4 reactions to this article

Dave posted: 2011-08-31 11:57:28

No thanks. The Dutch are masters at putting you on a hoop jumping roller coaster while they strip you bare. If "integrating" means that thing 2nd and 3rd generation Dutch of Moroccan and Surinam descent are going through, I'll pass - but thanks for the generous offer. My experience is that the Dutch do not trust or respect anyone that wants to be Dutch. It's just a scam to justify the underlying mistrust and treatment of foreigners as second class citizens.

olly70 posted: 2011-09-05 20:07:04

I have had benefit of both educational systems and just last week I gave up on trying to integrate my son and sent him back to the international school. I almost got a migraine from trying to understand the Cito toets how it worked because my son was about to take it. I had nightmares the boy had his share from the rigorous study I put him on. All i can say is truely the dutch system doesnt make it easy education wise to integrate (not speaking for other areas lol)

alissa posted: 2011-09-06 08:18:23

I relocated from the United States and was about to move my family here. However, I simply cannot enroll my 9 year old child to the Dutch school of my choice. All foreign-born newcoming students in a small town where I work have to go to just one school to learn Dutch. Not surprisingly the school is in the poorest part of the town. International schools are not an option for us as those are far away from my place of employment. We opted not to relocate after all.

bringas24 posted: 2011-09-20 13:17:36

Relocating with school age children is not as easy as people think, As with change, different country, language, customs, etc; for children this is a major transition, not only is it daunting to meet new class mates on normal circumstances but add a new language, different country and customs, to this equation it is becomes very stressful for children to manage this transition. When we relocated to Belgium, I continued to home school my child based via Calvert Home School Curriculum, which you tutor you child but a teacher will grade and advise you on the progress of you child, this way making sure my child was learning according to age and education level. We did this until 3rd Grade when we decided to stay here long term and made the decision that it would be best for our child to integrate and attend the local school. This was not easy to say the least, the school and local authorities suggested the aid of a tutor or "logopedist" outside the school hours for additional language study, but this transition was extremely difficult, her teachers were very helpful and some of the children embraced my child and were friendly, others and their parents simply opted to look up and down and alienated themselves as we were from another "planet", even though we have lived in France, Holland, Mexico, so for us, appreciating and respecting other cultures have been part of our upbringing and cultural differences and have made us into the people we are today. Nevertheless, our child is able to communicate, write and read Dutch, she is able to integrate and relate to other classmates and friends, and is much happier now that she is attending Junior High and as well learning French. It is proven that children are adaptable and are able to learn a language easier than adults, and for that fact I would advise in letting children try a local school first, if planning to stay on long term, even as difficult as it may be, the solution of an International School may be "plan B" if available.