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Families in The Hague: FREE Webinar for Expat parents
2021-05-21 | By ESH
Living in The Hague, The Netherland’s third largest city, is very comfortable and a firm favourite for families. The quality of life is extremely high; the leafy suburbs with cycle paths, excellent public transport, beaches, plenty of international schools, safe parks, playgrounds and green spaces. Many young couples moving here for a few years, extend their stay because The Hague is a great place to raise children. Many expats even immigrate.
Having children is one of life’s most rewarding experiences, but can be chaotic and stressful – especially when you’re far from family and support networks. Young parents selecting a creche or a school for their little ones will experience difficulties for many reasons, including one’s cultural background, language preferences, your employment status and residential location.
In an attempt to help expat parents who face typical (and a-typical) challenges of living in The Netherlands, the European School The Hague is extending an invitation to all interested parents to join in on some online parent education presentations. The goal is for experts to equip and inform expat parents, to help them make the right decisions for their family, gain a better understanding of their child, improve their own choices and be intentional about the future.
Here are four parent education presentations which will be held online in June, 2021:-
School Readiness for expat children – Wednesday, 2 June 2021
Raising children in a foreign country has additional challenges, and parents often wonder if their little one is ready for an easy and successful transition to school. While many will think in terms of academics, social skills and language proficiency are equally helpful for an optimal move to primary school. This presentation will offer a holistic and realistic perspective on school readiness.
Speaker: Lynne Byatt (Specialist Early Years Education)
Raising bi/multilingual children – Monday, 7 June 2021
Also teaching your children French, German, Spanish, Italian or Dutch? Are you worried about the difficulties of having two or more languages at home? This presentation will cover language development and how – if – this differs in mono- bi- and multilingual children. We will also discuss some of the social, cultural and academic benefits of being raised bi/multilingual as well as fluency, literacy and adequate input in L1/Mother Tongue, L2 or L3/4. The aim of this talk is to help parents select a strategy that works best for their family here in The Netherlands.
Speaker: Stephanie Kustner (Psychologist Kühler & Partners International Mental Health Center and ESH Primary)
Expat Wills and Testaments – Monday, 14 June 2021
Every parent should have a will to avoid legal or tax-related problems, should the unthinkable happen. Married or living together, if you die while resident in the Netherlands, your entire estate will be subject to Dutch inheritance tax and the courts will want a legally appointed guardian to take custody of your children. This talk will give parents need-to-know information to get it done and gain peace of mind.
Speaker: Dutch family law specialist, Yolanda Bokhorst (Notary – van Buttingha Wichers).
Tots, Toddlers & Screen Time – Tuesday, 22 June 2021
We all know excessive screen time isn’t good for our little ones. While it can act as an electronic babysitter and give parents some valued free time, making good (programme) choices and developing good (screen time) habits at home while children are still young may help avoid the negative effects on today’s “screenagers”. During this presentation we will talk about young children and computers and the impact screen time has on their development.
Speaker: Stephanie Baumgarten-Kustner
Parents interested in learning from experts may register online and receive a link to a (secure) Zoom link here
The European School The Hague (ESH) believes parent education builds strong families and communities. We consider parents our partners in education.
All Zoom calls start at 8pm (Amsterdam time), presentations will be approximately 1 hour followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.
These presentations are FREE of charge as part of our community service to the extended expat community.
For more information, please contact Mrs Soul Robertson at this email: communications@eshthehague.nl
New to The Netherlands? Read more about Education in The Netherlands here.