German Einschulung vs. American 1st day of school

[dmbartender 89]

Hey guys, it has been a little while since I posted here. Next week is Einschulung, and I made a video about it. Have any of you gotten anything special for your 1st day of school, like the german kids get? I know that I didn't...it was a pretty normal day. But I love what the germans do! Feel free to check out the video, and drop a comment if you like.

 

 

[kiplette 7,802]

Well that was fun - good job  Nice Ranzen - you've got a really nice Oma - ours mostly came off ebay 

 

Up here in Niedersachsen it's on a Saturday, so that all the parents etc. can come. Your comment about taking a day off work suggests maybe yours is midweek?

Our kids have their first lesson on that day - I sort of assumed they all do, so after the 'sorting ceremony' they go off with the new teacher to the classroom and do something cool so they think coming back on Monday will be worth it :). The parents get coffee and cake (organised by the 2nd Klasse/PTA) and then the kids come out to get returned to their parents.

 

The first school we used did a BBQ for the parents/kids at that point, and then everyone shoved off to their own celebration.

 

What we didn't realise for kid#1 was that people go home and carry on celebrating with a wider group of people (here only parents and godparents go to the official events) so for the next 3 we upped our game a bit 

 

In the UK, the kids get brought in to FS1 or the Reception class and left to weep with their new teacher, whilst the parents shove off (weeping or cheering, depending) until the end of the day. It is so much better here - a real rite of passage, and a great celebration. We took a British deputy headmistress with us to kid#2's and she couldn't believe how brilliant it was.

[jubinjohn 143]

Oh yes, india follows the british tradition . Next day of the school opening, newspapers in india celebrate with crying or rather traumatized faces of 5 year olds. I always wondered why it has to be like this. Is nt there a better way to send children to acquire skills and knowledge for the next 10 years or more?. 

Germany does it way better

[HH_Sailor 2,749]

My kid's school has the 4th class as a partner class. Each 1st yr child has a named 4th to look after them, pick them up after class and take them to the next class, show them the school grounds, cafeteria etc. 

 

Wears off by the autumn hols, but I thought it a good idea.

[Fietsrad 101]

What about Schulzranzen, school rucksacks? They are marketed intensively, a good (?) one costs €349. The miserable children get their first exposure to consumerism at Schulzranzenmessen, which are held on the premises of car dealers!

 

Little Johnny was overwhelmed by the display of fancy rucksacks. "I don't know which to buy, mum, can you choose?", he whimpered.

[MikeMelga 6,490]

1 minute ago, Fietsrad said:

What about Schulzranzen, school rucksacks? They are marketed intensively, a good (?) one costs €349. The miserable children get their first exposure to consumerism at Schulzranzenmessen, which are held on the premises of car dealers!

Funny how many expensive private schools have no such demand for expensive backpacks! My kid uses a 17€ backpack. Good enough to take his water, a hat and the library books.

 

In Portugal first day of school is nothing special.

[LeonG 14,245]

I don't remember there being any ceremonies in Iceland when I started school.  I vaguely recall going with my mom to an appointment to see the teacher and classroom, maybe a couple of days earlier and then school just started.

 

Some kids are happy to start school, some are not that impressed but I never knew of any kids to be traumatized or crying.

[pmd 613]

4 hours ago, Fietsrad said:

What about Schulzranzen, school rucksacks? They are marketed intensively, a good (?) one costs €349. The miserable children get their first exposure to consumerism at Schulzranzenmessen, which are held on the premises of car dealers!

 

Little Johnny was overwhelmed by the display of fancy rucksacks. "I don't know which to buy, mum, can you choose?", he whimpered.

 

Ergobag? We got one of last year's models that was on sale for 135€. I just looked and there are a few used on eBay Kleinanzeigen  - now is a good time to buy if you wanted one for next August.  There are definitely options not to pay the full price. 

[MikeMelga 6,490]

4 hours ago, LeonG said:

Some kids are happy to start school, some are not that impressed but I never knew of any kids to be traumatized or crying.

Those traumatized are the ones who buy big guns to protect themselves in those wacky countries.

[kiplette 7,802]

2 hours ago, pmd said:

  There are definitely options not to pay the full price

 

Absolutely.

 

We bought kid#1's bag full price (Scout in 2005, so not vastly expensive) but the rest were ebay - new bargains, or the last one second hand, hardly used - the original owner 'changed his mind' after a month or two and my kid saw it on ebay and wanted it, so for about 40€ we got the whole package.

 

There are always hugely expensive options for people who have more money than sense, but surely anyone with even half a brain won't take their kid to a Ranzen fair, unless they have dmbartender's Granny :)

 

7 hours ago, MikeMelga said:

Funny how many expensive private schools have no such demand for expensive backpacks!

 

Not really - the job is completely different. Most private schools don't follow the traditional pattern of a German school, and the kids are not carrying the same load, so clearly a proper Ranzen would be way OTT.

[tor 14,939]

at my house....

 

 

[dmbartender 89]

3 hours ago, kiplette said:

 

Absolutely.

 

We bought kid#1's bag full price (Scout in 2005, so not vastly expensive) but the rest were ebay - new bargains, or the last one second hand, hardly used - the original owner 'changed his mind' after a month or two and my kid saw it on ebay and wanted it, so for about 40€ we got the whole package.

 

There are always hugely expensive options for people who have more money than sense, but surely anyone with even half a brain won't take their kid to a Ranzen fair, unless they have dmbartender's Granny :)

 

 

Not really - the job is completely different. Most private schools don't follow the traditional pattern of a German school, and the kids are not carrying the same load, so clearly a proper Ranzen would be way OTT.

