Our GERMAN GRUNDSCHULE Culture Shocks! 🇩🇪How Our American Kids are Doing in German Elementary School
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2024
- Continuing our series about how our American kids are doing in German schools, here's our experience in Grundschule (Elementary School). Our boys started in February of 2021 in the 2nd, 4th, and 5th grades. Besides the obvious language barrier, there have been MANY other cultural differences we were not prepared for! It's all part of the adventure of living in another country.
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//CHAPTERS//
0:00 - Fall scenes from our garden
00:33 - What Grundschule (Elementary School) was like for us in the USA
05:20 - Stundenplan - the school schedule is much different for us
14:16 - Handwriting and Cursive - much greater emphasis in Germany than in America
17:08 - Helping with Homework is much more difficult
20:20 - Class names are known differently
21:56 - No cafeteria or lunchtime in our school
24:45 - Krankmeldung - process to alert the school when your child is sick is different
26:46 - More field trips!
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Hey guys - we've been doing a whole series on how school is going for our four kids, from Kindergarten to Gynmasium! Here are the other videos in case you missed them.
Kindergarten Culture Shocks - th-cam.com/video/ITr2nQj9UZ0/w-d-xo.html
Kindergarten - Our Daughter's Experience So Far - th-cam.com/video/vhmv4vSrQ74/w-d-xo.html
What German School is Like for Our American Kids - th-cam.com/video/gJxD0uLOS4s/w-d-xo.html
Don't worry the A-B-C and so on is not a measure of learning ability or such. It is just a way to keep all the classes apart according to the year.
Ask the teacher for "Deutschförderung" , "Förderung von Migranten", "außerschulische Hausaufgaben-hilfe"
Once I had a math problem in elementary school this was something like this: "Herr Müller hat 2 Hunde 5 Katzen und einen Fisch. Wie alt ist er.". The problem wasn't really like this but it felt as it were written like this. About the thing with the class names. When you don't know the letter of the class of someone else but you know who is the class teacher you will use the last name of the teacher. But I only can Say that this is what I experienced but I think other germans can relate to it aswell
In case you relocate someday within Germany, you'll probably notice there is no uniform nationwide school system in Germany, becuause education is "Ländersache". So every state in Germany has its own school system.
Some examples of differnces:
A few States have 6 years of primary school. You change to the higher schools wirh the beginning of the 7th grade. Bavaria has a three way school system with Gymnasium, Mittelschule and Hauptschule. Some states only have a two way system with Gymnasium and a combined school for everyone doesn't making it to the Gymnasium. In most states you can get your Abitur there as well if you do an extra year bridging the gap to the Gymnasiun level. In some states you generally do your Abitur after twelve years, in some 13 years are more common. There are different rules for private schools and even for the stuff you get tought. For example: In Bavaria Religion is a regulary subject you can choice and get marks for. In Berlin that's unthinkable. They once hat an plebiscite about this subject. It was rejected with a big majority.
After-school care is relativly new in the former western part of germany. In the eastern part it has a far longer history and so is more established.
American "school food for the poor" is what again? Sorry ... but you need to include QUALITY in your assessment!
Jamie Oliver (a british TV chef) had an episode about ITALIAN school food ... and there the moms of the children would come to the school kitchen and cook for their children ... and if you get a chance to compare italian "cafeteria" with anything in Germany ... it is an experience. Germany: edible / ok; Italy: good restaurant quality ... I dread what US cooking would be like.
Telling the school on time that your child is sick is also a safety thing. Many kids walk to school and if they are not there on time something might have happend - like an accident or something. Then the school would inform the police.
Very good point! We hadn’t even thought of that. Good to keep the kids safe.
Also, we have Schulpflicht. Kids have to go to school.
Or kids might decide to stay at the playground for the school day and tell their parents that they were at school and the teachers that they were sick :D
i dont think that its a "safety" thing, but an "insurance" thing. the school is responsible for the kids during school hours and if one gets hit by a car during that time period the school gets sued / is responsible. as soon as they get the krankmeldung they are no longer responsible. thats the reason why schools dont allow students to leave the school property during "school time" at all.
It is also due to the fact that school attendance in Germany is compulsory, whereas in the US you could also homeschool your kids. So calling the school in the morning and checking on families also ensures that children are actually attending school and parents "fulfill" their kids their compulsory education.
The sport with 9 pins is called Kegeln, its like bowling, only a little different.
I was poor in school, i went to every trip. If we couldn't pay, i only had to go to the school bureau, got a paper and we send it somewhere. It was paid for me.
For the great Trips at the end of school, we had to bring 10 euro a month in the last year. And then the class decided where to go with our budget.
Kegeln wurde in den USA zeitweise verboten, das dazu stellen eines weiteren Kegels und die Löcher in der größeren Kugel waren Methoden um das Verbot zu umgehen.
Get them a Fahrradkorb so they don’t have to carry their backpacks on their back. Its much easier. Fahrradkorb is the way to go😀✌️
th-cam.com/video/LDSICyjYZAg/w-d-xo.html
Okay cool, I’ll have to look that up. Our kids can’t really ride their bicycles to school, though. There aren’t good bicycle lanes or sidewalks though town so nearly all of the kids walk to school in our town.
I love that German kids are so happily independent! Canadian here and I find children now are so over parented. I’d love to move to Germany. Watching Ella colour, she is doing so well!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife but get one for the back off the bike not for the front a front basket would make controling the bike difficult with something as havy as a fully packed Ranzen
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife but beware, them showing up with some sort of trolley might lead to bullying
This "light soles" thing has actually a reason ! The Indoor sport facility has a floor where dark soles make dark traces on. It is much effort to undo them ! That s the reason for light soles.
And the sport lessons have the purpose to let the student sweat. To uphold to the sports wear for multiple lessons would be smelly .
Yes we do understand that reason. 😀 In the US we also have wooden floors in the gyms so I’m not sure why they don’t also require white soles for the shoes.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife there's wooden floors? in Germany there's some kind of soft-ish rubbery floor
@@chrstiania at least in my time in a Hauptschule in Würzburg (Bavaria) now 15-20 years ago had that rubbery floor outside where the track / soccer / jumping pit was. And a normal wooden floor inside like in basketball. I did "forget" my stuff all the time for gym class. And had to write a ton of essays, somewhere down the line the teacher didn't even read it anymore and just let me do my homework for same day, because i never did it anyways when at home.
@@chrstiania Wood floors are usually the norm tho. Every school I've ever been in had wooden floors indoors. The softish gritty floors are in the outside facilities.
@@flowerdolphin5648
Every school gym I have ever been in had linoleum/rubber Zeugs floors.
I never realized that kids going to their school on their own is a thing. I was going on my own to school and back home every day for ten years. In Europe that's so usual nobody is even thinking about it.
I'm french, 61, it's was the same when I was young. As a mother, I lived near the schools, primary school and école maternelle ( from 3 to 6 years old) , just on the other side of the road. New build erea and the parents were used to take and collect their children by cars, and try to park the nearest they can, even if they live less than 500m away ! Parents were shocked when they discovered than my young son walk alone to school at 7 year old. He only had a few 100 m on the pavement to walk and a zebra crossing to cross the road ! We taught him how to walk alone in safety. Some parents still drive their kid to secondary school, some let them take the public transport but without any "street behaviour learning" , it's why there is quiet a lot of street accident involving 11 years old here.
Yeah isn’t it interesting how it’s so normal for Europeans and not at all common for Americans?
My nephew is 5 and walks to school by himself. He lives in a smaller community in South Florida. Kids still walk to school by themselves. It's just they never do it in bigger cities.
Yea, not only do we walk alone to school, but from an early age we also come home to an empty house if parents are at work :) I think we learn to become independent at an earlier age. In the US it's not uncommon for parents to be involved in deciding about their college/university program, I think that would be unheard of in Europe. MIght be because of the late legal age in the US? or because parents pay for their education? Just guessing - maybe someone has a better answer.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Traffik and even the very streets are organized in a different way. So it is kinda only natural that you drive your kids to school when most areas are very car depended and some streets don't even account for people walking around.
It's just not really safe (anymore) in the states to have your kids walking to school for the most part and thus it became a part of culture to not do it, even in the few towns left were it would actually be safe.
No, they actually do not let you alone if you are, say, unemployed or have to live on social assistance for other reasons. I used to be a single mom with two kids for many years when my kids were young, only getting smaller jobs and needing additional top-up for a longer period of time. All that time I could apply to either the Jobcenter or the local authorities for something called "Bildung und Teilhabe", meaning: assistance for kids of poorer families to be able to take part in things which would be difficult otherwise. Like a certain sum at the beginning of each school year to buy necessary things (like the right shorts and the famous shoes with white soles *lol*), and assistance to buy food in the cafeteria or canteen, and - most important - they paid for each and every school trip, near and far, so these kids (my kids too) did not have to stay at home. All you had to do was to go and apply for that, prove the authenticity ... they supported us even with the respective graduation trips abroad, no problem, no long fussing, and moreover - one of my kids did not go the direct way from Grundschule via Gymnasium to the Abitur (for reasons of some sort of handicap) but made her way via different schools, "topping up" her education too, so to speak, and all the time when she finished a certain degree and they had their graduation trips, we could apply for assistance and they helped us. They did help us enormously, couldn't have done it otherwise, so - no, we were never left alone and the kids (ha, they are both in their late twenties now *g*) could make their way rather carefree.
Sorry for pouring my story out so lengthily here, but it is often said that "der Staat" leaves you alone and kids can't take part in anything and feel left out ... that has never been the case with our little family. You just have to ask, they can't guess what you need miraculously :-)
All the best to you - I still love to watch your videos, they are great fun to watch.
So glad to hear the state has taken care of you! So many single moms in America would be much better off if they lived in Germany.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I'm pretty sure the US has WIC and food stamps. Also, isn't most food served in American school cafeterias complete junk?
The difficulty lies in knowing what you have to do, which form you have to get, who needs to sign it and where it needs to be send to. Even for an native German it's quite the task and if you do not understand that specific way of German written language, you are completely lost. "Der Staat" will help you but you have to be able to get that help.
@@MWladimirovna Yes, I do understand your point of view, and please believe me if I say that it was no real walk-in-the-park for me either, (which you might assume when reading my song of praise here ☺). The selected choice of words I did use at such times then, coming home after an especially trying sparring round with different authorities about one form or another ... well, certainly wasn't something you would teach your children 😁
Above, I just wanted to give sort of counterbalance to some people who tend to go on loudly and publicly (not here in this place, n.b.) with regard to the "mean" Staat who rendes no help at all ... there are many countries where people in my situation - as it was when my kids were younger 👩👧👦- might have faced considerably more obstacles.
