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Questions about starting German school from a clueless newbie.

41 replies

Kikaninchen · 30/06/2014 16:46

DD is due to start Grundschule in September.

We have bought the expensive schoolbag with matching pencil case and drinking bottle, so I thought we were sorted.

But I have just seen that next week Aldi is selling school exercise books and folders and things. Is this aimed at "secondary-school" aged kids, or do the little ones have to provide their own exercise books and other equipment? And if so, can you choose what sort of lines, squares etc are in them or (I suspect it might be this) is it strictly prescribed which type of paper goes with which subject?

OP posts:
AphraBane · 08/07/2014 18:06

Sorry to hear that monkeywrench, hope it all goes well for you. 30 euros for a Ranzen is a damn good deal though - I remember we paid over 100 for a 5-part set and that was 6 years ago.

kikaninchen, you could well do with asking that friendly mum at the Kita if there are any local/regional must haves for the Tüte.

We've done it twice, admittedly a while back, and the kinds of things we included were:

-Chocolate in the shape of a calculator, car, mobile, whatever.
-A book of German stories for first graders, they often get sold in supermarkets and bookshops at this time of year. Look for something like 'Geschichten für Erstklässler' or 'Märchen für die Erste Klasse' or something similar.

  • A few of the Pixi books which often get sold for 99 cents - very popular with girls are the Conni series, but it might be less popular for boys. There's a really good one (but slightly puke-makingly twee) about Conni starting school.
-Special colouring pens and pencils that weren't on The List, eg gold and silver pencils, glitter gel pens, a pencil with four colours -A small craft set (look for Bastelset); these are often sold in smallish boxes for about 5 euros. Jewellery making or a beginners' science kit or a printing set or those friendship bands. But the box is big enough to take up a fair bit of space in a large Tüte, which means having to buy less of other things.
  • Little packets of sweets like Haribo Gummibärchen, Hanuta squares, Brausepulver.

To be perfectly honest I got a pile of stuff from our nearest Euroladen, eg a bright pink solar powered calculator and some other crap.

Can you read some German? If so there are plenty of good links, eg here are 131 suggestions. Right at the bottom are 'healthy alternatives' including apples etc. If you do this you will be regarded as only fit for a Waldorf (Steiner) school. We certainly made no attempt to include healthy food - but we also made sure the chocolate and sweeties were limited in quantity and then rationed out.

AphraBane · 08/07/2014 18:10

On the other hand, some of those suggestions in the link I gave are just awful - can you imagine a just-turned 6 year old getting excited at unwrapping a voucher for a theatre trip or a subscription to a magazine? There needs to be much more of an immediate 'oooohhh' recognition effect.

JewelFairies · 08/07/2014 18:19

I was pretty pleased to get a five part set School bag for €50 a few weeks back (which even better the Patenonkel wants to pay for).

Agree with AphraBane on the contents. And definitely don't go for vouchers for anything Hmm

JewelFairies · 08/07/2014 18:20

Brausepulver...... Now this takes me back a very long time

trockodile · 08/07/2014 18:24

My German friend told me that the gifts are supposed to mark the fact that they are growing up and that some children would get things like games consoles etc! We put in a children's pocket knife (this sort of thing www.amazon.de/Wenger-Kindermesser-Modell-6-teilig-Klingensperre/dp/B001IOY6UC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404840046&sr=8-1&keywords=kindertaschenmesser ) a watch, some hair gel-which he'd been desperate for for ages!-Lego torch/key ring, magazine/books, sweets etc. he was very pleased with everything! The school did give them a starting school worksheet the next day and they had to write/draw what they got in their Schultüte, but I'm not sure how much they talked about it-DS had no idea what anyone else had-think he had so much else going on it didn't register at all!

Kikaninchen · 08/07/2014 19:30

Aphra I did see her this afternoon actually and asked her. She said she was going to start giving pocket money and will put a purse and a money box in. Seems like a good idea, but DD is a bit scatty with things like that - every time she has lost a tooth, she has also lost her money from the tooth fairy. But perhaps it will encourage her to be responsible.

OP posts:
JewelFairies · 15/07/2014 08:27

Quick question to those of you a bit further along the line... What do you give your child for the morning snack? I'm used to the lunchbox police in the UK but from memory don't think German schools care much what children bring in (as long as it's not a bag of sweets and a fizzy drink I guess)? Dd was petrified when I gave her a very small cheese sandwich and a balisto (musli bar covered in chocolate) for her trial morning because she thought she'd be told off... Hmm

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 15/07/2014 15:15

Jewel have you missed the school info evenings (sorry, I am too lazy to scroll back and check whether you've said)? At ours a dentist lectured us for hours on what to put in a Brotzeit, and during Year 1 the kids had to learn about what was appropriate (beyond the dental stuff to suggest using a different type of bread each day etc. - all illustrated in colour in the HSU text book - no duplication during the same week) and were told to "teach" their parents about it.

