This August, Chase started school officially in Switzerland. All children are required to start school after their 4th birthday. He goes to a public, French-speaking school near our house (5-7 minute walk) and is in a class with about 8 kids his age (4-5 years old, called 1P) and 8 kids a year older (5-6 years old, called 2P). His schedule in 1P is quite light: he goes 4 morning a week (8:45 am - 12:05 pm) and 1 afternoon (2:05 pm - 3:45 pm). In 2P, he will go 5 mornings a week and 3 afternoons a week so it will increase a lot. During lunch, he goes to a kids' lunch program that they have in our town at another school close by his -- we're pretty lucky as most towns don't have this option. After lunch, he goes to a new daycare right next to the lunch program. He is there until 6 pm. On Wednesdays when there is no school for him and no lunch program for anyone, he goes to the daycare all day and they have an option for someone to feed him there. This way, we can cover his care for all days of the week.
At the beginning, he wasn't so thrilled about school itself, but loved the new daycare and the lunch program. With some time, he is getting more used to school and is starting to really enjoy it. They seem to learn a lot through play related activities.
