I am very confused about the American schoolsystem, so I am going to explain the Dutch schoolsystem in the hope that someone explains the American one in a way I can understand. Lets go!
Age 4 & 5: Groep 1 & 2, here you are at school, but you do stuff like play, colour and that sort of basic stuff. You are not required to go at 4, but you have to from age 5.
Age 6 & 7: Groep 3 & 4, here you learn how to read, basic math and how to write and spell correctly, all that stuff.
Age 8, 9, 10, 11: Groep 5, 6,7 & 8, from groep 5 you have subjects such as history, geography & science. In groep 8 you take the CITO test, this is to establish to which level of education you go.
Groep 1 till 8 we call basisschool
The results from your CITO along with a reccomendadtion of your teacher will tell you if you go to a special help school, KADER, MAVO, HAVO, VWO or Gymnasium.
This is from low to high, the higher you get the smarter you are, may seem a bit weird, but this is to make sure everyone can learn on their own level surrounded by people who understand the same.
Age 12 & 13: In the 1 & 2 klas you get all the subjects and at the end of klas 2 you pick which direction you can go in. Either science (NT or NG) or social (EM or CM).
Age 14 & 15: In klas 3 & 4 you only get the subjects you pick and you graduate in klas 4.
Age 12, 13, 14: In the 1,2 & 3 klas you get all the subjects and you pick at the end of class three which direction you want to go in, again you can pick from NT, NG, Em or CM.
Age 15 & 16: In klas 4 & 5 you only get the sujects you picked and you graduate in klas 5.
Age 12, 13 & 14: In the 1, 2 & 3 klas you get all the subjects you and at the end of klas 3 you pick from NT, NG, EM or CM, but an extra foreign language is required. Gymnasium is exatly the same, but you have to take ancient Greek and Latin in these years and you can pick them as the required foreign language.
Age 15, 16 & 17: You only get the subjects you picked and you graduate at the end of klas 6.
We call all of this middelbare school
NT is Natuur & Techniek, which means Nature and Technology, this is sciency and can be combinated with NG, but not with EM or CM.
NG is Natuur & Gezondheid, which means Nature and Healtj, this is also sciency and can be combinated with NT, but not with EM or CM.
EM is Economie & Maatschappij, which means Economy and Society, this is stuff like Economics and History and this can be combinated with CM, but not with NT or NG.
CM is Cultuur & Maarschappij, which means Culture and Society, this is History and an Art subject is required, this can be combinated with EM, but not with NT or NG.
Age 16, 17 & 18: After KADER you can learn a craft/job, this is mostly stuff with your hands like farmer or baker, but also other stuff (I’m not really emerged in this stuff since I’m doing VWO, so take this with a grain of salt.) There are four routes you can take, all are different some are more theorethical others more practical and some combined with more of one or the other.
My cousin is becoming a farmer, so that’s what I know most about here, oops lol.
Age 16, 17 & 18: After MAVO you can do a MBO, this is further education and the jobs you are prepared for here are a bit more advances than those after KADER, a friend is becoming an assistand Vet for example.
Age 17, 18 & 19 (20): After HAVO you can do a HBO, this is more theorethical than a MBO and more jobs that you can do, examples of these jobs are Accountant, administrator, manager, someone who works in an ambulance. That sort of stuff.
Age 18, 19 & 20 (21) + 21 & 22 (23): After VWO or Gymnasium you can go to a university. You first have to get a Batchelor and that takes 3 to 4 years and after that you can get a Masters which is an additional 2 years. Here it is almost only theory, the jobs on this level is doctor, lawyer and all that. You don’t study for a job, but a field in which there are multiple jobs you can get. Most don’t do what they studied for, my dad is an achitect for how things are supposed to work inside of the Douane (Dutch border control) while he studied computer stuff.
We don’t have a collective name for this, but you could all call it a vervolgopleiding.
You are required to go to school until you are 18 after that you don’t have to do any of it and you can just work, but before you can quit you have to have a middelbareschool diploma before you are no longer required to learn.
There are many oppertunities to go up or down if you feel the level you are learning on is too easy of difficult and they are trying to make it easier to switch.
If you read all of this, thanks! And I hope you got an insight in our schoolsystem, I also hope that someone will explain the American one to me so that I can understad what 3 grade or junior means and why everything sucks over there. Thank you for your time!
