OUR TOP GERMAN SCHOOL CULTURE SHOCKS 🇩🇪 It's Surprisingly Different Here vs. in the USA!

Рет қаралды 91,052

Күн бұрын

Our four American kids have gone through a year and a half in German public schools, and now we are sharing our top school culture shocks! There are quite a few differences, many of which we didn't expect before arriving. Things like how lunch is done, teaching methods, school supplies, desks and lockers, and more!
#germany #germanylifestyle #germanschool #americansingermany #cultureshock
📖 See the blog post that goes with this video here - mymerrymessygermanlife.com/ge...
//If you Liked this Video, You'll Also Like These Videos!//
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💛 German Grundschule Culture Shocks - • Our GERMAN GRUNDSCHULE...
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//CHAPTERS - SKIP TO THE PART YOU WANT//
0:00 - Intro, who we are
02:23 - 1 - School Supplies
04:39 - 2 - Emphasis on Neatness
05:56 - 3 - School Buses USA vs Germany
07:30 - 4 - Learning the Complicated German School System
10:04 - 5 - Kindergarten is Much Different in Germany vs. USA
12:03 - 6 - Emphasis on Engineering and Math
13:25 - 7 - Different Teaching Methods
14:37 - 8 - Lunch Time is Much Different!
16:54 - 9 - Book Storage is Much Different
18:37 - 10 - The whole transition was INTIMIDATING and Challenging
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//ABOUT US//
We are a family of six, with four kids and a cat 😹, who moved from the USA to Germany in February of 2021 to pursue our dreams of adventure, travel, learning another language, and integrating into German life. We hope you enjoy our videos about our journey to integrate - the highs and the lows of being foreigners on the adventure of a lifetime.
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Пікірлер: 655

@LisaMaierLiest Жыл бұрын

Probably as a hint for other immigrants: If you have trouble doing the school supply list - go to a smaller shop that specialices on school and office supplies. Hand them the list and ask them, if they could help you - they will collect everything correctly in a short time for you. (You will save a lot of time and you won't buy anything wrong.)

@Goofie_spielt Жыл бұрын

That is, if you do not move during a pandemic with shops closed and everything... McFalls, I think you did a really good job managing all that!

@swanpride Жыл бұрын

@@Goofie_spielt That actually depended mostly on the Bundesland you were in...my bookshop for examply was open nearly the whole time, you just couldn't enter it, you basically placed your order and then went to pick up what you wanted in exchange for leaving the money in its place. Which was necessary, because it is the to go place in the area for school books.

@berndschmidt6059 Жыл бұрын

@@Goofie_spielt in Niedersachsen these shops where open the complete time.

@dude988 Жыл бұрын

@@Goofie_spielt It was just a tip for other people, Lisa wasn't critiquing Sarah and Kevin.

@Falco2Itachi Жыл бұрын

@@Goofie_spielt Access to school supplies and education is a must. These shops don’t need to close during lockdown.

@jhdix6731 Жыл бұрын

Considering that in Germany most test question in later years will be free text answers instead of multiple choice, that emphasis on neat handwriting makes sense. I guess it's normal that handwriting skills deteriorate over time, so the idea is: The neater the handwriting is in the first years, the better the chance for a teacher to be able to decipher any answer given by a student in the Abiturprüfung.

@dianahausen6619 Жыл бұрын

Yes and it is especially important in the grading of foreign languages where points are deducted for incorrect spelling. Teacher needs to see that word written clearly - otherwise everyone would bei cheating and saying their o is actually an e usw .

@tomitiustritus6672 Жыл бұрын

My teachers were so furious about my handwriting. One forced me to do extra first graders writing excercises in 8th grade. Didn't help. Took until the Abi-Exams they realized that it suddenly becomes much more readable once you give me enough time to write (those exams take like 5 hours in which you write a text). If you hurry me, you don't have to complain if you can't read it afterwards.

@Ultraporing Жыл бұрын

@@tomitiustritus6672 I know that feeling, had a similar problem with taking notes and always got reprimanded for my writing too. Then I just started to use something akin to steno and shorthand in my notes. Since the teacher couldn't decipher it anymore, he didn't gave me a hard time either. But had to write in Druckschrift in tests to be fast enough.

@bibliopolist Жыл бұрын

Erzieherinnen (kindergarten teachers) are not necessarily less qualified than teachers, but they do have a different qualification.

@3nt3_ Жыл бұрын

they also are not required to be female

@rolandscherer1574 Жыл бұрын

@@3nt3_ ... but in 98% are.

@3nt3_ Жыл бұрын

@@rolandscherer1574 94.2%, but I see your point. That should probably change

@rolandscherer1574 Жыл бұрын

@@3nt3_ That obviously changed in the last decades, but too slow. Many kids never saw a man - no father, no Erzieher, no male teacher.

@justel4835 Жыл бұрын

Doch😂😂😂 Nein natürlich NICHT. War einfach lustig.

@scloulou1364 Жыл бұрын

I‘m an elementary school teacher especially for migrants and children with another mother tongue and it was so helpful to watch your video and learn about the occuring difficulties with getting used to the system. It surely will help me to understand and help with problems easier. Thank you so much! ♥️

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Oh I’m so glad it can help you! Thank you for watching - this is exactly why we make videos.

@katjahuskinson3428 Жыл бұрын

We actually do have dedicated school buses in Germany too. But only when there's no or next to no public transportation going between the school and the home 😉. And of course those buses aren't neccesarily yellow and they're usually just contracted "Busunternehmen" and those buses are usually used for travels (Reisebusse), but also not always 😅

@minischembri9893 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Katja, wanted to write the same as my school has children from the villages around who will be brought to and fro several times a day.

@Raffael-Tausend Жыл бұрын

In our town, we have public Transport busses used for school busses . they just dont have a number on them, but a child picture.

@kirachan007 Жыл бұрын

we have dedicated school buses too.. even though my school is in a very busy urban area. they are just regular buses with a special sign and run once in the morning and once around the end of the school day. They also stop right in front of the school and not at a regular bus stop. their pupose is to take traffic off the regular bus lines, which would be hopelessly overcrowded otherwise.

@aphextwin5712 Жыл бұрын

I grew up in what would probably be best described as the Speckgürtel around a large city, which had separate villages about every five kilometres, each having roughly 5000 to 10’000 inhabitants. Every village had a Grundschule and most also had a Haupt- or Realschule, all more or less within walking distance. However, in the 1970s, as demand grew about ten ‘villages’ jointly created two new Gymnasiums in one of the larger villages, co-located with a Hauptschule and a Realschule, an indoor swimming pool, a range of other sporting facilities, a large hall for other events, a library, etc.. While there was public transport in the form of busses, this cluster of schools would have overwhelmed it, particularly in the morning and around lunch time. We thus had dedicated school buses connecting each of these villages with this location at those times. As there were far fewer students that had school on any given afternoon, we would use the normal public transport to get back home on those days.

@der.Schtefan Жыл бұрын

They are often running on a line that sometimes also just carries normal passengers, but 99% of the travelers are school children, and the times are completely adapted to those schools. Since normal people can board them though, it is always super weird when suddenly a 70 year old oma sits next to you on your "school bus".

@cobba42 Жыл бұрын

The drawback of leaving books in school is that those books will contain the explanations or other knowledge the kids might need for their homework. Having to access random web sites for that is counter productive. Or having to have the parents explain something that can be easily looked up. And if the kids really do need help, it allows the parents to brush up on what the kids need to know in that specific instance. Also, it teaches some planning - to prepare for the next day: look up which classes they have and pack only what is needed, as well as not forget anything. A concept we call "Mitdenken".

@kolli7150 Жыл бұрын

In my Grundschule we had storage capacities for heavy books. I don't see why children should not be trained to look in their Stundenplan for the next day and look at their homework and plan ahead what they will need and what not. If teachers and Erzieher tutor children in doing that everything goes alright in most of the time. If you do forget an important textbook then it's a lesson in life and a opportunity to teach your child how to use different recourses to learn and study. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@enricofromm4994 Жыл бұрын

Absolutely correct!

