experiences
Mirre Terpstra
Mirre Terpstra, 9 years old (student since 2017)
Interviewed in February 2022
I came here when I was four and I am now almost ten years old. First I played with the toddlers. Then I switched to domain 1 and then I played a lot with Ziva. Ziva, Maeven and Mirjan are now my friends. I play outside a lot. But when it’s cold we prefer to make things inside. Or read. I can read for hours. Donald Duck and the book De Brief voor de Koning. I first read that book after my first visit to the library. After that I also read the other parts, Geheimen van het Wilde Woud and De Zevensprong. I taught myself to read when I was about five. I sat down in a corner with a Donald Duck and I first started to understand the words by reading: H… u… e…y… , D… e… w… e… y… and then that must be Louie! And so I got better and better. And now I read quite a lot. Recently I read the second Harry Potter book for the sixth time!
Mirre Terpstra, 9 years old (student since 2017)
Interviewed in February 2022
Salomé Meiresonne
17, student since 2016
Interviewed in January 2022
I’ve always played a lot, in the sandbox, with water, making dams. And also with clay in the art room. My friend Melvin and I did everything together. We often made weapons out of wood in the tech room in the cellar, with which we played a kind of shooting games outside. We also once built a tree house and worked on a go-kart with a petrol engine. But what we mostly did together is ‘Fimoën’. Fimo is a type of clay that you can bake in the oven. For a few years we sat in the art room every day and made miniature objects.
Melvin went to the Wood and Furniture College this year. I was curious and went to an open day. I absolutely loved it! So next year I’m going there too. I take my time for a transition certificate. I am now doing English, Mathematics, Dutch, economics and history.
I never really liked language lessons, I’m quite dyslexic and found the spelling rules so inconsistent. For example, why do you have ou and au? But now I think Dutch is the best subject. I really like the way Anne Marie presents it, also because of her humor.
Self-directed learning is important, I learned that a lot here. And I’ve become less shy. It is still difficult sometimes, but I have to deal with that myself. You do get help, but still. If you want something at De Ruimte, you really have to go for it!
17, student since 2016
Interviewed in January 2022
In my early days I helped a lot in the ‘edible garden’, recently I often cook. I have a small cooking business at school and I work with others. We cook meals that people can buy to take home. All organic stuff of course.
I give math classes to younger students, together with Irma. I also give dancing lessons to the younger students in the exercise room. Today we rehearsed a dance together. They often come up to me to ask when the next dancing class is and I ask: do you have a song? And then I make up a dance for them. It moves me that I can pass my passion on to young students. I also dance myself, at school. That is important to me, I can express my emotions well in dancing.
Anne-Mihr Oostenbrink
What else do I do? I talk a lot with friends, we have a lot of fun together. I’m never really bored here, there is always something to do. Sometimes I see something that is messy and then I think: I’m going to clean that up. I really notice that this school has become my second home!
Anne-Mihr Oostenbrink (14), at De Ruimte since 2021
Interviewed in February 2022
Döske Guldemond
I came to De Ruimte when I was nine. My previous school was a Montessori school. I had to double a year, and my father had seen this school. During my test period I said I didn’t want to, but during the evaluation I decided to stay. That was a surprise to everyone. I was always very shy, and thought a lot before I said something, but now I often say something before I think, haha! And when I was young I often held back, I was a little too calm. Then coming home I would run around the house. Now I am much more energetic, I can let go of my energy here.
What I like most here is working with the animals. I have been in the animal circle, the chicken circle and then in the pony & donkey circle. I’d like to do something with that, with horses. But I also like acting. I still have some time to think about that.
I’m working toward a transition certificate because I’m probably going to an MBO school. I now do maths, Dutch, English, biology and history. I study biology through an online method, because I am a cook in the kitchen around the time of biology class. I love that I can organize my own time instead of having lessons at fixed times. Anyway, I’m really enjoying it at the moment!
Döske (16), student since 2015
Interviewed in January 2022
Chris ten Boske
Ik vind deze school heel leuk. Dit is leuker dan andere scholen, daar heb je maar eventjes speeltijd. Het is hier goed, ik speel veel met Vincent. Ik voel me blij. Vincent, Maud, Thijs en Casper zijn mijn vrienden.
Ik speel veel in de bouwhoek. Ik vind de trampo het allerleukste en binnen spelen. Als ik iets leuks aan het doen ben, dan vind ik het niet leuk als papa of mama me komt ophalen.
Het is lekker stil bij papa in de bossen en bij mama in de stad. Mijn opa en oma wonen ook in het bos. Ik hou van het bos en van de stad! Thuis heb ik Minecraft. Ik bouw huizen in Minecraft en zoek andere werelden op en andere huizen. Als ik een fijn huis vind, ga ik er wonen. Als ik er geen vind, maak ik mijn eigen huis. Ik ga dan andere huizen maken voor andere villagers. Ik praat soms Engels met Vincent, papa of mama. Door Minecraftfilmpjes heb ik dat geleerd. Nu ga ik weer spelen!’
