The Emotional Passport is shared with students at the start of their program, we encourage host families to remind them about this helpful document if they are experiencing a low point.
Experience shows that all AFS participants will undergo several emotional stages during the course of the AFS year. These highs and lows are charted in the Exchange Participant Adjustment Cycle. By consulting the adjustment cycle, AFS host families can better understand what their hosted student might be experiencing at a given time of the experience. In this way, the host family may be able to better support their student during an “emotional low”.
Experience also shows that when difficulties occur during the exchange experience, they are often due to miscommunication. The following articles help expand on the range of skills needed for successful communication and they outline how these skills can be developed and taught to others: Build Effective Communication Skills, and Checklist of Twelve Effective Communication Skills.
When host families can foster and facilitate good communication with their participant, they help to ensure a successful experience for both the student and themselves.