Ah , so your a paediatrician and a child psychologist today I prefer to get advice from those who have been there and done it.

I'm not forcing anyone to take my advice, but I have a right to state an opinion without being put down by you at every chance.

P.S. I bet you didnt do well at school!

Sadly I gave up trying to talk to teachers here years ago.
Generally, they are not interested in working with parents, it is just not in the culture.
PTA

Again, cricketman said exactly what I would say. "Últimamente está muy floja" is a really common way to say things. It means that lately she's not working that much, or as was pointed out before "weak performance" or "drifting". I don't think "flojo" is an adjective you use to describe someone, but a piece of work or a performance. It just means that and it's not offensive. It doesn't mean lazy...and even if it did, "vago" is also commonly used. If that word is never uttered by a British teacher doesn't mean a teacher here is a bad teacher or mean because they do. Some kids are intelligent but they're lazy, they follow the "ley del mínimo esfuerzo" and teachers usually insist on that.

I don't expect you to change your opinion about schools or teachers here, your own experience as students and your own culture is totally different. What I find a bit annoying is critising something you don't understand or expecting to have a good understanding or relationship with school life if you can't talk to teachers. About teachers being "unapproachable", I'm there 2 hours every week just to receive parents. I obviously talk to everybody. If you don't speak the language then that's something else.

And yeah, like cricketman said, the biggest problem about education now (here) is that parents distrust teachers, kids see and hear this and act accordingly: "I can do whatever I want at school because my mum says teachers are stupid and if they say something to me, she comes here and tell them off". And etc. Hard work + collaboration between families and teachers. That's the only way. If parents insist on "desprestigiar" schools, the only thing they'll get is harm their own kids.

If that happened to my kids in the UK I'd have been amazed - it was always so politically correct, you could never get a clue what was going on at school. You had to kinda read between the lines. My two are at an international school and they tell it how it is, which is so much more helpful!

Jo xxx

Exactly. Generally it is best to not criticise something until you are sure of it.

"Dont criticise what you can't understand"

I think Bob Dylan said that

But seriously, if you fight against your children's education then it is your children that will suffer. You have to think that millions of people manage to gain an excellent education in Spain, so your children can too. But you need to educate yourselves a little to help achieve that.

By not being able to talk to your children's teachers, your children are already at a big disadvantage to their schoolmates. If you add a negative attitude to education on top of that, then your child will be fighting a losing battle.

Kids are kids are kids, and nobody likes thier children to be critisised for no reason.
I agree that the word Floja would not be used to describe a child, it is the effort or standard that is being judged.

The problem is when there is a lack of communication due to language, niether party can express thmselves as they would like.

I remember an incident in my school in the UK, I had a report that said " this term he did not apply himself", or something like that.

My mum took it to mean that I was not "quite legal" in the school, and that I needed to make an application. Which as she pointed out, I was only a child and she as my mother had done all the applications necessary,she felt her role as a mother was being questioned.

It took me all my time to convince her whiat it meant, as she was ready to go and wring the teachers neck for calling me "an illegal immigrant".

Thats true, plus the obvious disadvantage of the parents not being able to help with homework, reading, and everyday vocabulary.

I know lots of Spanish parents, that have to help theri children with homework, even at a young age they seem to get quite a lot of it.

When I went to school, we did not get homework untill secondary school, so by then I did not need any help, as I was pretty fluent by then.

Also my homework when it did get done, was really "flojo", as I was a minimum effort type of pupil.

lol!!

at least you were honest.....

I know some kids who have got away with telling their parents that suspendida on a school report means that they don't do that subject

Unfortunately there is no '2hr' slot provided in my daughters school for teachers to 'receive' parents and I merely speak from my experience of what I see before me on a daily basis. I am not discrediting the school however I am questioning some of the methods of communication in the school of which I speak.

There are also many children who have no support with regard to homework due to the poor literacy standards in some communities inland.

By law, teachers have to receive parents. In my case it's Tuesday afternoon. Hours and day may change but whatever type of school it is, there must be an hour for them to receive parents. I've never heard of any school that doesn't do this and I'm sure that would never be approved by inspection.

I agree though I am fighting 'for' my child's education here as I would anywhere, not against it. I worked with groups of young people failed by the education system in the UK, kindly labelled as disaffected. Many of these bright young people merely needed a teacher capable of meeting their learning needs and learning style. They floundered and failed due to being unable to flourish in the environment in which they were being taught and some were written off by those employed to teach and guide them. I do not have a negative attitude to education however I will question a system if I feel it has a negative impact upon my child.

Very interesting I will query this with the school, thank you.

I agree that sometimes is the case, there are a lot of illiterate parents, but at least they can correct their children with speaking, so their children do not have such a "handicap" as the children of parents who dont even speak the language..

Also, I am not going to be ver popular by saying this, but I think it needs to be said anyway.

After a few years living in Spain, if the parents, still have not reached a decent language level, the children often feel embarassed by their parents lack of skills.


I have seen and heard it so many times, I have lived through it on a few occasions myself, I knew an Anglo/Italian boy in the UK, who would not take anyone home to his house because he was ashamed at his dads level of English after living in the UK for about 10 years.
he called everbody boy, girl, lady or man when speaking to them, it was seen as aggressive.

On the subject of children having to help their parents out with the language.

At first the children feel important and clever at being able to help with translating, but after a few years if the parents dont improve it is not so great.

There is nothing worse that having your parents struggle through a basic conversation, when they are asked "how long have you lived here?" and they answer 10 years.........