Wereldschool: solution for your children?
You can find Dutch people all over the world, just on a holiday trip or they work somewhere abroad. If you are going to move to a foreign country for a longer period of time, such as when you are posted by an international company, there is a lot to prepare and arrange.
If you have decided to embark on a foreign adventure with the whole family, including (young) children, it is important to find out what educational opportunities are available in your destination country. You can usually find an international school, but if you return to the Netherlands in the long term, it may be desirable to be able to follow Dutch education.
World School
The Wereldschool offers all possible support regarding your children's education, with the most important advice: Always let your children take Dutch lessons! Since 1948, the Wereldschool has been teaching Dutch at a distance, starting in the Dutch East Indies, but now active in more than 120 countries. These lessons take place in addition to or instead of the local or international school. Why? Without Dutch lessons, your child will soon fall behind in language: vocabulary and especially writing skills will develop less quickly or not at all, causing problems when returning to Dutch education.
Below you will find the 5 advantages of flexible Dutch education:
- Inflow at any time of the year. You don't have to wait for the new school year to start. It is possible to enroll at the beginning of a lesson program as well as halfway through a lesson programme. At the same time, this also means that you set the pace yourself based on your current situation.
- Combination of online and physical teaching materials. IVIO World School offers both physical and online teaching materials. This way you can take into account places in the world where there is a lesser or worse internet connection. Or you can choose to do as much online as possible, for example because you are on a boat for weeks and do not want to take countless books with you. Exactly as you want and wish.
- Follow all over the world. The flexibility of intake and the combination of online and physical teaching materials means that it is possible to follow Dutch education anywhere in the world, including in Thailand.
- Teaching material is appropriate for your child's level. Is everything going too fast or too slow? No problem! You can determine the pace yourself and the teaching material is fully adapted to the level of your child. Partly because of this, the education of IVIO-Wereldschool scores above the average of regular Dutch education.
- Parent involvement is much higher. You are closely involved in the development of your child and you are in control. Is it running a little less? Then you immediately know what is going on. Education at the Wereldschool offers you the perfect opportunity to teach your child in the way you envision it.
Would you like to know more about Dutch distance education? Are you curious about the possibilities for you or do you want more information? Then take a look at the website www.worldschool.nl and request a free orientation meeting.
We are curious if there are blog readers who have experience with this World School?
Source: World School website
My son Anoerak, now almost 17 years old, has had Dutch lessons from the Wereldschool from the age of 6 to 12. He has a primary school diploma in Dutch. I always spoke and speak Dutch with him and I am so happy that, now in the Netherlands, he can talk to everyone on a great level. His accent is perfect, his vocabulary more than adequate. Reading and writing has deteriorated somewhat, but he will catch up next year.
The World School teaches all subjects. It cost about 1000 euros per year per subject (if I remember correctly) but there is a subsidy for children with Dutch nationality. One hour a day. I loved doing it.
I recommend everyone to do this. It is a great advantage if your child grows up bilingual. And it is better to speak your mother tongue with your child than a foreign language like English.
There are two very important sentences in your story. “I always spoke and always speak Dutch with him” and “it is better to speak your mother tongue with your child”. In my opinion, by following these rules, the most important foundations are laid for bilingualism.
Continuing to speak the mother tongue is necessary so that the parent can express himself in a language that he/she has mastered best, so that attention is paid to nuances. Language is not only about being able to tell factual stories, but also about being able to convey emotions/feelings. A child has to learn that too and it learns best if the parent has a rich range of nuances at his disposal. Logically, that range is greatest in the parent's own language.
You talk about subsidy, but I think it expired one or two years ago. I'm not sure about this, but vigilance is advised.
Our son who grew up in Asia speaks and writes Dutch fluently without ever having had any lessons, but in fairness I should mention that both his parents are Dutch speakers and his second language (school language) is the related English. Reading and watching the necessary Dutch programs (Klokhuis) were certainly useful.
My son now speaks four languages, in addition to Thai, English is already better than me and furthermore the northern dialect, kham meuang. Of course he watched Sesame Street, youth films and I read for half an hour every night.
I would also like to emphasize the emotional content of the language. I have also paid attention to this in my Thai stories. This is where communication often goes wrong. Irony, doubt, emphasis, fear, etc. are then not heard.
We are in Thailand for 8 months and have chosen to teach our children aged 10 and 7 through Wereldschool during this period. Then they simply go back to their own class in the Netherlands. They only follow Dutch and math. In addition, they learn a lot from living in another country. The great thing about Wereldschool is that it really is tailor-made education. Our children are therefore not lagging behind. On the contrary. And (once you get used to it) it is very easy to help your child with the lesson material and it is self-explanatory. The only thing they miss are their classmates. They'll pick it up again soon.
Really recommended!
It is a pity that Wereldschool is recognized education, but you do not comply with the (old-fashioned) Compulsory Education Act in the Netherlands, which prescribes that children have compulsory education and must therefore go to a physical school. (A Thai school without Dutch language lessons would therefore suffice.) We have therefore (on the advice of the compulsory education officer) deregistered them from the GBA and then they no longer fall under the Compulsory Education Act. That was no problem at all.
The information on the website of the world school does not exactly excel in clarity. I am particularly curious about everyday practice if children only have the opportunity for online education. Furthermore, you commit yourself to something with which you have no experience, a broad reflection period would be realistic, but as far as I see it is not offered. Are there also people who have experience with Squla? This for my grandchildren aged 8 and 10.
Natalie,
I don't really know what it's like in the Netherlands, but in Belgium there is NO compulsory education, but there is a compulsory education, so you can and may give your child education and that education is then controlled by the Ministry of Education. This is a bit of a paper war but goes perfectly and meets everything. If you combine that with the world school, this would be perfect.
By the way, there is a school in Thailand subsidized from the Netherlands that meets ALL Dutch requirements, cost is very reasonable, I know that this service is called NOB, but I'm not so sure about this. In some areas, this school only organizes partial courses (provided you meet the legal obligations as a teacher, you can even teach). So it is the NOB foundation see also http://www.stichtingnob.nl/onderwijs/scholenzoeker.aspx and this legally regulated form of education also perfectly complies with Belgian education legislation. So this is also an interesting issue for the Belgians. I would also like to hear about other alternatives in Thailand because this is my ONLY obstacle to emigrate to Thailand permanently.
Some additional information: NOB is a Dutch-language initiative and is also subsidized by the Flemish Ministry of Education as well as by the Dutch Ministry. The organization (i.e. the operation and the implementation of this joint initiative is done by the Netherlands.
We emigrate to Hua Hin at the end of July with an 11-year-old son.
He goes to the Halio. Satsin School
That is a kind of living room education with 29 students in total.
Mind you, this school is not officially recognized but is considered very good.
Furthermore, our son receives an extra Dutch lesson, which is fitted into the school schedule, but which has to be paid extra. We have simply and immediately received permission for this construction from the compulsory education officer.
The disadvantage is that you pay 50.000 ThB per trimester. So 150.000 ThB per year.
I myself think that you cannot deprive a child of education and experience with schoolmates and that you are obliged to give your child what is good for your child's development.
If you cannot or do not want to pay for this, consider again whether you want to emigrate.
I also found the world school site very unclear and therefore opted for a different solution.