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Education in Spain

How to Move Abroad as a Family: 7 Tips For Choosing a School

August 18, 2020 by familymoveabroad

Move Abroad as a Family Tips Choose School

My husband and I had always wanted to move abroad as a family. It turns out, we were clueless about the entire process. At the start, for example, we weren’t even sure what country we wanted to live in. Secondly, even after we honed in on Spain, we realized we knew absolutely nothing about visas. Or how to buy foreign health insurance. Find housing. Or just about anything else an international relocation would require. But most importantly, given its impact on our children’s well being, we had no idea how to choose a school for our kids while living in a foreign country as a family.

Move Abroad as a Family Tips Choose School

Researching How to Move Abroad as a Family

With overwhelm quickly settling in, I got down to research. Specifically, I dug into education in Spain, options for public school versus private school, and bilingual education.

After all, I was “that mom.” I’d banked serious hours volunteering in my kids’ classrooms. I showed up at those parent teacher conferences ready to advocate for their unique learning needs. I’m the go to homework helper in the house. Certainly, I was qualified to evaluate schools for a family move to Spain for a year.

Turns out, I didn’t even know the right questions to ask. The reality is, choosing a school for your kids in a foreign country requires evaluating considerations that are all but irrelevant in your home country.

You might never consider private school at home, but it might be a better fit when moving your family overseas. In your home country, you expect to drop your kids off in the morning, and not see them until the end of the day. But in the foreign country, they might have the option to come home for lunch. Should you take it? And what about sports? Grading systems? What’s the standard for parent teacher communication?

Living Overseas with Family: How to Choose a School

Here in the US, you likely already have some knowledge about what you might expect from your local school district. Sure, there’s variation from state to state regarding start dates and the like. But, generally speaking, there’s a similarity to school day hours, lunch times, recess and core curriculum.

In Moving to Spain as an American Family: 7 Things I Wish I Knew About Choosing Schools In Spain, I share helpful tips of things to consider when researching schools for your child overseas. From “language of the playground” to other expat education related lingo, these 7 tips will be helpful for any family moving abroad with kids.

Read more here. And if you haven’t yet, pick up my free guide to your child’s expat education.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Education in Foreign Country, Education in Spain, How to Move Abroad, How to Move Abroad with a Family, How to Move Family to Spain, Move Abroad As A Family, Moving Overseas with Family

How To Move to Spain from the US as a Family – Our Expat Story

August 14, 2020 by familymoveabroad

Move Spain from US American Family

Making the the decision to move to Spain for a year was easy. My husband and I had spoken of living in a foreign country with our children when I was pregnant with our first child. Yet our sons were 7 and 12 the first time we got them to Europe. That’s when it hit us — act now, or our dream to live overseas as a family might never happen.

I remember the day vividly. The boys were playing fútbol in a plaza in Barcelona. Dave and I were delighting in yet another array of mind blowing tapas. He turned to me and said, “Let’s do it. Let’s move to Spain for a year. As soon as possible.” We raised our glasses of vino tinto together with a little clink clink, and the deal was sealed.

But that was a short lived moment of glory. 

Figuring out how to move to Spain from the US would become a far more daunting journey than I had ever have imagined.

An Honest Assessment of the Ups and Downs of Our Move to Spain

In this story, originally published in Where Can I Live, I share our journey of how we moved to Spain as an American family. I speak honestly about our experiences after two and a half years living in Seville, including:

  • What inspired us to move to Spain for a year
  • How to move to Spain from the US
  • Our confusion applying for the Spanish Non Lucrative Visa
  • How we researched the best place to live in Spain as a family
  • How we chose a school for our children
  • Things you might consider when it comes to education in Spain as an expat family.
  • Additional advice for expats moving to Spain to keep sane as you wade through logistical hurdles and emotional decisions

Read more here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Advice for expats moving to Spain, Best place to live in Spain with Family, Education in Spain, How to move to Spain, How to Move to Spain for a Year, Moving to Spain from US with family, Spain Non Lucrative Visa, Spanish Non Lucrative Visa

Our 10 Biggest Mistakes Moving to Spain – And What We’d Do Differently Next Time

April 29, 2019 by familymoveabroad

Biggest Mistakes Moving to Spain from US for a year with kids

Our biggest mistakes moving to Spain from the US as a family. I’d never moved kids to Spain before. In fact, I’d never moved to or lived in any foreign country before. Truly, I thought I’d researched everything. Far more went wrong than right. These are our 10 biggest mistakes moving our family to Spain (there were far more!), and here’s what what we’d do differently next time.

