Should I send my 4 year old to English or Spanish school in Tenerife?

[Kathy]

Hello we are hoping to move to Tenerife next year I have a four year old son and was wondering whether to put him in an English school or a Spanish school money wise it would be better to put him a Spanish school but I wanted to know whether they speak any English at all in these school and what would be best any advice would be much appreciated thank you

[MrsTT]

If you read through the posts in this thread you will find the answers to your questions. It depends on where you live, your child, how he reacts to new situations etc - I don't think anyone can really give you any different advice than is already contained in these posts on this thread. I have Spanish and British children attending Spanish school coming to me for private tuition in English because their parents don't feel the schools give them enough practice in English. Many of these children are very happy members of their Spanish schools for the most part in all other subjects.
But I also have children coming to work with me full time because they didn't settle into Spanish school. So no clear guidelines there I am afraid. Good luck with your enquiries.

[Kathy]

Thank you for this we r going to be in the south of the island moat proble play de las Americas very helpful thanks again

[slodgedad]

We first arrived in '94 when my daughter was 3 and not knowing how long we'd stay we put her into English school.

When we finally decided we were staying she was so used to it that we kept her there.

If I'd known we'd be staying throughout her school career we would have Spanish educated her and surprisingly, she now wishes we had.

So my point is. How long are you intending to stay?

[Rickiebear]

Hi, I also think you need to consider whether she is likely to return to the UK to university or career, in which case UK A levels may be important. But this also needs to be balanced against the advantage of being fluent in Spanish, which is more likely in a Spanish school. After all English will always be the language of the home.

[chifleta]

I'd recommend Spanish school, it will help you learn too if you don't speak Spanish LOL ... my son was born here and speaks fluent Spanish (his dad is Canarian though). Saying that, I'd also recommend private English lessons like MrsTT said, because unfortunately I was lazy and my sons' written English isn't as good as it could be as I didn't push him enough. He speaks and understands it well enough, and can even speak without a Spanish accent too when he puts his mind to it LOL the little git (all 6ft 4 of him).

When your child is a bit older, you can then decide whether to transfer him to a private school or not.

[Kathy]

Thank you for all ur replays on here well we made the moved just over a month ago now and had a little trouble trying to find a school at first but have decided to but him in to a Spanish school as he is only four and hopefully will settle he should start jan so just hope he will be ok xx

[slodgedad]

Thanks for the update. Keep us informed as others will benefit from your experiences.

[Kathy]

Thanks for the update. Keep us informed as others will benefit from your experiences.

Will do xx

[Rickiebear]

Hi, that's great. A new year, a new family lifestyle. I wish you the very best of luck in your new home. Please keep in touch, let us know how you get on. We all learn from each other.

[canarybird]

Kathy...when I first arrived in Spain many years ago with two small daughters I put them in the nearest Spanish school which happened to be run by nuns (this was in Mallorca).
As the girls spoke only English, I prepared ahead of time a little notebook for them to take to school with pictures cut out of magazines pasted in, displaying different things they might have to communicate to their teachers during the first weeks. I used pictures of:

1. a bathroom......I have to go there
2. a glass of water......I'm thirsty
3. a person with a cut or injury.......obviously....showing I've hurt myself
4. someone feeling ill........again that's obvious
5. a sandwich.....I'm hungry
etc. etc.

When the nuns saw this they laughed but thought it was a good idea, and said the internationally understood "pee pee" was all they had to say when needing the bathroom. They hardly had to use their little book as they picked up Spanish right away and found that gestures speak as much as words. Withing two weeks the youngest (then 5 years old) was singing a little children's song from beginning to end in an almost perfect Spanish!
No one at the school spoke English.

[Kathy]

Thank you for this it helps me worry a little less just scary but I'm sure he will be fine xx

[tindiriushka]

It is very good idea :) We are coming to TNRF in September, but I am not shore wich school we should chose... because my child (4 yrs) dont know Spanish or English.. so thats not the main point. But I am more interested in education level? Can you feel the difference between private and state schools?

[Rubymay12]

Hi just reading through posts a s we are hopefully making the move ASAP with our 2year old boy and obviously have the same worries everyone has and just wondered if Kathy was still there and how things went early on and how it all is now would be comforting to hear from people who have already made the brave decision and moved specially with little ones!??