Expat Lifestyle. Suitcases Under the Bed: What Raising Kids In San Miguel De Allende Really Looks Like

By Doreen Cumberford

This is the second of several articles on raising expat children in San Miguel.

I must be honest: researching this article was an absolute joy. Having raised a kid overseas in a foreign culture, talking with parents, kids, and families about life in San Miguel de Allende reminded me how close I feel to this topic and why I love this city. Their stories were funny, surprising, and deeply human. Every family I spoke with had asked the same question before moving: “But what about school?” The answer, it turns out, is rather wonderful.

More Choices Than You’d Think

I visited the Waldorf campus, sat with parents from Victoria, Academia, Montessori and a pod homeschool co-op, a small group of families pooling their expertise to teach across subjects. Each school has its own character and benefits; Victoria and Academia provide structured bilingual programs; Waldorf teaches the children to grow gardens; the pod model gives families freedom to follow their child’s curiosity and to enjoy a Canadian or different international curriculum. Every parent had chosen deliberately, and none were second-guessing themselves.

The Post-COVID Bonus: Online Learning

One of the unexpected gifts of the pandemic was the explosion of quality online education, and families in San Miguel de Allende have been quick to take advantage. Accredited curricula, specialist tutors, language programs, STEM courses, arts classes, imagine, all are now available from a sunny courtyard in México.

One family combines a local Montessori morning with an online program in the afternoon. Another supplements their child’s bilingual school with online English literature classes. The result is a generation of San Miguel de Allende kids with genuinely bespoke educations that no single school could offer alone.

Spanish Just… Happens

We adults must work hard at Spanish. Children absorb it. Drop a seven-year-old into a multilingual environment and within months many of them are switching languages mid-sentence, often mid-joke, they learn to code-switch naturally and organically.

One father told me his son was dreaming in Spanish within six months. San Miguel’s rich mix of Mexican and international families means children swim in language all day. Some become adventurous eaters too, diving into new flavors with the same openness. Others remain loyal to the familiar. Either way, the dinner table conversations get more interesting.

After School: From Jiu-Jitsuto Mountain Tops

The refrain I heard most often: “Everything we had at home is here now - except skiing.” Martial arts, swim teams, horse riding, piano, voice, dance, pickleball. And for active teenagers, there is even Kirsten McCormick’s Teen Connect Adventures. She runs transformative outdoor camps involving ziplining, boating, caves, waterfalls, and mountain tops. These kinds of experiences are building real resilience and genuine friendships. What’s different about physically being in San Miguel is the texture: the activities are closer, schedules are saner, and one father summed it up perfectly: “We got our evenings back.”

Kids Make Friends. Parents Build Community.

One family shared a detail I loved: their son sleeps with a small suitcase under his bed, always ready for an emergency road trip. That spirit, open, adventurous and ready to go seems to take root in children here. For parents, building community takes a little more intention. “You get out of San Miguel what you put into it,” they said.

After lots of conversations, one truth kept surfacing: San Miguel is not a passive experience. It asks something of each of us, be it curiosity, openness or a willingness to show up. Families who lean in find community, connection, and a life richer than the one they left.

We get out of San Miguel de Allende exactly what we put into it. Most families I spoke with are putting in a great deal, and it shows. Thanks for showing me another side of our sweet city.

Doreen Cumberford is an intercultural trainer, author, and host of Nomadic Diaries podcast. She's recently created The Belonging Project, a podcast series exploring what it means to belong across cultures. Learn more at nomadicdiariespodcast.com