Schooling in Germany - everyone welcome

[ZZZen]

Since the old thread was quite full, let's make a new start welcoming anyone who is new to the German school system, has something to say about it or questions to ask.

Thanks spies. Job well done. Will try to convince them to stick to rucksak. Ds1 at least.

Ds2 burst into tears last night - scared of starting new school and sad to be leaving friends Any tips for helping him through? Have bought him a new scooter which I'll give at the w/e

Glad to see this thread is still going!

Well, the good news here is that dd is happy at school and looking forward to Gymnasium in September.

Ds, otoh, is still far from being settled after nearly a year at school. If anything it's getting worse

He really sounds very similar to your ds, Ernest. We had him assessed recently - ADHD was ruled out but it was suggested that he may have Aspergers but we would have to go for more tests in a different city to have that confirmed which I'm reluctant to do atm.

He does have difficulty relating to other children and doesn't seem to be able to recognize when he is being a PITA, except that it makes his behaviour spiral even more out of control. On the other hand he can play very well with other children if it is a one to one situation, it's just groups that make him really flip out which means that school has been pretty much a nightmare really so far. When he's happy he's like a different child - charming, funny and clever, if a little quirky sometimes. During the 2 week Pfingstferien he was so much calmer so I think school is the main problem really and I'm actually really looking forward to the long summer holiday (never thought I'd say that!).

I'm going to be giving German school another go. Dh has agreed to get outside help like a student or teacher to do German with them and I'm going to try them both at a different Gymnasium to the one that ds went to before. I think the atmosphere in the old one was the problem more than the work and I have read some reviews about that school which seem to confirm that. One of them said that the entrance tothe school ws built especially low so that you had to enter with your head bent down which is how you should expect to stay as long as you are in there.

If they don't manage Gymnasium they can always change to Realschule but I don't see why they shouldn't manage it. We just have to accept that grade 1 and 2 aren't as easy to get at Gymnasium as they are at Grundschule.

I'm not sure, but it could help taipo and ernest if you make a point of speaking to the teachers about your worries so they atleast see the dc are coming from a caring home with parents willing to help. I'd guess some teachers get fed up with dc who don't follow the rules or get into trouble if they think they are from families who don't care. A friend of mine in Germany has a dd with adhs and she went in to speak to the new teacher on the very first day to explain in the hope that her dd wouldn't just get told off and stamped as one of the bad ones.

How do your dc feel about coming back, admylin?

We've had several long talks with ds's teacher and on the whole she's quite understanding and I think she does like ds.

She thinks he's bored (he could already read when he started school and is very good with numbers) and should go up a year. I would prefer him to stay in his current class as I don't think another change would be good for him - that often sets off a pattern of very wild, uncontrollable behaviour. We're at a bit of a stalemate with her atm on this one but she wants him to go into the 2. Klasse with the rest of the class in September and then switch to the 3. Klasse after the Herbstferien for a trial period. Really don't know what would be best for him and feel quite down about it as he's clearly not happy atm.

Hi Ad, good luck with finding new school. Hope your ds recuperates over the summer taipo. I can relate totally, as my ds is also a totally different child in small groups. I think I will leave it for now, as there are only a couple of weeks left and next year ds2 will def. have a different teacher, but I will def take your advice and meet with his new teacher the 1st week back in September, armed also with some info and personal hints and strategies for her to use.

My pain atm is we were told before they began that they could have 2 lessons of extra german a week. Now we find out

1. it isn't for DaZ, but 'erforderunsklass' basically just extra german for all the kids that are struggling,. Not sure how I feel about a bright foreign kid sitting in with maybe less bright kids who are struggling with their mother tongue, seems like 2 completely different needs?
2. ds1 is only getting this lesson once a week (and none every 3rd week, as it clashes with swimming). ds2 I don't think is getting it at all.

I am scared of the head as he seems very very unapproachable and unfriendly, so how do I tackle it - send him and email? Write to the class teacher? I've already dicussed it with ds1 class teacher - he was only down to have it once every 3 weeks, so had it increased to twice every 3 weeks

other than that, it's going v. well. ds1 has had 3 officila 'Noten' so far, and he got a 1 and 2 2's - one of the2 was for a test where he hadn't been there for the work, so was really pleased. Hope ds2 calms down.

Sounds like your ds1 is doing very well so far, Ernest. What subjects were those marks for? If they were for German then he might not need the extra lessons.

I agree with you that what's on offer doesn't sound very appropriate for your dc. Shame your head is so unfriendly. I'd probably discuss it first with the class teacher but it doesn't sound as there will be anything else. Since being here I've been quite shocked at how little money there is in the system for any extras at primary school.

the notes were 1 for english, 2 for RE & 2 for a german spelling test (just a list of about 20 words to learn). I think within the umbrella of german there are 5 tested areas, spelling, reading, speaking, diktate and something else, I think 2 or 3 of those areas he should be ok, eg with spelling where he can sit down and learn it, but the written work, diktate, he'll get a 5 or a 6. He has donme a cople of practice ones where he was not given a note but he magde about 17 or so mistakes which I think would be a 5 or a 6 from what I've learnt so far, so he will definately need nachhilfe to learn to write.

Ds2 is 1 year below, so weighing up to get

1. only ds1 nacchilfe, but then ds2 will def need it too.
2. both of them do it together - save time & money, but maybe misbehave/ ds2 hold ds1 back a bit?
3. do it separately, but it will cost double and time restrictions will be a pain. whaddya think? erring to option 2?

For all the dictations dd had in the first half of the 4. Klasse, i.e. before the dreaded Empfehlung, they always got a list of words to learn which would be in the dictation and also practised them in class. Hopefully that'll be the same where you are so your ds will have a chance of getting a decent mark.

The German tests she has had over the past year have been mainly dictations and essays but there have also been a couple of reading comprehensions and grammar tests. They've also been tested on reading aloud in class and given an oral mark.

Re Nachhilfe, it sounds as though option 2 might be better from what you've said about ds2. Then again he might be fine if he is working together with his brother.

You know, for all the moaning and problems we had, dd was at her primary school here in UK telling the dc about what she had been doing in Germany at school - no uniforms, finish at lunch time, day trips, week long residentials etc and all the dc in her class were saying oh we wish we went to school in Germany! Funny when you see it from that side of things, it's not that bad.

Don't know about your end of term but my 2 haven't done abit of school work in the last 3 weeks. Thet've had sports days, day trips, tidying up days and art projects! I keep saying it's more like a holiday camp so you won't mind when school starts in August already in Hannover!

in just 2 weeks at school here my kids' bags and brains are bursting. They have done loads. ds1 especially has sid how much harder the maths is. But he is pleased - at least he feels like he is being stretched a bit. He was always complaining the work was too easy at IS. They've also had sports day, he's swimming todayy, tomorrow they're sleeping at the school. He never did this at IS. He much prefers it.

Sounds great Ernest. They are abit ahead in maths compared to Uk from what I have seen. Dd went from Year 4 Germany to Year 4 UK and she had already done most of the stuff that Year 6 was doing.
I'm struggling now trying to teach ds fractions and percentages and decimals as they are the 3 subjects he just missed when we left.