@emjuhaku Жыл бұрын

In Finland every kid has a desk with storage space where they can leave the extra books, so as a kid I only took the books with me that I needed for the homework. It was very easy to pack only the books we had lessons about during that day (so got homework of) or check from the study plan which classes we had for the next day, no hassle at all. Sometimes a kid here and there forgot their book to school and couldn't do their homework, but that wasn't very common at all.

@cloverzouzi Жыл бұрын

"A concept we call Mitdenken" 😂 I love it 👍👍 (seems to be dying out a little unfortunately...)

@utethornburg7715 Жыл бұрын

And there are no lockers

@dude988 Жыл бұрын

You can always switch school in both ways, my brother went from Gymnasium to Realschule to Hauptschule and has now a Bachelor's degree. I did my Abitur but didn't go to college right afterwards and took an Ausbildung instead. There are many different ways to get an education and a job in Germany, no need to worry in case one of the children can't get their Abitur.

@andeekaydot Жыл бұрын

I'd like to mention that, too. The 5th grade school selection is not a final decision. As everyone knows, infant and juvenile mental development varies hugely by individual. Thus, switching schools is possible even in later years.

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Yeah that’s awesome! We have talked about how you can switch tracks in other videos. Hard to cover all of the details again in this video.

@fzoid3534 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife As long as you stay in one Bundesland changing schools even switching between school types shouldn't be a problem. The curriculum can vary a bit in other Bundesländern so from own experience I can say moving to another Bundesland can be a bit tricky especially when being close to Abitur.

@Mysterios1989 Жыл бұрын

While this is true, it becomes harder to adjust to the Abitur-conditions if were most of the time in the other schools. I had seen it in my own Abitur year. In 11th grade (was still in 13 year cycle), we had one kid that came over from Hauptschule where she had basically a perfect record, but failed completely. Realschul kids struggled as well to adjust to the differences, not to mention that some stuff that was considered "learned" because it was part of the curriculum of the lower Gymnasium classes was not known by these kids. Also, the one kid that came to our school from a Waldorfschule also majorly struggled, barely passed the Abitur after a reexamination.

@gunda9652 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife at the Hauptschule children can also get a higher degree/diploma - Realschulabschluss/middleschool-diploma. The next step could be a Berufskolleg. These Colleges offer a variety of qualifications. Training for a job or getting a degree in for example IT (Fachabitur) to be able to go to university.

@SciDOCMBC Жыл бұрын

Schools in Germany have been open again for a long time. That what you mean is the summer holidays. They start at different times in the different federal states so that the German highways are not completely blocked. when everyone goes on vacation at the same time.

@vonsweety Жыл бұрын

The German school system is very hard to understand even for German people. You are not alone in this. With the first child in school it is for every parent mindblowing. But on the other hand... if a child doesn´t make it into the gymnasium directly after the 4. grade it is not such a disaster, there are a lot of ways around to make it into university. It is probably one of the great economical advantages of the german system that a child can get a very good formal education. And maybe afterwards go to an university. For example, a child that is not performing perfectly in school in the 10. grade (because the child has a lot of much more important things to do than care for school ;)) could get an enducation at a nurse and go afterwards to university to become a doctor, without ever going to a gymnasium. It is a longer and much harder way, but some childen just can´t focus at the age of 16 on school and they get there second chance when they are a bit older and more mature. Many of those children do much better in university than the children that go directly from school to university, because they are simply more mature.

@krzysztofp.9442 Жыл бұрын

Remembering my son coloring a clown in first year English class (3rd grade Grundschule): you could choose the color for each part of the clown by yourself, but had to name the color; he just filled everything up with a Bleistift and wrote GREY😀 love your videos!

@chrissiesbuchcocktail Жыл бұрын

😂😂

@mariamunker5098 Жыл бұрын

Clever guy!

@Miristzuheiss Жыл бұрын

Fifty Shades?🤔😅

@kolli7150 Жыл бұрын

🙈 cleveres Kerlchen. Scheint mir ein Fall von Unterforderung zu sein.

@dschoas Жыл бұрын

One big side effect of the colouring is the training of the motoric skills. It also relaxes the pupils as a different section of the brain is used for it.

@henrischutte1968 Жыл бұрын

That goes even more for proper or 'neat' handwriting. And about the heavier backpacks: European kids can carry more books because their backpacks don't have to be bulletproof.

@reinhard8053 Жыл бұрын

And you can even use it later. When analyzing source code I used several colours to get a better picture of the algorithms. And we use it e.g. for distinguishing data flows. So that is something you (might) learn for life. And anyone doing electronics will memorize the colours of resistor rings 🙂.

@outwardbound2241 Жыл бұрын

@My Merry Messy Life it might be something you mention next time, but Schulranzen/bookbags, especially for elementary school are extremely different and so is the process of buying them. Because children walk to school and have to carry a lot, their bookbags have to be ergonomic and fitting to their hight/weight/body type. Families usually go to specialized shops and have like an appointment where the child tries on different brands and models to find the right bag for their back before choosing the color and pattern. These bags are incredibly expensive and therefore are usually worn throughout all four years of elementary school. They have a ton of extra features too like rain covers and reflectors that come in handy for children walking in the rain and dark

@geneviere199 Жыл бұрын

Atleast in my family - but I see similar stories in my neighbourhood and with friends - the godfather/-mother buys the first schoolbag. A good bag is expensive - but it should be for the first four years and it is important to get one that fits for your kid. My son was the youngest in class and still very small and light so the weight of the bag was a factor, too. Actually the weight of the bags and solutions to have the kids carry less is a big topic on parents evenings in the first classes - you often recognize then that the problems aren't the teachers but the pupils that carry around things they do not need to.

@ag4444 Жыл бұрын

basically what you taught me here is that the school system in southern germany is a lot different from the school system in the north and east, because even when I went to school 20 years ago we had a school cafeteria where we would have lunch and we also had a locker where we left all our books etc..

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Yeah I think you’re right! Though I’ve heard from northern Germans that some don’t have cafeterias. Whereas in the US, it’s a national standard.

@LeyCarnifex Жыл бұрын

I think it's really just all over the place, I'm from the north, class of '15 and for most of my time at school I did not have a locker nor was there a cafeteria. About two years before I'd switch schools for Oberstufe my old Gymnasium was renovated, that's when they first installed lockers and opened up a cafeteria, but the Gymnasium I went to after that had neither.

@thomasschumacher5362 Жыл бұрын

Kindergarten is about making sure that the children are mature enough to cope with school.

@kerstinklenovsky239 Жыл бұрын

Well done to you guys for battling through our German school/kindergarten bureaucracy jungle and coming out successfully the other end. 👍 I am a teacher myself and I help refugee children with exactly those things, and I can only say that the task often seems overwhelmingly complicated, even for us who have been through the German school system ourselves. You deserve a medal. ❤🤩❤

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, and thank you for helping other immigrants and refugees! I’m sure they are happy they have you on their side.

@mapau9750 Жыл бұрын

The two of you really deserve an official German medal for figuring out the German school system after only four month in Germany , considering all that overwhelming adaption stress of transferring a whole family into a new culture at the speed of light- aaand on top of that for successfully placing your two oldest boys in a Gymnasium!!! 👍😀GOLD MEDAL! GOLD MEDAL!🥇🥇

@BLexl Жыл бұрын

another very important difference of school and kindergarten: Kindergarten ist NOT part of the state's school system. it is private. Schulpflicht starts at age of 6. that is when the state has both full authority and duty to supply education. before that the state does NOT have authority.. or duty. Kindergarten is voluntary, school is not. though the state does supply state-run Kindergärten, it is still voluntary. which often is a problem for working parents, as this makes it expensive. there are Kindergarten fees, there are no school fees (unless you go to a private school, and those need to get certified by the state to be allowed to run.. and for the same reason, home schooling is illegal in Germany). There is a legal right from the age of 3-6 for a place in Kindergarten. But no legal obligation at all to send them. The duty of the state of making sure that right for a Kindargartenplatz for everyone is ... ehem.... fullfilled... mostly? ...ish?... lots are missing in certain areas...

