SKSG DoReMi

Now, to talk a little bit about my workplace in Netherlands.

To start, SKSG means Stichting Kinderopvang Stad Groningen, which basically means "Childcare Foundation City of Groningen". While they're not the only childcare providers in Groningen, they do have over 60 locations to choose from, and they have over 100 years of experience.

                                                             front entrance of the facility

SKSG DoReMi has several Dutch speaking groups, but in addition they have one English-speaking group called "Daycare" (or the Cookie Monster group). Daycare group offers care for children between the ages of 8 weeks to 4 years, some of whom have fully Dutch parents, but many have one or two parents who do not speak Dutch as their first language - some don't speak Dutch at all. And same applies to the kids. The daycare is open Monday to Friday, from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. My regular work week was Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri, working from 9 a.m to 5:30 p.m.

                                     the break area where most of the staff would spend their 30 minute break on

In Finland, kids go to preschool the year they turn six, and begin in schools when they turn seven. In Netherlands, the system is quite different. Preschool programmes, in Dutch or in English, are offered for 3-year-olds. Pre-school, at least the one that was coordinating with the Daycare group, offered education on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and/or Friday mornings from 8:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m. Many of the kids would go to pre-school in the morning and come to the daycare after 1 p.m. In principle, childcare ends when children turn 4, because that is when primary school begins. Quite a difference from the Finnish system.

                                                                                    Be awesome!

The facility was very pleasant to work in. Every colleague was very nice to me, and while it wasn't maybe the largest building, it didn't feel overcrowded either. The group sizes felt much smaller than in many Finnish daycares - our group had 17 kids altogether, but as far as I recall, a maximum of 12 of them were ever present at any given time, and often in the mornings it was significantly less.

Every group has their own room, but occasionally the kids would also be allowed to play in the hallway, especially in the mornings. But since I generally started my workdays at 9 a.m, the kids would have already been split into their own groups by that point. And perhaps because we were the only English-speaking group in the facility, you could see the kids often grouping together even when they were among kids from the other groups. Even if they weren't technically playing together, you'd still notice that they'd often be around each other, which I thought was quite sweet, and showed that there was already good team spirit even though some of the kids were very young.

And here you see the entrance to the Daycare group, and the bags where the kids would leave their outdoor clothes. But for clarity's sake, I think I'll make a different blog entry about the Daycare group + room.