Well, anyway, I see the special difficulties you are referring to, which I may not have had to that extent. So my best wishes go out to you; may you find all the help you can get, especially with regard to the bureaucracy jungle 🙄
It’s always interesting when you teach us something about the US, such as the fact that classes are named after the teachers. I didn’t know that! You should do more of that.
I did :)
What I experienced from friends whose first language isn't German: they actually tend to have a lot of trouble learning German in Berlin or a similarly big city. Since it is really "en vogue" to speak English (in cafés, bars, etc.) , you don't really need German in these bigger cities. Thus, a lot of friends have trouble using their German skills in everyday life. While it might be harder for you and your kids to learn the first things in German with no bigger second language programs around, I think it might be an advantage to live in a smaller town where you are more "forced" to practice your German every day. Chin up, your kids will do great, I'm pretty sure! 😊
Yeah very good points. It’s harder at first but we are all going to learn much faster.
I do think things will turn out well. Thanks for the encouragement!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife So long as the kids are playing with other (German-speaking) kids and having fun doing so, they will learn the language better than they ever could in a classroom. Language wants to be spoken to be learned ;)
About the sports shoe issue: the reason schools here are so fussy about the soles being white is that colored soles can permanently leave skid marks on the floors of the indoor sports halls. So making sure this doesn't happen helps preserve the school resources for future students. Most likely, the sport-pants thing also has some kind of health and safety reason.
Breaks in school are usually meant for snacks, between breakfast and lunchtime, as the days in the Grundschule are not too long. So anything that is easy and quick to eat works best. My son hates eating fast, so he tends to take some nuts and dried fruit. Easy to eat and high in energy ;) For bigger meals...there are usually after-school programs (Hort) kids can be registered to (for example if both parents work) where the kids will get a warm lunch and then have help with homework as well as activities. These programs tend not to be free of charge, but low-income families (or those with no income) can apply to have the fees covered by the government, and they can apply for "Bildung und Teilhabe" which covers the bigger chunk of the meal cost (here, instead of paying 4 euros per meal the parents would pay 1 euro) So families who are overwhelmed with having to provide meals for their kids do have this option in addition to the social support.
they actually tend to have a lot of trouble learning German in Berlin or a similarly big city....Das stimmt einfach nicht!
@@Poshypaws It's just the experience I got from my friends
I remember heavy book bags being a topic when I was a kid - though we were allowed to leave books at school. But then you'd inevitable forget the stuff you need for homework so, it's a gamble :D
Advice from adult me on carrying a heavy backpack: Chest strap is nice but hip strap will change your life! If your boys are really struggling and aren't growing into their backpacks, maybe try small hiking packs that have a padded strap around the hips to redistribute the weight.
I ended up with a bent /curved back for life from carrying heavy school books daily in a heavy backpack as i walked to school in Ireland too. We had lockers but the teacher would give us homework and we needed to carry heavy books for science, business, maths, french etc...it all added up. To prevent my brother having the same problem my mom bought my brother 2 sets of each of his school books. I used to always get new school books...but my mom bought my brother secondhand school books from the students in the year above..
And could then afford to buy him 2 copies of each book.
@@traceymarshall5886 It's kind of excessive with so much homework in a day. Maybe they should instead extend the school day a bit and let the free time be more free.
You have to tell them that your child is sick before school starts so that they can alert you if your child doesn't arrive. I think that is different because the kids walk to school and could run into trouble on the way.
Yeah that makes a lot of sense! We had not thought of it that way.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife i dont think that its just a "safety" thing, but an "insurance" thing. the school is responsible for the kids during school hours and if one gets hit by a car during that time period the school gets sued / is responsible. as soon as they get the krankmeldung they are no longer responsible. thats the reason why schools dont allow students to leave the school property during "school time" at all.
That's exactly the reason. Teacher speaking here.
Just for Info the "Entschuldigung" is so important because in Germany children have to go to school for about 12 years by law. So if your child is beeing not at school for a long time without an "Entschuldigung" the school is supose to inform the authorities about that and in worst case they sent the police to pick up the child at home and bring them to school. And parents can get a punishment by the law for not sending the Kids to school.
Yes totally, that makes sense. And actually, we did not explain this well in the video. In the US the parents also have to report to the school if the child is sick. I think the difference for us was that we had to call the school. But it’s a small difference that doesn’t matter so much.
and, just to add that, you as a parent will be very happy about that in the nearer future, namely, if your child will visit Gymnasium and will go there by himself or herself, you'd be noted IMMEDIATLY if the child won't show up at school, which will help you knowing that everything's fine if the phone won't ring.
In America children are reqiired by law as well to go to school. And we need to tell the school when children are sick. The difference is that the report needs to be in before school starts. It was a surprise for me that the system shuts down when school starts. Just a difference I need to adjust to.
The 'Schulgesetz' demands 9 years of school visits. Usually you finish off with a 'Hauptschulabschluss' then and start an apprenticeship.
@@kathrin9674 that depends very much on the school.
It is the standard in Germany as well as Scandinavia and probably more places in Europe to seperate the same year classes by ABCD etc.
The class will stay together through the years, but they might change teachers, so using letters makes it easy to identify the groups.
Also, especially in the later years, you might have a Klassenlehrer that only teaches music or religion or art, which are usually only taught 2h per week, so they aren’t even that present for the class. Their function is more that of a councilor or a spokesperson the class can go to, so they identify more as the 8b then they identify as Mr X. class. Especially in the last two years of Gymnasium with the way you can pick your own classes, you might have a class teacher that doesn’t even teach you anymore.
Ah yeah, good point! Yes we’d forgotten about how the kids stay together in the class - that would’ve been good to mention.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I’ve been to school in Germany and it was always 1A, 1B, etc. up to 9 or 10. also I’ve been in Korea and Japan and there it’s always 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, etc but they start at 1 again in middle school and high school. So your 7th year of school you transfer to middle school and your class will be 1 again, that confused me at first xD
Also, the letters implicitly put the classes of the same year in an order. In primary school this order is basically random, but later on there is often a little bit of differentiation. For example, at my Gymnasium the ordering was: first the classes that taught Latin as a second foreign language (or would start doing so later) and later French as a third, then the classes that taught French as the second foreign language and no third language, but had extra science courses. So in a typical year they had a 5a (foreign language oriented) and a 5b (science oriented). However, I was part of a larger cohort, so in my year there was a 5a, 5b and 5c. I don't remember which type the 5b was. This system makes it easier for everyone to remember the specializations of the classes.
@@johaquila My Gymnasium (Saarland 1968 to 1977) was science oriented, but the differentiation was similar. A and B: French as first language, C and D English as first language. At that time this school in Saarbrücken was the only one with English as first language, French was the standard in other schools, or Latin for language oriented schools..
I don't know if someone has mentioned this already, but I remember that the whole discussion about wearing the correct gym shorts was due to safety reasons. Gym shorts usually don't have buttons or zippers which would be dangerous depending on the things they are doing in their PE class (which in Grundschule does involve quite a bit of gymnastics and climbing up and down things) - so maybe that is why the teacher was "so strict" and didn't let him participate in the class. My school usually provided an extra pair of shorts but maybe that isn't too hygienic nowadays...
Genau so isses.
@@vlogbikini7629 @my merry messy life watch out. it's a porn website link.
I am a teacher at Gymnasium (though not a sports teacher) and from my colleagues I know that they have to be very strict with that sports clothing issue. So even if they wanted they usually don't have many possibilities to be more flexible regarding that point.
The reason that they have to be so strict is that it is an insurance issue. If something happened to the kid while wearing the wrong shorts the teacher and school would be liable as the normal insurance might not cover it. Therefore, there is no lenience there at all.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think she mentioned sending their child jean shorts for Sports class. Whether the Sports teacher is strict or not, I think we all know why the child cannot participate in sports wearing denim shorts -- it's not just safe and comfortable for the child to do sports in denim shorts where he/she is expected to participate in strenuous physical activities like running, gymnastics, climbing, kicking balls, etc.
a few things for context
1: you as a parent are not supposed to know when they have Sport/gym class. The child is. That's why there is a plan, forgetting your sport bag is very much frowned upon, making you a "Turnbeutelvergesser", literally someone who forgot to bring said bag and meaning the being a thoughtless, unorganised student.
2: pretty much the same with books and school supplies. Your children should only bring what they need the very next day. Every day they need to pack their Rucksack/Ranzen anew. This gets more important the more subjects are introduced. Having each subject a different color for "Hefter" and "Arbeitsbücher" (foulders and worksheet collections) as well as regular books helps big time. The "Stundenplan"/timetable is for them, not the parents. It shows them when they are supposed to be where doing what and infers what might be needed. That's why they learn to read clocks in first grade and should wear one.
3: Why school grades have letter suffixes? This is because the children change both rooms and teachers during the day, commonly even at first and second grade (which might be somewhat less the case in such a small village school). The teacher who gives lessons in writing/Deutsch isn't nessessarily the one who does math and Sachkunde (natural sciences inroduction). But what remains constant is their group of fellow students, their group. They will keep the letter. 2A will become 3A, then 4A, it always being the same students getting growing up. In Gymnasium, they will travel in between rooms every 45 or 90 min lesson, changing teachers every time. This allows schoolrooms to be specificly tailored for teaching any given subject.
4: don't help with homework unless your kids get really stuck (and not even a sibling or a friend can help). Most (if not all) homework is designed to be done by the children themselves, as it is usually a repetition of what was done in school already. They are supposed to know what to do. Them asking for help means either they did not comprehend their lessons or they really just want to rope you into doing them for you.
5: Hot Lunches are done only once school goes on after midday. Which in a 4 grade Grundschule might mean never. Weiterführende Schulen/further schooling will have a designated lunchbreak and a cafeteria serving real meals. Snacks and drinking might even be permissible during the lessons, otherwise just when they get a minute.
6: In regards to poverty: actual food poverty is as guessed not really a thing that happens (and underfeeding your child would get child services involved anyway, it's a sure way to loose custody to the state). Parents get Kindergeld, plus "Kindergrundsicherung" if they don't have a job or earn less than what is considered necessary, which means a kind of basic income for children. Also poor parents can bring any kind of extra costs due to Klassenfahrten (school excursions, starting at 3 days and later up to two weeks), lunch money, school supplies, daytrips and so on to the local government (where to exactly might differ) for reembursement, so their children should never be in fear of being excluded from school activities due to factors beyond their contol (unlike losing or forgetting your gymbag).
