German Schools

[finknottle]

Get it off your chest

There are, as anywhere, good and bad aspects to the school system.

So if you want advice, help or an embittered rant - feel free.

On a postive note - anyone see the thread on Primary about security? I've just taken dd to kg and on the way back wanted to drop off a school library book ds2 has had since before Christmas and forgot again.
All I did is walk in, went to his classroom and left it on his PE kit so he'll see it at break.

No one worries unduly about security here. The caretaker has an office (all glass) outside the main building but he's rarely in it.

Is it only village schools? Looks so odd to me to have a school "locked down".

[SSSandy2]

do you think this thread is too full now, takes ages to load, but maybe that's just my pc?

You know I don't think I could decide whether to send my dd away for a week at the age of 8 when I hadn't met the teacher, had formed no impression about her classmates yet. On the other hand, I don't know if it is wise to start off as a "difficult parent" because that might influence the school's dealings with you. They do expect dc to just all do these trips, don't they?

[admylin]

I agree and I spoke to German friend from south Germany today and she was also saying the same, that she wouldn't feel good about it either etc and she's a typical German mum who can let her 7 year old go out alone to play with friends and walk to and from school alone too so she's not even the clingy type. Thinking I'll send the form in and then wait and see, she also said I should be carefull about not getting on the wrong side of the teacher and school especially when it's all been so positive up to now.

On teh 2nd day of term the new teacher has a trip planned to a Wasserwerk something or other and she needs helpers so I'm going to go along so I can observe her and get to know the sort of dc that are in the class. The Makler told m ethe area we will live in has alot of banker, lawyer and doctor families so I'm hoping the school will reflect that if they send theior dc to it.

[SSSandy2]

hang on to your positive impressions and expect the best I think admylin. So far it does sound good to me.

Can you make up your mind to very intensively help dd bond when you get there? Invite girls round, say 3x a week, have a couple sleep over on Fridays. I know it is a pain but it will make the trip easier for her. YOu could let it slide after the trip.

I think if you could get out of the trip without somehow raising any doubts about it, it might be best for you and dd. Not sure how but you know what I'm thinking, sort of indirect approach. If you've signed up on time and paid, they can hardly fault you if something unforseen occurs IYSWIM

[admylin]

Exactly what my friend said, she can have a tummy upset and have to stay at home. If I'm not 100% sure about it and if dd says she doesn't feel good about it either then we can do that.

[admylin]

Will make a big effort with inviting girls around, and hope we find some in the neighbourhood too which would make it easier for them to meet up. Atlast dd will have herwon big room so she can have as many sleep overs as she likes.

[taipo]

Admylin, in reply to your earlier question about what dd has covered in maths this year she has just been doing yet more 'rechnen mit grossen Zahlen' - they keep finding different ways of adding and taking away numbers. She has also done some multiplication and division (also with big numbers e.g 30x7, 20x9 etc.

Also covered this year: time, weights and quite a lot of calculating with money.

I think they've covered quite a lot but none of it has been particularly difficult, in as much as I'm still able to keep up with it! Do you know yet what textbooks they use in the new school? Perhaps you could get hold of one and check that your dd has covered the major topics at least.

[admylin]

Oh, thanks taipo, that sounds like what dd has done too so she should be OK. I've got the book they'll be using in year 4 too so I will do abit of revision with her over the holidays.

She has suddenly clicked with loads of things like writing and reading and has improved so much in the last couple of months. Thank goodness , it's a relief when you see them managing because they've really only got to the middle of year 4 and then their future is decided - I know all is not lost if they don't make it to Gymnasium as they can go on to do Abi from Realschule but it's harder.

Ds is going to get a shock when he starts Gymnasium becaus ehe's been in a small primary school class and stayed up there at the top - best in his class but the competition wasn't there at all, it was easy for him and in Gymnasium theer'l lbe loads of dc who are better than him, something he isn't used to so I hope he doesn't feel too bad.

[admylin]

Lol at still being able to keep up with the maths! I had a real struggle with ds's 4th year maths. He was taught a method of division that I had never seen in my life infact I think I skipped it all together when I was at school and went on to using my calculator. It took ds ages to teach me it!

