Admylin

[SSShakeTheChi]

Recovered and returned. As you can see this is the year I plan to take up Tai Chi (not that I've done anything about it yet).

You told me once that you were working with the English curriculum at home and I was wondering 1) where you get the patience to do that after doing the German homework and 2) which books/materials you've been using

Hi SSS, nice to see you back!
I gotthe books from my sister who has a daughter the same age as my son and some books from my nephew who goes to a private british school in Bangladesh! They are mostly the oxford reading ones and other things and ideas come from the internet from searching like on www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/ and from the education bit on www.direct.gov.uk and here is the oxford reading tree ste www.oup.com/oxed/primary/literacy/ort/

Sorry I can't do the links so you will have to copy and paste!

At the moment we aren't doing much because dd in 2nd year is getting too much from school so I just do abit of english with ds - he is reading really well but it just sort of clicked and he could do it - with very little help but he is a good reader in german so that helped.
How much does your dd get as homework? Somedays my dd has nearly 2 hours till she has got it all done. She day-dreams a bit too so it could be done quicker. I only have 2 afternoons a week when they go to sport club , we wouldn't manage more as those 2 days we don't get home till 6pm and I have to get their meal ready as they have their main meal in the evening and they go to their books so by 8pm we're just through.

Thanks for the links Admylin. Sounds like you put a lot of work into it, looking up sites and coming up with things on your own. I'm impressed. I'll have a look at the sites tonight, feeling inspired to follow your example. I'm so busy keeping on top of the schoolwork at the moment that what with activities, as you say, I don't time for English schoolwork too, unless we do it at the weekend.

Interesting that your dd is getting so much homework in year 2. One dm told me at our school that her ds (year 2) gets NO homework at all. I find that dd (year 1) sometimes gets too much and I don't always see the point in it. Must be really difficult for dp who don't speak any German.

Think I need a bigger dictionary and stronger nerves. They had to practice der,die,das by finding out which article matched a list of words. Das Lama (would you believe it?), das! And more similarly useful vocabulary. Dd was in hysterics watching me muttering away and trying to find out which article was correct for about 50 odd words, some of them not in my dictionary.

We do practice reading a lot though not the awful school Fibel. Did you have The Tobis as Fibel? Those hairy troll-Elf things? I really don't like the book, I find the pictures creepy! Gawd I'm weird, we just borrow library books and read those instead.

Found unfortunately that dd was absolutely not getting the maths and I spent quite a lot of time over Christmas going over what she should have learned. My impression is that unless the dp have a lot of time and energy to actually teach the dc themselves, they are at a real disadvantage.

Is that what you've found? That you basically have to teach them yourself what they have supposedly learnt at school?

Yes some of the homework seems pointless but it also depends on the teacher, ds in year 3 hardly gets homework because his teacher is too lazy to give any and dd has a great new teacher who is stil all enthusiastic about his mission to teach ..that's how I see it anyway!
You are right about having to do alot yourself, the kids who have no help at home always eventually fall behind. My poor dc also have alot to live up to, dad an on going professer, all their cousins (they have nearly 20) are on going engineers, doctors or scientists some even at Harvard USA so there is a pressure from that side of our family to make sure they get taught properly and not only the german grundschule stuff.
Our Fibel was rubbish too it's called Piri, we used the library and I bought them a book every other week in german. One week a comic (Micky Mouse etc) and the next a book like the ones from Leselöwen.
By the way are there many english books at your local library? Ours is useless (Mitte Brunnenstrasse) although the kids section is excellent.

No, it's a speciality library for music, so that's what they concentrate on. They don't have much for dc so I will need to find a proper Jugendbibliothek I think. They have 2 shelves of English books (adults) and I read everything I felt tempted by in a month I think.

I'm planning to go to the St.George's English Bookstore sometime to look for children's books but I never get round to it since they're closed in the mornings (open 1-8pm) which would mean travelling across town with dd after school and there's never time. Might go on Friday. Dd's art teacher is having a painting session at the Alte Museum in the afternoon which we might go to, so I could drop her there and go to Käthe Kollwitz platz...

