Tribune de Genève. Travelling outside the school holidays might be a good way to beat the crowds and save money however the DIP, Geneva’s department of education (Département de l’instruction publique) thinks it’s a poor way to ensure children get a proper education. Pierre-Antoine Preti, head of DIP’s communications told the Tribune de Genève that […]
Swiss make their views on paternity leave clear
24 Heures. Being a working mum or dad is not always easy in Switzerland. Long school lunch breaks with no school supervision mean parents need to collect children from school in the middle of the day or find lunch time care which is often over subscribed. Finding help to look after babies can also be […]
Most UK graduates fail to get a job doing what they studied. Most Swiss do.
A recent report by the UK based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) calculates that nearly 59% of UK graduates end up with non-graduate jobs, such as working in a cafe or bar. The report looks at European countries and only Greece and Estonia perform worse on this measure. In Switzerland less than 10% […]
Kids, holidays, sickness and Internet cures
Things unavoidable: death, taxes … and the children coming down with some horrible illness, just before we go away on holiday. We’ve had so many holidays blighted by Child Plague: The December of the Eyes: New Year’s Eve 2009, Plettenberg Bay. A gorgeous day. We load the children into our little rental car and make […]
Why poetry beats parenting books
These days I find I’m getting a lot of useful parenting advice from poems like The Prophet and Desiderata; poems I grew up seeing badly framed and hanging in everybody’s guest bathroom. Who knew that one day I’d honestly find them more helpful than most parenting books? And why? Well, take the example of the […]
5 dangerous things your kids should do
So, I’ve been reading a lot about dangerous play this last week. Not the Fifty Shades kind. Shame on you, dirty-minded reader. I’m talking about children’s play: specifically the kind that experts call ‘risky’ and parents call ‘incredibly stupid’; the kind of play that involves sharp objects, power tools and fire. (That does sound a […]
Moms on Mars – in space you can hear no one scream
Dear organisers of the Mars One Mission (M.O.M.) It has recently come to my attention that you are planning to establish a human settlement on Mars, and I would really, really like to volunteer to be a part of it. You may wonder why I – a very tired 40-something mother of two small children […]
Why it’s hard to be a working mum in Switzerland
It is never easy being a working mum. In some countries it is harder than in others. According to a recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Switzerland has room for improvement. Firstly, the OECD suggests increasing the availability of childcare and reducing its cost. Childcare costs in Switzerland are high, even relative […]
Only the young can master a new language: myth or truth?
Popular wisdom has long held it that the younger you are the easier it is to learn a foreign language. Whether expat or immigrant, parents of small children have long noticed, often to their own chagrin, how quickly their offspring become bilingual. It’s a phenomenon the Swiss have long exploited in order to preserve the […]
Special educational needs in Switzerland? Help is at hand across the Geneva region
For parents who have just discovered their child has learning differences or special educational needs, the key first step to coping successfully with the situation is to gather information. Knowledge empowers parents and prevents frustration. As soon as a problem is suspected, parents should arrange an assessment with a doctor, specialist or psychologist. The next […]
