German Kindergarten

Drew began German Kindergarten last week!  In Germany, kids go to Kindergarten from ages 3-6.  (There is no delineation between "preschool" and "kindergarten" like we have in the states.)  They don't separate kids by age in the school so all the classes are mixed age.  I have heard that Kindergarten in Germany is less academic than it is in the States (certainly less so than the Kindergarten class I taught in which kids were expected to be writing three independent sentences by the end of the year!).  It is mostly just playtime, which I think is great for Drew as a second language learner.  He will learn lots of social language and new vocabulary.    

A couple friends asked if we had the option of putting him in school on the base.  Yes, there is a preschool program offered on the base but we wanted him to have the opportunity to learn German.  Most of the people we interact with on a daily basis are Americans, and even our German neighbors speak English, so Drew would probably not learn much German if he did not go to German Kindergarten.  He is at the perfect age for learning a new language and even if he does not continue with German once we return to the States, it is so good for his brain to learn another language!  Drew is one of a few second language learners in his class, and so he will get pulled out for German speech help at school once or twice a week--how nice is that?  

Fortunately, the head teacher in Drew's classroom speaks English so I have been able to ask her questions.  She was especially helpful during my first visit to the school when she explained the school routines and told me what school supplies I needed to bring.  Her pictures were so helpful!

 The teachers also speak to Drew in English if he is not understanding something important.  Regardless, it is a new experience for me to be a "foreigner" in the school system.  I feel more uncertain and awkward than I would in the States.  All of the papers that come home from Kinder are in German and even when I type them into Google Translate, it is not always clear what they mean.  Luckily my neighbor has helped in clarifying some things and we are going to try an app called "Word Lens" that will translate a photo of a written document.

Here are some photos from the first day of school:  

When we came outside to go to school on the first day, Drew noticed a present outside for him!

It was chocolates from our German neighbors in honor of his first day of school!

Changing into house shoes upon arriving at school

The teachers encourage parents to stay at school with their children for the first 3-5 days to help them get acclimated.  Luckily Drew is not shy and was happy to jump right in to sitting with his new classmates and playing, too.  I only ended up staying for 2 days because he didn't need me!  It was nice for me to see what school was like, though.  They have morgenkreis (morning circle), snack, and playtime both indoors and out.  Drew really likes it so far and has already picked up some German words.  

Apart from the regular routine, they also have special activities in which they bake/cook something (on the days I was there it was noodles with zucchini sauce and apfelkuchen (apple cake)) and then all eat it together at tables with forks and plates.  They offer the kids water or tea to drink.  Here's to hoping the school can broaden Drew's taste buds!  Once a month, they have "Wind and Weather Day" where they go on a walk to a park or the woods, regardless of the weather.  We have to send rain pants and boots for them on those days in case it is rainy.

So far it has been a good experience for Drew and a much needed break for me to have some time to myself during the day.