Mistake Number 1: We Didn’t Come Straight to Seville, the Setting for our Year in Spain.

Everyone I’d ever spoken to who knew Seville always said the same thing. “Amazing city. Hot as hell in summertime.” My husband and sons hate the heat, so I flew us into Barcelona to spend August traveling up north. Well intended, but backfired. None of them had been to Seville before. Their anxiousness to see their new city made it hard for them to just enjoy the vacation time. And though we’d packed light, there was plenty we could have stored if we’d stopped in Seville first.

Next time we relocate kids to a place they’ve never been, we’re going straight there, no matter what the season. Find housing, store bags, then travel.

Mistake Number 2: We Delayed Filing Our Immigration Paperwork (All Thanks to Mistake Number 1.)

I knew we had 30 days from our date of arrival in Spain to present ourselves at the local foreigner’s office. Yet not fully understanding the process, this weighed on me. (Much as much as not having seen Seville weighed on the boys.) It also meant waiting longer to get our foreigner’s identity card. Having that card leaves you with an unbelievably satisfying feeling after nearly a year of immigration mayhem.

Next time I move to Spain, or any other foreign country, I’m finalizing immigration matters as soon as I land.

Mistake Number 3: I Didn’t Sufficiently Research the Local Rental Market. Then We Lost Our Short Term Housing.

Of all our biggest mistakes moving to Spain, this one takes the prize. In fact, we could just call this two mistakes rolled into one. Despite scouring the most used housing rental websites in Spain, the perfect apartment did not just fall into our laps. (And no, I wasn’t being too picky.) Apparently, furnished two bedroom apartments were plentifully available. Furnished three bedrooms, not so much. Subsequently, I discovered tourist season picks up promptly in mid-September. The vacation rental we were staying in was already booked per our originally scheduled departure. Now we needed new short term and long term housing. The pressure did not go unnoticed.

Next time, I’ll talk more to local realtors to get a sense of the local housing market. I’d also try to get a handle on short term housing constraints. If I were put in contact with a reputable relocation assistant or realtor, I might even consider committing to a long term lease before arriving. Kids and not knowing where you’re going to live don’t mix well.

Learn from your mistakes

Mistake Number 4: I Only Contacted Housing Listings By Email, Not Phone.

Yes, I’ll admit it. I was too scared to speak over the phone in Spanish! But I learned the hard way that the locals here in Seville are more inclined to call back then email back. No doubt, my phone fear exacerbated our house hunting woes.

Next time I move to Spain, I’ll still use the form on the housing websites to contact advertisers. But then, I’m going to call. Right away. Multiple times. Until I get a human on the line. And if my language skills aren’t good enough, I now know it would be worth hiring a Spanish speaker to make calls for me.

Mistake Number 5: I Didn’t Set Up A Bank Account Right Away Because I Thought We Needed Our Residence Card In Hand To Open One.

Initially, I hadn’t expected to need a Spanish bank account, and per mistake number two, I still didn’t have our identity card. Turns out you only need your NIE number, not the card, to open banking and utility accounts in Spain.

I had assumed we could charge our mobile phone and internet service to a credit card, as we do in the States. I also thought a landlord would keep utility service accounts in their name and have us reimburse with the rent. Our current landlord is fine with this arrangement, our first one wouldn’t hear of it. That’s when we learned that all onoing service accounts in Spain — mobile phone, internet, health insurance, electric — are debited from your “cuenta corriente.” My lack of knowledge about this put us in a huge crunch to get the bank account open in time to set up the services we needed upon move in.

Next time I move to a foreign country, I’ll know to ask about their banking and bill payment models in advance, and get whatever accounts I need going right away.

Mistake Number 6: I Purchased International Health Insurance. I Should Have Bought Spanish Health Insurance.

The coverage on the international plan was fine. In fact, if we’d been spending a lot of time outside Spain, or hadn’t had so many unexpected illnesses and accidents that first year, I might never have noticed the inconveniences of my international plan compared to policies from Spanish health insurance providers. What I learned? Spanish health insurance ROCKS! Go to a network provider. Give receptionist your card when you walk in. Pick it up when you walk out. And that’s that. No forms to fill out. No claims to file. No waiting for reimbursements. And get this… many of the Spanish health insurance plans include a housecall service. Yes! A doctor comes to you. When you’re sick. At no extra cost.

