School options for foreign children - Germany

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry to write yet another question about children and school, but I've had several weird conversations lately with German neighbors that have really left my mind swirling.

We are retiring from the military but are planning to stay here. My neighbor was shocked and horrified that we were going to put our 7yo in the German school system when he can not speak German fluently. She basically said it was too hard to manage such a thing (instruction in a foreign language) and a disservice to the child. When I told her that many kids do well and that there are some schools that have language help for foreign kids, she said she never heard of such a thing and it certainly was not in our city. She went on and on about how it was a bad decision and what damage we would do to our children. She basically said, it's our duty as parents that if we stay here we should make the allowance of paying the tuition of $18,000+ per year/per child to keep them in the American system (that would be about $75,000 per year for us). The strange thing is that she is not the only person who has said this to me. We live in a large city so I was shocked that they are shocked.

So now I'm wondering...am I missing something? Am I the one who is misinformed? What do all of the other kids from other countries do? I can't see how it's possible that the majority of people moving to this country are able to find a place and/or afford the tuition for private or International schools for all of their children, or all being able to speak fluent German before moving here, or only moving here when their children are under 4yo to start off in the german system. Homeschooling is illegal so what else is left?

Are there other options for foreigners that I am unaware? Also, is it really that difficult to find a school that offers some type of language support? I don't know what to make of this.

Thanks!

You know the answer really, so I have nothing to add.

Sure, it'll be hard for your kids at first. But if you're really staying here long-term, what's worse for your kids? A couple hard years in the German system or graduating from an American school and not being able to attend Uni here later on, without taking German language exams and possibly the Studienkolleg first?

Your seven year will do fine in the German system- spend some extra money on private language lessons if necessary and try and get them immersed as quickly as possible. The people you have been talking to are ignorant to say the least.

I had to struggle to get my daughter into after school care as well as I am not working. However I couldn´t see the point of her coming home at 12 and spending the rest of the day with English speaking me, having spoken German for 3 hours a day. She is immersed in German until 2.30-3 each day now, so please consider this as well. The Hort didn´t see the immersion of my daughter as a valid reason at all for her to be in after-school care, so you may have to fight for this. Luckily our school had two programs and one took her, even though I had to lie and say I was working part-time! Raubenmutter! (?)

There is help for foreign students in my limited experience- one school in Munich- with a dedicated class which my daughter graduated from after 2 months (though children who had started 1st class with zero in September are still there). Find out from your local school what is available, and if nothing, be the one that changes that!

If we are still here when my daughter turns 10 and I feel she has been disadvantaged by being a foreigner here (there are some threads on this in Family Life I think if you look further back), we will consider other options (I promised her a mobile phone if she gets into gymnasium - and yes, it is important to me).

The German school system is Evull! I'd never put my kids through it.

I think your neighbour is talking out of her arse.

Your kid will be speaking perfect German in 6-9 months.

Encourage him7her to bring friends around to play as often as possible, kids at that age seem to communicate well without spoken language and they will pick it up in no time.

I disagree with UrbanAngel, from my experience of the German school system with 3 kids, I'd say that it is first class. Much much better that state schools in the UK.

You apparently have four kids, so you do not have a choice. Place weight on the opinions of those who have gone through similar situations.

Anyone implying you are a bad parent for not forking out 75Gs is not really being sincere in their advice.

18,000 US Dollars would be well over 50% of what most people here earn after tax.

Mlora,

I wanted to comment on your posting concerning school options for your children. I have been researching possible schools for my children myself (13 and 14) and their German is limited too. Generally there are public schools available that are equipped to handle a smooth integration into the German language. I found that bigger cities are generally offering some kind of bi-lingual education. A good start is the Schulbehoerde in your area. I also recommend that you visit the schools beforehand and get a feel for them. I don't believe that you are doing the kids any disservice since it is not impossible to learn a new language at any age. I was 18 years old when I became an exchange student and with limited English I did survive high school. Yes the first months were hard but it is possible. Good luck and please sharing your findings.

We put both ours in German school when they were 8 and 4 respectively.

It was tought for a couple of months but kids just soak it up. They are now completely fluent

We put our youngest daughter into the German system when she was just seven. She had already been at school in the UK, but we decided that since she had no German that it would be better to start her from the beginning again. So although she more or less knew the work, she could learn German as she went. We certainly could not have afforded a private school on our "home-posting" three years in Germany.

She had a few difficult moments, but it worked. At the beginning she used to come home and talk English non stop with her dolls - and she wasn't really a doll-type child. She just need to clear her head I think. She is bi-lingual now, did her bi-lingual IB. If you are not experienced in the German system, it will help to find a few congenial mums from the children in her class. It helps if you sometimes have to???

Thanks for your replies!

It still boggles the mind how they spoke to me as if "I" was the one with issues. I just wanted to double check with you all and make sure I wasn't missing some pertinent piece of information about the schools here. (whew)

Now I will confidently return to my initial thoughts about our situation...and those neighbors.

I'd file it under the category of other people feeling they have the right to voice their personal opinions about your parenting in general. A favorite pastime with Germans, as I recall.

Schools vary a lot across Germany. Make an informed decision by visiting the local schools and asking how they integrate non-native speakers. Also, if at all possible talk to people who have kids there rather than neighbours who may be basing their judgement on heresay. You may also think about organising some extra help in German ( cheaper than an International school ) as a child does need to be able to follow what is going on to benefit from education. The risk is that if he is unable to keep up during his first year he will be recommended to repeat a year and then be stuck in class with children younger than himself for the rest of his time at school which can be demotivating and difficult socially.

I don´t think "being stuck in class with children younger than himself" is considered so much of a problem here in Germany.

Last year I had a little boy at a birthday party pointed out to me who while being perfectly able was made to repeat 2nd class by his lawyer parents so he would be the oldest in the class and therefore a shoo-in (maturity wise) for Gymnasium in 4th class. Ok, maybe there was more to it, however repeating a class is a real stigma in Australia (and quite rare), but not seen that way here.