6: when they are somewhat mature (opinions differ, I got mine at age 8), give them a housekey (like on a flexible chain with a snap hook/Karabinerhaken going on their jeans, so they don't lose it). Since stay at home moms (or dads) are somewhat uncommon, elementary school age children are expected to get home from school, get themseves something to eat and pass the time (meaning doing what they think is best) until a parent comes home from work. The whole German system has them being in charge of indepentent routines, with little supervision at all.
7: school starting at 8:00 is a luxury. Expect Gymnasium to start earlier. Mine began at 6:45 Uhr, every day
Our oldest two go to gymnasium now and it starts at 8:00…yeah all of these rules about the sports bag and homework make sense when the child is born and raised in Germany and already speaks fluent German. They do not make sense when the child has just moved to a new country and the school and doesn’t speak the language yet.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife i understand both sides. you didn't know what to ask for that could be different and the school didn't know what to tell you that might differ
These "fill in" or "complete" homeworks are repeats of problems done in class. It's often extends the schoolbook. Some teacher will add something like a page number on the homework to help the parents. :-)
First thing you have to ask "what have you done in the last class session?" and then guide the kid though what it has learned.
As far as i know it's different in the USA. This type of Homework don't really rely on the class lesson. It helps to remember it, but it's not really needed top do the homework.
In Germany the homework is to make the kid remember the lesson, and with that fixate it in memory. Not to make it learn the lesson.
Naja, ist aber oft auch Vorbereitung für die nächste Stunde.
Normally in Grundschule there is a 10 minute "Frühstückspause" after the first break at around 10am. The kids just sit at their desk and eat the food they brought from home. Sometimes teachers are reading a story to them during that time.
Where I live the Grundschulen have a cafeteria, but only for the kids who stay until the afternoon und need to eat lunch. They get a warm lunch there.
Okay yes, this is what our school does also. Now it makes sense - since children each lunch at home. At first we couldn’t figure it out at all! Now it’s funny looking back.
Normally isnt really a word we can use in germany. Because we have 16 different systems for school (every state has its own) and regional differences. The bavarian abitur for example is a lot of the time seen as better than the other states.
Same here in Rheinland-Pfalz. Breakfast time at the first break and a lunch If you stay up to four o'clock (when you are at Ganztagsschule=whole day school).
But our kids have a place under their desk so they don't have to carry that much.
And school ist ending every day at the same time because there is a school bus driving them to neighbour villages.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Here in Baden-Württemberg it is 15 min at the first break for lunch and then the second one is the "playtime-break". You are right that it could be good to have sth like a cafeteria where kids in need could have a free breakfast. I only know that for lunches in secondary schools. Kids in need can ask for a support or even for free lunches under certain terms and conditions and would then receive the money from the "Teilhabepaket" for these lunches in order to be able to have lunch together with the other kids. Some cities or regions might also offer other solutions. I have friends at a primary schools in an area with a high amount of needy students and there they have found a solution so that all kids would have breakfast together. They found a sponsor who gives them fresh fruits and vegetables and apart from that they have donations of other food or money so they could buy butter, cheese and so on from it. Then the have this meal all together, so nobody brings food from home and therefore also nobody would know who can afford it and who can't. But I have only heard of that once. IN other classes they have a "free fruit program" sponsored by the state, which means that producers of the region would receive a contract to deliver apples or other fruits for free to the classes and would then of course get paid for it by the state. In some schools it is daily, in others for a certain period in the year, others do it every day or on an irregular basis...there I think it depends very much of the city / region you live in...
We had packed lunch from home in Ireland when i was in school in the 80s/90s. This consisted of sandwiches and a juice. The sandwich in those days was "jam" or "banana". The banana sandwich bread would be soggy by the time lunch arrived. Sometimes i had egg mayonaise or like a garlic mayo in my sandwich and the other kids complained of the smell as we were eating in our unventilated classroom 🤣 I learnt not to bring them again. Hopefully covid will change the no ventilation in schools in ireland...the windows are kept closed in winter before covid
My daughter went to Grundschule/elementary school in Hamburg. They had a program in the afternoon called Nachmittagsbetreuung/afternoon care where kids could stay in school, eat lunch, do their homework, play inside or outside in the Schulhof/school yard. It was meant for children where both parents were at work in the afternoon. The lunch was cooked in a commercial kitchen specialised on children's food and was delivered before lunch break. Although this school was right in the center of Hamburg they had a goat enclosure and shed in the school yard and kept a small herd of goats. To take care of goats was then part of curriculum and the parents were involved too. Parents had to do 'goat service' on the weekends looking after the goats, feeding them, cleaning up, because the school yard and playing ground was also open on weekends. During school holidays the goats were brought to a farm. During one my 'goat services' on a Sunday the billy goat climbed the fence of the enclosure and escaped in the school yard. This must have been a funny picture - me chasing the goat followed by bunch of children laughing and screaming.
Love this! A goat herd! Okay our school also has Nachmittagsbetreuung, we forgot to mention that.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Aber den Kindern geht es sehr viel besser, wenn sie gleich nach der Schule nach Hause dürfen, um sich in die Arme ihrer liebevollen Mutter zu kuscheln und sie erst mal Fünfe gerade sein lassen können!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Ah, but then they should offer lunch at least for the kids staying for the Mittagsbetreuung. (All too often, there is no proper cafeteria and the kids will just eat in whatever room they are for the Mittagsbetreuung with the food delivered.) So it's possible that there is a lunch break at around 1pm when all classes have finished...
My daughter's school has a "Mittagsbetreuung", a "Hort" and a "Ganztagesklasse" all with different lunch arrangements! In Bavaria and many other areas in Western Germany, it was assumed that most kids went home to eat lunch with their stay-at-home mum for a long time. (Really there were a lot of informal child care arrangements and many kids just went home by themselves). But in the last 2 0 years or so, there has been a real effort to increase the child care options for primary school children (on the off-chance that the mother - yes, or the father, but in most cases really the mother - might need or want to work more than the 3 hours between 8 and 11🙄). Many schools thus added lunch facilities but that's not always easy to do in an existing building, so there are lots of compromise solutions like eating in classrooms. In addition, Covid restrictions have also changed things. In my daughter's school only grades 3 and 4 are allowed to eat in the cafeteria, grade 1 and 2 eat in their classrooms...
@@runnerfive4479
Coming from East-Berlin I actually had a little culture shock myself here in Bavaria. Grundschule in Berlin is 6 years and especially in grade 5 and 6 you often have 6 classes a day, which meant that school ended at 2pm. For obvious reasons we had a real cafeteria with the food being cooked in the school.
Until last year my kids went to elementary school in Munich. The school shared its building with a Mittelschule and a Realschule so it at least had a little „Pausenverkauf“. However, we now live closer to the Alps and my 3rd graders new time table actually includes a 1,5h break over lunch with absolutely no option of eating or at least staying in school 🤯. So she comes home for an hour to eat. Unfortunately that‘s the exact time frame I pick up my 3 yo from Kindergarten, so I‘m not even home. And the reason I’m technically at home during that time is because I’m still in Elternzeit with our youngest.
I mean I knew Bavaria/West Germany is different from the East in regards to working mom rates, but it was still kinda shocking to have it rubbed into your face that „a good mom“ is a stay at home mom that awaits her children with a freshly cooked meal 🤮.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife
Oh and I‘d like to ad, the Grundschule my friends kids attended in Munich actually had a program that started at 7:30 and provided a free breakfast for the kids, because it was situated in a very mixed area regarding parents income/social status. And while the social security network should provide enough food for the family, it’s also a reality that - as you mentioned - abusive parents do exist 😞.
But that ‚before school starts‘-program this early did also help families where the parents had to leave the house before the children did, due to doing shift work for instance. The school was newly build and founded and the district was really lucky to have a headteacher that went beyond herself to push her agenda for social equality and making school a pleasant experience for every kid, not just the well kept ones.
Parent involvement in Grundschule is fun! When my kids were still Grundschüler, I did all kinds of things (because I was basically a Stay at home mum): Verkehrshelfer (helping at the zebra crossing), Lesepate (giving individual reading classes in grade 1 and 2), Schulobsthelfer (cutting up fruits and veggies once a week and distributing them in class), Lesekreis (holding additional reading and writing exercises in group), additionaol German classes for immigrant kids, and the classical stuff as member of the Elternbeirat (Parents council), being a Klassenelternsprecher (representative of one class organizing address lists, cookie baking for events etc.) and member of the Förderverein (the association that helps organizing and funding the Grundschule). I also enjoyed being an "accompanying mum" for field trips (hikes, cinema, museum). Our Grundschule was one of the "cosy" ones where I knew all teachers and the headmistress.
Today I only get in touch with our Grundschule when it comes to environmental education (planting bulbs, a field trip to the meadow and similar).
Okay cool! I’m looking forward to it. Glad to hear of your experience.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You can probably go along for Wandertag or other field trips, they always need parents for extra supervision
Here in Austria - I guess it‘s the same in Germany - the traditional game of „Kegeln“ is played with nine pins. It‘s similar to Bowling but with a smaller ball without holes. The pins are called „Kegel“, hence the name of the game. It used to be more popular decades ago when every inn had its Kegelbahn. Nowadays - at least in the cities - bowling alleys are quite common.
Not to forget the lane is concave and smaller. While at bowling it is level. So one has to use a different throwing technique where the ball is meandering in the right way to strike all pins.
Yes, same in Germany - „Kegeln“.
German Bowling is called "Kegeln" and there are 9 pins. There are normally no cafeterias in school. You just bring your Brotzeit with you or go in "town" and buy something for lunch. But only the end of Gymnasium, when you've got Nachmittagsunterricht
I actually grew up in one of the poorest cities in Germany and we rarely had kids come to school without food. Like you said, assistance is provided to the families at home like unemployment benefits and Kindergeld. The teachers did have extra bread and stuff in case someone didn’t bring food. If that happens often the teacher will call child protective services for sure, though.
As for lunch, in elementary school we never had a cafeteria, we just went home at 1pm and had lunch then. If you stayed longer in the OGS (Offene Ganztagsschule) you were provided with lunch. They might have changed that system by now, I’m not sure.
