Advice on choosing which type of kindergarten

Hello,
We are preparing to move to Munich in the end of April. My daughter won't be 3 until late August. What month do the Kindergarten classes usually begin their school year?

My biggest dilemma is trying to decide if we should enroll our daughter in a strictly German speaking Kindergarten or should we go for a German/English Kindergarten? We will be in Munich for approx 1.5-2 years, after which, we will return to the US. My daughter only speaks English now and does not hear any German spoken in our home, other than hearing my husband and I practice. From reading some of the other postings, it looks like there is a shortage of German/English Kindergartens. What have been your experiences with your children and the kindergartens there in Munich? How did you make the choice between the two? Any of your stories would be appreciated.

Also, my husband's work is going to be paying for the schooling, so cost is not a factor in our decision.

Thanks again for any help. Also, I'm looking forward to meeting some of you at the Mom/Tott groups around the city.
HCnRhi'sMummy

hey,

I think that sending your child to a german day care would be an advantage. My daughter is bi-ligual, I speak english to her at home and during the day she speaks german. -

Hey KateTV,
Did you worry about her not being able to understand the other children or instructors? How long did it take her to pick up on German? I've always heard that children pick up a foreign language faster than adults. What do you do about communicating with the instructors? Do they only speak German when communicating with you? I plan on learning as much German as I can, but being realistic I know that I won't be speaking fluently when we 1st get there.

Thanks for any of your additional input or any input from others!!!
HCnRhisMummy

My child attends a bilingual kindergarten and I find this a benefit as I can speak freely with the staff in English, and therefore know what my child has been doing. She is starting to speak German in the kindergarten after 3 months. It has also been good for social contacts for me, finding people who have relocated for 2/3 years and are in similar situations. Parents evenings and information nights are given in English. It is a private one as most of the bilingual ones are, so is more costly than a German one but they also have a better staff, pupil ratio. They do have waiting lists so it maybe worth enquiring well in advance. I was lucky as the one my child attends only opened in September. The German ones start in the September.

Most kindergardens take your child when they are 3. Since your child turns 3 in August, there would be no problem having them start in any kindergarden assuming there is space. Registration in most kindergardens is going on now. Since your time here is limited, I would enroll your child in a bi-lingual kindergarden. Your child will feel comforted that English is spoken, but still get exposed to German as a second language. Most kids in the bi-lingual kindergardens are German.

My daugther (now 4) started out in a bi-lingual kindergarden for her first year (2-3 yrs old) and then I switched her to an all german kindergarden her second year. We don't speak German at home. She is happy and vocal in German at her current kindergarden. I recommend that you choose a kindergarden close to where you live. My child's mood in the morning directly depends on how long we commute to the kindergarden, I have noticed.

Hi,
We sent our daughter to a German kindergarten. She is bilingual, but at the time of starting Kindergarten, her English was much much stronger. There wasn't a bilingual program close to where we live and I didn't want to spend hours just carting my daughter back and forth.

I work for a non-profit organization which teaches German to non-native speakers in kindergartens www.zkm-muenchen.de, and we have had a lot of success stories where non-German speakers are quickly intigrated into the kindergarten. At the age of 3 your child should have less of a problem in a German kindergarten then say a 5 or 6 year old. But take a good look and see how open the kindergarten is to non-Germans and how willing they are to be helpful.

Additionally, many kindergartens give priority to non-Germans (they get more funding) and so it might be easier and cheeper to find a German kindergarten close by.

There are bilingual programs popping up all over Munich, but do take a good look, as all bilingual programs are not the same and often are lacking in concept and quality.

Hope you find something you are comfortable with.

My 2 year old (Oct 2005 birthdate) started mini preschool when we moved out here. She goes to a private English-speaking preschool. Most of the children in her class are German children who have been placed in the mini preschool to start learning English at an early age. It was hard for my little one to get adjusted. First of all, we were in a new home, in a foreign country, where it rains more than back home and it gets colder. BIG ADJUSTMENT!! Her teachers all speak English and thus I can communicate with them easily (big plus). One thing to keep in mind that her teachers told me in our first parent / teacher conference is that she use to stick by the teachers a lot and not want to play much with the other kids - reason being is that the other little ones did not speak much English yet and thus she did not understand them. However, her teachers spoke English and thus they were her comfort zone. It has been over 1/2 a year now that she has been going to mini preschool and her teachers say she has picked up some German from her classmates.

It's great to learn a new language but if you're going back to the US you should make sure your child learns in what will be her native tongue - the big international schools here believe that too. If you child picks up German along the way, which she or he will - we all do by being immersed than great!!.

In my opinion especially if cost is not a factor go either all English or at least Billingual. Most English only preschools do teach their students German at school and most of the time the class has a large percentage of German children from which they will learn German.