Has anyone sent their child to school in another country?

[knit247]

Good evening! We moved from the US to Germany last month and as I am starting to get acclimated to my new home (er, hotel - we move in four weeks to our house), I have been thinking about the school year that is fast-approaching. After some research and message-board reading at an ex-pat site I visit, I am wondering if the children should go to school here in Germany, with me filling in a few areas: English grammar, spelling, and history after-school. My other option is to continue homeschooling exclusively (DH is a DOD-civilian so we fall under SOFA and can legally hs).

 

Homeschooling these past 3-4 years enabled us to offer the children something which they couldn't possibly get in a government school. Now our reason for considering German school is the same - they will be able to learn the language and culture in a much more authentic way than either DH or I could ever teach. The positives of German school are that the children will be out by lunchtime. We probably wouldn't even consider it if the children would be in school all day. The classes for my eldest will likely be German, math, and PE. My youngest would be in kindergarten and would have no academic subjects. Like I said, I will fill in the rest after lunch.

 

Has anyone been in a similar situation - especially in a country where the primary language spoken is not English? What did you do? How did things work out? Any thoughts? FWIW we will be here for at least 5 years. We may end up staying much longer than that if down the road we love it as much as we do now!

[Mommyof4ks]

We have never been in that situation, but I think it sounds like a wonderful opportunity! As you said you can always fill in the gaps in the afternoon, and the kids would have some wonderful experiences.

 

Check out the schools and see if they agree with your beliefs/thoughts or whatever and if all is well then I think you should go for it. We would love to have that opportunity for our kids.

 

Again, no personal experience, I just like the sound of it!

[Dobela]

I think it is a wonderful opportunity - especially since you plan on living there long term. Immersion is the best way to learn a language and it sounds like they would have the best of both worlds.

[Ravin]

My college roommate was an army brat. They lived in Germany for three years when she was in middle school. She went to the base school, but she was involved in gymnastics and hand friends out in town in Germany; just through extracurricular contact, she'd learned enough German to test out of three semesters of college German language study. Regardless of whether they go to the schools, living out in the German community, rather than keeping all your family's interactions to the base (I've known people who did the latter--one woman who'd been stationed in Japan for over a year and never left the Navy base).

 

If you're going to be there as long as you are, I'd say your kids would benefit a good deal from going to the local schools, especially with a schedule that leaves time for afterschooling.

[cathmom]

I would put my young children in a German school in a heartbeat. It's only for the morning and the benefit of learning German with native speakers could not be replicated at home!

[KJB]

My two youngest children (4 and 6) are attending German kindergarten. Your children are the perfect ages. I have a good friend who has a daughter who started first grade in German school and now, two years later, she's fluent and reads the menus for us when we go out to eat! My friend's daughter is ahead in math since she started formal school at the typical American age of 6 where as German first grade begins at 7.

 

My two have picked up a lot of German but are still far from fluent. We've lived here two years and we've only just started German school. We moved locally and had a baby while here so we've been busy adjusting. I just recently have found a school I love and I think my children will do well.

 

There are some valid concerns about being bullied by German children and also a different cultural standard for discipline. German teachers tend to be no nonsense and sometimes rigid. They aren't as easy to work with as American teachers would be and they don't care for the over protectiveness of American parents relative to German parents. Just a few things to think about, but overall it's been a good experience for friends of mine and now for my two.

 

(My older two are 10 1/2 and 12 1/2 and I've chosen to keep them home. German school begins "tracking" in fourth grade and the language deficit is too great for them to track well, imo. My daughter attended German immersion camp the summer we arrived at the Goethe institute and both kids have picked up some German locally. Next year, both of them will participate part time in the Dodds system so that they can take German. We're at Bitburg/Spang, btw.)

[iwka]

I would hesitate if they would be older then 12, but that young I would send them to school there. They will pick up the language in few months...make friends...experience another culture first hand even more so than only through living there.