I was also meaning to go to that book shop for myself and to ask if they buy books as we have a shelf full of kids books that are too young for my 2 - thought that might be a way to get rid of them. As you say, draggingthe kids on to tram and bus against their will isn't going to be easy! By the way, both got loads of homework today and Aikido club so we will be busy right till bed time.

You could just call them and ask whether they buy books. They may just take donated books. Being a church operation they may not have the money to buy IYSWIM. Their number is 817 98333. I see they're open on Saturdays from 11-6pm. That might be more convenient. Shame they're not open one morning during the week. Think I'll call and suggest it

Don't like the sound of all this homework you're getting TBH. I'm finding it a struggle at the moment just trying to keep up with what she should have learned, never mind doing hours of homework on top of it all.

Fun ahead obviously!

That's nothing, I've heard that in class 4 they can get 3 to 4 hours homework, some kids can't do any sport or after school activities. I suppose that is if they want to get into the right gymnasium which is after class 4 in most places here. I was thinking maybe Berlin is not so crazy leaving the choice untill class 6. You can also just hope and pray that the teacher doesn't get sick and no replacement teacher turns up. One mum at school was telling me her dd in class 6 had missed 4 weeks of proper schooling because the teacher was very ill.

I've also heard that's a huge problem here. Why don't they arrange a cover system with supply teachers? There are so many unemployed teachers in Berlin. It's weird.

3-4 hours homework a day is just ridiculous. I never had anything like that at primary school, did you?

I was talking to a friend of mine about this homework issue yesterday. She has 2 boys who went to a state primary in Zehlendorf and she said she never once spent any time with them practicising reading or doing homework (!) and they both got the recommendation for the gymnasium where they are now. She told me from both classes, every dc except 1 went on to gymnasium. Perhaps they are lucky and have a really good school? She's in Schlachtensee.

Every single child except 1 - that must be a really good school , even in our old school insouth Germany where mostly academic kids went, thre was atleast one third went to other than gymnasium schools after year 4.
One thing I've noticed here is that the chinese kids in both dd and ds's class are very clever and their parents work full time so I don't know when they practise but they are top of the class.
Have you had your 2nd parents evening yet? We haven't been offered one and for ds I don't see the point. Everything I or other parents suggested last time just got ignored. In dd's class everything that was discussed was sent out to us in a protocol and all things were followed up. I said to my dh, we can only hope that ds teacher has a baby very soon, it's the only way we will get rid of her!

Well we had the first parents` evening (all the parents together,general info, electing the Elternsprecher) and then I had a 10 minute interview with the teacher before Christmas but dd hadn't been at school long so there wasn't much to say. That's all so far. For the most part, I'm totally in the dark about what goes on at school.

I'm really worrying about these 3-4 hours of homework now, you know? What would you do though if the school didn't give you the recommendation for the gymnasium? I'd never send dd to a Realschule but what else can you do unless you send them to the Berlin British School.

I remember we had 1 Chinese family in my secondary school and the dc were very hard-working. I think it's the general attitude of Chinese parents to education and life generally, everyone seems to work very hard. We have a Chinese family down the road, they're quite well off but they told me they haven't had a holiday in 20 years.

Concerning gymnasium, I think that is why we have to sit with our kids and make them work that little bit longer. I don't want to take the risk of them not getting reccomended for a good school. But I am prepared to move them , especially ds if it all goes bad.
I've spoken to him and said we will move you because your teacher isn't giving you enough work but if you promise to work at home with me then you can stay because dd will not be moving. He agreed and since then he is more willing to sit and work with me, he has understood the serious side of it and that it isn't me just nagging at him as he accused me of (we have our little fights at the moment, first signs of the problems to come)
Anyway, a miracle seems to have happened and ds has been getting loads more work since going back after the christmas holidays. I hope his teacher has made some sort of new years resoloution to give herself a shake and teach proper lessons!

