Slightly more upbeat German schooling thread

[SSStollenzeit]

OK we're really been feeling glum lately so I thought in all fairness we should mention the better PISA ratings for Germany this time round. The latest Spiegel has it as cover story.

So since the initial "Pisa Shock" (Spiegel: "Inbegriff der Deutschen Bildungsmisere") from last time where everyone was tearing their clothes and wondering why Germany was on a par with developing countries, it seems things have actually improved.

Anyway it seems SCIENCE at secondary level has moved way up to Place 13/57, ahead of GB place 14). From 45 countries tested Germany is now on place 11 for reading (cf England, place 19).

Somehow it doesn't make me feel better reading that news!
I still have finknottles posting spinning round in my head that our Berlin 3rd years are doing stuff that they did in the 1st year. I was even thinking it this morning when I woke them up for school in the dark and the thought came into my head - why bother waking them, honestly it really is a wasted day some days.

I really wanted to make you feel better

Admylin, can I ask you too: when do they start learning proper subjects in addition to maths? I mean history and geography and science and so on

Ds has a very mild version of Geography in Sachkunde lessons. They have studied Germany, the Bundesländer and done a small project on Berlin Bezirke etc and then one time he had to write dosn all the rivers that flow through Mecklenburg-Vorpommern but they didn't have to learn any of it.

The head teacher told us that in year 5 and 6 they are starting to introduce a little history, science (ha, I can imagine) and geography.

dosn=down

Really that does seem very late, doesn't it? Or do I have a skewered view of primary? Is it supposed to be just about literacy and maths?

Dd is getting a bit frustrated really, she's all geared up to learn and there isn't really any "Inhalt" to their lessons as far as I can see. She has the tools, she can read well, write fairly accurately and she's all revved up ready to go but nothing is happening IYSWIM? Dunno how to deal with it.

I think that is partly why she loves religion so much because they are actually covering some material in it (ditto - Bible study and Russian school). I do some history with her at home (BBC site and books we have) but honestly I think she would drink it all up if she was doing this at school right now. And time constraints limit what I can do outside of school.

Sigh, so much for my positive thread! And I thought finknottle would be so proud of me for a change...

In UK my niece had quite alot of history lessons in primary - she was so excited to come to Berlin and see the Eygyptian museum becaus ethey had studied it the term before. They know all about the Romans, the Vikings and quite a few of the kings and queens of England have also been studied. She is in year 5 now but that was all in year 2 to 4.

Ds is the same he loves history and science but only knows it from home and from books he has. It's a shame.

Apart from finknottle being proud of you, we'll be giving berolina a major headache reading al this!

Think Berolina already has her plans in place for ds' schooling

Does she know something we don't know?

Well I hope so!

I feel a bit like emkana reading about how grim your schools are. My parents worked in Frankfurt/Main for 5 years and my brother and I went to the local Gesamtschule. I look back on those years as some of the happiest of my life. I was devastated when we moved back to Scotland, hated school in Edinburgh as I was so far ahead of rest of my year and went to uni two years earlier than I would have done in Germany.