Friday, March 02, 2007
Since before we even moved here, Kirk and I discussed the possibility of putting our kids in the German schools. There were reasons to do it and reasons not to. First we wanted to wait and let the kids adjust to the big move. Then we just loved the school where they were and, I think more than anything, I was just nervous and unsure.
In January, we made the decision that we should try it, so I took applications for Arianna, Luci, and Elise in to St. Maria Namen Kindergarten in our village of Gillrath. There was no room at the time, but we'd be put on the waiting list. Then I got a call that there was space and paperwork would arrive in the mail. Two days later we got an envelope in our mail slot. I was excited to see some official paperwork of admittance and opened it to find that there was nothing inside addressed to me. Each girl received a letter addressed just to them... "Liebe Arianna..." The letters told them that they had a place at the school "010807." Kirk and I were so excited that they had places that for several days, we completely ignored the date and told all our friends that the girls would be starting that month! Then, it dawned on me that we'd forgotten to switch the dates. Here, the day ALWAYS comes first. So, instead of the 8th of January, our girls will start the 1st of August!
Then, just a couple weeks ago, I got a call saying that there was a place for Arianna. Since Aria will be at the age to attend the Greunschule next year, they wanted to bring her in now so that she can adjust to the language before the bigger school. Here, kindergarten is for children ages 3-5, and it is more of a Montessorie-style play time to learn socialization than a true letters and numbers learning environment. Then, at age 6, they go to Greunschule and learn what our kids normally learn in kindergarten.
Wednesday was Arianna's last day at GKES - the American school she's been attending. I baked cupcakes for her class and she smiled ear to ear that she was going. She was so excited and happy to be starting a new school. Yesterday was her first day. She was there from 8-12, and from 2-4. In the middle is mittags pause - the lunch break - when mom's take their children home and feed them. She took her breakfast in the morning. They sit together at a nicely set table with their food on plates. They serve themselves milk, kakao, or juice and then they wash their own dishes and dry them with their own special towels.
Arianna is in the Froschgruppe, but she has the freedom to go anywhere in the school. She just has to move her photomagnet on the board to the right place to show her teachers where she is. Her teachers are Frau Hildegard and Rebecca - both are very nice.
I brought her in with the required items: hausschue (house shoes that are worn when they are in the building), shorts and a t-shirt for gym time, and gummi pants and jacket for playing outside in the muck and rain so they don't get their regular clothes dirty.
Yesterday she came home happy and bouncing. I heard her playing in the playroom pointing to things saying "das und das." She also learned the word: orangen. Today; however, she melted. We faced a morning of tears and kicking, fighting and hiding in the corner resolute not to go to German school. She said that yesterday kids were talking to her and she didn't understand them. It took a lot of talking, but we got here there and when I picked her up, she was playing happily outside with a couple other kids. It's hard to see her unhappy, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. She just needs people and it's hard for her to be in this place where she doesn't understand. Hopefully, that will give her the impetus to listen and learn quicker. She already is, really, we played in German phrases all afternoon and she was doing very well.
We finally got the adult "formulas" yesterday, so we can officially register her and find out how much it's going to cost. The kindergarten is pro-rated according to how much you make, so we have her there with no solid idea on how much we'll end up paying per month - kind of scary, really... but we'll see.
In January, we made the decision that we should try it, so I took applications for Arianna, Luci, and Elise in to St. Maria Namen Kindergarten in our village of Gillrath. There was no room at the time, but we'd be put on the waiting list. Then I got a call that there was space and paperwork would arrive in the mail. Two days later we got an envelope in our mail slot. I was excited to see some official paperwork of admittance and opened it to find that there was nothing inside addressed to me. Each girl received a letter addressed just to them... "Liebe Arianna..." The letters told them that they had a place at the school "010807." Kirk and I were so excited that they had places that for several days, we completely ignored the date and told all our friends that the girls would be starting that month! Then, it dawned on me that we'd forgotten to switch the dates. Here, the day ALWAYS comes first. So, instead of the 8th of January, our girls will start the 1st of August!
Then, just a couple weeks ago, I got a call saying that there was a place for Arianna. Since Aria will be at the age to attend the Greunschule next year, they wanted to bring her in now so that she can adjust to the language before the bigger school. Here, kindergarten is for children ages 3-5, and it is more of a Montessorie-style play time to learn socialization than a true letters and numbers learning environment. Then, at age 6, they go to Greunschule and learn what our kids normally learn in kindergarten.
Wednesday was Arianna's last day at GKES - the American school she's been attending. I baked cupcakes for her class and she smiled ear to ear that she was going. She was so excited and happy to be starting a new school. Yesterday was her first day. She was there from 8-12, and from 2-4. In the middle is mittags pause - the lunch break - when mom's take their children home and feed them. She took her breakfast in the morning. They sit together at a nicely set table with their food on plates. They serve themselves milk, kakao, or juice and then they wash their own dishes and dry them with their own special towels.
Arianna is in the Froschgruppe, but she has the freedom to go anywhere in the school. She just has to move her photomagnet on the board to the right place to show her teachers where she is. Her teachers are Frau Hildegard and Rebecca - both are very nice.
I brought her in with the required items: hausschue (house shoes that are worn when they are in the building), shorts and a t-shirt for gym time, and gummi pants and jacket for playing outside in the muck and rain so they don't get their regular clothes dirty.
Yesterday she came home happy and bouncing. I heard her playing in the playroom pointing to things saying "das und das." She also learned the word: orangen. Today; however, she melted. We faced a morning of tears and kicking, fighting and hiding in the corner resolute not to go to German school. She said that yesterday kids were talking to her and she didn't understand them. It took a lot of talking, but we got here there and when I picked her up, she was playing happily outside with a couple other kids. It's hard to see her unhappy, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. She just needs people and it's hard for her to be in this place where she doesn't understand. Hopefully, that will give her the impetus to listen and learn quicker. She already is, really, we played in German phrases all afternoon and she was doing very well.
We finally got the adult "formulas" yesterday, so we can officially register her and find out how much it's going to cost. The kindergarten is pro-rated according to how much you make, so we have her there with no solid idea on how much we'll end up paying per month - kind of scary, really... but we'll see.
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