Thursday 29 October 2015

Starting School in the Netherlands - Little Steps to the Basisschool

As I mentioned in a previous post all of my children are now of school going age. *Gulp* As soon as a child turns four they may start attending primary school in the Netherlands - a big step for such a little person.

"There have been tears. There have been bursts of anger because he doesn’t want to go to a new school. Through the eyes of my highly sensitive three year old all that change is bad, scary. 
Te spannend!” he shouts through his tears."

For my youngest it was a bigger step than he could handle in one go, so we broke the transition up into baby steps to help him get used to going to school every day. We're still busy with that transition, but so far, so good.

Starting School in the Netherlands - Little Steps to the Basisschool

You can read more in my latest article, Little Steps to the Basisschool, written for Passionate Parenting, which shares how we have dealt with the latest big change to hit our family as well as tips and info about starting school in the Netherlands.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this article on how to get started in the basisschool with your kids. I will be entering that stage next year. Though, the little steps won't really work for us as much since she is an early September baby.

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    1. Remember that a child isn't 'leerplichtig' until they are five. Many parents start their child off with just mornings or with a Wednesday off for example to make it more manageable - even when they are already four. Each child is different and some can jump right in..... others need small steps :-)

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