Category: Children
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Back to School
I remember in Australia the new school year was always a time of excitement and a little anxiety about whether the children would have the right teacher and the right friends in their class. Well this feeling is greatly exaggerated when the system and the language is unfamiliar (or barely familiar). To further compound this…
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German Schools: Arrrrgggh!
Well where to start on this contentious topic? Having come from the progressive education system in Australia and taking it for granted I have found German schools not wholly to my liking. Why you may ask? The first surprise: school is only a half day, starting at roughly 8 o’clock and finishing somewhere between 11:30am…
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Joshua’s Leisure Time
SportsGermans play some interesting sports such as table tennis, handball, soccer/football and tennis. Table tennis is a rather unserious leisure sport that we play during the break at school. There are four big slabs of concrete on concrete stands with a steel net and white lines marked on the concrete slabs. These are our tables…
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The Girls
MaraMara was quite keen to come to Germany and, even though she has had her own challenges, seems to be generally happy about life. Her biggest trial to date seems to have been the teaching style and personality of her teacher. She is still enjoying school but, with the language and cultural barrier, initially found…
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The Boys
JoshuaJoshua is now attending high school. They have a few different kinds of high schools here depending on your academic level and expected job vocation. Those hoping to advance to a university education generally attend a ‘gymnasium’ (pronounced GIM-narz-i-oom, with the ‘oo’ as in an Australian-pronounced ‘book’), with those going on to further education (technical…
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Ich habe fünf kinder!
This is a phrase I learnt early (in English it’s “I have five children.”). It was worth learning quickly to be able to see the whites of the local’s eyes grow as they realise. Usually their numbering system for children stops around three with two being the most common numeral. But they are very generous…
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Elijah’s First Report
It’s pretty good here for a place that is not australia but the weather is cold and I keep getting a running nose. I hate it my nose gets really sore. School is ok my teacher speaks english she went to the states for a few years. We have fish in our pond in the…