Vorschule in Germany

[ilovespinach]

I had a discussion with ds1 kindergarten today and they raised the idea that he might not 'be ready' for school next year and raised the idea of sending him to vorschule instead.

I've not heard of this before - I always thought it was school or kindergarten.

Can anyone please tell me what this might mean for my son. Is it something we should try to avoid? I think their reasonin is partly language ( we go to a logo and had thought things were improving) and also that he doesn't have so much confidence and that school - klasse 1 might be too big a leap. BTW he is 5.6.

Thanks

Bumping for you - we're in Austria, but I assume the situation is similar to that in Germany.

Vorschule here is between school and Kindergarten, but closer to school - the Vorschulklasse is a separate class in our primary school. There's no stigma attached to going and if it's what your DS's Kindergarten recommends, it's definitely worth looking into. Children here are under a lot more pressure and the school system is generally more intense than in the UK, so it may well be better for him to delay starting school by a year if the KiGa doesn't think he'd be ready for it (obv. can only go by what they say, not knowing your DS).

DH's nephew went to Vorschule (he started off at primary school but was struggling so transferred to the Vorschule after a month or so), and all it really means is that he's a year behind the majority of his own age group. It gave him the chance to catch up, however, and he's doing fine now at Gymnasium (grammar school).

Thank you for the reply :) Good to hear a positive story.