The International Schools Review Forum

Can anyone share their experiences with living on a compound with young children? The good and the bad? This would be in Jeddah. Thanks!

I have a good friend on a compound outside of Jeddah and she loves it. She has three kids and a trailing spouse and they live in a 4-bedroom villa. The kids can play outside freely and safely and there are other kids to play with. She can drive within the compound and do her shopping easily.

We lived the compound life when our kids were younger. It was how I imagined suburban life must have been like in the 50's: kids running back and forth between homes, riding their bikes around the neighborhood, a sense of freedom, ironically, that we don't have in our home country. It seems idyllic, but with a caveat: with compound life comes a built in social life. If that's your thing, you will very much enjoy it. Our compound was one of the smaller ones, so maybe this is not the case across the board.

Compounds are like cultists covens, you cant escape it. You will know everyone and everyone will know you, and you always have to be 'on'. Imagine all the drama you have at your IS/DS now and having to live it 24/7.

I've quite enjoyed compound life the few times I've done it. My favorites are mixed with people from different organizations so you're not living and working with all the same people.
Social life can be great, and it is possible to have privacy, but a total recluse might seem out of place. Honestly, living in center city in an apartment building with all my colleagues was more claustrophobic to me than compounds.
It's great with kids. They can run around freely and no worries for you. You'll end up with random kids over for dinner, or missing from dinner, and you never have to drive your kids to their friends' house.

Spent 7 years in Saudi (Eastern province) living on a compound arriving in Saudi when our kids were 2 and 3 1/2 years old. I considered the years we were there the perfect age for kids on a compound. Our kids LOVED it and we did too. We are the social type of family so there was always someone at the pool to hang out with, or find a tennis game, or bump into in the little compound store. It was like a neighbourhood where you know all your neighbours which doesn't happen so much anymore in N. America. When you needed support, it was automatic. Our compound had families from a variety of companies not just our school. At times we'd have a sleepover with 8 kids(from Canada, USA, England, Scotland, Australia, and South Africa) sprawled out in the TV room. At holidays we'd go all out...and it was safe! Halloween trick or treating, a Thanksgiving pot-luck, Christmas carolling, a family would organize a kids Santa .. With kids it was idyllic. Even though it was hot as snot out for a few months, they were out red-faced and sweaty learning cricket from their British and Aussie friends. The kids played out on the street with all their buddies, like we did in the 70s- again something you just don't see anymore. Some might say it was a false sense of security, but to us it was what we wanted our kids childhood to be. We had our own grassy yard, garden and patio and made a big covered sandbox. So much better than apartment living at this stage of family life. Compounds allow your kids space to explore, run free, learn to ride bikes and swim and play tennis and navigate social situations with their peers. For introverts it might be a different story, but it worked well for our family.

Unless it is a small compound, you can be as out there or as introverted as you please. It won't limit your kids' friendship. Lots of time outside, safety issues a minimum (usually ignorant people driving too fast through the compound, which on some can lead to cars being banned from entering), relaxing. It's like a bit of home with a country club feel for free.

@SJ

Only if you like living at the country club.

Thank you so much for the replies. We did end up taking the position, and we are very excited! I think it is perfect for our kids at this stage (2 and 4).