At my Gymnasium we had a one hour lunch break and you could get lunch at the cafeteria if you wanted. Most kids actually didn’t want that! We rather ate a packed lunch during school and enjoyed our mom’s homemade meals when we got home 🤷🏼♀️
Now at university I basically live at the cafeteria but that’s just because I’d have to do my own cooking at home now 😂
Okay very good to know. Thank you for explaining this.
In Ireland every parent regardless of income gets a government social child benefit of about €200 per week per child...until they are 21.
So its impossible for children in ireland to have any excuse not to actually have food. If the family is homeless...the government will rent them a home and if none is available they will live in a hotel which is not ideal but our social system needs alot of work as they waste money on hotels instead of building more social homes
In Sweden everybody gets a free hot meal. Maybe because a hot meal for lunch and proper lunch break is a cultural thing at workplaces too and most restaurants have daily lunch deals. (I know that in many countries sandwich/snacks is normal for lunch and dinner is the BIG meal). So aside from the cost, to me it seems like a lot of fuss for parents to prepare food for all kids and for kids to carry. But the quality depends on what the local municipality decides to spend. In our city school lunch was very cheap... And kids always complain. But you don't have to be hungry.
I guess many kids would prefer sandwiches and snacks of their choice but for parents it's convenient. I and now with the economic hardships (energy prices, inflation, interest rates) I've heard that kids eat more at school so they have to prepare a lot more.
In the classroom of my elementary school there were shelves, similar to the IKEA-Kallax-shelf, where each child was allocated one box. So the books I carried with me were reduced to those in which I had to do homework. My elementary school friend arranged it the other way around: she had her books at home and packed her bag every evening and only put in the books that were necessary. Both systems were not perfect: I often forgot my books at school and couldn't do my homework, but she forgot hers at home and then got into trouble at school. But together we were the dream team because there was one set of books at school and one at home. xD
the a, b, c topic: the teacher's name can certainly change. You usually have the same class teacher for 3.4 years, but also there mostly different teachers in math, German, etc. Most schools have a capacity to accept around 80/90 children per year, with a class size of 25-30 that does 3 classes: a, b and c. This is actually the case across Germany. If the school capacity is higher you can easily add d, e, f,...
We didn't have a cafeteria in the elementary school either. just the sandwiches from home. I grew up in Berlin and Kevin is right: Actually, the social system is supposed to provide enough support so that all children can be sent to school with snacks by their legal guardians, the reality is of course different in individual cases. We children shared, at least until teachers noticed it and tried to organize more support at home. The importance of lunchtime is roughly comparable to our outdoorbreak (Hofpause in German). At least during non-Covid times, you were sent out during the 20-minute breaks, along with your "Brotdose", no matter what weather. In German children's and youth films, this is usually on of the central location because the greatest nonsense and the greatest fun could happen during that time: epic snowball fights in winter, playing hide and seek with the boys and girls, the first kiss, etc.
I ended up with a bent /sloped back from carrying school books in a heavy backpack as i walked to school in Ireland too. We had lockers but the teacher would give us homework and we needed to carry heavy books for science, business, maths, french etc...it all added up. To prevent my brother having the same problem my mom bought my brother 2 sets of each of his school books. I used to always get new school books...but my mom bought my brother secondhand school books from the students in the year above..
And could then afford to buy him 2 copies of each book.
That's Maria Montessori: Lernen mit Herz, Kopf und Hand. It's more or less the main concept of the montessori style. The hand is very important.When i remember right, the heart connects the head with the heand, but i could be wrong since it's a long time i last read about montessori.
I could imagine there are small issues in math too, since . and , is used differntly.
There is bowling and there is Kegeln, Kegeln only has 9 pins. The pins are called ... Kegel :). Kegeln is a traditional sport in germany, whereas bowling is an american import.
Cafeterias are very rare and you see them more likely at bigger schools with older pupils, but it's nothing like in the US. If you want to see how it's done really well, you should watch "What to invade next" from Michael Moore, the part about France. Their cafeterias are awesome.
The only stuff that kids usually can leave at elementary school in D are arts paraphernalia. The subdivision of classes by letters is old German tradition. Traditionally, most German schools did not have lessons beyond 1 pm, certainly not at Grundschule level. which is why most do not have cafeterias. This has started to change slowly and lunch places are being installed where it is possible and finances are available.
That cold blood horse is really enormous !
When I was in elemaentary school I was able to leave all of my stuff under my desk if I wanted to. Same in Sek I (class 5-10). Now that I am doing my abitur, I have every class in a diffrent room so I can not do that anymore.
Maybe it's because I'm from the east but I was able to leave most of my school related stuff like books and such in school and we did eat lunch in school and because I attended the after-school program much like most of my classmates I also did all of my homework in school so basically never had to take any school books home with me.
I grew up right next to my school I grew up in house No. 8 and my school is/was the 14 but it was still nice not to have to carry around all of that heavy stuff every day.
Same thing for my nephew and nieces, youngest is 11 now and in her last year of elementary school.
@@DieAlteistwiederda I completely forgot about the East German situation where quite a few things were much more modern than in the West.
"That cold blood horse is really enormous" What does that mean?
@@ramona146 Sorry for that. I had better have specified my comment was referring to 29:12.
I get what you mean, but in the German mindset it wasn't a punishment to do math (home)work due to not having the correct sports stuff. It's rather rare that a teacher would allow or think he were allowed to simply let a kid have leisure time. In the more bureaucratic mindset a kid has to work/learn all the time at school. It's a sports class, he can't do sports, so he needs to do something. Doing homework was usually welcomed in class in my time. It always meant more time for none-school related things at home. It's also a question of supervision. A teacher needs to plan and know what's going on with every student. Go play on your phone or read your comic book is not what a good German teacher would say. How would a teacher explain that decision to the headmaster or authorities? It would be hugely frowned upon. A teacher needs to conduct the sports lesson while knowing that the other student has his appropriate assignment.
I am a teacher in Gymnasium and my sports colleague recently told me that a mother had come to complain to him (in the morning before class) that her son hadn't been able to do his maths homework in sports class the week before when he couldn't participate in the sports class due to something health related! 🙈
The main question ist about supervision. The teacher is juristical responsible for the pupil while class
Ah okay, thanks so much for that explanation. That really helps to understand the mindset!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Also many pupils "forget" their sport cloths when they have sport exercices they don't like e.g. apparatus and gymnastic - I know what I say from experience 😂 On the opposite, if they know they will play football - nobody will forget her/his stuff
@@ravanpee1325 Is that a thing? If we forgot our sports gear (back in the 80s/90s) we were made to walk laps outside Gym during sports class. You just had to keep moving the whole 45min/120min. If you didn't you got a write up/detention. If you kept moving you didn't. Nobody forgot their stuff more than once as far as i remember ;)
The Sports classes are mostly held in sports arenas that have wooden floors.
The same kind of floors for basketball, the second most popular sport in Germany, handball (A sport completely foreign to the Anglo-sphere), indoor football, and badminton.
To avoid damaging the floor, making it slippery and making it dirty, you need shoes designed for indoor sports (the ones with a soft plastic sole, which are mostly basketball, handball and badminton shoes (the Addidas ones in the video are designed for badminton).
The proper shoes are signed "non marking". If you want to be 100% on the safe side, buy indoor shoes. A good shoe shop should know this of course.
Mh. Kinda doubtful about the wood thing; at least the gyms I know are all special product floors for gyms (special vinyl and rubber and whatnot materials). They are very grippy, also a bit soft. Dark soles leave a sort of eraser mark on them; yeah, it'd be a mess if people went into them with random shoes.
Wasn't a big deal when I went to school though; usually you just ran around in your socks then (granted, if it was some specific activity maybe you'd have to sit out).
@@_SpamMe I think it highly depends on how old the school is, the never grippy floors are pretty new.
The Entschuldigung is so important, cause the kids come often on their own to school (like yours).- The teacher is checking every morning if every child is here- and save. Not injured somewhere on the street…
Yeah that makes so much sense and keeps the kids safe.
Yes exactly. We didnt think about that!
It's very interesting to listen to that video. I'm a "Grundschul-teacher" in Switzerland. We have like a mixed system (USA/Germany). An american familyl moved to our small village a few weeks ago and the 7y. old girl goes to my class and I never knew how her school system back in America was.
We have our own desks with the material, they only need to carry their homework, we have a lot of assistance in class (intense german, special needs teacher ect.). But they also have their Stundenplan and school ends either at 11:55 or 15:00. And of course, they also walk to school on their own. 😇
Thanks for comparing the systems.
Ah very school you’re a teacher in Switzerland! It’s good to hear how things are done there.
When I went to school in Bavaria about 50 yrs ago, my school back was sometimes heavy, but never so much that it hurt. Check with the "Stundenplan" of your kids, they don't need all the books every day, that's one of the reasons to have a schedule. In Gymnasium my heavy bag days were the days we had geography, because we needed the "Diercke Weltatlas", which was huge. Hope that helps.
We definitely switch out books for the gymnasium kids. Otherwise they would die!
@@kevinmcfall5285 a trick we did in Gymnasium is to get 2 books of the most heavy ones :) or what they allowed us in Gymnasium as well to share a book with your "Sitznachbar"
That's different depending on the school.
I remember my backpack being very heavy in Grundschule, all children and parents complaining.
Then I thought I was smart and just packed the books I would need according to the Stundenplan. That day our teacher decided to do something else than was on the plan and was really angry with me for not having ALL the books with me.
I still think that teacher acted stupid, but for the rest of Grundschule I always brought all the books.
In weiterführende Schulen like Gymnasium it is at least common to only bring what is needed that day.
And that depends on the region as well. In some regions you own the books, they are expensive, so you need to carry them around. In other regions the books are owned by the school and are only handed out when needed.
I don't think lockers are common at school anywhere in Germany, though I think that having them might be nice for the children.
At my Grundschule everyone had their own part of a shelf at the side of the classroom where we could store mainly our art supplies but also books we didn't need for homework. Later at my Gymnasium you could rent a locker in the school and store your books there. But if you need them for homework you either have to take pictures of the pages you need or still take them home. One thing we did is that you share your book with the other student you're sharing the table with so you only have to carry the book to half the classes. Although some teachers require every student to bring their own book. There has always been a lot of emphasis by my teachers on how to correctly carry your school bag and on how to adjust the shoulder straps so it's as ergonomic as possible.
