Mitzyboy

Kat if your son is 6 then put him in a Spanish State school, and he will be bi lingual in a very short space of time. Think of the advantages of him being able to speak Spanish.

Of course you have to keep speaking English to him as well

twyntub

Spanish state schools are great... and at that age he'll fit in well and soon be bilingual. Finding the right school is no different to the UK - every one is different, and it's a subjective choice for the parent, too. So, you'll need to go and check out different schools and areas for yourselves.

Yes, you'll need to keep up with English. We brought boxes of books with us when we came over! Just don't get too hung up about it when you first move over because the priority will be them getting their Spanish sorted.

spanishfamily

[QUOTE=twyntub;
Spanish children start school at three. Paid for by the state i.e. free. 'Compulsory' means that when the child reaches 5/6 they send the police round if they don't attend.

[/QUOTE]

I just wanted to mention that 'sending the police round' is not a common thing unless you are sending your kids out to work on the olives instead of giving them an education! We homeschool our kids here and although many of the Spanish think our decision unusual we have never had any trouble with the 'authorities' and I don't think any foreign family would. Neither do the majority of Spanish families who homeschool, although a couple of Spanish families have encountered unsympathetic local authorities. Homeschooling does not have the popularity that it does in the US or UK, but it is growing all the time.
While I realise that few UK parents in Spain would choose this option I would not want parents who find their kids to be in an unhappy situation in school to be reluctant to take them out for fear of a police visit!

Pugsy

We live in a very international area on the CDS and some, minority though, send their kids (particularly the younger ones) to the spanish schools nearby. These kids English is quite poor, but rather than stress about it, the parents have them take English tutoring twice a week, which is helping to solve the issue. In addition the parents have had to learn Spanish quickly to be able to communicate effectively with the teachers.

twyntub

My mistake. Probably should have been worded as "compulsory, as in it's against the law not to do it".

The comment was actually made more to make the point about the word "compulsory". So many web sites / people infer "children don't start school until the age of six" - and when we were moving that's exactly what we believed.

Yet the vast majority actually start at three, and in many cases, especially for expats where Spanish isn't the mother tongue it's an important grounding into the school / education system. It's this word "compulsory" that seems to get most people confused.

Katya

Many Thanks to you all for your words ! My gut instinct is to check out the local schools first - At the end of the day we are moving to Spain for the way of life - so why dont we try their way ??? - I am open to the fact that the english may need to be kept up and i guess if required then a tutor might not be a bad idea