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

These are good points! Thanks for adding them.

@elisabethlemoigne5710 Жыл бұрын

Like you said, every school is different, even here in Bavaria: My children could leave all their stuff at school in Grundschule, the teacher sent them home with what they needed. Very convenient. Now, in Gymnasium, all the children have a locker in their classroom, so they often don't have the stuff they need at home with them. Nobody tells them any more what to take, they are old enough they should know themselves. That is always a good excuse for not doing their homework! Once you go Schulranzen shopping for Ella next year, you will see that the companies producing them pride themselves on how little their school bags weigh. And how they are ergonomically adjusted to a small child. Buying a Schulranzen is a scientific adventure for the parents (whereas the kids only care about design). I would like to add two major differences: One thing that you didn't mention in this video, but in another one, is that there is more emphasis on foreign language as well, how much time and energy you spend on them, and how many you study (in Gymnasium). One other major difference is the test culture: multiple choice is used very little here, you need to write a lot more yourself. As a teacher I valued the American scantron machine, correcting is a lot more time consuming for German teachers. Copying from other students ("Spicken") is quite normal, even in exams, it is sort of a challenge not to get caught by the teacher. Just my five cents, there are so many other differences. You have a great Sunday. PS: In you next video, please include the Geodreieck, that seems uniquely German to me.

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

You added some great points! I kept thinking of more differences after we recorded the video 😂. Like about how kids have to have clothing for gym class in Grundschule but in US elementary schools, they do not. And they must have white soles! Haha

@Habakuk_ Жыл бұрын

In the USA I can still understand that there aren't such requirements as far as school things are concerned, many have no money and if they are poor they don't get any help from the state. Exactly the same with the school desks probably get the school material in the USA which can lead to it not being up to date.

@robbyh.8165 Жыл бұрын

@@Habakuk_ you seem to have plenty of social prejudice and clearly never been to the US.

@elisabethlemoigne5710 Жыл бұрын

@@emilwandel the 2 schools I know (Colorado and North Carolina) provided books for the students

@Habakuk_ Жыл бұрын

@@robbyh.8165 if you think :)

@verenak2158 Жыл бұрын

My elementary school made the lack of lockers a learning experience in organisation. We had some expert come in who weighted our backpacks and we all had to clean out our backpacks and look for unneccessary things. Learned how to adjust the lenght of our backpack according to our height.

@verenak2158 Жыл бұрын

And our teacher taught us to use a coloring system. For example, my color for math was blue. So I used a blue envelope for my math book and my math Heft and colored math in the schedule blue as well. My circle and triangle ruler had a blue case as well. So in the evening we could easily pack for the next day by looking at the colors. I used this system throughout school, university, and phd program.

@thorstenunger1881 Жыл бұрын

In concerns of "Sprechstunde" : This means a meeting face to face discussing / informing about certain matters. A Arzt-Sprechstunde means the opening times to see a doctor, a Lehrer- Sprechstunde means an informative meeting between teacher and parent. In contrast a Sprach-Stunde ("a" instead of "e") just means an hour of language-classes, a Mathe-Stunde refers to maths lessons etc.

@tnit7554 Жыл бұрын

The term "sprechstunde" is new to me. I am familiar with "elternsprechtag".

@charloud107 Жыл бұрын

exactly. "sprech-" = to talk, "sprach-" = language

@mareikejoeben2682 Жыл бұрын

What I especially like about you guys is your personal attitude towards all these crazy and sometimes hard to understand and follow situations. You seem to take it easy and just cope with the situation. And you ALWAYS can still laugh about yourself, which is really great and makes you very sympathatic. I very much like that about you. I am a very similar person.

@fuchsadler Жыл бұрын

At my Grundschule they didn't have Spinds but they had a shelf in the class room where you could store your school books if you didn't have homework in that subject on that specific day, so you didn't have to carry all of it around

@1290DR Жыл бұрын

As someone who obtained two engineering master degrees in germany: Handwirting has nothing to do with engineering, no one gives a sh$$t ;-) Teachers just don't want to spent hours and hours trying to decipher what this particular student wrote down as an answer while they check the exams and homework

@Mayagick Жыл бұрын

Numbering, the day of your birth is not your 1st Birthday, sort of you start literally at zero. You celebrate that you made it tru your first year. Same in the swimming hall, you jump off 1m, 2m, 5m, just walk in is from ground level and so it's with elevator 1st floor is above ground floor.

@youtubeaxel9030 Жыл бұрын

The area you moved to is probably the most conservative region in all of Germany, at least regarding the school system. So you've picked a hard one to get used to. On the other hand, it has one of the most beautifull landscapes and the villages and cities are all very nice, clean and peacefull too. In Germany we would say 'Da ist die Welt noch in Ordnung', meaning sth like 'The world hasn't gone crazy yet there'. Or 'Leben, wo andere Urlaub machen' = 'Live where other spend their holidays'.... So, take it easy, just relax and enjoy the struggle! Grüße aus der Südpfalz! ;-)

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Ah I love learning new German phrases! Yes we definitely live where others spend their holidays and we feel very lucky that we were able to do that due to Kevin’s job location and working remotely. Not everyone gets a choice! It is definitely clean and beautiful down here.

@youtubeaxel9030 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife About 20 years ago, I moved from a big city (in NRW) to a region in RLP ('Südpfalz'), where these two sayings are also true. It took me about 2 years to adjust myself to the more relaxed / less stressful way of living here. My 2 kids were born here and compared to my childhood in a big city, their childhood is much more peaceful and carefree. Far less neurotic people to handle with..... I have never regretted the step to move....

@wandilismus8726 Жыл бұрын

@@youtubeaxel9030 Leben wo andere Urlaub machen is definately Schleswig-Holstein, who would prefer Mountains over Beaches 😉

@quo33 Жыл бұрын

@@wandilismus8726 Lots of people do, e.g. me. :D Nothing against the beach in Northern Germany, but I prefer the Mediterranean which is not far from Austria where I live. Also the weather is much nicer here and there is less wind. It's ok for a holiday but I wouldn't want to live there. Once went to Ostsee as a child, it basically rained for 2 weeks. 😅

@wandilismus8726 Жыл бұрын

@@quo33 thats Not rain,thats just a free shower 😁

@mulraf Жыл бұрын

i know the school system must be kinda complicated if you aren't from here. but there are soo many paths. i live in bavaria too and for me it went like this: grundschule (classes 1-4) -> hauptschule (classes 5-6) -> wirtschaftsschule (which is like realschule but with an emphasis on economy; classes 7-9) -> fachoberschule (which is like gymnasium with slight differences; classes 10-12) + one extra year in fachoberschule so it's exactly the same as gymnasium without the slight difference -> university -> dropped out and did an apprenticeship instead. i don't want to tell the story of my live here, what i'm trying to say is: if you don't get (your kids) into gymnasium: don't worry. they will have LOADS of opportunities to go higher. or lower if you notice it's too hard. and it isn't that horrible to graduate from realschule. in fact i have co-workers now who are in a pretty similar position to me now who graduated from realschule. it's not like hauptschule or realschule mean you are destined to work in some sort of cliché "lower class" job (intentionally avoiding examples). with the hauptschule you might run into a bit more trouble in terms of options but still not impossible either. so just don't be too upset and try to move things forward. i'm sure if you're foreign it'll ramp up even more the longer you are here compared to local students as - of course - the language barrier also shrinks by time :D

@timtom2645 Жыл бұрын

I remember 20 years ago when I went to Grundschule, I had this "cube shaped" Scout backpack like many other children too and it had an amazing feature: there was a scale built into the handle, so when you picked the backpack up by the handle the scale showed you with numbers 1, 2 and 3 how heavy your backpack is (1 being light, 2 medium, and 3 too heavy). So the more books you put into it the heavier it got and the scale would always show number 3 which was the heaviest and unhealthy for the back and neck! I think lockers in the hallways are the best solution and I really don't know why we don't have them in every school. But I'm glad some schools are adapting lockers now. :)

@abgekippt Жыл бұрын

Yes in the past we had "schulranzen". What an awful word - "ranzen" 😅. And "ranzen" has other meanings in german as well (sich paaren, sich begatten) 🙈

@marcomobson Жыл бұрын

I knew it was 3 before using it because their was no 4...! 🙈

@KitsuneHB Жыл бұрын

I went to school in the 80s and partly in the 90s. We were in Sweden in 10th grade and saw the lockers over there. We all wished we had them in our school too because our bags were always too heavy. The only book we could put in a closet in class room was the famous "Diercke Weltatlas".

