How Partou welcomes expat children and their parents
If you’re looking for child care, you may wonder how to find a place that fits your needs and aspirations. Partou welcomes expat children and their parents with open arms.
“Above all, we want to give them emotional security”, explains Ardi van Wiechen, Pedagogical Specialist at Partou. “It’s not about differences, but about what we have in common.”
“All parents know: your child is the most precious thing in your life. Culture or background make no difference”, says Ardi. “It is therefore very important that we communicate effectively with parents. The language barrier sometimes makes that difficult. But people have great non-verbal capabilities.”
Predictable daily routine
Cheyenne Molendijk recognises that too. She is a pedagogical employee worker at the Partou location at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam where she works with expat children daily. “Parents always have a dedicated point of contact. In addition, you can do a lot with facial expressions. We also use Google Translate and show pictures, objects and pictograms. This is how the children know what to expect during the day. A predictable routine and recognisable rituals are very important for them.”
“Your child is the most precious thing in your life”
Partou’s app is also a handy aid in communication with expat parents. We share photos, videos and describe what children do during the day. Cheyenne: “It shows parents that things are going well. That increases their trust in us.”
Focus on diversity
Both children and their parents must feel at home at Partou. “To know that their culture, background and customs are accepted”, says Cheyenne. “We have a strong focus on diversity. We always try to take their expectations into account and translate them into our own way of learning and playing.”
Connecting parents
The great added value of childcare for expats is that it can expand their social network. Ardi: “Parents meet when they drop and collect their children, as well as at parent evenings. And we can play an active role in that by putting people in touch with one another if they have a need for that.” Cheyenne: “Expats encounter many challenges. They may be able to support one another with those.”
Immersed
Cheyenne finds her work with expats incredibly interesting: “It is an extra challenge to work with foreign parents and children, you are really immersed. It also requires the ability to empathise: how would I myself like to be received in a strange country? That is why I always try to greet parents in their own language. I can now say hello in Chinese, Polish, Italian and many more languages!”
Are you curious about childcare locations in your area, where more children of expats attend? Go to partou.nl/welcome to access the location pages with lots of information and photos.