Help! Moving In June With 4 Little Kids- School Question

[chicagomama]

We are coming to BA in June (probably) for my hubby's work. My 4 kids are ages 6-9 and speak Spanish. We do not know for sure if we will stay here, or be moved to Colombia- so far it will only be a temporary move of 3 months. I would like to at least take advantage of the 3 months there and get the kids in some type of activity or school. Please help with suggestions. I hate to start them at a school only to move after a couple of months, but I also would hate to not have them involved in anything. We were in Mexico for 4 months without a school and they missed hanging out with KIDS, having friends, peers, etc. Any suggestions???

 

[ghost]

you are going to move an entire family for a 3 month gig? Naaaa.

 

[syngirl]

Convincing a school to let them in for 3 months when you've got winter break in July is going to be tough. It would be smack in the middle of the year (think of it like putting your child into a North American school in november and taking them out by february. If you're serious about schools you'd have had to sign up at least 6 months ago -- by now people will have already signed to start in March, so finding spots for all four could be very difficult, especially if you have any desire to send them all to the same school. Your best hope is if thanks to inflation a lot of families withdraw their kids mid-year because they can't pay the tuition, but really you're looking for 4 vacant spots and only for a few months -- there are not a lot of schools that will be open to this idea. Do a search on this forum for schools in Belgrano and some private options will come up. Public there's only a couple here you'd even think to send them to and you won't be able to anyway since the kids won't have DNIs.

You might just want to sign them up for a club instead -- there are plenty in town and in zona norte. Did you just come off the 4mos in Mexico? If so and they are losing schooling time your best bet for education would probably be to hire a private tutor, though if moves like this are regular I presume you already have one (or are doing the tutoring yourself). Your kids will probably also be thrown a bit by the Spanish here (if they aren't, you may be!) It's quite different than Mexican spanish and certainly more rapidly paced.

 

[chicagomama]

We've been homeschooling, so they are at grade level (or more advanced). Ghost: We move around a lot and travel light so it's not that big of a deal- and this will either turn into something longer (1-3 years) or we will do the 1-3 years in Colombia- it all depends on ym husband's work.

A club sounds perfect- any kind of classes with kids, I honestly don't care if its sports, art, computers, dance, whatever. And YES they will be thrown by the Spanish! haha, we speak Spanish from Mexico and were just talking with friends from Argentina and laughing about the differences. The speed is actually a little slower than Mexico City Spanish, but the accent and vocab are lovely. I'm secretly hoping they will pick up a bit, though our family will try to change that.

An ideas for classes at a community center or recreation center, or gimnasio, etc?

 

[gabelula]

I found out there are a lot of activities for kids that age that they can do in 3 months. Look at http://grupotierrafertil.blogspot.com.ar/ and all the links they have there.

 

[syngirl]

The speed is actually a little slower than Mexico City Spanish, but the accent and vocab are lovely.

Are your Argentina friends from Buenos Aires? Because that is the first time I have ever heard anyone say mexicans from DF speak faster (and I've been there a few times). Porteno spanish is quite differently paced (and accented) than a lot of other regions in Argentina