[SSSandy2]

taipo I presume your dd learnt to write cursive at school in the UK, did she then have to learn German Schreibschrift as well when she came here or did they allow her to just keep writing English style for her German dictations?

[taipo]

Keep her English writing style? You must be joking! That was one of the biggest problems for dd at the beginning because her teacher made it very clear that she would have to learn the German Schreibschrift and very quickly, so we spent the first half-term holiday going through a Schreibschrift book so she could learn it. It was a complete nightmare but she did manage it but she was never neat enough for that particular teacher who was possibly the most pedantic woman I've ever met. The second teacher was more of the opinion that as long as the writing was legible it was OK. So perhaps we were unlucky but she would have had to learn the Schreibschrift sooner or later so perhaps it was better to do the short, sharp shock method.

[SSSandy2]

I thought it might be like that because finks mentioned once how they took marks off if you didn't get all the loops right in the dictations. I was asking because of that family I mentioned further down. Don't think this is what they wanted to hear tbh!

[admylin]

Now I'm wondering if dd will have to learn another style of Schreibschrifft in Hannover. ds did when he moved to Berlin, they use a different one to the one he learne din the 1st year in his first school. Forgot to ask the school.

So pleased today was the last day so we're free now! Both reports were good - no 3's atleast for both of them. Think we deserve a few weeks rest if only I didn't have to pack! Have got abot done today though.

[SSSandy2]

taipo,admylin do they give the dc the reports or are they in a sealed envelope? Ours got theirs handed to them so they had read them. Some of the dc were really upset. One boy who travelled back with us was crying all the way because of it. You knwo they have that thread about all the funny ways teachers try to cloak negative comments to make them sound more positive? I thought wish they would do something like that or at least have the sense not to hand them to the dc to read. THey should be for the dp.

Lots of sad dc and upset dp as a result. How idiotic these schools are. Even one dad I know (dd in Year 1 fgs) so upset because she had read she couldn't do anything right basically. Why would you give a year 1 dc a report like that? He was so angry on her behalf and I couldn't think of anything to say, just listened. Sometimes I think they are all evil, I really do, mad as I may sound.

Dd was crying all evening. I think she was working off the stress of the whole school year. She kept saying why was the teacher so nasty and had said this one day, that the other, done this to one child, that to another. Why had they written something so nasty her friends had been crying? Couldn't get her to leave it. Kept trying to say that now, thank goodness, it was over, let's leave it behind us and not think about the school ONCE the whole holidays. She cried herself to sleep in the end. Bl* schools, idiot teachers. She keeps asking, where am I going to school next year, she is really scared of German schools now.

I asked if the class teacher was at least alright today on the last day? She said, she was pretending to be nice mummy, but it was fake, you could see it. She says her teacher is so nasty she shouldn't be allowed to teach dc and why do they let her? Kept crying and saying she wants to go to school in England. In the end I had to get into bed with her and hug her till she fell asleep.

I am and p*ssed off. Just no way I can face sending her back , you know? How do your dc manage to cope with it? How do YOU cope with it?

[MmeLindt]

Sssandy,
God, I am so sorry for your poor DD. The teacher sounds horrible, how upsetting for the children.

The more I read on this thread, the more glad I am to be escaping the German school system. I wonder if the do the strange Schreibschrift in CH.

You know, when I first came to Germany and did my Ausbildung, I used to wonder at the other young Azubis who all had the same handwriting. It was so strange. Such a babyish schrift for young adults to use. It seems to become so ingrained that they take some time to shake it off.

[SSSandy2]

See why I told you not to bother checking! Just count your lucky stars honestly when you feel homesick for Germany. Maybe if you came back for secondary it might be all quite different. Can't say not having experienced it.

Maybe in Ch they do cursive a bit like the French do which is different again to the German (obviously) and since they are big on dictations too, I could imagine they do have one binding style at the school and they all have to learn it and stick to it. Maybe in secondary you can develop a more individual approach. I don't think they will mind learning Schreibschrift really. It makes them feel quite grown up you know so I think they don't mind learning it but maybe aren't keen on being marked down for not getting it all exactly right all the time IYSWIM

[taipo]

Your poor dd, SSSandy Her teacher sounds like a real dragon. Will she get a new one next year, that is if you send her back to that school? How is she this morning?

