German School

School started! And so their journey toward bilingualism! Hopefully all the German kid shows I let them watch this summer will pay off. I freely admit this is my wish for them. Marc doesn't really care either way and Toby would definitely rather go to an American school. But I'm pulling a Mommy-knows-best and hoping that they'll thank us later for giving them this opportunity, assuming it works out. If I know Tobin, and I do, this is going to be one bumpy ride. I assure you his attitude on the tough days will be far more painful for ME than having to learn German is for him. He gets to just sit there and absorb it like a sponge.

Delivering the school supplies on Monday, the day before school starts. I love the sign: "FUN"

The teacher gave us a long list of the very specific stuff he needs: certain types of notepads, #6, 8 and 12 paintbrushes, three-sided ergonomic colored pencils, etc. You can find it all yourself or give the list to a bookstore and they will order it for you. Then we delivered it and put it all in the classroom the day before school started.

"This is where you hang your coat and backpack."

Proud that his classroom is on the top floor!

Schultüte time! Normally these are just for first graders but we have to keep things Even-Steven around here for Jonah. Doren's like, "I don't even want a cone!"

Its a good thing our former landlady, Maria, helped me out with all this school business because I had no idea what a big deal the Schultüte (school bag) is in Germany. Starting first grade is a major event in a German child's life, kind of like starting Kindergarten in the US. All the moms, dads, and grandparents come out for the first day and every kid gets one of these cones filled with school supplies and treats. Its closed at the top and then the child gets to open it after the first day of school like a present. Some kids had really elaborate homemade cones and I can't tell you how many times I heard the word Schultüte that day. All the moms were frantic about where it was, who's holding it, don't put it on the ground, make sure little Dieter is holding it in every picture, and carrying it around like a baby. The cones!

Then on Tuesday morning, we and all the other families went to...Mass! Yep. Its a public school but the school year starts with a Catholic Mass. We've been wanting to take a look inside this church anyway so this was a fun way to see it. 

Off to church! The bells were bonging especially for this event. There are only three houses between ours and this church so it was a short walk.

Its a cute church. Not too big or too small, but standing room only with all the families there. I'm not sure what you call a female priest in the Catholic church (priestess? or nuns?) but there were two of them and a musical duo. They told some inspirational stories and we sang some songs about God blessing the teachers, the students and the school year. It was very sweet.

Then everyone made their way to the school gym to hear the Principal's welcome speech.

Each first grade teacher called their students to the front. Tobin on the right! There are a lot of Maximillians, Leons (pronounced LAY-on), Mias and Lilis.

Tobin's teacher is Frau Schöne which means Mrs. Pretty/Beautiful/Nice and she is exactly that! As soon as I met her I knew she was going to be just what he needs. She's soft-spoken, a little shy and her English is only slightly better than my German, which isn't saying much, but that means he'll have to learn quickly. I told her my concerns and she could not have been sweeter or more reassuring that she would take care of him and he would be fine. I am so grateful that out of all the teachers, Tobin got HER. He told me that she tells the class what to do in German and then tells him in English. She told me that she will only do that for the first few weeks. HoHoHo! I wonder if he'll notice.

Yay! Mrs. Pretty Nice

And there he is! I guess we're really doing this. I didn't cry. I'm too concerned about him coping with this to have any time for tears.

And on Wednesday...

Jonah had his first day at German Kindergarten which is more or less the same as American preschool. Originally, Maria helped me call around to the local schools to see if anyone had space for Jonah. None of the local schools did except one in a town ten minutes from here. Then a few weeks ago I got a call from one of the two Kindergartens in our village! There is the local community Kindergarten and right next to that is another Catholic Kindergarten, which is the one that called back. Honestly, I don't see a difference between this one and the non-Catholic one because there doesn't seem to be anything religious about it. I don't get it. Anyway, I was really thrilled he got a spot because 1) a lot of Americans have trouble getting a spot in Kindergartens, and 2) its barely two blocks from our house! and 3) its free to us even though we don't pay German taxes. There is some community fund that pays the school and teachers. Pretty nice!

Jonah in the Giraffe group

Jonah had to bring house shoes to wear at the school, sunscreen, a rain outfit, and a big package of tissues. He'll go five days per week for four hours. We only stayed for one hour on the first day because they like to be gradual with the kids. He was totally fine though. He even said he understood when Simon asked him to play upstairs.
 

It was one little girl's birthday so they celebrated by singing some cute songs and eating cereal with fruit in REAL bowls. I thought that was pretty interesting. Then one of the teachers washed the dishes while we went outside to play.

The timing of this move worked out so well, arriving at the beginning of summer with plenty of time to figure all this out. Our household goods came a few weeks ago so we finished putting everything away in the nick of time before school started. It was so nice this summer being able to get up whenever the kids woke me up and do whatever we felt like doing each day. Now I'm adjusting to waking up before the kids (oh, misery!) and hustling everyone out the door. The other challenge, being a foreigner, is that I don't really know what's going on at their schools...like, I didn't know that Tobin is required to buy lunch at the school. I didn't even know they offered this! So we got a letter in the mail (homework for me) saying that we need to pay for this. I don't know what I don't know and I can't speak German well enough to read all the signs and bulletins with information. Somehow I need to stay on the ball so my kids aren't the only ones who show up at school without something they're supposed to have. I don't want to be the clueless mom!

Wait, its picture day? As if!

That's all for now! Hopefully I can report back with some language learning by Christmas...if Tobin doesn't kill me before then.