Eliot's Travels

Since we are now going to be here through most of the school year, we decided that Eliot needed some more regular interaction with children his own age. In Holland, children go to school when they turn 4 - literally the day after their birthday. Because of this, none of the kids in the playgroup are over 3 3/4; in fact, most kids are under 3.

I briefly checked into the British and American schools in the Hague (where classes would be in English), but it is so far away and is private education (comparable in price to Montessori preschool). Eliot has also shown a keen interest in learning Dutch, having learned several words and counting up to ten. Another big difference in Holland is that even group 1 goes to school all day 8:30-2:30 generally with 1 or 2 short days; though school is not compulsory for 4-year olds. Given Eliot's interest in Dutch and that school is 5 days a week, we decided to check into schools in Delft. Today, I had appointments with 2 schools.

Max Havelaar is a protestant, more classical (academic) school. I met with the Director and Miss Danielle - who would be Eliot's teacher. The Director of the school said that Eliot would pick up the language quickly and would be able to assimilate into the class. There was another English-speaking child in the class of 21 (with only 1 teacher). The teachers mainly speak Dutch to him, but can speak English to help him along. The facilities were nice - lots of blocks, legos, puzzles, painting supplies, little desks, and a nice outside area. This school is located just on the other side of Oude Kerk - about a 5-minute ride from home. Miles was a mess - fussy, crying not wanting to move from one thing to the next, dumping an entire bag of peanuts on the director's office floor, etc.

After the first appointment, Gina and I had planned a get together, so we rode to her house to visit. The boys had fun playing puzzles, lacing and trucks with Merrick. She fed us an early lunch, so I could (hopefully) drop Miles off with Jim for the second appointment at 1 pm. Jim was able to take Miles, so Eliot and I grabbed the Delft map and biked on over to the Freinetschool near the Delft Zuid train station.

The school is further away (a 12-minute bike ride), but this is the only location that has an opening for Eliot's grade. It's a popular school; Gina, Deborah, and Uta all send their kids (the ones that are school age) to it. The principles are the same across their 4 locations, based on the French Freinet school - nurturing the whole child, emphasizing process rather than result, and setting lessons around the children's interest. It seems to really focus on creativity and fantasy. Perfect for a well-rounded Eliot, really. The school is 60% immigrants (from Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanastan), so there is a lot of remedial Dutch and special teachers to help students get caught up in their language skills. The focus seems to be a lot on socialization, especially at the earlier grades. The class has a teacher and an assistant for 17-18 children.

I was hoping I wouldn't like this school as much as I did, because of the distance. But, it's really as close as downtown Boulder (probably closer) is to our house at home. And bus 64 does go nearby (every 15 minutes) for those days when the rain is really coming down. I did really like it. It is exactly what I'd be looking for in a school for Eliot. With schools, you have to go with your gut. So, that's what we chose. Eliot will have a male teacher Mr. Lucien, which is nice I think. We'll start next week most likely. Delft schools started back on 8/21.

posted by Whitney @ 6:42 AM