[Kate in Arabia]

My kids have been in outside classes where they were/are the only westerners since we moved here abt six years ago. I would not put them in a local school, meaning full-time all subjects. As it is now, I feel comfortable having them in daily classes for only one or two subjects -- which is what it sounds like you're considering. To me, this is a perfect opportunity because they are with native speakers for a certain amount of time each day; they are making local friends; and they are dealing with the positives and negatives of the "socialization experience" without it being such a huge part of their daily life, etc. etc.

 

So far our experiences have been largely positive.

 

Kate

(currently in Jiddah, KSA)

[Matryoshka]

If we moved to Germany I'd put them in school. I'd actually hoped to do this since before we had kids (move there for a couple of years), but my dh is not military and speaks no German and has no interest so that's out.

 

My dd11 just returned from 6 weeks at school in Germany, her first time ever in a full-time school situation. She's been in German Sat. School since Kindy, so she had a good language base. Like you said, they're out of school by 1pm and are sent home for lunch, so you'd still have plenty of time to afterschool. There are also lots of vacations - a shorter summer vacation, but more 2-week vacations during the school year.

[Kay in Cal]

My brothers started school in Germany--K and 1st grade for one of them, just K for the other. They had a wonderful time and were not "behind" when we moved back. It would have been nicer for them to school there longer, since they retained little memory of it in the long run.

 

I went to a school in Norway for two years when my mom was stationed there (8th and 9th grade). It was a great opportunity, and I did learn to speak Norwegian fluently. I can still understand (though not speak well). I'd do it again in a heartbeat. At that age, I did supplement by "afterschooling" some subjects, but for younger kids I wouldn't think there would be that much needed.

 

I'd go for it!

[phathui5]

The positives of German school are that the children will be out by lunchtime.

 

I would definitely be willing to consider that. A school where they can learn another language and only go for half the day? That sounds nice.

[EKS]

I haven't been in you situation but I think your reason for considering German school are solid. I think it would be a fabulous opportunity for your children!

[knit247]

TY all so very much for the input! DH and I are going to actively pursue German schools for the girls. I think that the positives in this situation will (hopefully!) outweigh any negatives. I will be taking my driver's license class and exam this Wed. and will hopefully be able to drive to our new town Thurs. to look at the Kindergartens and the local Grundschule (primary school). Our hotel is 25 min. away & I am not comfortable with the mass transportation just yet!

[DawnM]

I would probably do it. Many countries seem to have kids out by 1pm and I don't know why it can't happen here in the USA!

 

I grew up in Kenya, but I went to an American school there (boarding in fact!)

 

Dawn

[ElizabethB]

We had friends put their children in German schools when we lived there.

 

It worked out well for younger children.

 

However, the older children may pick up bad habits, you may want to check out your local schools and see what is going on and talk to your neighbors. One of our neighbors said that the children start smoking and swearing as young as 4th grade. This was about 7 years ago.

[TammyinTN]

I think it would be an excellent experience for the younger ones, not so much for older children. I do think it's a great way for them to learn the language and make new friends.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Be sure you apply the same amount of diligence to discovering what they will be studying in school there. The topics, slant etc. Being foreign doesn't make it better-only being better makes it better.

[krystal70]

Where are you going at here in Germany? We are near Ramstein.

 

Anyway, I have worked at the DODD schools for the past 2 years and I have seen some of the children come back to American schools after spending the first few years in a German school and from what I have seen, most of them end up in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. The reason for this is that the most have a huge issue with reading english and writing and composing in english. The vowel rules are very different and so is the way of writing a sentence. Example: in english vowel group...ei...the i makes the e say its name in german it is the other way around. V's are the F sound and W's are the V sound... :) Not trying to discourage you...just wanted to point out what I have observed when kids have come back to the American school. Also, someone has mentioned the "tracking" over here already but I will bring it up as well. At around 10ish, they are given a test to see which they will go...there are 3 schools for them to be tracked into. One prepares them to go to college, one is a kind of trade school and the other is for more of a mid level occupation. Of course this is a vast simplification of the system so just research it for yourself. (my oldest DS, who are gifted with LD's, would of been sent to the trade route) They are less tolorant of kids having a point of view that is different and less accepting of differences in a child but that is more as they get older. Either way, it is your choice and I did consider it until I found out about the tracking issue. :)

 

Good luck in whatever you choose to do!!