Is his teacher quite old? That's really worrying, isn't it? Homework is one thing, but you need to know what the teaching is like in school too. Have you considered asking whether you can sit in on some classes? Or would you feel uncomfortable doing that? Apparently if you request it, the school/teacher cannot refuse. Would be interesting to see how the class is taught. Might give you reassurance, you know, maybe she's a lot better than you think. Hope so.

I don't think you need worry too much about your ds' academic achievement. From what you've said, I think he'll get into a gymnasium no problem at all but I don't like the sound of the teacher ignoring all the parents' requests/recommendations. Do you like her personally?

If you did move ds, where would you move him to?

I'd move him to Berlin Metropolitan as it is down the road so easy to get to. All lessons are in english and they already have things like science, geography and history. I just don't want to move dd as she has such a good teacher and nice class. Also colleagues of dh have a ds at Berlin Metropolitan and he told us it is great but they are abit behind schedule as most kids aren't native speakers so they need abit longer to understand. That would maybe bother ds. Otherwise it sounds like a good school , also takes exceptionally intelligent children.
I don't dislike ds's teacher but I have little respect for her as she seems so lazy. She is often seen arriving at the school gates just as the bell goes, hair not even combed so obviously slept in - teachers should be in the classroom when the bell goes not just running across the playground. She must be mid thirty or older I would say.

That sounds like a good plan. If ds moved to the Berlin Metropolitan, perhaps they'd move him up a year.

Never thought of that, you might be right and then he wouldn't come home saying how bored he was at school.

Have you considered moving him up a year at his current school? Is that feasible? Then you'd be rid of the teacher

Did you take the kids to school today, Lynn? I hadn't heard the weather report so Dh drove dd to school and when they'd left, I heard on the radio that with the storm warning, we were supposed to leave them at home!

Called our school and they said come and pick them up at 11.30 to be on the safe side. That's when they're collecting the Hort dc to get them safely to Hort before the storm starts.

Really must listen to the weather reports the night before in future!

I sent mine to school because I heard that the warnings for our area were from 12 onwards and that the storm was coming towards the late afternoon, they thought I was really mean taking them but when we got there most kids had turned up and there were no messages to pick them up before 2 either. Must admit after watching the news just now I feel like going for them at 12.

Well I switched on the tv and had a look and got in a real state! I was just going to go and get her at 11, thinking stuff it I want to be sure we're home safe before it starts but since the secretary said the Hort children were being moved at 11.30 and recommended we could all just turn up then so I called a pack of mums and we're doing that. Don't want to risk it. Should be ok at 12, think it's supposed to hit Berlin around 4pm, isn't it, but who knows with these weather reports?

I would get them at 12 if I were you.

Now I'm worried, do you think I should phone school and ask? The hort kids stay at school anyway in the same building so that is why they probably didn't think about the few who get picked up.

Is it stormy yet? Still all calm, mild weather in our part of Berlin.

It can't harm to call the school, if the secretary is nice. I would just turn up though then what can they do about it? Thing is the part of the building where our classrooms are located is always locked at 8 so you can't just mosey on in. However, the doors will be unlocked to move the Hort dc (the Hort is a 10min walk away, so we can get in IYSWIM. If your school is open, I'd just walk in, knock on the door and collect your kids. You won't be the only mum I shouldn't think. After all we're not obliged to send kids to school at all today, it's a Notstand today.

Left mine till 2 in the end as it was so calm and just raining a little. Did your school say anything about tomorrow? Any warnings or guidlines? I asked ds's teacher but as usual she didn't have a clue, she was more worried about getting home as soon as she could. Now we are just waiting for it to start, hope no windows get broken or the trees outside our house.

Well, like always with these things it seems , if you do rush off in a panic, nothing happens! Picked dd up at 11.30 and most dc were picked up then. We spent all afternoon waiting for the storm and it doesn't seem to have done much damage here when it did come. Strange about that heavy iron support getting blown off Hauptbahnhof. How did that happen?!