I can't remember about the reports here. I think they come in an envelope but not sealed so they all just open them anyway. Dd gets hers next week as we still have a week to go here. Glad yours were good, admylin.

I'm not against them learning Schreibschrift as such here, although I wish some teachers weren't so fussy about it. I think it actually helps those who find writing difficult because there is a proper system to follow. I used to get frustrated in the UK because the school couldn't make up it's mind about which system to use and as a result dd's writing was awful. It's still messy but at least it's legible now.

[admylin]

Oh no, your poor dd. And I know the sort of teacher she has too, there are a few like that at our school. Thank goodness that's over - just keep telling her you'll try a different school and keep changing 'til she finds a teacher and class she likes. It won't harm her schooling as you help her anyway and we know what she has to do in maths and German so you can keep up with the work. It really depends on the teacher you get - not only the school. Why on earth do they need to write negative comments like that for 1st or 2nd year dc? My dd had one of those 'nasty' reports in the 1st year but the teacher was a dragon and we were over the moon when she announced she was leaving.

Last year nearly all of ds's class came out crying on report day, it was so sad. This year they have all done quite well - wonder why, must be because since January when the old teacher went off sick and they got decent teachers at last, they've enjoyed learning.

[admylin]

We've just got our order from Amazon for dd and ds's new school books - well just the ones they write in to go with the Fibel, the maths one and an atlas for ds and a few English exercise ones (the ones the German school use) - all came to 120 Euro so I was expecting a big box when the post man rang the door bell, I was really shocked when I saw how small it was and how thin alot of the books are. That's alot of money just for exercise books. Still have to buy paper and the note books too.

Ds's text books for Gymnasium add up to nearly 300 Euro, viel Spaß beim lernen!

[SSSandy2]

maybe the gymnasium has a book fund scheme whereby you pay so much a year to re-use textbooks prviously bought and in the textbook pool. THey don't all need to be bought new every year, do they? I think a lot of schools do this so you just need to buy books they actually have to right in and the stationery - and that's usually expensive enough. I bought a maths book for last year and they only ever got up to page 8 in it and seem to have practically never used it at all. What was the point?

[SSSandy2]

amazon gets quite expensive when you add the taxes to it, doesn't it? I am waiting for some books that were supposed to be deliverable in 1-2 weeks time and it is 6 weeks now and still no sign of them. Haven't been sent yet.

[admylin]

I've always been lucky with Amazon, very quick but you can look on the mein konto tosee how far along they are with your order - what does it say there? Sometimes you can cancel on that section too.

Yes, I've found a book pool at the Gymnasium which is only 50Euro so have sent that off. Thank goodnes sbecause he'll have alot of expenses at first like for his first Klassenfahrt also in September and his music lessons where we rent the instruments 'til he decides what he likes and for the tuition which is extra.

[SSSandy2]

I think they are having trouble getting hold of one of the books. I want it so I will wait and I know it is very hard to get hold of because it is out of print. I ordered something else a few days later and got it within 2 days.

Quite like amazon. I spend a fair amount of time browsing on there.

[admylin]

Yes I love Amazon too! Went in alovely old second hand book shop with dd the other day and she saw a book she wanted so I bought it for her and she can't put it down, talk about havingto find the right book to get the intrest in reading going! Same happened with ds - he suddenly discovered what he enjoyed reading. He recently ha dto read Emil und die Detektive at school and he hated it, found it really boring (I enjoyed it!)

Have you got Das Sams? It should be on the list for year 3 - or it was at our school so that's what your dd might be reading (if in German school stil???)

[SSSandy2]

They had it read to them at KG admylin and I didn't like it back then. I don't know what people see in it really. At the moment in German she is reading a lot of Thomas Brezina books, things like the Tiger Team mysteries. He has his own website and seems like a nice person, so far as you can judge by a website. She quite enjoys those and apart from that she reads a lot of non-fiction - samurai, ancient China, how the internet works etc.

Don't think she would be interested in reading SAMS at school at her age unless they have a creative approach to comprehension etc which I doubt. Maybe I'm wrong though, perhaps it appeals to dc more than I think it would.

[SSSandy2]

what type of book was it that your dd foudn and enjoyed so much?