So there are rules, and blimin' over complicated ones! :o

That said ... DD is coming to the very end of Year 3 and nobody has ever checked what is in her Brotzeit, even on school trips or Wandertag... There was a spate of odd low level bullying where a group of older kids went around threatening to tell the teacher when other kids had Brotzeit that was not allowed (juice instead of water, sweets etc.) but I think it was an empty threat :o

So there are guidelines, but not remotely enforced :o

DD (nearly 9) has a sandwich (Volkorn bread, sliced by me so fairly chunky, usually cheese or salami) and sliced apple on "short" days with 11.20 finish, and that plus a salami stick (when sandwich isn't salami) or a banana or a musli bar or a couple of big yogurt coated rice cakes on a 1pm finish with 2 breaks day. She barely eats breakfast though - maybe a yoghurt or a tiny amount of cereal or 1 slice of toast - if she had a big breakfast she might need less, but if I send her with less she comes home almost crying about hunger pains).

DS1 (6) is still at KiGa but goes for the same length days as DD as I pick them up together, and he has similar stuff to DD but about 3 times as much (he needs a bigger box), because he eats like a teen until lunch time and is then done for the day, and KiGa tell me off if he complains of hunger to them :o

I have sent chocolate or sweets sometimes, and it is fine, and not commented on, and is pretty much compulsory on Wandertag or trip days :o

Water in water bottles not juice is universal though, and more practical anyway.

Happy36 · 15/07/2014 15:18

Ask the school for "the list" which will specify what is needed. At the least your daughter will need some exercise books as well as pencil case equipment. However in Grundschule it´s likely that for some subjects the students have a "workbook" that they write in, i.e. a combination of textbook and exercise book, so you don´t need to buy an exercise book for that subject. (You may need to buy the workbook). However it´s best to wait for, or request, the official "list", and also speak to any other parent if you possibly can to see if they have any further advice.

Good luck to your daughter! I have some experience of German schools and teachers, all very positive.

JewelFairies · 15/07/2014 17:11

MrTumbles dd is going straight into 2.Klasse (she's just turned 7) and I was too Blush to ask when I spoke to her new teacher on the phone.
What you say sounds about right to me (especially the bit about Wandertag provisions- happy memories of a rucksack full of sweets... Grin)

JewelFairies · 15/07/2014 17:16

I may be able to arrange a few play dates with dd's new classmates in August before school starts again, so maybe I have the chance to ask daft questions and get some local gossip from the parents Grin. I'm afraid that people think I am a bit mad because I sound like a local but haven't lived in Germany the past 22 years, so don't know how anything works! Wink

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 15/07/2014 20:38

That sounds a very good idea, for your DD too, as she's starting in year 2 Jewel. I'd be like that in the UK, except that I have a very squewed idea of how primary in the UK works from fb friends and MN mostly, and am under the impression my eldest (nearly 9) should be reading War and Peace but incapable of walking home from school even if we lived just down the road... :o

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 17/07/2014 08:51

Just got DS1s Year 1 stationary list and went straight to the shop - 100,37 euros! Shock

doradoo · 17/07/2014 09:06

We had 'The List' for Grundschule - which was mainly pens/mappe/paints etc - but we also had to transfer money to the Klassen Konto for other items - so that everybody has the same things.

A real eye-opener that you have to provide paper/books etc and not just a bag and pencil case!

We've not done the Einschulung as have managed to mix DE and Int'l schools and transfer mid year so my boys have missed the Schultute drama (a good thing from my point of view!)

Not had any comment about brotzeit boxes - just that it's never enough - they eat breakfast at home - and are back for lunch - plus a sandwich in school - where do they put it all!

Our school (NRW) also provides milk and chocolate milk at breaktimes too. which we pay for in lump sums..... never quite sure as DS1 just turns up and says I need X eur for X and I merrily give him the cash. DS2's is all covered from the Klassen Konto.

I'm still coming to terms with the timetables - different start/end times for each of them on different days - not easy to juggle! DD in Kiga is there much longer than the boys who are Schulpflichtig!

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 17/07/2014 10:45

Sorry Monkey - just skimmed some of the posts I'd missed on the thread, hope things work out, your Ranzen sounds a brilliant bargain, plenty are €150 plus, my in-laws always buy ours (as in they did for DD 3 years ago and have for DS1) and he chose a €100 one, which they were pleased was so cheap! DD's was more!

Buy colouring pencils, felt pens and paint box at Aldi, and scissors and rulers too if they have them - that will reduce the price (I took the whole list to a stationary shop and had a heart attack at the til - I was expecting expensive but it was at least €20 more than I was hoping, esp as the list looked shorter than I remembered DD'S being). If you just go to the stationary shop for things you might get "wrong" (eg. exactly the right exercise book or folder etc.) it should be possible to keep the cost down. DS1 has to have a very specific small hand held blackboard, which the shop have had to order and which has set me back €9.45 on its own, without the 2 special pencils to write on it with... not sure all schools use them.

JewelFairies · 22/07/2014 13:03

Do any of you have any advice on how to get to know other parents? I just realised that if there is no schoolgate mafia like here, and children walk to and from school alone, you'd only see other parents if there's a school play or Sommerfest or similar? I'm not looking for deep meaningful friendships, but coming into the area and 2nd class from abroad is going to be odd for us. It would be nice to at least recognise a few parents I guess...

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