The reason you usually wouldn’t find a cafeteria in a Grundschule is that there is no need for it, since school ends after your daily schedule (12:45/13:15 around that). If you are working parents and need your kids to be looked after in the afternoon, that’s Nachmittagsbetreuung, organized/offered by your town (Gemeinde), usually not free. If such a thing exists, you’d either have catered meals or would have to supply the food for your kid. I think the above is true for any state schools in Germany, private schools may differ (but then of course you have to pay for any extras as well).
Then there is the concept of Ganztagesschule (all day school), which starts in the morning but ends at around 15:00/16:00 (mandatory, paid as well, but homework would be done in the afternoon + non-curricular activities like music, arts, sport activities).
This makes so much sense! Thank you.
it varies in the different bundesländer, in Berlin for example they get meals in every elementary school because there is a full free day care service in all of the schools. the more conservative bundesländer like bavaria and baden württemberg are known to be very hesitant with that. Also teher no free kindergarden which is different in eastern bundesländern an city states.
@@rannugsobaelli7021 they are starting it in Bavaria. The problem is that there aren't enough parents sending their children to the all day class, so the next years it will be offered to all or regular all day school.
I love this episode and enjoy following your experience in Germany.
We came to Germany 20 years ago from Asia. Our kids are born here and go to a public gymnasium in Lower Saxony. I always find something new schoolwise as our kids move along the system. Deciphering the task instructions for school homework (Grundschule) is sometimes even for Germans a bit confusing.
Cursive is not a requirement anymore in our kids gymnasium. Sport attire are always a must for school sport. Some teachers let kids do sport anyway even if they forget their sport stuff as long as their street clothes are similar to sport (some kids go to school wearing joggingpants and sweaters). Earrings have to be removed or taped with Band-Aid prior to sport hours.
School bags get heavier in gymnasium unless tablets/laptops and ebooks are allowed and used.
I find the change from GS to gymnasium also a bit shocking. More teachers, more subjects, more kids in class, smartphone usage in school, etc. My kids have suddenly Entfallstunden with no substitute teacher (e.g. teacher is sick or on seminar or project trip). In such cases they start school later or go home earlier. This seems common in public gymnasium in our city.
One thing that I really appreciate about the school system here is that kids get independent relatively fast. By the time they are in 6th grade (earlier for most girls) they take care of their school stuff by themselves. I can let go the micromanaging and let them be responsible. Yet they know they can always come to me if the need help. Or they make a mistake and learn to do better next time.
Looking forward to your video on gymnasium 😊
We can relate to so much of what you wrote about! And so cool you emigrated here from Asia. I do love also how kids are much more independent and self-reliant here. Our video on gymnasium is now live - we posted it yesterday. 😀
the thing about food: just like you said about kindergarten, kids are encouraged to listen to their hunger cues and eat accordingly. and as they usually already learned that before starting school, they will continue to eat whenever they feel hungry. growing up, cafeterias didn't exist because we all were back home at 2pm the latest and could eat lunch at home.
from my experience working as a social worker, teachers usually will notice if a kid regularly has no food at school or not enough or even only extremely unhealthy options. in those cases they will write the parents a note in the Hausaufgaben-heft or whatever communication system there is in that particular school. and as you mentioned, the social welfare system makes sure every family should have enough money to provide food for everyone. if a family doesn't, it's usually a much bigger problem. I saidly received a few phone calls from concerned teachers telling me about their student not having breakfast. it's my job then to figure out where exactly the problem is. do they really not have the money and need help applying for welfare, Kindergeld, etc.? is the mother depressed to the point of not having the energy to pack lunch? in one case it turned out, the parents packed a huge breakfast everyday but the daughter ate it all before even arriving at school. Usually it's a much bigger issue than having honest financial troubles. a subsidised school lunch would certainly be a short term solution for the affected kids. but the way it works now is that we are trying to tackle the cause of the missing breakfast instead of "just" feeding the kids one meal a day.
That is such a good point! The German system takes care of the problem of hunger at the root, instead of only putting a temporary bandaid on the problem by feeding child at school. So much better to empower the family to do it.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife thinking about it now, I'm not sure if there was ever that conscious decision to do it like we do it now. maybe social workers and concerned teachers are cheaper than setting up cafeterias and free school lunches. who knows. but I guess it still works out for the best in terms of the bigger picture.
I absolutely agree with OP. At my previous primary school we were in an area with many refugees who simply didn't know how German school works and the rest were exclusively low income families. The city provided us with a designated social worker to help tackle these issues. The students all loved her because they quickly realised that we were "on their side" if you will. When the first covid lockdown hit, one of the boys came to the school building independently even when there weren't any classes because his parents weren't providing any meals at home and he knew he'd find help with us.
Hi, a teacher here :) As for the lunch for poor children: the schools that don't have the means to set up a cafeteria (or there are too few kids to make it economical) usually partner up with local charities or state programs. So those Kids go to the "Tafel" for example after school to get their free lunch. Carrying everything back and forth is actually part of the self reliance training or life skill training that is integrated in teaching. It teaches kids to get organized and remember what is important. granted, the weight has gone a bit out of control in the last years but that unfortunately alls under the category of tough luck. As for gifted programs: German schools are just that - schools. everything else, such as competitive ports or special art or music classes or gifted programs, parents need to source themselves, locally. Lots are state run and therefore cheap or free (Vereine). Depending on where you live, this actually gives kids a lot more choices and also the chance to meet new people and make new friends outside of school :)
Screwed my back for life. I was punished for just bringing everything everyday. So the concept was not successful in my case.
Hi, teacher here too :) I think making kids carry everything back and forth is crazy! I've never heard of a school (in Austria) where kids can't leave anything in their desks or in shelves. They tend to carry more than they actually need, anyway...
For us, it's also a way to teach self-reliance that the kids know what they can leave at school, what they can leave at home and what they need to carry back and forth - so that's our reasoning. I'd be curious, can you explain why kids are not allowed to leave things at school?
@@maracuja1009 It's mostly due to the homework, if they leave things in school, they like to use that as an excuse ;) But mainly it's just the government not solving the problem by installing lockers, they could do that but just don't - same as many school still not having internet (at least here in the east) Lazy muppets!
I'm a teacher in elementary school in Baden-Württemberg. We recently got a kid from the US. He told me that he is used to writing on paper sheets without any lines. Horrible. He also writes numbers and letters in a totally unorganic way. The recently told me that "our" way to write is actually more easy. I can see that. I'm his maths and English teacher. That's a good thing. Whenever he feels overwhelmed with the new language he speaks to me in English.
Oh wow, no lines! Our kids did used lined paper in the US. But it’s good you’ll be able to help him with math and writing and how wonderful you let him speak English to you. It’s very overwhelming and scary to move to a new country and a new school for a kid.
My mum is a teacher in Grundschule and there is a cafeteria for warm lunch meals and they often do special breakfasts provided and prepared by all the parents to promote healthy eating. And usually poorer families can either apply for financial support for class trips or it is covered by the state or school anyway.
I teach Korean at University. Using different colours to highlight grammar is very helpfull, also certain patterns in dialogues, phrases in texts....
It helps you memorize "Artikel" in German when writing der-Wörter, die-Wörter and das-Wörter always with the same colour for each Artikel.
Great tip!
Road safety for pedestrians is being taught in kindergarten and elementary school here in Germany. Children TV picks this up and repeats the important bits. There are a lot of programs, that provide first graders with reflective or neon safety gear, so they are seen. When I was in first grade, my teacher would control every day, who had their neon green baseball cap on and the class with the most frequently worn safety gear in our grade would get a prize.
This is also why most Germans might be pretty lax about road safety rules at night but pay a lot of attention to being an example for the kids during daytime. For example you will be scolded for jaywalking in front of kids, but less so, when there are no kids around to see you.
I have an elementary school nearby and it is easy to observe how some parents let their kids take more and more resposibility for their way to school during their first and second year. It starts out with hand holding, then the kid gets to walk a bit ahead, until after several months, kids are "going home alone" with their parent trailing a few hundred feets behind them.
We even go to a seperate track in Dublin Ireland to learn cycling and rules of the road...it would be like a driving school for an adult. It has pretend roundabouts, traffic lights, zebra crossing etc to teach children how to ride a bicycle safely on the road
Always fun as a kid when you had your backpack on and needed to tie your shoes and fell over.
🤣🤣 right?
The floor of a sports facility can costs more than 50.000-100.00€. So of course the right shoes - which doesn't produce marks - are important. There is even a sign "no marking" on the sole for this reason. The shoes you showed are just normal white sneakers and not sports shoes
In germany we have part time schools and full time schools. Most schools are part time and end at 1 pm. The children are having lunch at home or at Hort or Mittagsbetreuung. The school isn't responsible for lunch so there is no need for a cafeteria. Full time schools usually have a cafeteria and the child have lunch at school.
They usually have two breaks where the children have to go outside to play and eat their breakfast. I think it's better to eat outside than staying inside in the cafeteria.
Great explanation, thank you!
I love the kinderartzt building. How neat you can walk there also. Love that town you live in. What a dream to be outdoors so much. Things will get better. Yes, love the wandertag! So happy for you all. It will all work out ❤
Es ist toll, wie unterhaltsam und detailreich ihr über eure Erfahrungen sprecht. Es macht Spaß euch zu zuhören und zu realisieren, wie groß die Unterschiede zwischen dem deutschen und dem amerikanischen Schulsystem sind.
Yes they are strict with sick excuses ! Kids go allone to school and if they don t show up and there is no announcement : this kid is missing ! And you would surely appreaciate to know if your kid is missing as early as it can be ! And with elder kids when they cut school you will know immediately ! Without surveillance !
Yes this is a very good point and something we didn’t even think about! Thank you.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife - and just for the records, bc in Germany there's "Schulpflicht" children who will cut school will be brought to school by the police ie if they are strolling around in the city during school time.
"Schulpflicht" is the underlying principle, true, schools need to know if a 'no show' is authorized by parents. But more specifically the concept you need here is "Aufsichtspflicht" (translates as duty of supervision): Parents are in charge of their children, but school is responsible for the whereabouts of pupils as soon as they come to school and for the time school is scheduled. This is why official "Unterrichtsbeginn" und "Unterrichtsende" is so important, it should be clear for every pupil for every school day. And btw the issue with the Religionsunterricht and your kids coming home sooner should be clarified with the school asap. - for Gymnasium even for 5th graders it is important to check the "Vertretungsplan"... ask the "Klassenlehrer" on issues like this!!..
