Survive and Thrive

We all survived the first week of school.  The kids are slowly making friends and tell me they understand more each day. One of the reasons we selected Jose Hurtado (other than it had room) was its reputation for integrating foreigners. In the first week, they assessed our children’s level of Spanish to determine whether they needed a tutor. (I am not sure what they decided yet). Our kids were each paired with someone to help them in class. In JT’s case, a bi-lingual child whose been here since she was 2. More generally, while the max number for each of their classes is 24, both kids have 20 students. In JT’s grade, his class had both a math and Spanish language arts test to assess his skills. On the downside, Granada is a small city and our community an insular part of town, so most children, as in Incline have been in school together since pre-k.  (Schools start with pre-k 3, but is only compulsory from age 6.) This does make it harder to make friends.

Spain offers 3 kinds of schools: private, concertado and public. Private and public represent opposite ends of the spectrum and concertado schools are a hybrid. Private schools tend to have a particular focus: international, Montessori, British or American curricula. A very small percentage of kids attend (fewer than 7%) as they are very expensive. The concertado schools are a hybrid…formerly Catholic schools and religion is part of the curriculum. Compared to regular public schools, they tend to fill up quickly. Children wear uniforms and must buy their own books and school supplies. Parents pay some tuition after primary school ends in 6^th grade, but nowhere as steep as the private schools. Given the size of our neighborhood, there seem to be a lot of schools. I haven’t figured out if that is because people work in the center and drive their kids in or they actually live in the neighborhood. There are at least 3 concertado schools within 10 blocks of our apartment.

In Granada, public schools have shorter days than US schools: only 9-2, but less recess. So over the course of the 5 hours, the kids have a single half hour break for snack and outdoor play. Before and after care is available for a modest fee. The aftercare includes a full sit down main meal with organic fruits and vegetables. It’s quite expensive given how cheap food is, so I am certain there is an equivalent of a reduced lunch program. The kids have math and language arts 5 periods each over the week. Oddly, 2x a week, math is blocked for 2 hours. Science is offered 4 hours a week, English 3, PE 2. They also have art, music and religion/values. Religion is an elective subject that the kids have to sign-up for, which we didn’t know so they have a free period instead. About 75% of the kids attend religion. English is kind of a joke, since in the kid’s opinion, the teacher doesn’t speak very well and speaks mostly in Spanish during the session.  

By the end of this first week, Zoe and JT have enough confidence to walk to school together on their own. They will also run to the corner store to buy bread. The lady at the local panaderia already knows Zoe’s order. After several missteps, we almost have all of their school supplies. The teachers are surprisingly anal on this point. JT is missing most of his books yet, because I didn’t realize I had to do more than file away the official looking paper he brought home. Slowly we are all adapting.