German kindergarten in the fall

[KJB]

I've decided to place my two younger children (almost 6 and just 4) in German kindergarten in the fall.

 

I am a little concerned about my almost 6 year old son. He's sensitive and a bit of a perfectionist. He's also kind of rigid with his expectations and he gets upset when he perceives he's being slighted even if that isn't the case.

 

I don't want to tell the teachers he may have trouble with the transition, but I wonder if I should. I don't want to set him up for failure but it might be to everyone's advantage if I give them a little heads up that he isn't the most easy going kid around.

 

Any suggestions about how to ease him into the transition?

 

Any tips on what to say to my kids to warn them what I'm about to subject them to? :D How do I tell them that they aren't going to understand at first?

 

Any other general suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Storm Bay]

In my experience, it has helped to tell teachers that I had one who had difficulties with transitions ahead of time. Not just with the initial transistion, but even in moving from one thing to the next, particularly if the one thing was fun. That way they could prepare my dc by mentioning it ahead of time and discussing what came next.

[Kate in Arabia]

We moved here when my oldest was 5, and since then until now they have been in various classes where they have been the only westerners and often the only English speakers. They already had exposure to Arabic before going to a class, so they could understand basic commands, etc., but that was about it. I think their different teachers over the years have been really encouraging of them; they have been teased by other kids on occasion because their accents "sound funny", but the teachers have nearly always called the perpetrators out and commended my kids for putting themselves in an environment where they didn't know the language well.

 

I would assume most teachers would be supportive of a child in that situation; as far as dealing with the child, we have always told them to do the best they can, even if they can't understand everything right then it will come over time, and how brave they are for giving it their best, etc. There was some balking in the beginning, particularly by my oldest when he was younger, but it passed.

 

Not exactly the same situation as you, but hopefully helpful?

[KJB]

In my experience, it has helped to tell teachers that I had one who had difficulties with transitions ahead of time. Not just with the initial transistion, but even in moving from one thing to the next, particularly if the one thing was fun. That way they could prepare my dc by mentioning it ahead of time and discussing what came next.

 

You're probably right. I just don't want to peg him as a problem when he really is usually well behaved.

 

It's a big decision to send him because he can be so sensitive. I don't want to miss the opportunity to develop his German, but I also don't want him to hate going every day. I need to brace myself to make him go even after he begins to balk, which I'm pretty sure he'll do. I know my other child will love it, so I'm hoping her influence will help ease the transition for him.

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

Edited July 13, 2009 by KJB

[KJB]

We moved here when my oldest was 5, and since then until now they have been in various classes where they have been the only westerners and often the only English speakers. They already had exposure to Arabic before going to a class, so they could understand basic commands, etc., but that was about it. I think their different teachers over the years have been really encouraging of them; they have been teased by other kids on occasion because their accents "sound funny", but the teachers have nearly always called the perpetrators out and commended my kids for putting themselves in an environment where they didn't know the language well.

 

I would assume most teachers would be supportive of a child in that situation; as far as dealing with the child, we have always told them to do the best they can, even if they can't understand everything right then it will come over time, and how brave they are for giving it their best, etc. There was some balking in the beginning, particularly by my oldest when he was younger, but it passed.

 

Not exactly the same situation as you, but hopefully helpful?

 

Thank you, Kate. This is exactly what I need to hear. I think his teachers will help ease the transition but they also seem to have a pretty rigid attitude regarding children's behavior.

 

My son is kind of used to being coddled by me (*guilty*) because he's #3 in the pack and he often feels left out of his older siblings activities since he's a good bit younger. I really need to step it up and realize that my role needs to be one of support not a ticket to escape when he finds out he has to go every day and they don't speak english. I have a feeling that he'll be ready to drop out by the third day. :001_huh:

 

I think I'll play up the brave angle. He'll like to hear that and it is very true.

[In The Great White North]

I would speak with the teachers.

 

When dd went to Switzerland for 7th, with hardly any German, we spoke with the school, the teacher, the host family, the swim team, the Scouts, etc. Everyone, including dd, knew what to expect and what the goal was (German fluency). There was only one teacher who was uncooperative, and I've heard she was uncooperative for everybody. (The host mom had had issues with her when he own dc were in that grade.) Everyone went out of their way to get dd speaking German and comfortable in the school.

 

As we wanted her to pass her courses (or she would have had to switch to the non-college prep track, ie. a new class with different kids), she did have some German grammar tutoring in the first semester. I wouldn't expect this to be a problem in kindergarten.

 

To help him transition:

 

How much German do your dc know? Are you there yet? Can you play DVDs (or at the radio) in German for them to get used to hearing it all day long?

 

Coach them ahead of time in the usual kindergarten commands, so they recognize them (Steh auf! Setz dich hin! etc. etc. ) Teach him the words for shoes, jacket, pencils, crayons, books, lunch items, etc that he's likely to need the first day.

 

Make sure they understand the schedule and routine. It's easier to understand new words if you know what they should be.

 

Tell them it will be in German with great enthusiasm. It's the best thing since sliced bread. That you wish you could come too. Don't even hint that it could be hard. When he comes home the first day stressed, tell him it will get better. (By October, dd was understanding every word, in both High German and Swiss German. And there's a lot less vocabulary in kindergarten.) Ask him what new words he learned today, with a big smile.

 

Ask him about the other kids in the class. What did you play today? What's your teacher's name? How many boys are there? What are their names? What did so and so do today? Help him engage in the social scene.

 

Walk them to school the first day (with the cone full of goodies), meet some of the other moms. Make friends. Give some thought to getting the families together.

 

 

 

Oops! I just noticed this was from a month ago! How's he doing?

Edited August 4, 2009 by In The Great White North

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When we moved to Germany, we found that watching German kids' shows helped a lot. Sesam Strasse, Loewenzahn, Die Sendung mit der Maus, etc.

 

I prefer shows with some real people, because they seem a little less silly and show body language, which can help with meaning.

 

There was also a show associated with National Geographic World that was pretty good and sometimes alternated between German and English.

 

I might suggest some heavy exposure to these shows as a way to help them get a big dose of German before hitting school. I know it sounds a bit silly. But we found that TV was such a treat that German TV was accepted almost without questions.

 

BTW, I found that I can download video podcasts episodes of Die Sendung mid der Maus, Kapitan Blaubar, Galileo and Wissen Macht 'Ah. The last two are probably over your kids' heads, but you should check out the first two and the other offerings on iTunes.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Sebastian (a lady)

[Friederike in Persia]

Don't expect too much too soon. I'm just helping another family to tansition their kids into the Tajik system and it's taking months for their boys (roughly your boys age) to be able to communicate.

 

More encouragingly, it'll be quite likely, that the German children will find English super cool and want to hear your kids speak it. Each time my 3 go to German school, lots of their class mates want to hear them speak English.

Your boys will also be able to shine during the English times that are likely to happen in the Kindergarten.

 

Hope it goes well,

[KJB]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

We're on week two and besides the first three days when my 6 year old begged me to "sign me down" they're doing great!

 

They've picked up a few words, made a friend each, and enjoyed the free play and outdoors time which is ample.

 

So far so good.... Whew!

[Storm Bay]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

We're on week two and besides the first three days when my 6 year old begged me to "sign me down" they're doing great!

:lol::lol::lol: Don't you love it when they try to do the opposites of idiomatic speech?

 

They've picked up a few words, made a friend each, and enjoyed the free play and outdoors time which is ample.

 

So far so good.... Whew!

Glad to hear it!