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".

[finknottle]

Don't know whether to preen or be ashamed

He's got a maths test.

Tomorrow dictation.

Science test back today. Hope he gets a decent mark so he sees the extra revision was worth it. He's still about the 4 for the Aufsatz & doesn't believe me when I say the marking showed us that it was not the content, just the language side and now we know what to work on...
Just remembered they were supposed to hand in the Aufsatzverbesserung (in his case a rewrite) today and I want him to do with with dh tonight and I should have written a note. Ahhh, a Strich!

[SSSandy2]

You would be most welcome!

You are really really scaring me with this year 3 stuff. I feel I just have to get out before then, i.e. before September. It's like having an axe hanging over you, isn't it? Geez no wonder your ds is feeling with it all. That's how I feel even thinking about him doing it.

Could admylin not open a reconvalescence home for mothers of school-age dc in the Lake District though finks? Her dh could examine our heads to see if there is any hope left or whether the damage is irreparable. She could cook us some yummy Indian food and we would just take it easy and get pampered or take drugs to help us forget. What do you reckon?

Admylin - your next 5 year plan?

[finknottle]

Admylin said she recognised the stuff ds2 was doing so the curriculum is pretty much the same.

And this is ds2.It's not just the system, it's how your children cope with it. Ds1 had problems because of his SEN and because of how he is & approaches school. Ds2 also is shy and retreats into his shell if he doesn't get something perfect first time around. Apart from maths, he is forever asking why we have to learn this stuff...
Some pupils thrive on the system and anecdotally it is often the girls. Dd is much more interesting in learning aged 5 than the boys ever were. Your dd seems to enjoy the act of and fact of learning so she also may well thrive with the structure of Y3 and Y4. I think I would have too, ambitious, competitive little swot that I was. And got a lot more out of it.
Who coined the "sunny side of the system"? Berolina? Well, your dd may well be on the sunny side simply because of how she is.

[SSSandy2]

hmm well I dunno about that. I hear from some teachers that she is like a sponge,so eager to learn and soaks up any crumbs you throw at her, so in that way, yes, I would say that she is all fired up WANTING to learn but I don't think she wants to learn a pile of facts off by heart and sit a test a day.

I can see her eyes glazing over and a deep boredom and disinterest spreading over her. Do you know what I mean? For example, she loves her religion class because it's made interesting with stories and background info and they look in other books, act things out etc. So she loves finding out all about the Hebrews and the Egyptians and whatever and doing group project work, anything half-way interesting and creative (like most kids would). The teacher tells me she is so enthusiastic about it all but I think the main reason is the teacher herself is fantastic at her job.

BUT maths she hates because it's just take a worksheet, go through it , correct it, take another worksheet

I think year 3 sounds like the take a worksheet approach with the added stress of getting grades. She would have a huge problem with getting a bad grade. It would be like the end of the world every time and in the end she would just not care/bother anymore.

This is why I think she is totally unsuited to the Abitur set-up, swotting and testing and I would prefer to have her go the International Bac route which places more emphasis on creativity. I don't see her flourishing in the year 3 set-up you and admylin have described.

[SSSandy2]

boy that was long-winded.

Sorry. Shows how much I'm freaking out about it!

[finknottle]

It can be like that but I've noticed even in the 2 yrs since ds1 was in Y3 there is a turn towards even more hands-on project type stuff.

Maths perhaps not so much but even the books are trying to make it more relative to life, e.g. measuring not just 10mm but finding things of different lengths the pupils can relate to. And bills in restaurants etc. That trips ds2 up. He happily does sums but hates the:
Frau Schmidt isst einen X @ 11,90
Ihr Mann nimmt X @ 7,80
Sie trinken 2 X @ 3,25
Sie zahlen mit 50 euro.

Then they have to do all the sums and ask the questions.

That's partly what I meant about getting more out of the lessons. Each theme has a build-up with different activities and at the end there's a check on how much they've learnt. My lot fall at the test stage partly because they can't be bothered to file properly and lose bits or don't finish them... but it's not by any means only worksheets.

Doesn't sound too bad

[finknottle]

I've given up worrying about their long-term academic goals.
I just want them to be not depressed and to enjoy learning again.
God that's bleak.

Time. If your dd soaks up info she won't need the extra time my 2 do so she'll be better off.

[SSSandy2]

Would you contemplate them doing final years in Ireland and getting an Irish school leaving certificate or something like that? So if they wanted to train for a particular job , it would still be open to them. (I know I may not live in the real world having had this discussion with dh already so feel free to confirm it!)

Ah let me just stop transferring all my panic onto you. Sorry

I was thinking today looking at active convos if we had an MN rant thread entitled "British schools" what that would look like?! Would we all then feel so much better?

[SSSandy2]

I always hated those maths problems too. I just loathed the farmer x does this and farmer y does that stuff. I could handle the equations but not the application of it so I understand your ds completely!

[admylin]

Hi, just got rid of dh, he worked at home om my computer this morning, now he's gone off to test someones brain slices from a open brain surgery session last night. They all pounce and beg for bits of the cut off bit of the brain whenever someone is in for surgery.

Sounds very good SSSandy if your dh is at last seeing how things really are and accepting it. I hope you manage to sort out a visit to the UK and go round a school or two, try to get dd in for a trial day etc. Wish me scoffing crisps and looking miserable on the sofa would make dh see the light. Need a different strategy with mine.

