Guest Amy_ Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Hi all! My husband and I are considering moving from the States to Barcelona (or somewhere else in Europe since the location sounds like it will be up to us). We want to continue homeschooling our 3 kids using classical methods wherever we go. Does anyone have any idea if Barcelona is friendly to homeschooling? Are there other cities within Europe that may have more supportive communities, especially for the classical approach? Anyone have any general info that may be helpful to me as we look at options? I appreciate any feedback you have. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessedmom3 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 In Spain homeschooling is illegal,as well as in Germany. In France it's legal, but they have very strict laws as how to homeschool and they are often tested and have standards for each level. I think the most homeschool friendly country is UK, ut even there they have strict homeschooling laws. Why are you moving to Europe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Amy_ Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Thanks for your feedback. I'll definitely need to be cautious in our choice, then. Since my hubby and I met, we thought it would be great to one day move overseas, maybe for just 3-5 years, to give our kids and ourselves a different experience. We didn't think it would really happen, but a great opportunity just arose last week and and sounds perfect. Now it seems like things are moving pretty quickly and we need to see if it's feasible. Our kids are still pretty young, so it seems like a good time to go for it. But we really have loved educating from home and want to make sure we will have the chance to continue that. Have you lived in Europe? How have you come to know about some of the laws there? If anyone else has insights to share please do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Have you worked out what kind of visa you will have? Unless you have a European passport, if you are staying more than a few months (the exact length of time might vary by country) then you will need a resident's visa and dependents' visas. You may be able to get a resident's visa by investing in the country, by being invited to work for a local company/being sent by a multinational company, or by signing up as a student. Here's the UK page for your reference. Our limit is six months before you need to give a reason/proof for staying. Home education is very easy in the UK. If your children have never been to school here, then you don't need to register or report. If the local education authority hears about you, they might need you to write out what you do to educate your children. That's about it. There aren't many classical home educators in the UK - most do some variety of child-led learning. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I think the most homeschool friendly country is UK, ut even there they have strict homeschooling laws. The UK is anything but strict. I home educated legally in Scotland for two years without seeing a single official or making a single report. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Amy_ Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Great info! Thanks!! My husband would be working for a multinational company, so we would be staying with on his work visa for 3-5 years, although I haven't researched all of those kind of practical details yet. I mainly want to make sure wherever we chose will be at least open to me educating from home and have some sort of community of others also doing it. Seems like the UK is the best bet. I also noticed Denmark seemed pretty accepting, with about 1% of students being educated at home. I was hoping there may be more classical home educators in Europe, but maybe I can at least find some Charlotte Mason friends. The 2 methods seem to overlap at least a little bit. I would really love to have even a few families to connect with that are doing Classical learning. Maybe I'll start a trend. ;) Thanks again everyone! Keep the comments coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 If you get to that stage, do come back to me with practical questions. There are several other Brits on the board and at least one American living in the UK; we could all chip in. All kinds of things like: what kind of housing to expect, where to live, internet message boards, whether to own a car, what to bring, where to get supplies, etc. are all questions that we could help with. To be honest with you, in a fairly rural area like this, there really wasn't much in the way of home education meet-ups. We found plenty to do through other activities, however: chess club, scouts, martial arts, amateur theatre, etc. We did attend a monthly home ed. book group, but that was it. There would be more going on in a metropolitan area, I would think. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 The UK is anything but strict. I home educated legally in Scotland for two years without seeing a single official or making a single report. Laura England is easy too! Canadian friends did home ed in the Netherlands for a few months without problems but they were always very short term. Sweden is illegal or close to illegal also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessedmom3 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I used to live in France and a few other countries in Europe. I am in fact born in Europe and lived there until recently before I moved to US. I have never homeschooled in Europe , but some people from the church I was attending did ( in France). What a great opportunity! I'd choose France, the most beautiful and rich in history country,but of course, I am biased . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 If you decide on the UK things home ed wise have grown a great deal in the 6 years we have been there. I actually do have several classical home ed friends there--that is why I own a copy of TWTM to loan to people. ;) I live in a fairly rural area of England and have access to four groups for activities. None of the groups are classical but they are nice to have. My dc's are older. With littles things would be much easier--for us many activities are too young. But we pick what to participate in and generally manage a pretty full schedule. I do drive quite a bit to accomplish this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Amy_ Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Wow this is all so helpful. I will let you know what transpires. It's odd to have all of Europe laid out as an option! My husband's would-be coworkers live all over. This is all in early phases, but it seems that the person hiring really would love to bring him on board. Laura, it's so helpful to know there are others who can point us in a helpful direction! We would choose to be in a city rather than rural area just so we will have most options for connection, so if England works out I will let you know for sure. Barcelona seems a bit more of a remote option now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Wow this is all so helpful. I will let you know what transpires. It's odd to have all of Europe laid out as an option! My husband's would-be coworkers live all over. This is all in early phases, but it seems that the person hiring really would love to bring him on board. Laura, it's so helpful to know there are others who can point us in a helpful direction! We would choose to be in a city rather than rural area just so we will have most options for connection, so if England works out I will let you know for sure. Barcelona seems a bit more of a remote option now... We live near Venice, Italy. Homeschooling is semi-easy for locals though nobody really does it. I know of two residents in the area and they both have young children. To the bolded, if you want connection, focus on places within a decent driving distance of a U.S. military base. The homeschooling rate is often higher than in European communities for two reasons - poor school options and the desire to travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I also noticed Denmark seemed pretty accepting, with about 1% of students being educated at home. Thanks again everyone! Keep the comments coming! We have had (at least so far!) a very pleasant homeschooling experience in Denmark. But there are very few homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.