Organization of the education
't Klokhuis is a Dutch Language and Culture school; meaning extra curricular classes after their regulare classes. This means classes are mostly held after school hours execpt for toddlers who have morning classes. Most students live in the area of the location but some parents travel far in order to have their children come to Dutch class. We teach students from 2½ up to 18 year old, and also adults.
Students are usually placed in the group where they belong in the Dutch/Flemish system. Students with different background can be placed in different groups. We select first to ability and then by age. Groups usually are not bigger than 15 students. Depending on the group, we either split the group or have an assistant in the class. Our students come from different families but are mostly Dutch or Flemish. About a third of our students have a parent with a different nationality.
Peuters - toddlers (2½-3 year olds), kleuters - group 1 (4 year olds), peuters/kleuters combi
Group 3, divided in 3A (kindergarten) and 3B (1st grade)
Group 4 t/m 8 (2nd grade - 6th grade)
Oranges: group Dutch as Second Language
1-5 middelbaar (7th- 11th grade)
Dutch for Adults
Dutch and Belgian CultureOur team
Every teacher fall under a coordinator. Our coordinators are responsible for the lesson plans and make sure that all teachers follow the exact curriculum and take care of the teachers regarding testing etc. Our coordinators are mentioned and introduced on our website, as well as our teachers.
Information about the groups
Peutergroep - toddlers
This group is for 2½ - 3 year old students. The students learn to play and share together. Every week we follow the same routine. The curriculum is called Puk & Ko through which the students will be invited to talk in Dutch. Working around the themes provided by Puk & Ko students will increase their vocabulary and understanding of the Dutch language. The students listen to stories, sing songs, color, do arts and crafts; all related to the theme of the month. The peutergroup is an excellent way to start the Dutch language at this young age.
Kleutergroep - 4 year olds
4 year olds do more than just play together! Every student has his/her own personality. We respect that. The development is different for every student and we take this in consideration by approaching each student in his or her own way.
Interest in stories, words and letters is important in the process of learning how to read. By stimulation this development we do rhymes, sing songs, read stories, and talk to each other during circle time.
With the 4 year old we mainly work with the curriculum Ik & Ko. We teach them how to cut, paste, fold, paint etc, during arts and crafts time. These are important for their motor skills, eye-hand coordinations, knowledge of the colors and spacial insight.
Playing amongst 4 year olds is mostly a group effort, where social interaction, playing and sharing together, important skills are. We sing, play games in groups is an important addittion. Students understand therefore the meaning of the space around them: in front, behind, next, across, round, straight etc. Also understanding of time is part of this (sometimes they have to sing slowly or just fast, and movements during the songs). The development of understanding numbers and quantity is stimulated through songs as well.(e.g: ‘Twee emmertjes water halen’, ‘Heb je wel gehoord van de Zevensprong’).
Development of 4 year olds goes sometimes slowly and then in leaps. en. A student can work for weeks with the same puzzle. Repeat is typical at this age. At home you can try new things with your 4 year old, to challenge him or her, and do not forget to keep speaking Dutch.
Peuter/kleuter combi groop
Most locations have a combination of the peuters and kleuters, 2.5 - 4 year olds. Depending on the group we will use a combination of Puk & Ko and Ik & Ko.
Group 3
The curriculum of group 3 is divided over two years, group 3a (kindergarten) and 3b (first grade). Students who go to Kindergarten in the American school go, start at ’t Klokhuis in group 3a. We start we reading and writing in 3a. By dividing the curriculum over 2 years, we can spend all the time we need to understand the Dutch letters and specific sounds (oe, ui, ie, ei, eu, au, ou, ij, e.g.) and is vocubulary important as well. We work with the new curriculum Veilig Leren Lezen Kim-version. Group 3b is the second part following 3a.
To divide the curriculum of group 3 over two years, students are able to learn the basics of reading at a very relaxed pace and learning of the Dutch language will have a little head start by learning English in first grade. It will help the students to separate both languages.
Group 4 - 8 (2nd-6th grade)
Every student has a different background. Either they just arrived from the Netherlands or Belgium, or came from a different country where they kept up their Dutch, or are born here from Dutch speaking parents, or have a parent with a different language. Therefore we look at every student individually and assess what the best class is for this student. This way students can work on their own level.
At ‘t Klokhuis we teach vocabulary, spelling, reading, reading comprehension and all other parts of the language.
We work with new curricula: Taalactief IV and Staal Spelling.
Oranges, students with Dutch as second language
This group is for students 7-12 year olds. Focus in this group is mostly understanding, comprehension and speaking of the Dutch language. We use a beautiful attractive curriculum; developped in our school and written by one of our teachers: Hotel Hallo. Hotel Hallo is being used in countries all over the world and also in the Netherlands and Belgium.
We strive to teach the students enough knowledge of the language to have them go over to the 'regular' groups in 2 to 3 years.
Middelbaar (7-11th grade)
't Klokhuis has several levels for high schoolers. We work with the newest edition of the curriculum of Nieuw Nederlands of which we have several levels:
1 vmbo-kgt and 1 havo/vwo
2 t-havo and 2 havo/vwo
3 havo
4/5 havo
5/6 vwo
We divided middelbaar 1 and 2 in two different levels. This allows the students who are slightly behind in some areas, to keep it up and step up after 2 two years into the same level as the other ones.
In middelbaar 4, we offer the exam of Certificate Dutch as Foreign Language (CNaVT). With this certificate (startbekwaam or higher) students can show universities and colleges in the Netherlands and Flanders, that their Dutch is sufficient and they could apply to the school without having to take additional tests to prove their knowledge of Dutch.
Dutch for Adults
Text to follow.
Dutch and Belgian Culture
Besides teaching the language we also offer Dutch and Belgian culture.
About 25% of the students of ‘t Klokhuis is Flemish (from the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) is not only the Dutch culture important, but also the Belgian culture. We do this with several extra curricular activities throughout the year. These culture activities are part of the curriculum even though they take place outside the normal teaching hours and mostly in weekends. Flemish Day (September), Sinterklaas (December), King's Day (April) and Vlaggendag (Flagsday - June). Parents are encouraged and invited to help in the running of these events and activities.
Libraries and media
All locations have access to our library books. Depending on the space available there is a larger or smaller availibility of library books. We have limited amount of laptops for use in the class.