@lgh62 Жыл бұрын

@@abgekippt In Switzerland Ranzen is a big belly (f.e. the famous "beer-belly" of elderly men = Bier-Ranzen)

@emilsinclair4190 Жыл бұрын

Or another solution we used in my school was ro always teach the same subject for 2 hours. This means that you would only need to carry the stuff for 3-4 subjects

@m.s.3041 Жыл бұрын

The lunch topic is just in the Bavarian and westgermany relevant... In East Germany (the former DDR) it was normal in DDR history that everyone works full-time, even mothers... So lunch in every school form ist for me as i grow up in east Germany totally normal... And when i moved to Bavaria it was for me like i see a world like in the 60ies where it was normal that mothers are staying home with their kids... Like a total step backwards... But they get better over time...

@cacklebarnacle15 Жыл бұрын

When you said, that you think kindergarten teachers in Germany are less qualified than school teachers it was like a punch to the face. I really thought this kind of preconception was no longer prevalent. I'm not mad at you though, I guess I was in my own social bubble of kindergarten teachers and parents of kindergarten kids for too long. While both professions might focus on teaching kids, they do require completely different skills and knowledge. A school teacher is educated in their subjects and didactic for children at their respective school type. A kindergarten teacher (or Erzieher*in) is educated in childhood development (physical, mental, emotional) and all kinds of subjects to relate them to kids ages 0-6. The focus in kindergarten though, is not to cram knowledge into their heads, but to prepare them to function as their own person and on the social level as Grundschule requires. Group dynamics are just as important as each individual child. In school kids learn language, math, science etc.. In kindergarten children learn how to learn, how to structure their own cognitive processes when aquiring new information. Any teacher would struggle just as hard in a kindergarten, as a kindergarten teacher would struggle in a school. There is a reason, why both professions need to still go through the process of further education and qualification, before they could work in the other branch. You mentioned Grundschulkinder often making their way to school alone within the first year. The groundwork is already done in Kindergarten by teaching kids basic road safety and memory practices to help find the way.

@dianahausen6619 Жыл бұрын

I'm assuming it was more a case of careless word choice rather than actually believing that. But just in case it wasn't, it's necessary to educate and put right.

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Oh, we do apologize! That’s not what we meant. Kindergarten teachers are very well qualified. The reason I said that is because of comments we’ve gotten on KZfaq from Germans. When we first moved here we referred to Ella’s kindergarten “teachers” and got all of these comments from Germans that kindergarten teachers have fewer fewer years of education than school teachers do.

@cacklebarnacle15 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Hey, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. Like I said in my first comment, it was more the shock, to hear this. It is kind of frustrating to hear people still propagate this mindset though, like they did in your comments. In my city, we kindergarten teachers are doing our best to work hand in hand with the primary school teachers, to make the transition easy on the kids. By the way: Since there is no direct translation for Erzieher, kindergarten teacher is a valid term, as is early childhood educator, but that's a whole mouth full.

@simonspethmann8086 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yeah, that's what a lot of Germans, especially conservative types, think. Goes hands in hand with a society wide overall disrespect towards any occupation in traditional female roles, aka care work. (Though that's not a particularly German thing, eh.) Classism also plays into this, as Erzieherin is an Ausbildungsberuf, whereas teachers are taught at university. To this very day, working class people are severely underrepresented in universities (or gymnasium). Erzieherinnen will also earn less than school teachers, and primary school teachers less than highschool teachers. With Gymnasium teachers earning most. As an academic, social scientists, s.b. who's also volunteered in social work, and a parent... I find that pretty ridiculous. I could go teach at gymnasium tomorrow, no prob (skillwise). Well-adjusted teenagers from (likely) academic households, are basically little adults. But toddlers, primary school students who are just getting the hang of things, people from challenged backgrounds (who congregate at Hauptschule)? That actually requires an Ausbildung! So, Erzieherinnen aren't less qualified. They are just paid, and respected, less than they deserve. Here's another German saying for you: himmelschreiende Ungerechtigkeit. That's what it is. 😑

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

@@cacklebarnacle15 yes exactly, there is no direct translation for Kindergarten Erzieher so when speaking in English, it is correct to say, Kindergarten Teacher. That’s what frustrated me so much the last time we said this in a video. And I’ve never thought of Kindergarten teachers as being less valuable than school teachers, I was only responding to those previous comments.

@KathisEvoli Жыл бұрын

Bayern hat immer so spät Ferien im Jahr. Das liegt daran, dass die Ferien früher immer in die Erntezeit gefallen sind und die Kinder frei hatten, um auf den Feldern zu helfen. Die Tradition hat sich irgendwie nie geändert.

@pinkhope84 Жыл бұрын

Was echt unfair ist, weil es ja so nicht mehr ist. Und zb Niedersachsen und Schleswig Holstein haben auch viel zu ernten und das interessiert nicht. Bayern bekommt schon immer eine Extrawurst 😤

@katjahuskinson3428 Жыл бұрын

Na ja, Bayern könnte sich gerne in die anderen Bundesländer eingliedern... Bei den meisten anderen verändert sich der Zeitpunkt nämlich jedes Jahr, damit es gerechter ist.

@calise8783 Жыл бұрын

BaWü is also so late and doesn’t rotate.

@justbonnie1103 Жыл бұрын

Love your videos. But one thing where I stopped was when you said Erzieher (Kindergarten Teachers) aren't as qualified as School Teachers. And that's what even Germans don't really understand, what kind of educational mission the Kindergarten actually has. The Job requires a lot more then what is seen by the public. And that's no criticism for you, just in general a lot of people forget or don't know, what the work of a Erzieher/Kindergarten Teacher requires.

@JohnHazelwood58 Жыл бұрын

true words!

@dianahausen6619 Жыл бұрын

I agree. An Erzieher/in is a highly qualified person in Germany. There is no comparison as it's a totally different qualification to a primary teacher but in my opinion equally as important.

@chrissiesbuchcocktail Жыл бұрын

I don't think she meant they are not worth as much as teachers, just that they are not qualified to teach in a school.

@dianahausen6619 Жыл бұрын

@@chrissiesbuchcocktail Possibly but " less qualified" ist eine eindeutige Aussage. It's like saying an electrician is less qualified than a carpenter. There is actually no comparison.

@JohnHazelwood58 Жыл бұрын

As they don't have to as they have other learning areas. But to become a "Erzieher" at the Kindergarten, you need a 4 to 6 year long education training, too.

@lysan1445 Жыл бұрын

Love your videos. This one brings back the memories of my school time; I recognised a lot. I grew up in Baden-Württemberg. About as strict and traditional as Bavaria but a tiny tick better. I am always sorry that the teachers gave you such a hard time and explained and helped so little. About the schoolbooks: I don't know how it is today, but after school finishes at 1 p.m., there is still a lot of homework to do at home. For these tasks, we always needed our schoolbooks. So a locker may not solve the problem of carrying the schoolbooks around, at least not for the Gymnasium.

@jillschiller4932 Жыл бұрын

You are most definitely helping other immigrants i.e. ME! I can't believe you find the time to make content after moving abroad. We are 5 months into settling here in Germany from America with 2 young boys and it's refreshing to hear you stories. You also are a beam of light and seeing you be able to laugh at making little mistakes is so nice. There is so much culture shock and many language barriers. I hope we too will feel how you do a year from now. Thanks for the inspiration to keep pushing forward!

@adelheidjaeger3201 Жыл бұрын

Hi! I just fpund your channel! You are doing fantastic! It's huge to move as a family of 6 and navigate 4 starts at schools and kindergarten! Well done!!!!!

