Fresh four-year-olds have to get used to without a parent in kindergarten
Most preschoolers who turned four during the corona crisis are now allowed to go to school as usual. Everything is done in consultation with the parents, because they are not allowed to join the classroom while their child is getting used to it.
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For a moment there was a lack of clarity as to whether infants who turned four in the period of the school closure were allowed to go to school or not. Normally, fresh four-year-olds start an acclimatization process and a parent is allowed to join the classroom regularly. But according to the advice of the RIVM, parents are not allowed into the school building for the time being. In addition, teachers have a lot on their mind to explain to all children the new hygiene rules and to have them walk neatly along the lines to the classroom. So no place for new four-year-olds?
If the transition to school takes too long, a child from the VVE will suffer a huge relapse
Gjalt Jellesma, spokesperson for Boink, Association of Parents in Childcare, states that new four-year-olds must go to school in order not to be left out. “If a child comes from a childcare center with early and pre-school education (VVE), it means that a child often has a language delay. If the transition to school then takes too long, the child will have a huge relapse. " Jellesma also warns against the practical problems in childcare. After all, the place of a new four-year-old has already been taken there. “We plan childcare well in advance. If a new four-year-old stays longer, another child cannot start childcare. ”
It was very strange to drop off our four-year-old son at the gate
After some start-up problems, the problem with the new four-year-olds seems to be not too bad, Jellesma notes. Most primary schools allow them. Similarly, the school of four-year-old Luka. “It was really crazy to drop off our son at the gate and only be able to pick him up at the end of his first day of school,” says father Erik van der Spek. Luka had turned four during the school closure. Just before the schools were to open, Luka's teacher called with the message that he could not start until after the summer vacation. “We were deeply disappointed, especially for him,” says Van der Spek. "Luka was really ready for a new challenge." Moments later, the same teacher called to say that government policy dictated differently and that Luka was therefore welcome. “We as parents were allowed to choose. If this had played with our eldest son, we probably wouldn't have let him start until after the summer vacation, because he has trouble with changes. ”
It must be a nice first day for a child, you don't want a traumatic start
The consultation between parent and teacher is also the starting point at the Krugerstee primary school in Vaassen. There are three new four-year-olds in the kindergarten group of leather coach Kim van Ommen. “We split a class of 25 children into two groups. This worked out nicely for the accustomed children, there is more time and attention for them. ” It was decided with one parent not to let the child start, because a move was also involved. Van Ommen: “I have too much of a mother's heart to refuse a child who is looking forward to school. But it must be a fun first day for a child, you don't want a traumatic start. ”
Welcome
Government emphasizes that new toddlers are welcome at school. In the hectic pace of the first days, one of the Innoord schools was unclear about the admission of a few children. “Four-year-olds did not immediately have the greatest priority in the maze of all the new rules that we had to apply,” says Jelle Mulder, board secretary of Innoord, which includes sixteen primary schools in Amsterdam-Noord. But Mulder has it in the days after the start called all schools and everything went according to plan. The new four-year-olds are also very welcome. "Everything is done in good consultation between teacher or administrator and parent."