 

Now off to Little League baseball practice!! Go KMC All Stars!!:lol:

[In The Great White North]

Dd spent 7th grade in a Swiss school with a Swiss family (German speaking - already pre-tracked into the higher half. The real split happens there at 9th.) She could speak and understand German and Swiss German fluently by the end of October, but still makes grammar mistakes when writing. She did get some extra German tutoring to help with the grammar/writing.

 

She had no trouble with reading and writing English when she returned. Nor did she start smoking or swearing.

 

I don't think the tracking issue will affect you in 1st or kindergarten, or when you return to the States after 4 or 5 years.

 

And I can't imagine needing ESL if you read/speak English at home. Since they don't start English til 4th grade, you may want to afterschool that to be safe. Since they get out at lunch, you'll have plenty of time. Bring books with you - English books are fairly expensive there and the PX isn't all that well stocked (at least not with books on the WTM lists!)

[krystal70]

Good point on bringing books with you! The BX is not well stocked at all but that may change once the KMCC is up and running but I would not hold my breath. :) That is also assuming that you are going to be within driving distance to Ramstein.

 

Also, I never meant for it to sound if all students end up in ESL but it does happen. Some are from German/American homes and some are from strictly American homes but I really think that is does depend on how hard you work with the children as they learn the languages and start to read. Most of them were coming back at around the 4th or 5th grade.

 

I only met one boy that was going into 9th grade that had attended German schools most of his life and I can say that he really really struggled in most of his classes but that was one case and your kids most likely will not be in German schools for that long.

 

Once again, good luck with whatever you decide to do. :)

 

Krystal

[Matryoshka]

Anyway, I have worked at the DODD schools for the past 2 years and I have seen some of the children come back to American schools after spending the first few years in a German school and from what I have seen, most of them end up in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. The reason for this is that the most have a huge issue with reading english and writing and composing in english.

 

 

I would think this would be very easily remedied by afterschooling English phonics and writing, which I think the OP plans to do.

 

My kids all learned to read in English and German almost simultaneously, and have no trouble whatsoever differentiating between the different phonetic rules in the two languages, either reading or spelling. Only if someone wasn't taught any English spelling/phonics rules, however, could I see it being a problem.

 

Yes, the schools do split starting with 5th grade - I'm pretty sure the OP's kids are all younger than that? It is a bit rigid, but virtually all of our relatives/friends in Germany attended the Gymnasium (univeristy track), so I think it's partly family expectations of what track you want your kids on. I can't think of anyone who wanted to go who didn't get in. Before that, everyone's at Grundschule. I think 1st grade is even shorter hours than the rest of the grades.

 

My dd just attended 5th grade Gymnasium - it is set up more like middle/high school, with different classes/classrooms/teachers for each subject.

[Kathy in MD]

Where are you going at here in Germany? We are near Ramstein.

 

Now off to Little League baseball practice!! Go KMC All Stars!!:lol:

 

 

OP, please excuse this brief highjack :auto:

 

Which village do you live in? We lived in Ramstein 9 years ago close to the British school and ds went to an American preschool in Landstuhl.

 

I loved living there!

 

ETA. What's the KMCC? Is it a community college?

Edited July 23, 2009 by Kathy in MD

[krystal70]

KMCC is the new mall type BX that they built at Ramstein Air Base.

 

We live in Vogelweh which is about 10 mins from Ramstein.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Laurie, at what age do they start full time schooling there? I find it interesting that it's not by 7 and in a primary grade!

 

Anyway, I absolutely would put my kids in half-day schooling in a new country. The benefits are awesome.

[camibami]

I considered it for my youngest, but the truth is it will just really, really mess up our "flow". I am not sure gaining fluency in another language will be worth it. She would have to move gymnastics training to the evenings, and then getting up early after being out late is hard, and we couldn't go to Japan in September, and Seattle in October, and...

 

...so basically the added carrot of gaining a foreign language doesn't negate the reasons we homeschool, anyway, here. A short day I could do, but school here ain't short by any stretch, and I don't think it would be worth it.