Die Deutsche Schule

There's a scene in an episode of Sex and the City, in which Mikhail Baryshnikov's character corrects Carrie on the pronunciation of his name, and she gives him a quizzical look. I often get that look on my face when people correct me on my German pronunciations. I feel like saying, Isn's that what I said?

Philip has also been giving me that look whenever I say, You should know how to do this. You did this in Mrs. Burks's class last year.

Philip started in third grade this school year, but after one week, he was sent back into second. I was expecting this, because I didn't think his German was good enough for the third grade. But it wasn't his Deutsch, it was his math. He did really well in math last year in Chicago, so I assumed he would have no problems keeping up. Here in Deutschland, or maybe just Bavaria, they are so much further ahead of us in the US when it comes to math. By the beginning of third, the students need to be able to add and subtract two-digit numbers quickly in their heads and have all of the multiplication tables memorized.

To Sauganash School's credit, they did teach him how to add and subtract two-digit numbers, but the presentation was different. In the US, we set up the problems vertically:

53
-28

It's easier to then make the 3 a 13 by superscripting a 1 to the left of the 3, and to change the 5 to a 4 by simply crossing out the 5. And we're allowed to do this on paper.

Here, the problems are presented horizontally: 53-28, and the students have to be able to do the conversions in their heads, not on paper. And absolutely no counting on your fingers (I still use my fingers sometimes).

Philip also started to learn multiplication from Mrs. Burks, but only 0 through 5 and 10. I don't think he had these memorized. Here, he will have to know 0 through 10 by heart before the end of the school year, July 27.

They are also big on cursive writing. By third grade, they need to read and write everything in cursive, using a fountain pen, no less. Philip has the advantage of having learned cursive in second, whereas most US schools don't begin until third. Still, it seems archaic in an era that expects everything written on a computer.

They don't teach spelling the same way either. They have Diktats, or dictations, in which the teacher recites a story using the spelling words they were supposed to have learned. So, not only do they have to remember how to spell their assigned Lernwoerter, but also the other words in the story and to capitalize and punctuate.

On the one hand, I feel guilty putting my son in this strict school system, but, on the other hand, I feel like he's getting a better education. And Philip is the type of kid that needs an extra push to learn something new. As Marge Simpson said of Bart, He needs structure.