Lately I have not posted much on the blog as I have been busy adjusting to life in Spain. We have moved to Barcelona in September for my son’s high performance tennis training. He trains in the afternoons after school. We chose to send him to a local school rather than going for the online/homeschooling option the other kids follow because since we are in Spain and he is still only 10 we wanted to take the opportunity for him to learn Spanish. As it turned out, he had to learn two languages because in Catalunya the main language in school has been changed to Catalan back in 2009, though they still do Spanish as part of the curriculum. so he started school and slotted in the new rhythm only too well. And what’s there not to like! The Spanish are famous for their siesta, one thing you’ll notice here in Spain as well as most Latin countries is the long afternoon break people from all walks of life take. Shops and offices close for 2 and sometimes 3 hours in the afternoon, though tourist cities nowadays are in line with more worldly opening times the ingrained culture is not going to change any time soon. In fact children get used to this way of life from a very young age and their school hours are a testament to it. School hours follow the siesta system from preschool and throughout  primary school that for some reason they continue until the age of 12. School starts at 9 in the morning and breaks at 12.30 only to start again at 15.00 for an hour and thirty minutes. The long break in the middle can be spent at home or at school where a long lunch break includes lots of chilling time. This is the first year my son attends a Spanish school, and he loves it, and who could blame him! School is like a TV program at the moment. Socialising, fun activities, outdoor time and everyone is super chilled. I am not saying they don’t do any studying because they do work, but it is a completely different feel to the academically led environment of the school he attended in Italy. The curriculum in Italian primary schools is much more in depth than in Spanish schools, but the approach to learning in Spain is much less stressful to children. Do children really need to be fed with a lot of information in the early learning stages or is it better to inspire them to learning in a relaxed and happy environment?
When it comes down to our children’s education we all feel different about it. I think a good balance  is the answer. I feel the Spanish curriculum is quite basic, but it is ok at the moment because of the language factor. It does not matter that some of the topics have already been done in Italy, because he is doing them in a different language now. If anything it is positive that he has plenty of time to catch up with the new languages. I feel a huge sense of pride when I hear my son speaking these languages effortlessly. I am sure being an Italian speaker made the whole process easier due to the similarities latin languages share, but I believe an even more important factor is the fact that he already spoke two languages growing up. The brain of bilingual children is already used to draw information in a certain manner that facilitates learning more languages in the future.
The real question will be next year when here in Spain they continue with primary school education  while in both Italy and the UK children will be starting secondary education.
But we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now it is siesta time!