5 jaar, Student sinds 2014
Geïnterviewd in maart 2016
5 jaar, Student sinds 2014
Geïnterviewd in maart 2016
Glynn Tuijnman
Glynn (12), student since 2020
Interviewed in February 2022
Recently I’m working on a game on paper, which we came up with ourselves, together with my friends. It is hard work! We draw everything on paper and erase the numbers of our stocks and write down new numbers because they change every time. What else I do at school: making music in the music room in the cellar, biology and chemistry lessons with Franc. Although I’m officially in domain 2, I prefer to be on domain 1. That’s where my friends are. For lessons I am in domain 2: I take chemistry lessons at highschool level. I do want a highschool diploma, because then you have more options later in life.
What I like most is making music. I compose music on the piano. I had come up with a four hand piece, but it was difficult. I have a music computer for that. I put my compositions on my YouTube channel. And I like playing Minecraft, because you can do a lot with it: you can make anything you imagine. And it’s kind of a roleplay. I also like animals (cats in particular) and fantasy books. I like that fantasy world, and what the creatures are like. I like alien worlds. If you applied Earth’s rules to other planets, what would life be like? I find that very interesting. I heard that Franc teaches that, I might go check on him soon.
Glynn (12), student since 2020
Interviewed in February 2022
Lieuwe Alkema
Hoe mijn schooldagen eruit zien? Ik check in, ik drink thee en klets met mensen. Daarna ga ik naar beneden, en bekijk ik een tutorial op YouTube over een subject dat ik nog wil leren, over Arduino bijvoorbeeld. Verder ben ik veel met techniek bezig.
Het terrein van De Ruimte is prachtig, en het is vlakbij het bos en de duinen. Ik klim vaak in bomen. Ik vind het leuk om te kijken hoe ik zo snel mogelijk naar beneden kan komen. Ik vind het fijn dat ik hier vrij ben. Het gevoel van vrijheid: dat je niet gedwongen kan worden om bepaalde dingen te doen.
Als je jezelf eenmaal een doel hebt gesteld ga je waarschijnlijk zelf de lessen nemen die daarvoor nodig zijn. Ik ben langzaam de lessen aan het uitbreiden, ik doe nu Duits en techniek. Ik heb ook een tijdje Russische les gehad, maar ik leer het vooral door een film op een andere ondertiteling te zetten, zo heb ik al mijn Engels geleerd. Deels ook door het gamen natuurlijk.
Ik zit vaak in de techniekkelder. Ik ben de beheerder samen met Koen. Ik heb gezorgd voor nieuwe 3D-printers. Lange tijd ruimden we zelf de kelder op, maar sinds kort spreek ik mensen aan op het opruimen. Ik krijg wat meer gezag, merk ik. We hebben nu ook een techniekkring, daarin bespreken we onze plannen en de herorganisatie van de kelder en vragen we budget aan voor nieuwe materialen. Laatst ben ik voor het eerst voorzitter geweest, van de techniekkring. Ik vond het leuk, dat wil ik wel vaker doen!
12 jaar, student sinds 2021
Geïnterviewd in februari 2022
(Lees hier het hele interview met Lieuwe)
Maarten Vonken
Zeven jaar geleden heb ik de overstap gemaakt naar democratisch onderwijs. Ik voelde me niet fijn meer in het reguliere onderwijs, ik raakte er erg overprikkeld. Op De Ruimte voelde ik mij al snel op mijn plek. In het begin heb ik veel in de techniekkelder gewerkt en later ook in het atelier. En ik vond het fijn om op school te kunnen gamen. Als ik niet aan het gamen was volgde ik lessen, was ik in het atelier bezig of was ik buiten aan het spelen. Ik heb ook jarenlang gekookt met Hettie en andere studenten, ik volg regelmatig bokslessen bij Lex en Marco heeft mij de liefde voor gitaarmuziek bijgebracht. Ik ben nu minder aan het gamen en wil meer oefenen in sociale vaardigheden. Gamen kost veel tijd en die tijd wil ik nu meer stoppen in lessen en andere dingen.
Op dit moment ben ik van plan om uit te stromen en ik ben aan het kijken hoe ik dat wil doen. Ik wil graag een diploma voor de zekerheid. Zelf weet ik wel dat ik slim genoeg ben, maar met een diploma kan ik misschien meer kanten op, sommige bedrijven zullen dat wellicht toch van je vragen.
Ik heb mijn eigen bedrijfje: Crazy Carrot. Ik verkoop Lego en Duplo sets. Ik vind het heel leuk om voor mijn bedrijfje te werken, veel klanten zijn tevreden en komen vaker terug. Mijn doel is om bij de Lego-winkel in Utrecht te gaan werken. Te beginnen als verkoper en daarna op te klimmen naar teamleider of filiaalmanager. Ik vind het leuk om andere mensen aan te sturen en de medewerkers daarbij te betrekken. Ik wil inbreng hebben en aanpassingen in mijn werk kunnen maken. Dat is iets wat ik op De Ruimte geleerd heb. Lego blijft nog wel even mijn passie. Ik blijf spelen!
17 jaar, student sinds 2014
Geïnterviewd in november 2020
Lees het hele interview met Maarten hier.
