Warn them that the expatriate experience can either bring a family closer together or draw it apart. Moreover, the attitude of the trailing spouse has much to do with how the children will feel about the experience. Provide them with a process model. Families need to be able to determine what stage they are in and how to move through to the next stage. Discuss children and schools.
Timing can be very important for the entire family.
Encourage parents to find the right school for their children. Parents should not assume that their child will be happy or has the personality to be placed in an immersion school in which only the host country language is spoken. I witnessed one little girl who was supposedly having behavior problems in a French lycee where she had been placed. When she was moved to a bilingual school the problems disappeared. Whenever possible, recommend moving children's' rooms intact so they have a familiar place to escape to in a sea of change.