Another thing related is insurance. Insurance in case of accidents is provided automatically at the individual time between "Unterrichtsbeginn/-ende" and for the direct way between home and school before/after class.
So to sum it up, the school needs to know before class starts about any authorized 'no-shows' to verify that they are not in charge. When someone doesn't show up without parental notice, schools have to inform the parents to give them the opportunity to clarify: did something happen on the way to school ("Schulwegunfall", school takes care of insurance) or is the kid ditching school (parents are held responsible for not supervising the fulfillment of their kids' "Schulpflicht"). When this happens repeatedly, schools are indeed likely to inform the police.
In my Grundschule we had a bookcase in our homeroom to store the books we did not need for homework. We also each had shoeboxes stored in the school with materials for specific classes. I.e.art class.
Griffins reenactment was spot on. I really felt like back in my Grundschule days 10/10 he really should consider a actor career :)
Your Channel is such a ray of sunshine! Thank you guys :)
I am 59 years old and even when I was a child my parents were upset about the heavy school folders. Unfortunately nothing has changed. However, I believe that the bags are even heavier today. Nine pins is "kegeln". Kegeln is around 3500 years old. Bowling emerged from this in the 16th century.
Woah! 3500 years old! And yeah, heavy bookbags. I mean, I the US, heavy book and are also an issue and some children do have back problems already because of it!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Today books could be already digital - but I don't thing a digital 3rd world country like Germany would introduce something like this the next 50 years.
Relatively little changed here since I left school 20 years ago, they are still underfunded. I don't think much will change in future here, the biggest group of CDU voters are only little educated people, since they ruled 32 years of the last 39 years they have no interest in a good education.
@@simonm1447 there is a difference in learning with digital and real paper books especially for writing and early maths, which is also proven via science. So you can't eliminate it completely. But a better solution would bee to install lockers in the class rooms or something like that.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife There are for sure a few Kegelbahnen in pubs/restaurants in your village/city - perhaps even a Kegelverein - perhaps asking your neighbours - and play a neigborhood tounament
@@simonm1447 There are no CDU voters in Bavaria because there is no CDU.
In my school, only first graders were picked up or went with older siblings or friends.
But we even went to Kindergarten alone or with friends. We went to a Kindergarten 2 streets away.
My father always let us go, wait 30 seconds and then followed us, without us noticing.
It was to gif us confidence but still always being safe.
We were so proud to go alone.
But we also went with friends one year older than me
We didn’t have a cafeteria in my Grundschule at first (1999-2004) but when I was in third grade, the parents and the schoolboard organized a Kiosk in school where you could buy sandwiches and snackbacks with fruit and veggies if you wanted, it was subsidized by the state and donations and ran non-profit, so that was nice. My school was really small though, and very rural, we were so few a cafeteria probably wasn’t feasible. Later at Gymnasium we had a cafeteria, and kids from lower-income housholds could get financial aid for that.
Always love to hear the differences between countries - never occurred to me that you could do gym class without a change of clothes :) I also learned that there are countries where the kids do not have homework in primary school (e.g. Netherlands) and yet they still learn something :) Also, I walked to school with my parents once when I was 6 and after that I walked alone or with my class mates. We would sometimes even pick up the teacher on the way. The immense backpacks or Schulranzen have always been a pain in the back.
LOL when you talked about cursive handwriting I remembered the time I went to school. Today's cursive handwriting is so easy cause the letters look so much like printed ones. When I went to the Grundschule we had to make weird curves on the "L" or the "K" or the "D" and I absolutely found that ridiculous and was glad when our teachers allowed us to write the way we wanted in 5th grade. XD
Many teachers believe that learning cursive style is not just about being old-school, it's also about putting the words on the paper with care. You shall write in a thoughtful matter and that it also affects how you do your schoolwork in general.
It is a bit strange that the Grundschule lets the kids go home early without you knowing. Look through your papers if there was one document you had to sign that you are ok to let your kids walk home in cases of skipped classes. If you are not ok with that, the kids will stay in school (under custody) until the regular school end (around 12.00 or 13.00). I thought that was required by law.
Okay good to know!
Ja, ist es auch . Aufsichtspflichtsverletzung. Hochgradig unlustig so was, ich wäre komplett durchgedreht.
Been sent home as early as 10:30 way back when i was in Grundschule (70s/80s). Only had a 4min walk though. But all the other kids went home early too some days. I think we only had 2 days going to 13:10 even.
I liked it a lot if sometimes we could go home a little bit earlier. And if any kid had no parents at home yet, we went with a friend who lives nearby or neighbours... Sometimes neighbours get keys too, so that kids who don't have one or forget it can get in :D
That would've been the case for us too in primary school -what a feast for us as kids being let off the hook early :-D in certain circumstances. Our way home was only like 7 mins walk. But my mum was a housewife anyway and taking care of my baby sis, so she'd be home anyway. We were also in a small village primary school, two grades were taught in one classroom and there were usually two teachers on side, the principal teaching 3rd and 4th grade and another teacher for 1st and 2nd grade, so imagine if one takes sick, it wouldn't be too easy to find a replacement in the quick. I remember when I started school my class teacher was sick and they brought an older teacher back from retirement I assume, my mum had being taught by her already.
Part of the Stundenplan is to know what to bring when. This should help with the Schulranzen weight. You said you have to make sure you send them out the door with the right supplies, they have a Stundenplan and they know the days of the week so you can teach your boys simply to check the Stundenplan make sure your book bag is packed accordingly.
As far as the letters go 3a 3b in the states we say Mrs Smith's class or Mr Jones class, if there are 80 third graders they're not all going to be in the same class. So rather than identifying by the teacher's name you identify your child's class group by a letter.
Yes that does help! But even when he only brings what he needs the ruksack is still so heavy.
Generations of German school children have survived primary school without back problems. I am sure the boys will do just fine!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Maybe you talk to the school and they install some of those IKEA boxes? This will be a major project to take on German bureaucracy! But you could show them that American entrepreneurial spirit has its values. Perhaps other parents will join in and you can make a DIY project of ot it? Leadership!
IIRC we could leave our things at school in the desk. But having only 4 different subjects each day what kind of supplies are needed for that?
@@luisebritta6139 I can't remember whether we had so much to carry. I think there were only exercise books and writing utensils. And the occasional small book. But not the Encyclopedia Britannica.
@@luisebritta6139 You are quite wrong about that. I (60 years now) I had a pretty light school bag and therefore had no difficulties all through 10th grade. My daughter (29 years now) always had a too heavy load to carry (although she tried her best to minimize it to the bare necessities) and when she was 14 years old she had a very bad back and by doctor's orders was no longer allowed to carry any weights on her back. She also had to have a long series of physio therapy.
26:11 That is the cutest thing ever :D soo süß!!!!
In the 80s my family was not rich, but quite wealthy in Germany. My father gave me some food for school AND (without the knowledge of my father 😁) my grandgrandma also gave me additional food. So I was able to share it with my classmates that didn't have enough food - or food they didn't like to eat 😄.
Hi Folks, how times are changing. My schoolbag was made of leather with a schoulder strap attached. Contents : a piece of slate with a wooden frame, a wooden ruler, a utensil box made of wood with a set of special pens for the slate board, a sharpener for them and sponge on a string for cleaning the slate. Once or twice a week the infamous Turnbeutel! Second or third class the slate + utensils had to be replaced with a booklet with lines for writing and a second one with a checkered paper for arithmetics. Instead of the pens for the slate, we got a Federhalter and some Federn (nib & nibholder), a set of nib cleaners. The ink was provided by the school and placed in small bottle, crafted into the schooldesk. The refill was done by the schools caretaker, a mean authority! In the pause, they would give us small bottles of milk or cocoa, depending on what was available. Sometimes a Butterbrot or an apple. My younger siblings never had it like this, because the slates,ink,nibs and stuff was replaced by pens or fountain pens. Just like Kevin, my father used to complain how much he had to dash out every beginning of the school-year. We were six kids!! Thank you for sharing your adventures and enjoy the sunday. Oh - When the girl has her first day in school - do not forget the extreme important Schultüte ! ;-)
Oh yes the Schultute will be so fun!
HolyMoly, da hing aber noch das Bild vom Kaiser im Klassenzimmer, oder? *lol*
@@agn855 Nee - es war ein Bild von Ludwig II.:-))
@@agn855 Bildungsminister war ein Herr Maunz.
In my elementary school every kid had a wooden box for books. We painted the boxes ourselves on the first day of school.
Oh nice!
We live in a small town here in the north and the Grundschule where my kids went to had a cafeteria where the kids can eat lunch (you need to register your child if you want him/her to have lunch in school and pay a small amount for lunch for the entire school year). Most of the the kids who eat lunch in school stay for after-school classes (usually children of single parents or both full-time working parents). They would have lunch in school, do their homework, and play at the park within the school (yes, it's a big bonus that there's a park within the school! The park, however, is only open for the public once school is over and all the schoolchildren have gone home).
Also, they have had two morning breaks (20 min- & 15-min breaks) so they have enough time to finish the sandwiches and fruits that I've prepared for them. Every two weeks, volunteer parents would come to bring fruits from the local farmers. It's part of the school programme where the parents would prepare the fruits in school for all the students to share. Classes would finish at 11:50 so the kids would normally have lunch at home.
Now that they're both in Gymnasium, they have two 20-min breaks in the morning since they have more classes. Classes are dismissed at 12:50 so they both have lunch at home. They also have a cafeteria where they can buy food or snacks, should a student forget to bring his/her lunchbox.
Greetings from Serbia. What you have described here is all same in our country 😊
About your question regarding school cafeteria: Yes, in Grundschule it's very exceptional to have a cafeteria. Possibly in the big cities they may sometimes have that, but definitely not in small towns. Even in Gymnasium it's not always there, specifically you'll often see an Aula for eating your own prepared meals, but without a kitchen or even a food counter.
Regarding the kids without their own lunch, teachers are strongly encouraged to pay attention for signs of neglect. If your kid regularly doesn't bring a school lunch, their teacher will usually be talking to you about that. If that doesn't solve the problem, it will probably be escalated with the Jugendamt as a child neglect issue.
Most school have a kiosk where you can buy drinks and food. But its usually up 5th grade. In Grundschule you have to provide your kids with food. At my Grundschule you could get milk or Kakao on a Programm everyday 😊 i loved that.
