for better weather when we can do something on your day off”. They do not get unlimited days off by any means. Their time at school, is my time to recharge hahaha. Plus they need to keep their grades up (so fun days off can be contingent on grades).
We all need days just to chill and do either nothing or have fun. Exchange students are doing something extremely brave and taxing by just being on exchange, so their brains need a break every now and then, so either work in mental health/fun days off or let them take them when they need the day off (just don’t let it become an habit). Plus exchange is supposed to be fun, so if you need an extra Friday to go have fun with your student, do it!
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