@existenzrippa Жыл бұрын

have a nice sunday and thanks for the nice video

@victoriabill9257 Жыл бұрын

Usually, kids in Germany bring lunch to school. You might have heard the term "Pausenbrot", which refers to a sandwich eaten during the break/recess. And often older kids, around 10/11 start buying food for themselves in bakeries on their way to school, or during the lunchbreak.

@ag4444 Жыл бұрын

usually kids in Germany eat lunch in the school cafeteria. I'm completely shocked that there are areas in Germany where children need to bring their own lunch. of course we had the option to opt out of lunch if we didn't wanted to eat the food the cafeteria provided (usually there are 2 options and you get the menu the week before) but it's news to me that there are schools in Germany that don't offer cafeteria lunch.

@rolandscherer1574 Жыл бұрын

It's been a long time since I was in school, but my mother was working even then. Since I was 11 or 12, I made my own lunch. I didn't need school lunches - which didn't exist back then anyway.

@der.Schtefan Жыл бұрын

Little hint: whenever you say the base vowels "u" and "o" just relax your lips. Whenever you need to say "ü" or "ö", it is the exact same vowels, just with your lips rounded like the "w" in the start of "window", the tongue etc stays at the same location. Thus, "Grundschule" is with a "relaxed lips" sound (you are always somehow sounding like you say Grundschüle)

@isabellabihy8631 Жыл бұрын

Neat handwriting is really good for learning dexterity, "Feinmotorik". Oh my, I remember so well carrying a heavy bag on my back. I had trouble being organized according to the schedule and therefore had to take all of it every day. I agree that Bavaria has the greatest expectations, and as I know, Baden-Württemberg, too. I lived in California for three years (1977-1980), went to high-school for one year and to college for two years. Then the family was to return to Germany, and to top it off, we were returning to Bavaria. I called the ministry of culture ("Kultusministerium", which is overseeing the schools in a state ("Bundesland")) asking how my college graduation (Associate in Arts degree in Business Data Processing) would get recognized as "Abitur". I had sent them all the necessary documentation and they said the degree could not be recognized as "Abitur", because ... hold onto your seats ... there was no German class in the curriculum. I know they expected that I should have taken German literature class(es). Oh yes, German was offered but rather on a tourist level. My Dad's reaction was cool. He said don't worry, we'll be moving to Rheinland-Pfalz within the year, and things are different there. I did get the recognition for my degree as "Abitur", no problems. And the guy from the ministry of culture in Rheinland-Pfalz and I had a good laugh at the stuffiness of Bavaria. With that "Abitur" in hand I went to get a job as a programmer.

@Kazuya720 Жыл бұрын

12:05 this is also related to get our kids ready for MINT-jobs, which is abbreviation for Mathematic, Informatic (computer sciences), Nature-science and Technic (engineering).

@hanna_ivanchenko Жыл бұрын

This is your first video I've watched. I like it! Will see more

@christianbraun5004 Жыл бұрын

Hey Sara, your face when Kevin mentioned that computer scientists start counting at 0 was so honestly screaming "Nerd!!!" 🤣 But to be honest, I can totally understand him. It's so engrained into my (professional) thinking, that I get annoyed when someone else starts counting at 1 in their programs... 😉 And yes, Bavaria is one of the "more traditional" or stricter states when it comes to school. I have three cousins who went to school in Bavaria and it was indeed very different in some areas from what I experienced in the two states that I went to school in.

@tnit7554 Жыл бұрын

Bavaria and saxony still have the best education systems in germany.

@flyingdocskate Жыл бұрын

I‘m from the netherlands myself and moved to Freilassing near the border with Salzburg, Austria almost 6 years ago now. Our daughter was born in Salzburg and is now in her second year of Kindergarten. Hearing about the german schoolsystem is sometimes still scaring the crap out of me, because in the Netherlands kids in first grade don‘t need backpacks at all and we don‘t have to buy anything except for gymnastic clothes and their lunches. When I hear what they need for school here in Germany I am glad we still have a minimal of 2 school years to figure out how and what before our daughter goes to the Grundschule. You’re video’s are already helping me a bit😊

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Oh wow! That’s so awesome that kids in the Netherlands don’t need backpacks the first few years. I hear a lot of great stuff about your homeland. I’m so glad our videos can help you so you don’t have to suffer like we did!

@sevin1410 Жыл бұрын

Everything mentioned seems so normal to me, that I‘m shocked it‘s so different elsewhere. I live in Switzerland and most of the stuff mentioned about the school system in Germany is also true for Swiss schools. Super interesting!

@Roger-np3wi Жыл бұрын

Hello dear family and thank you for another interesting Sunday video. Handwriting is enormously important. This motoric and cognitive process helps us to remember better what we have written. In addition, it obviously helps with spelling and it also seems to have positive effects on the ability to compose texts.

@Mayagick Жыл бұрын

comprehend, German "begreifen" comes from to take, to have a grip on s.th. that's why all the touch displays are all the same and a backdraw in understanding or memorizing it. In playgrounds or Waldkindergarten you walk barefoot on different surfaces and have your tactical senses trained.

@kerstineisenhut8151 Жыл бұрын

The english "Mitschriften" in your videos are hilarious. So much fun to read along.

@FictionCat Жыл бұрын

The desk problem is really interesting because when I was in "Grundschule" (16 years ago) we had desks where we had to put our school supplies and little boxes with our names on for our art supplies. Maybe they "upgraded" the desks to more modern standard which meant no room for that kinda stuff? I recall a lot of trouble with our old desk because some kids where just much taller than others - some of my friends didn't fit quite well under them, I on the other hand was to small. Also it happended a lot that we forgot the books at school we needed for our homework.

@lukieskywalker136 Жыл бұрын

When I was in Grundschule we had those as well. In Niedersachsen we also had Orientierungsstufe (Grades 5 + 6) before we were split into the different school tracks and I had to change schools for that. Even there we were able to store things in or under our desks. I had to go back to school some afternoons because I had forgotten books I needed for my homework. At Gymnasium we had lockers and were told how reserve one on day one. I think the experience is very school specific.

@wora1111 Жыл бұрын

Usually I needed my books at home because homework was page x, exercise 1a through c and 3b. Only exception was the Diercke Atlas ...

@kolli7150 Жыл бұрын

In my Grundschule, in each classroom have been 2 sizes of tables and chairs. At the beginning of each school year teachers would have had a look at how much the children had grown and bigger children would have gotten bigger tables. They would have placed the bigger tables in the back and the smaller in the front. 🤷🏼‍♀️ our Hausmeister prepared such things until the next day of school usually.

@ruth6883 Жыл бұрын

It was the same when I started school 11 years ago and I witnessed the process of thinking about new tables still as a "Vierti". If I'm informed correctly the new tables (and chairs) were purchased two or three years later. We had two or four test tables at school and every class had a few days to test them, but I can't remember if they had this little space underneath.

@shift-happens Жыл бұрын

aww, another heart warming video, thanks so much you guys

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

🥰🥰

@Feurigel1806 Жыл бұрын

In my Realschule/Gymnasium we had a Mensa (cafeteria) that every student could use, so not only the kids in the afterschool program, but everyone could go there and buy lunch if they wanted to. We also had a "Pausenverkauf", like a little booth with snacks you could buy in the shorter breaks or after school. Like Brezels, Leberkässemmel, etc.

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Okay good to know. Which part of Germany are you from?

@Feurigel1806 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I'm actually from Baveria, too xD I went to school in Munich ^^

@indiramichaelahealey5156 Жыл бұрын

We do have the Gesamtschule as well. But the Gesamtschule is also devided into the three different sections (like Gymnasium, Realschule and Hauptschule) just under one roof. What really shocked me was how much less the students in the US apparently learn in school although they are there from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the eleventh grade on the Gymnasium students often have the chance for a half year or one year school exchange. All the students who took part and went to school in the US for that year told us how easy it was in the American schools and that they had learned everything already years ago. The same goes for colleges. Some things you learn on American colleges students in Germany have already learned in the Gymnasium, not only concerning mathematics.

