UK Family moving to spain...

[UKfamily2007]

Hi,

I'm Paul i'm 28 and me and my partner and two kids are moving to the Murcia area hopefully very soon.

We would like to hear from anyone who has moved to Spain, with young kids. Ours are 6 and 4 yrs old, one boy one girl. We are yet to find out about local schools in Murcia and how the school holidays work. I've read online they have 3 months off in the summer and no half terms? Is this correct? I have read so much information online and alot of it is misleading.

I would love to hear how your kids have adjusted to life in Spain/settled in to your new home or just any general tips that may be of use to us.

Many thanks...

[landlady]

Your children are at an age that they will fit in fine. Ours was 8 when we moved here to the Alicante province-she has many friends and enjoys a lot of local activities (apart from tae kwondo, all English organised unfortunately) and although finds senior school, (instituto) challanging compared to the juniors, she is doing okay and is very happy. You are correct about your information on the school holidays.

One tip I would give you, is to try to get your children additional English lessons if you can. They should get extra help with Spanish in the school, but the standard of English taught is obviously at a far lower level than they would have been getting in the UK and the children will fall behind in their reading, writing and English grammar skills without additional help. Another tip - maths is taught in a completely different way, so don't get involved, or you could end up confusing them - leave it to the teachers, the maths is taught to a higher standard in Spain than in the UK I think in any case.

Obviously History will be Spanish, so you may want to supplement their learning a bit by bringing out British history and Geography books with you so they can read up about it at home as they get older. Books here are expensive compared to the UK, so bring plenty of English reading books for them out with you too.
I don't wish to hijack you from this site, but if you want to read and ask questions about children settling in Spain, you may be better off asking your questions in another forum I know (not mine) that has a schools forum and lots of experienced expats parents. If Ben doesn't mind? pm me and I will give you the url.
Keep visiting here though for your Spanish learning and other related questions - its an excellent site.