Haha, well what can I say? If Oma wants to buy the Schulranzen, then I let her do that. She is from the DDR, where the start of school was celebrated even much more than in Bavaria. And she is good at saving, so she likes to be generous with the kids, which I can appreciate. If I was buying it, I would spend more time doing research for other options, maybe buying one like you did on eBay or something. €250 is a lot of dough!

[dmbartender 89]

On 9/11/2021, 8:54:12, kiplette said:

Well that was fun - good job  Nice Ranzen - you've got a really nice Oma - ours mostly came off ebay 

 

Up here in Niedersachsen it's on a Saturday, so that all the parents etc. can come. Your comment about taking a day off work suggests maybe yours is midweek?

Our kids have their first lesson on that day - I sort of assumed they all do, so after the 'sorting ceremony' they go off with the new teacher to the classroom and do something cool so they think coming back on Monday will be worth it :). The parents get coffee and cake (organised by the 2nd Klasse/PTA) and then the kids come out to get returned to their parents.

 

The first school we used did a BBQ for the parents/kids at that point, and then everyone shoved off to their own celebration.

 

What we didn't realise for kid#1 was that people go home and carry on celebrating with a wider group of people (here only parents and godparents go to the official events) so for the next 3 we upped our game a bit 

 

In the UK, the kids get brought in to FS1 or the Reception class and left to weep with their new teacher, whilst the parents shove off (weeping or cheering, depending) until the end of the day. It is so much better here - a real rite of passage, and a great celebration. We took a British deputy headmistress with us to kid#2's and she couldn't believe how brilliant it was.

Thanks for sharing, Kiplette! I think it is so cool, how various regions celebrate differently. I was flabbergasted when a dude at work told me sometimes they get bouncy castles and stuff for the party. They really go the whole 9 yards!

I kind of thought the UK would celebrate a little closer to Germany, but it sounds more like the USA.

Cheers!

Tom

[MikeMelga 6,490]

5 hours ago, kiplette said:

Not really - the job is completely different. Most private schools don't follow the traditional pattern of a German school, and the kids are not carrying the same load, so clearly a proper Ranzen would be way OTT.

And yet... nobody parades expensive backpacks... kids come with dirty shoes, gym clothes with holes on them...

[mtbiking 1,463]

1 hour ago, MikeMelga said:

And yet... nobody parades expensive backpacks... kids come with dirty shoes, gym clothes with holes on them...

I could be mean and say that after paying those expensive  school fees, well, something really has to give 😛

 

I more or less chose my postal code for the public school quality and we’re happy so far about it: friends in Munich have some nasty stories to tell that we just don’t share. I don’t notice expensive clothes or whatever but I may be the wrong one to ask. The school rucksacks are expensive. The first day party is very cute: Looking forward to Tuesday as our second one starts school. We invited the direct family and one of his best friends for a BBQ. Nothing fancy, but nice.

[MikeMelga 6,490]

8 hours ago, mtbiking said:

I could be mean and say that after paying those expensive  school fees, well, something really has to give 😛

 

In general it's a very relaxed school. There is of course a small group that over dresses, all of them from some german pseudo high society.

Regarding being expensive... it's either that or go back to Portugal. German school is completely out of question.

[Krieg 14,110]

23 hours ago, MikeMelga said:

Funny how many expensive private schools have no such demand for expensive backpacks! My kid uses a 17€ backpack. Good enough to take his water, a hat and the library books.

 

In Portugal first day of school is nothing special.

 

Not sure what you are talking about, no school demands expensive backpacks. 

 

And considering kids in public school carry a considerable amount of stuff everyday, I would think that a 17 EUR backpack won't cut it if you care about your kid's back.   Sure it is good in your case, but it does not apply to the majority.

[Tap 8,156]

39 minutes ago, Krieg said:

And considering kids in public school carry a considerable amount of stuff everyday, I would think that a 17 EUR backpack won't cut it if you care about your kid's back.   Sure it is good in your case, but it does not apply to the majority.

 

German schools don't have lockers, at least they didn't when my children were going. The children had to carry all the books they needed that day, into school themselves, so they needed a good, sturdy backpack.  You don't have to buy the most expensive ones, I certainly didn't, you can buy second-hand too.  The pressure to have the best, or the most expensive, often comes from other parents, not the school.

[MikeMelga 6,490]

27 minutes ago, Tap said:

 

German schools don't have lockers, at least they didn't when my children were going. The children had to carry all the books they needed that day, into school themselves, so they needed a good, sturdy backpack.

I think this is the point: why are kids carrying so much stuff around?

My kid doesn't even need a backpack, it's more for the water and library books. Everything else is either in school or online.

Why not move to a digital world and save millions of trees?

 

EDIT: I think we had the exact same discussion last year...

[Krieg 14,110]

47 minutes ago, MikeMelga said:

I think this is the point: why are kids carrying so much stuff around?

My kid doesn't even need a backpack, it's more for the water and library books. Everything else is either in school or online.

Why not move to a digital world and save millions of trees?

 

EDIT: I think we had the exact same discussion last year...

 

Because you speak from the comfort of your elitism.  If you were more connected with the reality you would already know the catastrophe that was online education during the lockdown for the middle lower class and specially for the younger kids.   Berlin had to give away a gazillion of tablets and notebooks and this was still not enough.

 

And even if you solved the problem of the books, the kids still have to carry around their workbooks, their notes, their stationary, etc, etc.

 

And since we are talking about first day of school, I am sure some people would realize the difficulties of having online materials for kids who can't yet read.  Of course you might come here again from your disconnected world and tell us how your kid was writing apps when he was one year old.