It was late this year...summer vacation. Not only the weather (we do live in the Netherlands, after all), but school went this year until July 20th. I think that's a good 6 weeks or more after I started seeing all the postings on facebook from my state-side friends.
Little Man really felt it this year, too. Group 3 is full of daily work in all subjects, much less playtime or free time then last year - these are full days, and it took the first couple of months for Little Man to hit his stride and get into the swing of ''real'' school. It only gets more intense from here.....
When I compare it to the US what strikes me about the school systems here is that while the work done at school is pretty intense, there is as yet no concept of home work. Outside of school, kids are free to play, do sports, clubs, etc.....be kids. There are exercises sent home with the kids on the last day of school to keep kids from having the ''dip'' that comes from being out of school for 6 weeks, but it more about encouraging behavior such as writing free association poems, small stories, practicing time tables, etc.....all journal style rather than only doing worksheets.
 |
| He's grown so much! |
As long as it took this year to roll around, and as short as it can sometimes feel, I also overall really do like that the breaks here are spread out. It's not 3 months summer vacation (although 6 weeks can really fly by!) - but 6 weeks in Summer, a week in fall, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week between Feb and March, another week at the end of April/May and a week usually in June. I think it works out that roughly for every 6 or 7 weeks of school, there is a week free - it seems to keep the freedom itch to a minimum, as there is pretty much always a break to look forward to.
The last report card of year was a good one. He's making leaps and bounds in all subjects - he's above the average level in all subjects, but his standout is reading - he's currently reading, at the end of group 3, at the middle point of group 5, so he's a full year and a half ahead there.
 |
| Our nightly bedtime ritual, we read out lound to each other. |
He's also done very well on the 2x per year CITO or standardized tests - that starting from this year help determine which level of school he will go into after group 8. His one big improvement area for next year remains his attention span and listening. On one hand, I think 7 year old boy - what do you expect?! :-) And I think sometimes, alot of the people in his life (teachers and mom included) hold him up to a pretty big yardstick because of his intelligence - this is one area where is ''just'' 7 - and I have to remind myself as grown up as he can be, he really is still 7 and is allowed moments of fruit fly attention span.
Unlike a lot of kids his age, he doesn't talk about what he wants to be when he grows up - the usual firefighter or police officer isn't there, and while he LOVES football (soccer), he's also told me he isn't sure he ever wants to play in a big arena in front of ''all those people''. I love that, for now, each day is it's own adventure, and he's always busy doing, learning, being active.
 |
| 1st live football match seen in a stadium (Amsterdam Arena) |
What has also solidified this year is those parts and characteristics of him that are neither his father nor me, but just - Kevin. Of course, I hope at some point there will be some direction, focus and drive...and that whatever he wants to do will align to his talents and skills, but for, we're both going to take a deep breath, capture these 6 weeks of summer and not yet think about group 4 ..........