@Habakuk_ Жыл бұрын

comes to the area of the schools in the USA the schools are paid from the property taxes of the houses. If you have more money, you can teach better.

@conniebruckner8190 Жыл бұрын

Exactly, such as a year of Philosophy and Psychology and the level of mathematics in the last two years of Gymnasium is at US college level. One main difference I noticed is how little kids in Europe are taught to use the library as a source of information. But now with Google and Wikipaedia, that is a whole different scenario. Austrian schools are introducing a new class for media competency. ( Finally!)

@Feurigel1806 Жыл бұрын

In my Grundschule, we had a place under our desk to put school books in. And we had a shelf for all our art supplies ^^ But in Gymnasium and Realschule we didn't have this anymore (only the art supplies could still be left at school). But we were also able to get a locker for our stuff (which I never got, cause I didn't really mind, cause in Gymnasium/Realschule I only had to take the books from the periods I had on that day, so I've never really needed to carry all the books ^^ (Only at the first school day in which you get them x'D)

@michaelstaengl1349 Жыл бұрын

As a German kid in Munich back in the late 1980s, I was soooo proud to have learned how to use the public transportation. I remember that I felt like an adult using the subway, the busses, the tram like them. Now, I'm 45 1/2 and I never felt the need for buying myself a car thanks to the Munich public transport. Your chapter about math and enginering, #6. In Germany itself, many especially older people are complaining that the quality of math and enginering shrunk by a large margin when compared to how difficult it was in the 1960s. I gues, there's some nostalgia filter working here.

@BrokenCurtain Жыл бұрын

This talk about coloured pencils brings back some memories about broken leads, pale colours and certain pencils always running out faster than others. I remember being so fed-up with mine that I finally got some Polychromos pencils to replace them. Still have those lying around, actually.

@marcomobson Жыл бұрын

Nice to hear that you adapted so much! You also sound much more relaxed than one year ago. 😉 There was one thing that caught my ear; Sarah, you struggled with "Elternsprechtag", especially with "sprech". I know there are three unfamiliar sounds for you in a row. You managed the "sp" so nicely but stumble upon the "r" which prevents you to cope (fluently) with the "ch". As a native German speaker I can also hardly manage it with the English "r" in the middle. So I'd try to focus on the "r"; when you do the english one, move your tongue and form a spanish one (just for gymnastics) and then try to growl like a dog (as another extreme gymnastics). To me (not being a linguist) the german "r" comes just from the throat, so you need to adjust your tongue just resting in your mouth. With lessening the tension in your mouth it gets much more easy to form the "sp" and "ch" next to it. Good luck! ✊✌️ And have a nice sunday!

@smoody1166 Жыл бұрын

Expat in Cologne here. My little will be turning 6 next September so I'm starting the Enschulung process already to get a spot in the Grundschule we want. This video was really enlightening. I'll be sure to stick to the supply lists and get the right Hefts and markers. The boring stationary shops make sense now!

@missis_jo1017 Жыл бұрын

I hope you have good contacts to natives, because even before school starts there are some very specific traditions and Fests at the end of Kindergarten. The most prominent being the Schultüte/Zuckertüte. Make sure your child doesn’t go without one to the Einschulungszeremonie 😉. The entire process can be so confusing, because noone really explains anything, everyone just knows how things work. And for Germans it can be really difficult to not leave anything out, because we just don’t think of all the things you might not know about 🤪. So make sure you habe a local at hand you can walk you through the process and the specific traditions of your region. Best of luck 🤞!

@inawolf4296 Жыл бұрын

In our town Grundschul Kids can leave their books in school. They have spaces for books and painting stuff. Only "Turnbeutel" are transported because this is needed for "Sportverein" as well. And "weiterführende Schule" has lockers.

@pkorobase Жыл бұрын

Getting all school stuff is also a task for german parents. We often managed by going to a small school stationary shop. For the schools nearby they usually know whatr you need, so you'd just tell them which school and which grade it was, and they'd collect or even order what they dont have in stock. Also, concerning books in Gymnasium, the parents community often offered to make a collective order for all, and that often had some discount on it. And if all else fails you can just call the school book publisher (e.g. Klett) or the school supply manufacturers (e.g. Pelikan) for help.

@perhonen28 Жыл бұрын

I had to laugh a bit about the lunch part. Our gymnasium was right next to the Fachhochschule which had a Mensa. You didn't have to be a student there to get food of course so a lot of the older students of our school who had classes in the afternoon just went there. That lead to complaints from the FH. Ultimately, our school built its own cafeteria. At first, you had to order your food a week in advance, then they shortened it to a day, and later, you didn't have to pre-order at all. Then it actually worked.

@NicolaiCzempin Жыл бұрын

The Gesamtschule is not instead of the other types, but an additional option. There are Gesamtschulen in Bavaria, but with 5 altogether far fewer than in most of the other states.

@louisacoote2337 Жыл бұрын

As someone who moved from the UK to France aged 6 years old, the different school systems fascinate me. The French system is very focused on neat handwriting ( squared paper and each square is separated into several lines, your loops on certain letters have to go up or down one, two, three or four lines). They are obsessed with maths too, and there is a grade average for the class in secondary school for each subject. Work is marked out of 20.

@anne0444 Жыл бұрын

there are halbtagsschulen where you don‘t have any lessons in the afternoon and there are Ganstagsschulen/klassen where you have lessons or „AG’s“ in the afternoon so there is a cafeteria. And both schools I went to after the grundschule had Lockers but you had to book them to get one. Really enjoy watching your videos :)

@quo33 Жыл бұрын

Funny, in Austria we always had a "Bankfach" (book storage under our desk) and a "Spind" (locker), and had to wear Hausschuhe at least the first four years of Gymnasium. 😅

@jessicaneal8553 Жыл бұрын

I'm in New Zealand, and learning through play is big here. So much so that there are some primary schools bringing that through past the new entrants class. My kids have recently switched to a school that does this, the younger class has more learning through play, the older class has more learning through projects. When my son mentioned power point slides to present the work they're doing on their local area history, I was pleasantly surprised. They have separate curriculum for maths and reading that they work through 4 days of the week in the mornings, and they're really learning lots and enjoying it.

@JasManie1995 Жыл бұрын

If you like the learning with playing thing I really want to say that the Montessori Schule is a very nice school with materials and a nice bond between teacher and student. I was in Montessori Schule during my Grundschulzeit and I learned so easy

@K__a__M__I Жыл бұрын

Concerning colors in school; when I went to school to become an occupational therapist - in my mid-twenties, mind you - our anatomy professor had us buy an anatomical coloring atlas that covered every system in the human body. I thought he was kidding! But it was actually very helpful in learning the different nerves, muscles, lymphatic system what have you... I'm an _adult_ ffs! I'm not gonna color the _m. teres minor_ red!? I'm gonna color it _Fuchsia!_

@calise8783 Жыл бұрын

My girlfriend had the same as a physical therapist.

@marcomobson Жыл бұрын

It helps the brain learning stuff... 🤷🏼‍♂️😉

@LythaWausW Жыл бұрын

But were there students who tried to color everything according to real life? What color are synapses anyway?

@K__a__M__I Жыл бұрын

@@LythaWausW For educational purposes everything was color coded. I thought about coloring it as real as possible but then everything would've been mostly red and pink. I don't think synapses have any actual color.

@t.a.k.palfrey3882 Жыл бұрын

One of my youngest son's best friends at his senior school in England is from München. He (Xavi) said one of the biggest culture shocks was hot school meals. For example, their menu for 22 Sept was: b'fast - cereal, scrambled eggs & sausage, tea/coffee, OJ. Lunch: lentil soup, choice of veg quiche & salad or cottage pie, and ice cream, tea/coffee. Dinner: veg or pork paté & toast, choice of veg/cheese lasagne or pork chops & veg, then sticky toffee pudding & ice cream, juice, or (if 16 or over) one glass cider. The boys bake cookies in domestic science class to eat as mid morning or late evening snacks w tea/coffee/milk. Xavi said this all blew hid mind!

