Schooling in Germany

Hi all,

I am Anitha.I have a 4 yrs old kid. We live in Duisburg. I want to put him in school.Please give me some guidance on the same..

How is the education in Germany?
Do they teach English or only german?
Is the syllabus here and in india the same?

Regards
Anitha

Hi Anitha,
The schooling in Germany is very good, children are encouraged to be more curious and inquisitive about things around them. If you kid is 4 yrs old, you have to approach a near by Kindergarten, in your neighbourhood only. They might be closed now for summer and will reopen on Sept 1st. The first language will be German. In some private KGs, English is also taught, but it would be at a later stage. Initially it will be German only. In the Stadt Kindergartens, English may not be available.

My 3 year old will start her Kindergarten this Sept. I have no idea if the syllabus is same as India, for that you need to ask someone whose kid is currently in this age group in India. As far as I know, it is not the same. Here it is far better, at least for the initial years of schooling.

Regards,
Nithya

hi Anitha,

They don't have same syllabus as India.
In KinderGarten they teach Kids to be independent..
Reading , writing will start in first Standard..

Best wishes,
Ruhi

Hi Nithya,

Thanks..As you said initial years of schooling might be good here.. but if we move to india wont it be difficult for the kid to study.. hope u know about the syllabus in india..we have second language, third language etc...I am very much worried about this...

Thanks
Anitha

Hi Anitha,

sorry i missed this thread earlier.

My son is 4 yrs old and has been in kindergarden since last year. Luckily we found an english montessori kg for him. But still the rigorous syllabus followed in India cannot be found here (anyway i am not at all in favor of the Indian system these days... when i was in LKG it wasn't this bad!).

In Germany until 3 years of age you send the kid to a state-run tagesstatte (day care centre) or a privately run kinderkrippe (similar to our creche but run by professionaly qualified care-takers who also teach rhymes etc.,) or a tagesmutter (certified nannies who take care of few children at her home).

3 (or sometimes 4 depending on toilet-training rules)-6 they go to kindergarden. From 6 they go to school and there are certain divisions after that which i'm not yet clear about:)

First thing there are no uniforms here. I think there is a British international school (we lived in Dusseldorf for 4 yrs) in Duisburg and if I remember right they have uniform system. I'm not sure if this school has also kindergarden; fees will be exorbitant!

As other IL-ites have mentioned there are no homeworks, no such (only) academic oriented learning until 6. Infact since my son goes to a montessori english pre-school he learns a lot more than the usual norm. But they are taught to be independent... emphasis is on personal and social development. I'm comfortable with that so it depends on the individual.

In our case we do not know when we'll return to India so i'm going by the flow. I do not believe in bringing in text books from home and giving him extra coaching (sorry this is irrelevant to your question but felt like mentioning). So it all depends on your plans and your requirements.

My son's mind works on the basis that German is his mother tongue, english is his second language and he understands tamil perfectly (but doesn't speak yet). I get stressed about all these issues only during our annual trip to India; i get anxious when visitors start asking him the mandatory questions for which he either doesn't know the answers or he's simply not used to impressing people:( but i'm getting used to that as well.

I know of friends who are here on a short-term basis and update their children with indian syllabus. May be that could be your option.

Latha

Hi,

Thanks Latha. Even my son is going to kindergarten for past six months..He knows only very few words in german that too after going to kindergarten.I am here in germany for past 2 yrs. Even i have plan to put him in St George International School duisburg..but the fess is too much.. so having a double mind whether to put him here or in india.. Also worried that if i put him here and suddenly if we go back will he be able to cope with the syllabus there..

Once again thanks for your inputs.



Anitha