# Homeschooling in Spain



## Missgabby (Apr 2, 2012)

Hello ,

I'm considiring to move to Spain (Valencia) with my family. I have a daughter (14 years) and a son (12 years). For the beggining I would like them to be homeschooled. I have thought it was illegal but I've contacted HSLDA and they have told me it is legal. I have also heard there is an American of Valencia. The only problem about that are the high prices.
I am kind of new with homeschooling so I would like to know how do you do it? Do you need any paper says your child has been homeschooled? Where do you buy the books ? I would really appreciate if someone could answer my questions.

Thank You.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Missgabby said:


> Hello ,
> 
> I'm considiring to move to Spain (Valencia) with my family. I have a daughter (14 years) and a son (12 years). For the beggining I would like them to be homeschooled. I have thought it was illegal but I've contacted HSLDA and they have told me it is legal. I have also heard there is an American of Valencia. The only problem about that are the high prices.
> I am kind of new with homeschooling so I would like to know how do you do it? Do you need any paper says your child has been homeschooled? Where do you buy the books ? I would really appreciate if someone could answer my questions.
> ...


:welcome:


quite simply, at the moment, homeschooling is essentially illegal in most of Spain, so there is no support system & no official way of following that path


even the HSLDA website states that attendance at school is compulsory age 6-16 & goes on to say


> Legal Status: In December 2010, the Spanish Constitutional Court handed down a sentence that leaves homeschoolers in an insecure legal position. In a case before the Constitutional Tribunal, the court denied parents the right to educate their children at home. It is still uncertain what effect this ruling will have upon homeschoolers in Spain.


every now & then a family will end up in court, sometimes the judge tells them to get on with it - but more often they get big fines & the kids have to attend school

I have heard that it's legal in Cataluña though if you were flexible on region


hope you don't mind me asking - what visa are you coming on? your flags indicate that you are US citizens


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## Missgabby (Apr 2, 2012)

Missgabby said:


> Hello ,
> 
> I'm considiring to move to Spain (Valencia) with my family. I have a daughter (14 years) and a son (12 years). For the beggining I would like them to be homeschooled. I have thought it was illegal but I've contacted HSLDA and they have told me it is legal. I have also heard there is an American of Valencia. The only problem about that are the high prices.
> I am kind of new with homeschooling so I would like to know how do you do it? Do you need any paper says your child has been homeschooled? Where do you buy the books ? I would really appreciate if someone could answer my questions.
> ...


Thank You for your reply  This is my daughters profile so she and my son are american however me and my husband are european. But we have lived in America for 14 years.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Missgabby said:


> Thank You for your reply  This is my daughters profile so she and my son are american however me and my husband are european. But we have lived in America for 14 years.


ah - so you don't need a visa 


oh well, I guess you can't help the so many US citizens who want to get visas to live here 


so - why Valencia?


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## Missgabby (Apr 2, 2012)

We want to live in a less crowded city than Barcelona, but we still don't know where we'll end up, because we have to check a few places before we settle for good. We're considiring Valencia or Barcelona, because we would love to live close to the sea


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I cant comment on home schooling as such, but my worry (having had children in Spain of a similar ages) is what then??? Would your children go on to further education?? College?? University?? Open university?? does homeschooling go onto degree level??

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jojo said:


> I cant comment on home schooling as such, but my worry (having had children in Spain of a similar ages) is what then??? Would your children go on to further education?? College?? University?? Open university?? does homeschooling go onto degree level??
> 
> Jo xxx


what then?? 

in Spain that would be a tough one - language issues if nothing else - even if there were jobs 

from what I've read about homeschooled kids is that (in their 'usual' country) they go on to work or further education at uni just like other kids


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Open University is not available at present in Spain. I'm guessing and someone correct me if I am wrong, but a slightly not legal approach might be to not register your kids on the padron or residency. Then they wouldn't 'exist' as far as the authorities are concerned but you'd have to have provate medical insurance for them. We have a 2 yr old who will start school in September next year. From the age of 5 he will continue to go to Spanish state school but we will also be teaching him at home (poor chap) since we want him to have a good English language and literature education which he won't get to the desired standard in Spain. As far as I know, all other subjects are more than adequately covered. 

