My child thinks she is Dutch

Saturday 27 October 2012 at 04:18 am

By Lynn Morrison

I am American and my husband is Italian. We have two daughters, ages 1.5 and 3.5, who have lived their entire lives in the Netherlands. I recently had an eye-opening conversation with my eldest. I told her that I was American, papa was Italian, and I asked her where she was from. Her answer: I'm Nederlands. Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | Four comments

Daycare in a non-native language

Thursday 18 October 2012 at 03:55 am

By Lynn Morrison

My husband is Italian and I am American. In 2009 we moved to the Netherlands with our 2-month-old daughter and none of us spoke any Dutch. Fast forward three years and we now have a very talkative three year old who regularly insists that she speaks only “Nederlands”. This is what we have learned about what you can expect when you send your child to daycare in a non-native language. Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | Two comments

Kinderboeken Week: “Australia Day” at a Dutch school

Monday 08 October 2012 at 08:29 am

By Renee Veldman-Tentori, (Mompreneur and Blogger)

This morning, I had a wonderful experience of spending some time with my daughter’s groep 2 class in Den Haag and talking to them about our home country, Australia. Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | No comments

Hello World: It's Kinderboekenweek!

Monday 08 October 2012 at 08:20 am

By Lynn Morrison

Are you looking for some fun activities to do with your children this week? If so, why not visit a local bookstore or library? October 3 - 14, 2012 is officially "Kinderboekenweek" (Children's book week) here in the Netherlands. And this year's theme of "Hello World" could not be more appropriate for expat parents! Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | Seven comments

Education Week 2012 (Oct 1-7th)

Monday 24 September 2012 at 3:19 pm

By Lynn Morrison

October 1-7, 2012 is the official "Education Week" (week van de opvoeding) in the Netherlands. Parents and children are invited to attend workshops and events designed to foster communication and positive growth. Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | No comments

Playgrounds vs Workers at my local daycare

Monday 17 September 2012 at 10:33 am

By Aleksandra Tesanovic (Twitterer: @Buba_nl)

Under ever increasing cost cutting pressure, my local daycare in Eindhoven has made one of their best workers redundant while rebuilding a playground.

Since the reduction of childcare funding in January 2012, parents pay more money for daycare, and the number of children in daycare centers has declined in the Netherlands as much as 3% compared to last year. This is the number reported in June 2012, and it is expected that this number will increase by the end of the year. It has also been estimated that many mothers are deciding to stop working and instead take up the care of their children themselves. There are estimates of a decrease in the working force of 30 000 work places or more, negatively effecting the Dutch economy in many ways that are slowly becoming apparent. Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | No comments

The full scoop on peuterspeelzaal

Wednesday 12 September 2012 at 2:44 pm

For many expat families, peuterspeelzaal (toddler preschool) is the first foray into the Dutch school system. I sat down with one of our Nomad Parents here in Delft to get the full scoop on peuterspeelzaal. I learned a lot and am excited to share it now with all of you.

OVERVIEW
Peuterspeelzaal is an educational program to help children ages 2-4 as they prepare to start school. Toddlers learn intellectual, emotional and motor skills such as: language and counting, social interaction, following directions, and playing, sports and music. Peuterspeelzaal is available five days per week. You can choose to send your child for 3 hours or 5 hours (exclude/include lunch) and you can choose from 1 day per week up to 5 days per week. (Some places will require a minimum of 2 days per week.) Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | No comments

A Mindful School Choice

Tuesday 11 September 2012 at 09:24 am

By Marie Vijendran, author of Mindful Decisions: Intentional Family Decision Making

Choosing a school for your child is perhaps one of the most challenging decisions we make as parents. In this country there are many choices available to us. Different schools specialise in different educational and religious approaches. At first having choices can seem wonderful, better to have a Montessori, Steiner or Jenaplan option within a few kilometres of the home than not, we might think. Yet choices can be paralysing unless we are able to quickly home in on what is important to us, what suits the child and what is practically possible. Read More

Lynn | ¶ | Education | No comments