I'm sorry! I thought I had made it less complicated. Perhaps part of it is because this is a special education school? Most people don't have to do an intake process for school. This is just procedure for this school. At the end of 6th grade, all the kids moving on to high school have to have an evaluation to see if they need to stay in special ed or if they should go back to public school. They take an IQ test, a psychological evaluation, a standardized test, they are interviewed by the school psychologist. It's all very thorough. Then we were given advice based on their evaluation...they tell us which level they think best fits him, and which school. So his teachers think he should stay in special ed, and his current school fits best, but they don't offer the highest level, so he'll do the 2nd highest. Some kids will go to a school that's about a half hour away....that's the school where the more aggressive kids go. DS is more quiet....he's a rule follower, and if he has a meltdown, it's verbal, whereas kids who go to the other school are usually more prone to acting out more physically than verbally. They might throw things, or hit people, etc. So after it's determined where you should go and which level you should do, you have a sort of interview with the psychologist from that school. DS is staying in the same school, but going to the high school level, which has its own Psychologist. So she asked questions like....what do you expect from school, what are your hobbies, what are your favorite subjects, who is your teacher and what do you like about him/her...just kind of getting to know the kid and get a feel for who they are and what their needs might be. And then the parents are there to kind of fill in the blanks if there's anything missing.
DD did not have to do that. She had to take the standardized test, and every kid in the Netherlands gets advice from their school on what level school they can handle, since it's divided. But DD didn't have to have an IQ test or a psychological evaluation or an intake or any of that. That stuff is only for the special education, and I don't know if ALL special education schools do this, or if it's just that ours is really thorough.
I guess the best way to sum it up is, in the US, school is "one size fits all". Every high school is kind of the same....everyone goes to the school that's closest to their home unless they are going to a private school. But everyone gets the same education...everyone has the same requirements. If might differ from state to state or district to district, but every kid in a district has the same requirements for graduation. You have to have so many math credits, so many english credits, etc...and classes are mixed. You have kids who get straight A's in with the kids who can barely pass.
In the Netherlands, schools are more individualized. The kids who get straight A's only have classes with other kids who get straight A's, and it's all theoretical learning out of books, etc. Kids who can barely pass go to a completely different kind of school. It's less theoretical and more hands on/tactile and probably doesn't go as in depth. And the straight A kids have more requirements. DD has to do French AND German, where the lower level only does German. The lower level only goes 4 years, and they choose a career path after only 2 years and then their classes are already more narrowed down to that career path. The straight A kids go for 6 years, and choose their career path after....I'm not sure if it's 3 or 4 years. But they have a broader base in the beginning and then their chosen subjects will be much more in depth. It's kind of like the difference between an associates degree and a bachelors degree and a masters degree. The higher the level, the more in depth and longer the program is, only it's for high school, not college, if that makes more sense? Kids already start a sort of "major" in high school and their classes are geared toward that major, and the kids in their class will be in the same "program", so....not the sort of "one size fits all" education you get in the States. One school might offer more than one level, but the kids will be separated. DD has every class with the same 19 other kids, and all those kids were the straight A kids in their elementary schools. DD and one other girl from her elementary school are the only ones doing the highest level at the same school, so they are in the same class. The 45 other kids from her elementary school are in lower levels and are either at different schools, or at least in different classes.
DS will be in between....his program will be 5 years and will be mostly theoretical/book learning, but not quite as deep as DD's. Less homework, fewer subjects...
I hope that's more clear. I'm sorry...I know it took me a lot of research to figure out what VWO and Havo and VMBO and all that stuff mean, so I tried to keep that OUT of the post, but it sounds more complicated than it really is.
Anything in particular, or just general pictures of what we do? I hope I can get some pictures of Symbolica this time, and I hope we can do it more than once. We went 2 years ago when Symbolica was new and the wait times were over an hour...no way. We did it once and that was it. Now, the hype should have died down a bit, and it's not a vacation week, so hopefully it won't be massively crowded.
I may not be able to sleep tonight!
I will post some pictures here if anyone would like during our stay.