I think your real concern is probably that at their ages they will not have sufficient Spanish to be able to do well in state school. Your other (but expensive) option is an English speaking International school. One of my Spanish students currently studies in a Spanish school that teaches all subjects in English. I have seen much of her course work and frankly it is way ahead of anything I have seen in British schools. Some of the biology she is studying at age ten isn't covered in British schools until age 14. Her real problem is, she doesn't speak much English which is why I am teaching her.


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## Missgabby (Apr 2, 2012)

thrax said:


> Open University is not available at present in Spain. I'm guessing and someone correct me if I am wrong, but a slightly not legal approach might be to not register your kids on the padron or residency. Then they wouldn't 'exist' as far as the authorities are concerned but you'd have to have provate medical insurance for them. We have a 2 yr old who will start school in September next year. From the age of 5 he will continue to go to Spanish state school but we will also be teaching him at home (poor chap) since we want him to have a good English language and literature education which he won't get to the desired standard in Spain. As far as I know, all other subjects are more than adequately covered.
> 
> I think your real concern is probably that at their ages they will not have sufficient Spanish to be able to do well in state school. Your other (but expensive) option is an English speaking International school. One of my Spanish students currently studies in a Spanish school that teaches all subjects in English. I have seen much of her course work and frankly it is way ahead of anything I have seen in British schools. Some of the biology she is studying at age ten isn't covered in British schools until age 14. Her real problem is, she doesn't speak much English which is why I am teaching her.


Thank You for your information


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## anles (Feb 11, 2009)

thrax said:


> Open University is not available at present in Spain.


Isn't Open University equivalent to the UNED?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

anles said:


> Isn't Open University equivalent to the UNED?


yes....... but would that be much good to non-spanish speaking people such as the OP's children? 

or do they have courses in the English language medium?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

anles said:


> Isn't Open University equivalent to the UNED?


As far as I understand UNED is a Spanish based distance university, but you can study at the Open University on Spain. See here
http://www8.open.ac.uk/europe/in-your-country/spainhttp://


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

For info about homeschooling see the sticky at the top of the main Spain page called forms,education etc. Look at the beginning and end of post 3 where you'll find info about homeschooling.
One of the latest cases states that education in a school is a right that children in Spain have been given and that parents do not have the right to take that away from their children, even if the quality of education is higher than that that they would receive outside the home.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> As far as I understand UNED is a Spanish based distance university, but you can study at the Open University on Spain. See here
> http://www8.open.ac.uk/europe/in-your-country/spainhttp://


That page doesn't work. I used to be very connected with OU and unless everything changed recently, there were never any plans to allow OU students outside of UK with the exception of Belgium. No idea why.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thrax said:


> That page doesn't work. I used to be very connected with OU and unless everything changed recently, there were never any plans to allow OU students outside of UK with the exception of Belgium. No idea why.


this one should work Study at the OU - Spain


it looks like there are lots of courses residents of Spain can take


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## Claire la richarde (Jul 6, 2009)

If I've read the Open University's website aright, you can study outside the UK.
Where can I study? | Study Explained | Open University

The list of courses that can be studied from Spain is here
Study at the OU - Spain 

The costs are here
What you can expect to pay | Study Explained | Open University

So you're looking at £15,000 for a degree. I think a lot of material is distributed online, but I suppose you might have to buy other materials depending on your course.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

thrax said:


> That page doesn't work. I used to be very connected with OU and unless everything changed recently, there were never any plans to allow OU students outside of UK with the exception of Belgium. No idea why.


Yes, I had trouble posting that link - don't know why, possibly due to eyelids falling down in front of eyes??!!?, but as you can see others have now posted a load of other links to the Open University in Spain


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