@melanierotter1707 Жыл бұрын

I‘m German and a mom of 2 kids in Kindergarten…and I can tell you… schools in Germany have changed soooo much in the past 30 years, that I will almost have the same struggle with school supplies and getting to know everything as you guys did. I mean, I don‘t have the translation problem, but that‘s about it! It‘s not just for immigrants confusing 😂😂

@xaltos6196 Жыл бұрын

If you leave your books in a looker inside of the shool, how do you do your homework? You may need the books for learning. But I remember from my shool time ( a long time ago), that the teacher announced what kind of book we need for the next lesson, so it wasn't necessary to carry them all all the time. So every day you had to check the time table for the next day and just prepare for the lessons that you have on that day.

@martinm8991 Жыл бұрын

When I was visiting a IGS in Niedersachsen in 1991, we had a great (just perfect) canteen in the school. Very healthy and wide choice each day, rather symbolic price.

@chrissiesbuchcocktail Жыл бұрын

Having no place to leave all supplies at school might teach the kids to manage the supplies well so that they only bring the things they need that day and not everything. I was in school decades ago but that worked well for me and I never had a really heavy schoolbag (only when I was lazy and didn't take the books out I didn't need). We mostly had only 3 different subjets in the gymnasium each day (3 Dopplestunden) - so not too much stuff to bring. Oh and there are schoolbusses where there is no convinient public transportation. But they are not noticable because they use just regular busses.

@robertbauer6468 Жыл бұрын

In our gymnasium also in upper bavaria, they offer lunch. In times both parents work it makes sense to offer that. This is a good thing in America. We have also the option, to deposit schoolbooks in the classroom. But in my opinion it would make sense to have a second set of books at home. The "Schulranzen" is very heavy for children in especially elementary school on some days. I think its also different for you, that schools in the US do also the job of offering all kind of different courses and sports. Children are in school the hole day and they can life in their different interests. Here you have to join clubs or societies (highly recommended for your kids and you). Schoolbuses are common here, when you live outside the town and there is no public transportation available.

@somethingsmatter Жыл бұрын

Omg we had so many difficulties with school supplies too! So many super specific things, not even the employees at Libro or Pagro knew what they were!!

@snowsnake1264 Жыл бұрын

I went to a Realschule and than went on to Gymnasium to do my Abitur. In my Realschule we had WRT ( Wirtschaft Recht Technik) we mostly did. the Technik part. We had to do wood works for half a year and the other half we went to the classroom and did technical drawings of the things we build. One of the task was also to draw our bedroom and write how long our room, bed, windows and desk…..are. I had to measure my entire room, look how far my door gets in my room and also scale it Down so it can fit on my paper. I think I got a 1 or 2 there was a slight problem with my numbers I wrote them a little to big and to close to me arrows.

@kjk8941 Жыл бұрын

Most schools are actually very focused on math and science. However, there are also exceptions. I went to a "musisch-sprachliches Gymnasium" and made the so-called "European Abitur" (at least four foreign languages) and took specialized practical exams in acting, dancing and singing. We also had a cafeteria. And my daughter now goes to a "Sprachheilschule", a special elementary school where the focus is on language development. She is growing up bilingual (her dad is british) and has problems with German grammar. She can stay there - if necessary - for up to six years, will ride a school bus, get lunch and has a locker.

@geneviere199 Жыл бұрын

What you probably remarked is that organization is king. I do not know how important that was in the US school system - but in Germany it is. It helps a lot to plan in advance. And it already starts with the Grundschule. Kids (or first their parents) have to learn to get organized, some do that easier, some need more help. I do not know how often my Mom drove to school in the first years (I was working) because my son had forgotten something like his sports stuff or his breakfast. It is about taking the time each day after homework to sharpen pencils and to organize your school bag for the next day. And to have extra "Hefte" for each type at home (we always bought them in a bundle) to replace them when they were full. Organisation really is helpful with learning, too. When to learn, how to learn, what to learn. We had extra "Elternabende" in the first weeks in Gymnasium for that. It helps especially to get into a system for learning languages - not just learning the vocabulary once when it is homework but repeating it in intervalls to get it into your long-time-memory. Some learn better if they write down things, others when they speak it or even sing it - some when they combine multiple ways of learning. And like always - people will tell you that there are easier solutions when you were already through the situation. Like e.g. the material lists for school. A lot of Germans just give this lists to the shop and let them do the work - atleast when you do not look for the penny and try to get things in bulk in cheaper places before the start of the school year. The discounters and supermarkets right now often have offers for school stuff - but you only should buy what you really know you need.

@JH-xo9sy Жыл бұрын

I am always amazed that you did not get more help from the schools or other parents. I am so sorry! In general Germans like to help ;) Well, learning by doing is the slogan. You did a good job. Maybe you can now become a consultant for other immigrant parents! Don't take the German way of correction too serious, just smile and tell them you will do it (that's what I did as a Dutch living in Germany) 'Elternsprechstunde' 'e' like 'a' in lack .... 'u' like 'oo' in good! You can do this! Jus a tip: if you give your children a lunchbox with some sandwiches and fruit, they don't need to 'starve' and you can eat a warm evening meal together. Nice video. Thank you.

@elisabethlemoigne5710 Жыл бұрын

I guess things were made more complicated by social distancing

@michelemoneywell8765 Жыл бұрын

Interesting video. Thanks. You have a new subscriber.

@richardsweat4967 Жыл бұрын

When I moved to Germany in the 80’s, we had a sponsor to help us with everything. We had the sponsor for about a year.

@cesbi Жыл бұрын

Great job, you guys, both the video and actually making it through German bureaucracy. Mad impressive.

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! It was not easy - so glad we are past the super hard part.

@Meinvt Жыл бұрын

In the US, 58 years old. I remember handwriting workbooks just like the one you showed and I even had to go to remedial handwriting when I was in fifth grade.

@Mister__Jey Жыл бұрын

9:37 Well, even in NRW, the largest federal state with almost 17 million inhabitants, there is the typical Hauptschule, Realschule and on the top Gymnasium. But we have also Gesamtschul AND you can also graduate from, Realschule au-even Hauptschule, which entitles you to go to Gymnasium for the years 11,12 and sometimes still 13. THEN you can then do your Abitur or Fachabitur and then you can go to a Fachhochschule or Universität, i.e. comparable to a college.

@MiciFee97 Жыл бұрын

We had shelf in school where we put pur stuff and we only took home things that we needed. This would be aweful if you forgot something for homework. But it was great. We had it in elementary school and in gesamtschule

@KirstenJoerg Жыл бұрын

Phew, that's a lot to take in, isn't it? I'm surprised that there aren't school buses anymore? When we left the Grundschule and went to the 'weiterführenden Schulen' which was a little further away, we always had a dedicated school bus (just had to go down the road & it's a small village). We always walked to the Grundschule with our schoolmates though. We honestly have the biggest respect how you all tackled this, it's more than admirable.

@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Жыл бұрын

Hi Liebe Kirsten! Thank you - it was a huuugggeee transition! So maybe in some places there are school buses and in others, not? I guess the difference is in the US school buses are guaranteed - they are in every single district.

@Alexander-dt2eq Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife it depends.. in my area 95% percent of students that took a bus , used a school bus, but some also used public bus or train. So it is not guaranteed, but you can apply at your local village to get one or make them stop not to far from your house.

@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301 Жыл бұрын

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife: Delightful video. In Baden-Württemberg (at least in Calw Kreis where I live) the bus time-tables are divided into 'S' (Schultage) school-days, i.e. term-time, and 'F' (Ferien) school holidays. All are normal public bus services. The 'S' Schultage time-table caters for all the children going to and from school. The 'F' Ferien time-table is slimmed down and presumably saves the bus companies money . . .

@Kelsea-2002 Жыл бұрын

There are also school buses in Germany.Mainly in the countryside, where there are only poor connections with public transport. At our school, for example, these buses were even free of charge.Our integrated comprehensive school also had a locker for each student. It is true, however, that the differences between the schools are extremely large. This not only varies from state to state, it already varies in the same city.

