Home Education Netherlands Anyone

[lifeonwater]

Considering this in Amsterdam. Kids are 2.2 years and 7 months so we've got time to research. Keen to connect with others and find out the score re legalities and procedures. Any links or tips for my research very much appreciated as are any personal stories which you may wish to share. With thanks.

[rzberrymom]

PumpkinSeeds used to homeschool near Rotterdam-- I'm not sure if she's around here anymore, so you could try sending her a PM. There's also a bunch of info in the schooling sticky up at the top of the forum.

[DariusMom]

There's a small group of homeschoolers in the Leiden area. I'm currently working on the schooling section of the www.homeinleiden.nl site and the homeschoolers wrote a great piece for it. The piece isn't on the web yet, but they said they don't mind sharing it.

Home Schooling
Home education is a worthwhile consideration in The Netherlands. Everyone that home educates has their own reason for doing so for example:
- a belief that children should be able to direct their own education
- a feeling that class sizes are too large
- that children don't need to start school so young
- because their child is sensitive or has special needs
- because the school system does not cater to their religious or spiritual philosophy
etc
It is important to know that it is a legal option so long as you can demonstrate that the school system will not meet your child's needs in your opinion. There is a process to follow to obtain exemption from the school system with the local 'Gemente'. This must be done just before your child turns five (the legal age at which formal schooling is a requirement here, not four as you might think). Note that once your child attends school after the age of five it is more difficult to obtain permission to home educate.

There is a national website for 'thuis onderwijs' (home education) which is very informative and in English as well as Dutch: http://www.thuisonderwijs.nl/

There is a local e-group for home educators most of whom reside nearer to Den Haag than Leiden. There are however, several home educators in and near to Leiden and trips to museums and playgrouds are organised very regularly: [e-mail]
If you want to talk about home education in the Netherlands, please send me a PM and I'll put you in touch with the homeschoolers here directly.