Next time I move to Spain, I’m getting Spanish health insurance from the start.

Mistake Number 7: I Hadn’t Fully Educated Myself on the Many Useful Tech Tools that Make Expat Life Easier.

From language translation to making international calls, the right technology will make your expat life easier.

From translation and money transfer apps to VOIP tools that let you call any mobile or landline phone, these services save time, money and lots of frustration.

Next time I move abroad, my phone, laptop and cloud drive will be primed and ready to support our expat escapades before I leave home.

Mistake Number 8: I Failed to Educate Myself on Some Critical Spanish Vocabulary.

Case in point: the Spanish word for the @ symbol. Might sound silly, but it’s kind of an essential term with no real work around when you need to provide your email address. Especially when you’re talking to a person, you guessed it… over the phone!

Brushing up on the Spanish alphabet so I could easily spell my strange, American name wouldn’t have hurt either. I’ve yet to meet a Spanish person get the correct spelling of Jackie on the first guess.

Next time I move to a foreign country, there’s some basic, critical vocabulary I’ll commit to memory before I get here.

Mistake Number 9: Despite What Felt Like Exhaustive Research, There Were Many Questions I Didn’t Ask the School in Spain I’d Chosen for My Children.

Free Guide to Your Child's Expat Education
Questions to consider for your child’s education abroad.

Pleading ignorance on this one. I’d never lived outside my home country and certainly hadn’t parented in one. Now I know there are a lot of nuances to consider when educating your child abroad. I never would have understood this before living here.

Next time I move to a foreign country, I’ll have a much better understanding of the challenges we face as expat parents and the kinds of questions to ask prospective schools. Read more about that here in my free guide to Your Child’s Expat Education.

Mistake Number 10: I Didn’t Do Enough to Develop My Kids Spanish Before We Arrived in Spain.

Our younger son had been in a dual language immersion program in the States. Not so the older one. We’d forced some time on online learning sites as well as some Spanish camps during those travels in northern Spain, but it wasn’t enough. The stress of the language barrier on his teenage brain affected him both educationally and socially.

Next time I move kids to a foreign speaking country, I’ll go out of my way to figure out some immersive language experience before arriving and starting school. Especially a teenager.

Takeaways from Our Biggest Mistakes Moving to Spain

It’s funny looking back on what was all so new a mere few years ago. Some of these errors seem so easily avoidable now. I won’t punish myself now for what we didn’t know then. Realistically, the things I learned by doing so much wrong are has given me such knowledge to help other expats.

Even with the most thorough of planning, you’re bound to make mistakes. But a helpful hand can go a long way to shorten your own “biggest mistakes moving to Spain” list.

For more information on planning your move to Spain, solo or as a family, contact me here.

Filed Under: Expat Family Life, Expat Tips Tagged With: Biggest Mistakes Moving Abroad, Biggest Mistakes Moving to Spain, Education in Spain, Expat Education, Finding housing in Spain, How to move to Spain, Moving to Spain from US with family, Spanish bank account, Spanish Health Insurance

First Day of School in Spain – A Family Expat Story

March 26, 2019 by familymoveabroad

I thought dropping off my kids for their first day of kindergarten was scary. It was nothing compared to parenting them through their first day as American expats going to school in Spain.

The curriculum at the Colegio San Francisco de Paula in Seville is completely bilingual. Half the core classes are taught in English, the other half in Spanish. Awesome. It would give our kids the Spanish immersion we wanted, yet still maintain some English education during our time here. At the primary level, kids also receive two hours each week in both French and German. Even more foreign language exposure for our younger son, Kaden, entering school in Spain as a fourth grader. Double awesome.

Or so we thought. This recap of our conversation upon picking up our little expat from his first day of school in Spain opened our eyes to the reality we’d created.

Foreign Language Onslaught

Me: So, how’d it go with the Spanish today?

Kaden: I could barely understand a word she was saying.

Me: Ok, well, it was just your first day of school in Spain. And the accent is really different here than the Spanish you hear in the US. It’ll come. What’s your teacher’s name?

Kaden: I couldn’t even get that. I just called her “Maestra” all day.

Me: Sounds like a good strategy. What else happened?

Kaden: We had art class.