Oh fun! Okay yes our kids’ Gymnasium has a kiosk, but not the Grundschule.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Not every Grundschule, but some or most Grundschulen, have a "Pausenverkauf". It's mainly the "Hausmeister" who sells Wurstbrötchen, Brezen, Getränke at the break times. Sometimes there is a bakery or butchery just next to the school and before school starts in the morning, lots of kids buy a "Leberkässemmel" or a Breze there. (Ok, sorry for my mixing German and English).
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife My Gymnasium also had a Pausenverkauf (during a 20-minute break in the morning) which was actually operated by a local bakery. At some point during my school career the custodian started selling milk separately from that; I think that was part of some kind of program by the government to ‘improve’ the nutrition of the students or something the milk industry/farmers lobbied for.
I’m headed to Bavaria with my family soon. Thank you for all this info.
Sending you all the best of luck!
The game with nine pins in it is most likely "Kegeln", it's basically a smaller version of bowling.
Also the kinds of math problems with "kryptic notes" are text exercises, which are about knowing the math as much as about figuering out how to extract the relevant information from the text.
Regarding the quarantine for a certain class only: All schools have devised a system of cohorts now. The cohorts should not come into contact with each other, so that only the cohort a kid is part of needs to quarantine as only those kids had contact. Most schools use there already existing devision by class for that purpose.
The Klass designations are not that important in other curcumstances, but since (at least in primary school) the kids have all subjects in that group, they will find most friends in there class.
The written excuse is to document that the child really was sick and didn't just skip school. This is important since there is a school mandate in germany. Also if a child is excused by the parent to often the school can require a doctors note for every day of abcence to enshure that the kid isn't forced to stay out of school by the parents.
13:30 I work at a German primary school and one thing we always notice is the fact that many children simply forget to leave certain things in the designated areas of a school room. So they go home with everything they possess in their backpack even though they don’t have to. So maybe that’s the same with your kids because in my experience there always shelfs or cupboards for books, folders, crayons etc in a school room
On that note: the same actually goes for the gym backs. Back in my school days (~15 years ago), we just left them in school and only took the things that had to be washed back home (usually just the shirt)
Okay thank you! We can ask the teacher about this.
even if there had been ANY kind of storage in my gymnasium (there was none at all) i wouldn't have left anything anyway. had too many things stolen from me over time. including several times my fountain pens or my whole "federtasche" during our "pausenzeit" and even my coat once in the middle of winter while i was in kindergarten.
@@DADA-ir6kq in gymnasium we had lockers "spinde". There were all books locked in, and all the other stuff I just took out for class or homework to take home with me. Never had a heavy backpack
@@fridadanke9076 i think my school building was just too old. there was no space to add those
In elementary school kids usually only go to the cafeteria if they are enrolled in the "ganztag" (after scholl/afternoon programm). All kids usually eat their breakfast either in the 15-20 minute break after 2nd period or in the breal after 4th period.
Okay yes! We forgot about that, thank you.
Cool! You made it! Upload complete! 😊👍
Yes finally! Now I can go enjoy my Sunday. 🤣😵💫
Love the ending! (and the whole video of course!)
Hahaha thanks! ❤️
I think that the child has to sit out if they don't have the right clothes is not meant as a punishment - it's more that you're not allowed to do sports in not appropriate clothes. It could cause injuries, the shoes are to prevent the color rubbing of onto the gym floor. They should be packing their own backpacks for every day, so they should only bring the books they actually need. It sounds like your school specifically has a problem with that though. Bringing the sports bag when necessary is also often the childs responsibility.
Yes that does make sense. For us, the school never gave us any information or papers on school procedures, so that’s why we were upset that he had to sit out. We didn’t even know he needed sports clothes. We did know he needed Sportsschuhe, and he did have the correct shoes.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife This seems like a cultural misunderstanding to me. I am sure the school never got in mind, that anybody would do sports in their normal clothes so they maybe were just shure you would sent the kids with propper clothing. I never knew that in the US the kids do sports in their normal clothes and it would literally NEVER come into my mind, that someone would even do this - why?! Its all sweaty after sports and doing gymnastics in jeans is absolutely uncomfortable 🤷♂️
On our ski week (from a Bavarian school) we were accompanied by a teacher who had a non working finger because it once caught on a bracelet or clothes loop thing during sport. That's why you wear sports without dangerous features.
@@enname1622 I think you're right. I'm also very surprised that they don't wear sports clothes in the US! I think they do in movies?! And I think they also wouldn't think to explain that jeans shorts aren't appropriate for doing sports :D However, it's weird that you can only use a specific kind of shorts. In my school, any soft material would do.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife
I‘m really sorry you had to learn everything the hard way.
I think one reason also being, that you didn’t start in first grade. In my experience, everything schoolrelated is thoroughly explained before entering school with long lists of stuff the kids will need and often with teachers who are much more aware of things foreigners might not know and need extra information on.
As mentioned under earlier videos we, too, moved during covid and during the school year and I felt lost on so many occasions because of the things they do just slightly different from what we were used to and everyone seemed to know except us 😩. Now that the new school year started and the kids got new teachers, I finally feel like I got the same information as everyone else and have a chance of staying on top of things 😅.
Yeah!😄 german teachers definetly loooooooove a nice and clean handwriting😂 in most of exams (Klassanarbeiten/Klausuren) the teacher gives speachial points for the handwriting and the esthetic. In german these Points are called „Formpunkte“ and can be very important😄 But your progress in language and handwriting is soooooo incredible (in such a short time😱) I am sure you will get the full amount of „Formpunkte“ 😉 Hope you keep yourself this inspiring enthusiam! Love your videos!
Not in Bavaria any more
@@elisabethlemoigne5710 interessant! Wusste ich gar nicht, danke😊 aber trotzdem vielleicht eine interessante hintergrundinfo(dachte ich😄)
In my professional life, I very rarely needed neat handwriting. When I studied, I marked down notes for myself. Ok. But nobody else needed to decypher them. I only write short notes to colleagues and I can reign in my writing, so that anybody can read them. Beyond that, letters, applications, whatever are written by computers and printed and only signed (if even) by hand.
I consider neat handwriting an outdated skill.
@@michelaushamburg6766 - as both mentioned correctly, it's the act of writing that is connecting a kid's brain cells at that young age. That's why. That's a proven scientific fact. An extra set of brain cells hasn't become outdated ever since.
@@michelaushamburg6766 the fact that the skill nowadays isn't much needed, does not mean it is unnecessary. Imagine a case of emergency, where a person doesn't have the chance to use a mobile or tablet, and also doesn't have access to a computer. The only way to call help is a "physical" note on a sheet of paper - now the person who never trained handwriting skills will write down the call for help, and the finders of the note are not able to read it. Feels bad, man, doesn't it?
My mother provided "Pausenbrote" for me in school: Sandwiches to eat during the breaks.
- Every Grundschule wich offers "Nachmittagsbereuung" oder has the profile "Ganztagsschule" has to provide a warm meal to every kid joining it.
- There are two types of Schreibschrift being teached in Germany. They are called Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift and Schulausgangsschift. The principal decides about wich one will be teached, so it can vary from shool to shool. Usually the children learn to write cursive in 2nd grade, but when a teacher thinks all the pupils master the regular letters with certainty, they may start earlier oder later.
- Currently there are not so many teachers around, who had Deutsch als Zweitsprache as a subject at university, but the subject gained in popularity since the big wave of refugees in 2015/2016.
The numbering system (3A, 3B, 3C, ...) is just a denomination of the group of pupils who are always learning together. Children in 3A are are in the same year of school as children in 3B, but in a different group within that year. More often than not the children of the different groups do not intermingle. The different groups are not specifically sorted by an attribute of children, but they mostly have different Stundenpläne. They have the same curriculum, but the classes can be (mostly will be) distributed different at different times on the week and on each day. It is possible that the type of selected religion class determine which group your children are put in.
At Gymnasium, these class groups stay together as a group for as much as seven years (the last two years are different).
From grade 8 on, sport was seperated for boys and girls and we joined the boys resp. girls from the parallel class.
Also at schools with a wider catchment area pupils are sometimes sorted by the area they live in, eg class 6a lives in walking distance of the school while 6b are bus kids from the next village because it simplifies children making and maintaining friends in their free time without needing mama-taxis
And more often than not, there's a kind of rivalry between the different Klassen, which is often fueled by the teachers. Teachers tend to tell their class that the other class is quieter/has better grades/doesn't have this or that problem ... We even had such a battle going on with our Parallelklasse during 6th grade that it culminated in breaking our classroom door because kids were pulling at the handle from both sides. (Which was fun, actually, because we were locked in and our maths teacher was locked out ... the janitor had to work on the door for quite a while, which we weren't sad about at all.)
If you can't afford food you can go to the "Tafel" (as in Table with food, not blackboard) and get food there. It's not connected to school and provides people in need with food in general, not just school kids. So the kids would already come to school with packed lunches anyway.
Ah okay, so like Kevin was thinking. Good to know!
You will also qualify for the BuT "Bildung und Teilhabe", where you can apply for money to cover school lunches, excursions, transport to/from school, books, etc. You can apply if your income is below a certain level (usually you would receive other social benefits like unemployment or housing benefits).
A „Tafel“ is what you guys would call a Food Bank
@@runnerfive4479 We got the BuT for 2 years until our income rose. Thankful.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife in later schools if there are school meals for children, poor parents can have the state pay most of the cost if the do a "Antrag" too.
I am teaching at a Realschule in Lower Saxony and at our school students can rent a locker for their stuff. There is also a big box for each student in their classroom where they can store their books and materials which they don‘t need for their „Hausaufgaben“. ☺️
Ah, what you tell about the desks at school sounds very cool. That's something we need here too
In Germany kids receive "Kindergeld" and usually that's supposed to go to food as well. So if the parents don't waste it on alcohol and cigaretts they should be able to provide for their kids. Plus there is extra financial help as well as places kids can go to get lunch (Mittagsbetreuung ect.). These extra places kids can go to after school and receive cheap/ free lunch might be more common in bigger cities and in poorer parts of cities.
Excursiouns and class trips are more tricky. There are documentaries on parents who struggle financially despite working and they have to apply for extra support if their kids want to go on a trip. Often this is a very stressful and time consuming experience.
Yes! We love having the Kindergeld.
