I'm really boring you now....

Yes, more on Mia's school - sorry to bore you to death :-).....

On Friday, Mia came home all excited for her first true "note." A note is basically a formal grade on a paper. 1 is the best, and 6 is not so good. Up until now, the sheets coming home would only state how many she got correct out of how many problems. Homework does not count at all for your grades in Germany, so it is mostly based on tests (many of which are pop quizzes). She was very proud to have her first note, which was a 1. She knew that the test was coming, she just didn't know which day. The test was a dicatation where you have to write a paragraph using all of the correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, cursive etc. The next day, she told me that they had another test that was a complete surprise. This one was a math test. She came home today with the results, which were great. There were 50 problems on the test, and it was timed, but what I was so surprised to see was what the test included... It was multiplication and division, but even further, they had several problems that looked like this: 3 x 5 + 8 x 1  (answer 23) or 45 : 5 - 5 (answer 4). They also had a 3 part multiplication word problem to solve (I would write it, but it is in German). It is amazing to me that they not only learn the multiplication and division, but at the same time how to add and subtract from it as well (again, all in 3 - 4 hours of school each day, and no academics in kindergarten). The only reason, I even mention this is, is because Camden lagged behind, not learning multiplication or division until 3rd grade (and then not even mastering it), and Bailey was bored to death in 2nd grade because they only briefly touched on division - even though they both went to school all day. As a parent, I have really found my happiness for school in this system. They cut out all of the fluff, teach the real stuff, and then let the kids go home to just be kids- I love it! Some people love the fluff, and some people love all day school, but for me, having both the 3-4 hours a day and the true learning is super! Thanks again for listening.... each time I write about this kind of thing, I tell myself - OK, no more, but then something else pops up, and I can't help myself, I have to share :-). Sorry!

P.S. another interesting fact, is that my friends' son who is in a completely different school, in a different town, but in the same grade as Mia, has very similar scheduling (for ex. he too came home last week with his first note, they learned to write with the calligraphy pens around the same time etc). There seems to be tons of consistency, which I find fantastic.