Me: You love art class!

Kaden: Yeah, but this art class is taught in French. I’m not sure exactly what happened. I think I’m supposed to buy clay.

Me: Clay?!? That wasn’t on the supply list! I don’t know where to buy clay in Seville! I don’t even know how to say “clay” in Spanish. What kind of clay? I specifically paid the extra money to the school for them to buy all the supplies for us precisely to avoid this kind of situation!!!

Kaden (looking a little frightened now): I don’t know.

[Deep breath. I remind myself I’m supposed to be the calm one in this conversation. I smile and try to act casual.]

Me: Never mind. We’ll figure it out. And then?

Kaden: I think we had German next.

Me: Cool. How was German?

Kaden: Mom! It was German! I don’t. Speak a word. Of German! I’m not even sure what class it was. Music? Maybe?

I dig deep to find that encouraging, it’ll all work out, supportive voice…

Me: Ok. Well, then. Were any of your classes taught in English today?

Kaden: Yeah, the last part of the day was in English. I think.

Me: Great. Bet that was a relief. What’s your English teacher’s name?

Kaden: I have no idea. By the time that happened, I couldn’t even understand what the English teacher was saying.

School in Spain — Challenges and Trade-offs

Those initial weeks had their moments of tension. (Okay… initial months.) And the difficulties didn’t limit themselves linguistic matters. Differences in curriculum, student expectations, procedures governing how to contact our kids teachers… It seemed as if nothing was the same at our school in Spain compared to the States. As if that weren’t enough, the English used is British English, giving even the kids’ native language a foreign element to it.

That conversation opened our eyes to some inherent realities of this expat parenting thing, especially with respect to the boys’ education. Our time here demanded accepting both challenges and trade-offs. What did we need to do to strike a balance between the new competencies our kids would gain living in Spain with the losses we valued in the education they’d get at home?

Expat Education Management

Managing those trade-offs has become like an ongoing ride on a metaphorical teeter-totter. On one side, our big picture vision for living abroad as a family. On the other side, the day to day details of curriculum, content and structure of the academic expectations being asked of them as students in Spain. Pan out, zoom in. Step back to give them the chance to navigate their new experiences. Step in when those challenges cross a threshold harmful to their self confidence and learning.

Giving our kids the opportunity to acquire a second language as a key feature in that bigger picture. We were willing to accept a reasonable amount of content loss in service of that. And we we’re also aware that not only might “reasonable” change over time, but it would be defined differently for our 13 year old compared to our 9 year old. More importantly, we regularly reminded ourselves of an intrinsic belief that an education comprises far more than what a kid is taught in a classroom.

Nonetheless, we learned to keep a close eye on the mechanics of their classroom and overall school environment, and sometimes that means being the squeaky wheel. When it comes to my kids, I’m pretty good at squeaking. Need homework instructions written down for you ’til your Spanish comes up to speed, instead of strictly spoken directions? Need math tutoring in English, even though math class is taught in Spanish? I’m gonna email the school and make sure they get that. (Well, actually, I’m gonna call the school, because they don’t allow parent/teacher communications by email.)

School in Spain — Then and Now

We eventually got leave for Kaden to drop German, though he muddled his way through French for fourth and fifth grade. He peppers me with stories about the differences between British English and American English, which he finds rather humorous. His Spanish overtook my own and he has no problem correcting my mistakes. Rather snidely, I might add. My Sevilliano friends swear that if they didn’t know he was American, they’d assume by listening to him he’d been born and raised here. That initial foreign language onslaught that, at the time, almost sent us into a panic has now become one of those humorous family anecdotes.

In grade 6, multiple language exposure gets left behind as kids choose one language to study more in depth. The options are French, German or Arabic. I took another expat mom’s advice and steered him towards Arabic. Since none of the kids have previously studied Arabic, he could start off on equal footing as his peers. Our conversation when I picked him up at the end of his first day of school this year? A smiling face greeted me with wonder. “Mom! Did you know that in Arabic they read from right to left?”

Setting Priorities as an Expat Parent

What about your family? What are your biggest concerns managing your kids education in a foreign country? Has your vision changed over time?
Got any wild first day of school stories? Share your comments with me here.


Filed Under: Expat Education, Expat Family Life Tagged With: American expats in Spain, Education in Spain, Expat Life in Spain, Expats in Spain Problems, Going to School in Spain

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