International Contact

 

I have been blessed with an international contact in the Netherlands.  The father of one of my Sunlight families moved to America from the Netherlands.  Through "facebook" I still keep in touch with many of my families because I love to hear how our students are doing once they leave the school.  When I asked my friend Carrie if anyone her husband knows was an educator, she happily connected me with his cousin, Ankie Moelker.

Ankie and I seem to have a lot in common.  She is 37 years old and I am 34 years old.  We both have three children.  Her children are Femke who is 7, Bart who is 4 and little Sanne, who was born a little over a month ago.  My children are Brennen who is 11, Madison who is 7, and Riley who is 6.  Ankie says that Gouda is a small, very nice city in Holland with about 70,000 inhabitants.  Since Holland is small they are able to maintain close relationships with their families which is a huge part of their lives.


Ankie has been a teacher for ten years.  She started teaching in primary grades 10 years ago, was an ESL teacher for 2 of those years, and substituted last year.  Unfortunately, the economic crisis has also hit over in the Netherlands, so she was laid off as a substitute this year.  She has also spent the last three years deepening her knowledge of the English language and focusing on multiple intelligence and teaching strategies for gifted children.  She is blessed with her daughter, Femke, who has already skipped a grade because she catches on to things so quickly.  Ankie wants to be equipped with the knowledge and tools to be able to help her.


Ankie stated that children begin school at age 4 and attend primary school until the age of 12, so they have eight years there before moving on to secondary school.  This sounds similar to a K-8 school in our system, accept that they start a year younger than we do and have one less grade.  She stated that before the age of four many children attend preschools or day care centers, and that preschools usually focus on "education through play" whereas day cares are more of a babysitting service.  She also mentioned that due to budget cuts, schools over there are relying more and more on volunteers to work with the children.  She spends a lot of time helping out in her daughter's school.


I look forward to learning more about Ankie, her passion for education, and they way the early childhood system works over there.  I feel I can learn a great deal from her and am so very excited about this opportunity!  


As far as my view of poverty, I know people all over the world are suffering.  I want to ask Ankie what they do in her country to help with this issue.  Poverty is a serious issue and can affect children in a variety of ways.  It is important as educators, we do become advocates for all children, and finding ways to help with the problem of poverty is a great way to contribute.  I look forward to hearing some of her ideas and suggestions based on examples from her country.