@samu6874 Жыл бұрын

School is a shock for germans as well. Depending on the school its quite big... We live in Baden-Württemberg and even as a Kid I loved the late start in September. Summer is over so you can focus on school again. Supplies are a (expensive) nightmare. I Hit a little Shop close to the school and they packed everything for us last year. This year I ordered online. Handwriting is a bavarian/lical thing. Most schools gave up and some stopped cursive or dont make it mandatory anymore. In my town you use the last week or two of the holidays to practice your way to school. Some Bundesländer do not use grades for the transition anymore. Its the parents joice now. Bayern is very strict and old school style. Math is fascinating. I never knew how much I learned because I was really bad at math. But once I was in university and outside of germany it clicked how much I was prepared in comparison to others. In elementary school they send them home wirh just their homework. I personally hate it. There is so much chating in the whats app groups asking for Fotos of the homework. You cant check on their work regularly and know if they have trouble or practice with them. Plus they cannot practice to pack everything they need for the next day.

@NicolaiCzempin Жыл бұрын

The transition to the higher schools actually happen at the half-year mark of fourth grade, so the madness of getting there starts from the beginning of fourth grade and even late in third grade. I remember my younger son in third grade getting homework for over the weekend, which I found excessive. So I went for a talk with the teacher, and she said "if we don't give them homework over the weekend, many parents will complain because we're jeopardizing their kids' 'Übergang' [transition to secondary school]"

@emilsinclair4190 Жыл бұрын

Huh we never used a ruler for our handwriting

@leDespicable Жыл бұрын

One thing I'd like to mention is that dedicated school bus services do exist here in Germany, it just depends on how rural the area you live in is. In rural areas most schools hire local bus companies to run school bus services since public transport is sadly not very good there and not everyone lives close enough to just be able to bike to school. Those will still be the regular public transport buses, but they'll have a school bus sign in the back window to indicate that they're carrying pupils.

@matteiooo Жыл бұрын

Maybe you could show us in a video the most interesting, bizare, hardest/easiest, funniest and/or longest german words. Which words do you prefer instead of the english one and which english words resemble/describe better something than the corresponding german one? I think this would be interesting as native german speaking people won't probably think about these words as you would do. I'd say you are experiencing the german language much more attentative which puts a really interesting point of view on the german language.

@daimhaus Жыл бұрын

I always had lunch in Kindergarten and school, but it was always either in the renovated basement or in a newly build annex kind of thing - the schoolbuilding itself was in every case over a hundred years old so yeah seems to something that changed.

@anna-ranja4573 Жыл бұрын

Hi Sarah, how is going on with your german driving licence an will you make a video of this theme, how you learn, your experiences etc.?

@lynnsintention5722 Жыл бұрын

Yes even a German "Real " schule is harder than a US school, These kids are learning things I did not hear about till college! LOL But sometimes I feel it is too much...Way more than you need....When you get a 1 in Germany it is really an impressive feat. on the contrary you can pass with 50% in Germany

@thinkingbout Жыл бұрын

You can pass with 50% in Germany but when you have too much bad grades you still have to consider repeating class. Also for the Abitur you need a certain amount of gradepoints (at least in NRW) so that you can even attempt the mainexams so just being 50% in every course isn't enough. Also it gives you really bad chances to get into the study programms of some universitys (e.g. in psychology, medicine, law but also economics or biology), so you can pass with 50% but in the long run you have to do better or it will influence your chances for your future education.

@lynnsintention5722 Жыл бұрын

@@thinkingbout Yes true...BUt I was just comparing it to the 65% needed in the USA to pass...I mean I was only bad in math back then so I would have been happy with 50% LOL But I doubt I would even have gotten that because Germans teach much higher math in high school than I ever had (I work at a school so I sit in on the classes)

@arip3363 Жыл бұрын

@@lynnsintention5722 it strongly depends on the school you are in. Gymnasium is not for every child. I would compare it to having AP classes on every single subject especially in Bavaria with the hardest school system in place.

@Dahrenhorst Жыл бұрын

What you didn't mention is, that there is lots of opportunity to switch tracks between a more vocational and a more academic schooling, and that in both directions. This is true up to the end of training, where the achievement of a "Meister" or Master title in a vocation is officially equivalent to a university's Bachelor degree. To me, the golden way for the best possible education in Germany is to go to school up to the 10th class at either Realschule or Gymnasium, starting (and finishing, of course) a three years vocational training (Lehre), and - if you are interested in academics by then and want to go to University - do another year or two of school (Fachoberschule, Abendgymnasium), which qualifies for University. That way you have the best of both: practical work experience (and job chances) while studying at University what also enables you to put into perspective what you are learning at University much better and easier, plus you have typically much better job chances after you graduated since you have been part of the work force already for years.

@postedbynorico Жыл бұрын

Some brands, like Pfennigpfeiffer, now offer a Schullistenservice. You just upload a photo of the list you received from the teacher and go collect it in 1-2 days in a shop near you. I think that is genius.

@summersnowflake2865 Жыл бұрын

Book-Part: during my time at the "Gymnasium" we just kept our schoolbooks at home and had to bring only the books I needed that day to school. (School usually went from 8am to 2pm) so I often had to take 3-4 books with me, which weren't too heavy. In our school/class parents got scolded because they made their children bring all the books everyday to school. I know, every school has their own rules (depending on "Bundesland" and "Schulform"), but I remember how that way helped me to be more organised and independent.

@Jacob_Roberts Жыл бұрын

Thank you. This is interesting.

@BernalAzul Жыл бұрын

Also, Mexican school do not have lockers (but the American style ones), so kids do carry they school supplies every day. As for school buses, only some private schools offer them.

@karinbauer3504 Жыл бұрын

Regarding school supplies: In elementary school there is usually one class teacher assigned. When our kids went to school, they could/should keep everything at school (each child had a box in the classroom) which they did not need for homework. Sometimes it takes them a bit to understand which things are needed. But it‘s good training getting self-organized. As for secondary school, there are various options to organize yourself: 1. rent a locker (which is good also for dropping jackets, bike helmet, food/water); 2. align with the neighboring student on book sharing (i.e. I will bring the book for German class. Can you bring the one for Maths class?); 3. Purchase a second set of the school books they need more often, e.g. via ebay (and resell them the year after, or reuse keep for the younger sibling), and store the books they get from school in the rental locker; 4. check the book for availability of a scrook code (usually it is to be found on page 2 or 3, and there is a hint on the cover page) - which means you can have access to the ebook version - if available (not all schools activate it) homework can be done using the ebook and the paper book can be left at the school locker.

@simonew3385 Жыл бұрын

I lived in a very rural area, so there were buses only for kindergarten and there were buses for schools in the morning, noon and afternoon. Because all the villages were so small, there was a bigger school center where all the children went to school. I also hear for the first time that in elementary school you don’t have a compartment under the table + a small compartment in the back of the room. Also in the gymnasium there was storage space up to the 11th grade. In high school, you had to rent a locker because you didn’t have a classroom anymore. So you only had to bring everything back and forth once at the beginning and end of the year. As for math lessons, I would like to add that it becomes much more difficult, especially if you choose a math performance course in upper secondary school.

@claradaneke7345 Жыл бұрын

I‘m from northern Germany and worked in a elementary school the past few years. From my experience the Grundschule mostly hay cubbords for the kids to leave things in. Art supplies usually stay in the school as well as stuff they don’t need as often. There is also often the opportunity to leave books there. But many students just throw all theire stuff in the schoolbags because they don’t need to stand up and sort it away… plus teachers don’t have the time to sort the stuff with the children more often (we tried to sort the first graders bags once a week (after the first quarter of the year, in the first weeks we would every time say, what would be going in the bag and what in the cubby until most of the kids seemed to have understand), the older the kids, the more they need to keep an eye themselves.) Often fridays we would tidy up the classroom in the last period and would also be telling the kids to look in theire bags to leave everything in the school what wasn’t needed at home. Many students choose not to sort theire bags and talk to each other ore be done early to play a game with the whole class in the last quarter of the lesson.