Parents’ experiences
Tom van Wel
Wouter (15 years old) enjoys going to De Ruimte. He doesn’t know what he wants to do when he grows up or what he wants to learn now. What he does know is that he wants to find out, and then commit himself to it. It’s so nice that he gets the time to let this happen, and that you don’t have to take all kinds of compulsory courses that don’t interest you. That only gives you a stomachache.
As a father I had to get used to the fact that Wouter was attending a school without a fixed curriculum. But looking back at my own childhood, that pre-structured school program has brought me little gain. It amazes me that in our society we squeeze so many of our young people into standard school curricula, and expect them to follow it like tame sheep. Is that how we want young people to prepare for the future?! It’s great that education can also be had on De Ruimte: getting time to get to know yourself and the self-evident following your own preferences.
Tom (father of Wouter, 15)
Tom van Wel
Melissa de Graaf
Our two children have been attending De Ruimte since 2021 and I am very grateful for this beautiful place. The natural environment of the school is inviting to make contact with one’s own nature. Step outside with your bare feet and feel for yourself if you are wearing boots or not. Don’t look around and ask if we’re going to eat something, but feel for yourself whether or not you’re hungry and then grab something from your lunchbox. Children learn here not only to listen to themselves but also to others. Connected with each other, tuned in, ensuring a pleasant playing uhm… learning environment. I wish for everyone to be connected and to develop in this way.
Melissa is staff member and mother of Linn (5) and Jalou (2)
Arne Boon
I am Arne, father of two sons at De Ruimte. It’s great that our boys (3 and 6) can simply be, discover and grow at this special school. It pleases my father-heart that they can also get to know their personal interests and ambitions at the school, based on freedom, independence and personal responsibility. After the first visit to the parent group, I took up the role of chairman. A great opportunity to get to know the school and its people better. I am eternally grateful to the people who have built this school over the years and I am happy to contribute to its further development.
Arne, father of Daan (6) and Jona (3)
Arne Boon
Ticia Luengo
Ticia, mother of Suzanna (18), Gemma (14) and Elina (14)
To be honest, De Ruimte caught our eye because of the unique opening times times; the children don’t have to start until 10:00, you can also come in later! Then our ten-year-old exceptionally gifted evening girl could finally get enough sleep, so important for her development and health. But quite soon we were also attracted to the way of education, when after the first day we had our sparkling enthusiastic girl back from before primary school. She had sat down in highschool education classes in biology and physics and was brimming with wonder at the origin of the universe and the enormous length of time. What a joy! Unfortunately our house was 45 minutes away from school and we also have twins four years younger… who also went to have a look. Then a third realisation hit us: the twins can decide for themselves whether they want to stick together or not! Twins are emotionally strong when together and being forced to be separated all day was a tragedy. They also flourished and the choice for our family was made: we moved to Soest!
Seven years later, I can say that especially the de-schooling is tough, for the student as well as for the parents. The trick is to let them be free to make their own choices and therefore also their own mistakes. They learn so much from that! Letting go of expectations with regard to further education is also part of it. The first two years, our eldest spend all her time alone in a corner reading books and now she has almost gathered her entire high school diploma through state exams and can afford a year of slack with time for her great circle of friends. All this on her own initiative! The other two are now 13 and have not chosen a direction yet, but have already moved to domain 3 because they were socially and emotionally ready. That is the beauty of this school: no age restrictions and only obligations and rules that the children themselves have the power to adjust. That makes all sorts of children blossom and take their responsibility. It is great to see!
Louis Guldemond
Vader van Döske (11)
Zodra Döske op De Ruimte was dook ze de school in, ze speelde zich dagen in de rondte en leerde. Ze leerde zonder bijkans een boek of schrift aan te raken. Ze leerde van de voortdurende interactie met de anderen op school, de studenten en de stafleden. Haar mond stond geen moment stil, haar oren wijd open. Ze speelde, stoeide, werd zo vies dat ze het best in een boerenoverall naar school zou kunnen. En nee, computers en games zijn niet haar ding daar. Buiten spelen des te meer. Eindeloos buitenspelen. En de dingen geheel vanuit eigen belangstelling eigen te maken. Zo is haar relatieve leesachterstand inmiddels als sneeuw voor de zon aan het verdwijnen, buiten schooltijd om, door de Donald Duck. Ze heeft een stapel van meer dan honderd stuks, met elke week een nieuwe erbij. En de Donald Duck van tegenwoordig is helemaal geen makkelijke lectuur voor iemand die matig leest. Ze begon spellend; ze leest graag hardop voor, en eerst zonder enige intonatie. Maar dat is inmiddels veranderd in sprankelend uitgesproken verhalen vol spanningsopbouw. En gaandeweg pakt ze vanalles op aan begrippen. Van inhoudsmaten tot oppervlaktes. Van vitamines tot sushi maken. Van eenwieleren tot Heely-en. Allerlei sociale thema’s. En bomenklimmen, heel veel bomenklimmen.
Lees het hele verhaal
Louis Guldemond
Vader van Döske (11)