Ds is having laods of tests at the moment. I've learned another begriff: L.E.K means Lern erfolg kontrolle never knew that, well the new German teacher is doing tests on everything she teaches, so LEK nearly twice a week and next week a Klassenarbeit (that is the one that the mark goes in the book)
Funny thing is, his whole class is on cloud nine as it's the first time they've had a really good teacher for a few weeks and they all love it, even the boys who used to come out of school, scowl on face, throw bag down in the dirt, maon about stupid homework etc... now they come out bursting with 'today we leant such and such, today we had a LEK and I got a 1, and so on. What a difference the right teacher makes eh?!

[CinderellaInCyberspace]

wanders into say hello

[finknottle]

Tag Cinders.

Admylin - yuk at the brain. Ick.
Right teacher, oh yes indeedy.

[admylin]

I know, yuk and that's the mild side of what he usually does!

I was also thinking those online O'levels and A' levels would be a good thing for my 2 if they want to go back to my home town at some point. I know a few youngsters who work when they are 16 and still at home and manage to save a fortune and do the A'level stuff with an online course. In germany the worst thing is you HAVE TO do maths to Abi level, that would have ruled me out and by the look of it dd too.

[SSSandy2]

hi cinders, don't be so coy now, come back for a natter

Well that sounds SO positive admylin. Please as Elternreps give positive feedback to the head (maybe you can keep her) and let the teacher now how much the dc enjoy her work (maybe she'll want to stay). Wouldn't that be great?

I wonder if you can sit A levels externally somehow finks, should be possible surely, the HEers must manage it somehow. So I suppose we could all keep that possibility in mind if all else fails etc.

How could dc of yours not express themselves well though finks!

[admylin]

It is nice to have something positive to tell - and such a great feeling when they all come out ofschool so full of it. That's how school should be, my school days were like that all the time. Still ready to move back home tomorrow if I could!

Dh was browsing through job websites this morning and he saw something academic in Karachi (Pakistan) and I said well if you go for that one we'll be waiting for you in England - he didn't seem too shocked at that suggestion! Just need to make Hannover sound like Karachi and then we could leave him to it!

[CinderellaInCyberspace]

hi here for mo

we are also thinking of moving
in one years time

dd is not happy
ds still not in kindergarten

and I wish for some calm in our lives

dh mentioned working between here and dubai

i said
here no
but between either Ireland or England

Did think second time round it would of been easier
It is'nt

[SSSandy2]

teenage girls are never easy though, cinders are they, wherever you live? Shame it hasn't worked out with the kg, so you have to cope with ds all day and then dd comes home from school sad and hormonal. Think you might be another candidate for admylin's Happy Hausfrau Home in the Hills.

Peace in our time would be great, wouldn't it? I was saying to dh he doesn't know how diff it is dealing with these blasted schools and how obnoxious they can be etc and he said his whole job is about dealing with obnoxious people in diff situations all day long and you have to learn to just shrug it off.

Well, you know I just thought "err? And what is the point though in living like that unless you have zero choice in the matter?" Or am I missing something here?

Thing is wherever we live, something is going to get us down and problems are always going to crop up when you have dc. Say dd was happy in school and ds in nursery but dh wasn't happy or the neighbours were awful or health issues developped? Really is hard for dms to get on with life when their dc are unhappy though, isn't it? It's kind of fundamental for us whereas men (mine) seem to be able to carry on regardless

[admylin]

Talking about teenage girls... i've been thinking alot about a British friend here in Germany, they had a house, sent dc to German school etc but as soon as the dd was finished school (abi) she packed and said bye to her parents - she told me (the dd) that she wasn't staying in Germany any longer than she had to and she was off to live with her uncle and cousins in the UK in a civilized country Imagine, if we stick it out so long and manage to solve all our problems, try to settle here etc only to have our dc go back to UK at the earliest possibility.

MIL reckons her grandchildren will come and search for her in India when they are old enough because her evil ds doesn't bring them to see her often enough, so either wa sI suppose I lose them.

[SSSandy2]

I'm looking forward to hearing all about you telling dh that Hannover is the equivalent of Karachi.

Karachi bit dodgy atm maybe

If dd leaves, I will follow her. Trail her in fact. You could leave dh slicing up bits of brain and writing clever books about it and go off to India, find yourself in an ashram or something. That'd be good. I'd join you in fact.

[emkana]

admylin, that's interesting, what were the girl's reasons? I kind of thought that life was better for teenagers/young adults in Germany.

It's incredible, all this testing in German schools. And then they say British children are overtested! At least the SATS etc only come up at the end of year, in Germany it's a constant struggle to get the right Note isn't it?

[emkana]

Ssandy, just realized I never answered your questions further down! Yes if I could just move all my friends and family over here I don't think I would mind staying in the UK forever. But as it is I would seriously think moving to Germany again in a few years' time, but who knows what will happen, six years is a long time...

[SSSandy2]

Hi emkana! I was just wondering if it wasn't that whole teenage rejection of dp and their life? Since the dp were in Germany and she was half-British, she probably found it natural to go to the UK to get away from her family and be independent. It's going to kill us when our own dc do this to us, isn't it?

At going to UK to be more civilised though. When you think of all the binge drinking and so on that teenagers endulge in there and how much more sensible they are all seem here.

[finknottle]

Sandy - is Operation London Week Sick Godparent underway then?
When do you break up for Easter? Here it's Tuesday 11th.

[SSSandy2]

16th I think finks.

Hmm spanner in the works atm, have to take dd to the doctors this pm and see what the doctor has to say. The school is a pita atm. Will have to speak to dh on Sunday first about what to do