Our family has gotten such a kick out of Mia's school. It is so cute and different for sure! One of the new things that makes me smile is the morning routine. The school kids (those that live in the surrounding villages) come into the city by public train and bus each day. Some of the kids in her class live in the city and some live in surrounding villages (up to 30 minutes away). Our town has about 7 schools to choose from, so you can image it is bustling with students each morning and afternoon. The latest daily "trend" is for several of her friends is to all meet at our house after they get into the city and then walk together to school. The doorbell keeps ringing as more kids pile in to our house :-). It is one of the cutest things to see and it really sums up the difference in child rearing between our two cultures. Once kids are in 5th grade, they are expected to act mature enough to function in society with independence. While the "helicopter Mom" in me is a bit nervous, the "German" in me has relaxed A LOT and is enjoying watching the confidence and growth that comes with independence and responsibility (even if it is only at the young age of 10). It truly makes me smile - and sometimes laugh out loud too :-).
With regard to her schooling this is my new perspective... As an American, with a child who has the ability to go back and forth between the two school systems, I absolutely love love love the German School System. If I were German though and this was the only system that I was privy too, I may feel a bit differently. Let me explain... The German system is HARD. You get only 2 report cards a year (basically 2 Semsters of school). Each Semester, in each subject you have; 2 "X's" (pop quizzes), 1-2 "schulaufgaben" (these are tests, and there is never multiple choice or true false - they want o know what you know through short answer or essays) and the possibility of getting "abgefragt" 1-3 times). To be "abgefragt" means spontaniously (with out prior notice), you get called up to the front of the class to answer 10- 20 or so questions verbally on the subject matter (for a grade). Basically it is like a verbal pop quiz with your entire class staring at you. There is homework to help you learn, but the homework doesn't count for the grade. That is all. As you can imagine, it is very stressful and not easy. The other aspect to this is that the grading is extremely harsh. Things that would not be marked off for in our system, get marked off for in the German system. She is getting an amazing education and learning; how to study, how to think, how to memorize, and to improve etc. As Bailey is looking at colleges, I laugh at the fact that there are many schools in the U.S. with an average early acceptance GPA of 4.1. What that means is that those kids in the American System are told that they are better than perfect (how is that possibile?). The AP classes obvioulsy push the GPA's over 4.0, but still it really doesn't make sense. You would never get that in the German system and even the smartest kids in the class would not get all A's (or 1's as they would call it). I am not sure, but I think it is by design - that way kids always know that there is room for improvement. Bailey had a good friend who had gone through the middle school years in the German Real Schule (not the highest school, not the lowest either, but still a very difficult school). He received 3's for several grades that ended up transferring to C's on his American High School transcript. The funny thing though, is that they would probably be worthy of A's (especially for basic courses that weren't honors or AP). There is no comparison. Going back to my original thought here though, the reason I am grateful for having access to both school systems, is that I know Mia always has the option of going back into the American system , where she will be fine to go to University. If I only had the German system, it would be very stressful thinking about the future. So far, she is holding her own quite well. It is very hard though and I know she feels the stress. Next year, she will add Latin or French (she is leaning towards French) which will add even more stress. In 7th grade, Physics will be added, and in 8th grade a 4th language is added- yikes!!! Funny enough, I have a new friend here that was telling me that her child did not make it in Mia's school (he either had to drop a school level down or move to the American school). His father is American, so he switched to Bailey and Camden's school. He is now just about to graduate in the U.S. with an Engineering degree. Interesting though that he would have not been able to go to German University. Definitely something to think about. Yes - it is great having her in the system for the education itself, but I am glad that we always have a choice :-).
One more tidbit to add.... It is free for students to go to University in Germany. Of course, you still must pay for your housing and food (which by the way is much more reasonable than in the U.S), but the education and books are free. The kicker though (as you can imagine from what I wrote above) is that not everyone will be able to go to University. The good thing is that in order to make a decent living and have a good life, not everyone here has to go to Uni. Such a different system!!!
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| Again, pictures from the 5th grade biololgy book. The book is not nearly as thick as textbooks are today in the U.S. (maybe 120 pages as opposed to 200 pages), but kids will have learned every bit of it and will have to remember it to build on to later. Camden is taking 9th grade Biology and it is much easier than Mia's 5th grade Biology class. |
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| Mia had her pop verbal quiz (abgefragen) and it was quite stressful. They have to memorize a Semesters worth of biological systems - definitely not easy! |
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