Hilltop Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 I've posted before asking about living abroad in Japan or China because of my dh's job. Both of those options may happen in the future, but we know for sure that we are going to Germany this fall. :) We will only be there 4 months... a bit longer than the 90 day tourist visa. I know homeschooling is illegal in Germany. We will be in a small town, about 2 hours from a major city, so an international school is not an option. My dds do not speak German. Does anyone know if we have any options? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Frankly I'd probably just fly under the radar. I don't see how you couldn't get away with that for 4 months. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Can you leave the country for a weekend and come back on a new tourist visa? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooksandBoys Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 What about setting up your school year so that a month of that 4 month stint is scheduled vacation? I'd feel fine flying under the radar if I was following the laws of my home country, including making sure I educated for the appropriate number of days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 For four months, I would not give a fig about German schooling laws. You are a visitor, period. Your children are enrolled in a US school that is on break/allows correspondence studies/independent studies - in case anybody asks. Which is the truth, since you are that school and make the rules. Carry on as you usually would - except use every opportunity to travel, explore the country, learn about the culture, and make sufficient cuts on seat work to free up this time. Enjoy! ETA: Do not be concerned - there really is nothing they can "do" to you. Even if you count as temporary residents who have to register with the city (tourists don't have to), bureaucracy is a slooooow beast. By the time any authority has figured out your kids should be attending school but aren't, you have left the country. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 And most things happen slowwwwly in Germany. LOL Unlike here. Even if they caught wind..you'll be long gone before you have to worry about it. And really that's too short of a time frame to put any kid into such a school situation. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 If you have any interest in having them learn German by immersion, you could also just pop them in school. School gets out early in the day in Germany - no later than 1pm, I think? Although I think this may be slowly changing, German schools don't serve the midday meal, but kids go home for it - traditionally, that's the main hot meal of the day. I sent my dd over to Germany for the summer at 10yo, the same age as your twins, and she went to school for 4 weeks. The school had absolutely no problem enrolling her for that time. She had had some German prior, but I don't think that would have made a difference. It's super-easy to enroll in school there. They didn't ask me for any information - no health forms, vaccination info, nothing! My cousin just called and asked if she could show up. I have a friend that visits relatives in Germany sometimes and just puts her kids in school while she's there (many schools there are in session for much of what we consider 'summer' - they have much more vacation sprinkled in during the year instead of a big long summer break). You could also put them in for part of the time you're there - they won't care if you're 'on vacation' for part of the time. Just give them the start/end dates you want. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 If you have any interest in having them learn German by immersion, you could also just pop them in school. School gets out early in the day in Germany - no later than 1pm, I think? Although I think this may be slowly changing, German schools don't serve the midday meal, but kids go home for it - traditionally, that's the main hot meal of the day. I sent my dd over to Germany for the summer at 10yo, the same age as your twins, and she went to school for 4 weeks. The school had absolutely no problem enrolling her for that time. She had had some German prior, but I don't think that would have made a difference. It's super-easy to enroll in school there. They didn't ask me for any information - no health forms, vaccination info, nothing! My cousin just called and asked if she could show up. I have a friend that visits relatives in Germany sometimes and just puts her kids in school while she's there (many schools there are in session for much of what we consider 'summer' - they have much more vacation sprinkled in during the year instead of a big long summer break). You could also put them in for part of the time you're there - they won't care if you're 'on vacation' for part of the time. Just give them the start/end dates you want. I was going to suggest the same thing. Stick 'em in school and let them learn German. I can't imagine what you could do at your kitchen table that would impact your lives more. Pull them for field trips. Have an EXPERIENCE all around. It's only four months. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I wouldn't put a child with no German in German school for four months. By the age of 10, German school is pretty intense and you work hard (though it's short). If you put kids in and out of the local schools without a tutor to help them with homework and the language, they will end up not studying that whole time. It will be all them struggling to comprehend the most basic stuff. Particularly as you may be going to Asia next year--how will four months of German public school help them? I think that if it's strictly limited to 4 months, you should sign up for an online program with the United States and say that you are going through the public schools remotely, but don't register for classes if possible. I don't think they will say that you have to stay in their school if the kids will leave in <4 months and they have an online program. They are bureaucratic and slow, yes, but not insane. I did put my daughter in German school, but it was for a year and a half, and she was three, and there were other German-language learners (Turkish, Russian, American) there. She learned it to near fluency for her age. For a 10-year-old, I'd consider instead having tutoring during the day and having them join a social club to get to know other German children. That way they don't fall behind in their English-language studies. HOWEVER, this is only for a four-month stay. I would definitely put them in school if it were to be for a year or longer, but start paying for German tutoring now and plan to pay for it during their stay regardless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 PS I love Germany. It's a great country. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 For four months, I would not give a fig about German schooling laws. You are a visitor, period. Your children are enrolled in a US school that is on break/allows correspondence studies/independent studies - in case anybody asks. Which is the truth, since you are that school and make the rules. Carry on as you usually would - except use every opportunity to travel, explore the country, learn about the culture, and make sufficient cuts on seat work to free up this time. Enjoy! ETA: Do not be concerned - there really is nothing they can "do" to you. Even if you count as temporary residents who have to register with the city (tourists don't have to), bureaucracy is a slooooow beast. By the time any authority has figured out your kids should be attending school but aren't, you have left the country. THIS! Use EVERY opportunity to travel, explore, and learn. Focus on all the history you can. Travel over country lines as often as possible. Hit every art museum possible. Eat local. Have the kiddoes keep a journal with drawings, photos, and writing. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I agree with Tsuga about not doing public school for just four months. That really isn't long enough for a decent immersion experience, especially one that wasn't designed to teach a non-native speaker. It would obviously give your children a good start in German but it would be very difficult to maintain that in the US.I personally think that studying another language is pretty much always a very good thing to do, but I don't think it's always the best or most important thing to do even when an opportunity presents itself. If it were my family, we'd get more out of seeing Germany and Europe rather than having the children in school.Also, those first few weeks or months, depending on the child and the circumstances, in a new school where you don't speak the language can be really hard. With only four months, they might spend most of the time transitioning to school. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 don't have any advice . . but dear niece lives there. (she went to study - and stayed. she and her dh both work there.) she wasn't allowed to take her kids out of school to come to the US for thanksgiving. (big holiday in dh's family.) because it was during school. (she came in early July instead.) her kids are not considered native german speakers - even though they were born there and the nanny only speaks german to them. the school language requirements her kids have are actually more demanding than native kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 What a fantastic opportunity! I'd drop the books and any thoughts of formal schoolwork and just immerse the family in all the amazing things that will be right outside your front door. The history, art, culture, language...it's just so much more meaningful to experience it than read about. Forget formal schooling--enjoy the experiences! The kids will get WAY more out of it. And don't worry about homeschool laws. You are visitors, not residents. No explanations necessary to anyone. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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