As a teacher myself I appreciate how relaxed you are as parents. If something goes wrong in the communication between you and the school or if there are cultural misunderstandings, you just say "Well, happens", move on and see it as an experience to learn from. There are lots of parents who, in your situation, would have called the school every other day just to complain. I think it's much easier and nicer to work together as teachers and parents if both sides don't overreact when little things go wrong. It's also a great attitude to teach the kids!
As a mom of two boys in Gymnasium in Munich I can tell that this statement illustrates perfectly what bothers me most about our school. They explicitly want the "well happens"(your words)-parents when they forget to inform (parents or pupils) on important things, don't hold their promises, blame pupils for things they are not responsible for. But the school would never dismiss kids and parents with that "well happens" if they mess up things unintentionally, even if the school did not care to clarify the regulations and proceedings properly. But I assume your school is different, is it?
First I really enjoy watching your videos and following your exciting journey.
I am from Germany and I am studying to become an elementary school teacher in Würzburg (Bavaria). During some internships at some different elementary schools I experienced that the students have like 5 to 10 mintues before their break to go outside and play come to eat their food they brought from home. And in some schools the provide healthy snacks for every class, to make sure that everyone has something to eat. But as far as I know, teachers notice when a child does not take out their lunch boy and eats and then they mostly ask why they are not eating. And when they notice that a child regularily has no food with them they contact the parents/caregivers and make sure that the child has something to eat during school.
Thank you for your lovely videos!!
I so agree about handwriting and the connection to reading;
I remember in Grundschule we had Förderunterricht (support class) for the kids that that couldn't keep up with the math or deutsch curriculum. It was for 1st and 2nd grade only though. I think it was to make sure the kids knew and understood the fundamentals/ basics so they wouldn't struggle too much later. You'd show up 1 hour before school would normally start.
They didn't pull the kids out during regular class where everybody could see/ know who struggled. Once you were up to speed you didn't have to attend anymore. For kids with serious learning or mental challenges there was something called a sonderschule but I think that was for high school aged children. That was in Berlin though and years ago.
It was the same in our daughter's school. Those struggling would come in to school 45 minutes earlier than others and get help with homework they couldn't understand or checked up on reading comprehension. Once the teacher aids thought the children were up to par, they could go to school at regular times.
Random fact:
"Pfiat eich god!" or just "Pfiat eich!" translates to "Behüte euch Gott" (plural; singular: "Pfiat di god!" or "Pfiat di!")which translates to "May god protect you!". Despite beeing an (Austrian) atheist I like that greeting verry much. It's our heritage.
Oh cool! I haven’t heard that one before.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife eich = euch (plural you) and di = dich (singular you), i wanted to add :D I imagine it to be hard to have to learn two languages. German and Bavarian. You will never quit learning. Even after 10 years being in Germany, we will still immediately know, that you are not German. But Germans love people who want to integrate and learn. Most of us would do the same in other countries, so we kind of expect it or dislike if long-time-residence do not try to …
Growing up I always watched American kids on tv storing everything in their desks and GOD did I want a desk like that.
This is so interesting to watch! I am from a village in Niedersachsen (lower saxony) and I guess every school is a bit different but I remember that we had something called "Stehordner" in primary school which was a box where everyone could store the books they didn't need for homework. At the Gymnasium we actually had small spaces under our desks where we could store our books and also lockers. :)
I don't remember if it was primary school or Gymnasium but we didn't have to buy the books ourselves. For paying a small amount we could borrow them from the school and I remember being able to borrow 2 of each book in subjects such as German and Maths so that we could keep one at home for homework and leave one at school so we didn't have to carry them around as much.
Gummi is used for many words.
Origin is that many items were made from Gummi Arabicum (gum arab) so it is part of the name for many items or slang für different things.
Even when today these otems were not made from gum arab anymore.
clothes: Gummistiefel, Gummihose, Gummischuhe, Gummihandschuhe, Gummiüberzug (can also be a condom)
items: Gummiente, Radiergummi, Haargummi, Einweckgummi,
food: Kaugummi, Gummibärchen, Gummischlangen
slang: Gummi can also mean condom or tyre
Yeah true, I’d forgotten about Radiergummi, our kids use those all the time!
And in german a “rubber“ is not slang for a condom, it is a pencil eraser / Radiergummi. 😇
Although i'd say not frequently used as vocab.
My Grundschule in the 2000s had a “Fach” to put things in. It’s literally just the size of a folder so not much fit in there but maybe you could leave 3 books if they were not too thick. I also remember my back hurting more in elementary school compared to middle school even though you get more books then… maybe it’s just not proportional between their weight and the weight of the backpack for small kids.
I can not remember, having much books in elementary school. (well, ca. 50 years ago; maybe memory starts faulting ...) I had pencils, eraser, ruler etc. food for the break (slice of bread and an apple) exercise-books and one or two books for reading. Sport-equipment came in an extra bag on sports-day.
Griffin's reenactment 13:00 looks weird to me.
For years and years parents are complaining, that their children have to carry too many too heavy books to school. But that does not apply to elementary school.
I love your hair!!
Activities: When I was in Grundschule, we often went to the forest, when the weather was appropriate and our teacher showed us the different plants, animals and so on. And in the end every child (or two together, if they wanted) was allowed to build a little house out of sticks and moss.
"Pfüat Euch" is the bavarian abberviation of "Behüte Euch Gott", which you wish each other when parting. If you only talk to one person it is "Pfüat Di" ("Behüte Dich Gott").
Yay, you've got a kid playing ice hockey. In southern bavaria ice hockey is a big deal (like football in other parts), and both he and you will get to know more Germans.
Oh cool! Didn’t realize it was so popular here, but it makes sense as we have lakes that freeze over in the winter.
Handwriting was also the only class for which I had a failing grade in elementary school. I had started programming by then (around 1980) so my argument was that everyone would use computers to write by the time I'd graduate.
Carrying too many books to school was already a problem in my country (Belgium) in the 1980s, that's why kids started using backpacks instead of the old-fashioned book bags with a single strap that I had to use (which made children lean over to one side).
Interestingly we have the same 'standardization' of class names: animal names for kindergarten and letters for elementary school.
Oh cool to know it’s similar in Belgium! And so cool you were already programming in 1980 - way ahead of your time!
At our elementary school in Austria, the kids only take home the things they need for homework. The rest of the materials stay at school. It's the same with my older son in middle school. They only take home what they need for homework and learning. I think every school handles this differently.
Our elementary school also has an extended moving break of 30 minutes. 10 minutes for eating and 20 minutes for moving around outside in the playgrounds. There they can ride vehicles, play soccer, swing, slide, etc.
Okay good to know how it is in your part of Austria.
As for your question regarding the support of lower income families and school lunch, if your school offers lunch because it long days (mostly when you have more than 6 hours of school) you can apply for support and get the lunch paid from the state. So the kid can partake in the lunch and eat with their friends, even if its more expensive than bringing their own food.
Tipp for to havy Bags:
I only packed the School Materials for the Day. If i only had 3 Classes that day i only had the stuff for the 3 Classes. Also most schools schould have Lockers. Meaby not the Grundschule but the Gymnasium should have some. At least evry school i did go to had some. (Some of them you needed to pay a pfand or a small monthly rent in my case 5€) but 90% are free.
I left all the books i didnt needed in the locker and only took home what i needed for homework or for studying.
A gifted programme like that would have been my dream! We had nothing like it in my German Grundschule and on top of that, most teachers were not very good, so I was just bored 95% of the time :(
I’m sorry you were bored! Did you end up going to Gymnasium in 5th? Were you bored there also?
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I did and yes, I was bored there as well. For the last 4 years of school I went to a boarding school and there it was better :) But that's just my experience, I'm sure many Gymnasien are great and offer a lot of challenging classes and extracurricular activities. But maybe gifted students don't receive enough support in German schools, I don't know...
When I went to the Gymnasium I started in class 5d as it was a huge school with over 100 kids (!) attending to the 5th grade. So the classes were splitted up like: 25 kids in 5a, 25 kids in 5b, 25 kids in 5c, 25 kids in 5d, etc. Every class had its own class-teacher (dt. "Klassenlehrer") teaching at least two subjects. But the other school subjects had different teachers at those classes - like: We had for the 5d Herr Müller for mathematics and Frau Maier for german-language, where the 5a had Frau Schmidt for mathematics and Herr Ziege for german-language ... so that's why the director needed to know which 5th-class I attended to as they had to inform the right teachers if I was sick for example.
When a school is more efficient and strict the time spent learning is more effective so then there is more time for school outdoor activities.
Makes sense.
In Finland, they dumped cursive handwriting being a compulsory part of the curriculum back in 2015. Typing skills are considered more important for tomorrow’s world there. I can’t say I agree, I can see no reason why you should not acquire both skills at an early age. Also, love letters with printed characters look somewhat clumsy 😊.
The poor performing students in my single sex girls secondary catholic school in ireland in the 1990s are typewriting classes for those girls as they were not academic....it was believed giving them classes such as home economics baking, sewing, making clothes and typewriting would be better. The typewriting in the 1990s was to help them get a career in administration
Poor Griffin! When I was in school and kids would forget their gym bags, they would just be allowed to participate in their regular clothes. I imagine it's like that in most schools. Your school really sounds overly strict on these type of things!
At my school it would never ever be allowed to take part at sports lessons without the appropriate sports wear. As our school was very proud of their former sports accomplishments, we had to wear proper school sports wear in the right school colours. Other sports wear was not allowed, at least frowned upon.
BTW letting students only take part at sports lessons in proper sports clothes has an educational effect as well: prepare your stuff the day before, get everything ready and packed at least the evening before. When going to school your kid just should take what is needed for this days lessons, not more, but everything that‘s needed. I don‘ t regard the math your son had to do as a punishment: it is done to make sure he has something to do, does not stroll off or does any nonsense. I think it was absolutely thoughtful and appropriate of the teacher to do so. He had the responsibility for your kid as well as for the others.
I once wasn't allowed to take part because I didn't have a hair tie. You need your equipment to take part, mostly for safety reasons but also, because you don't want a class full of students in smelly clothes
Also without prober shoes, the sport facility floor is damaged
@@ravanpee1325 They just went barefoot, sports shoes weren't even required at my school.
Yeah we do understand why it’s important to have proper gym clothes, but I think when it’s the child’s first time and they don’t speak the language and they’re from another country, the teacher could let them still participate that one time and then have them sit out if there is a next time. But it’s okay - the lesson was effective because it was painful!
Nice and very interesting video! :)
I loved Griffins dramatic demonstration🤣