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On German kids and school
Sep. 12th, 2006 04:23 pmWent downtown today with my school-age kids to get the rest of the school supplies they need for--yikes!--tomorrow. The first thing that happened when we got off the bus in the central square was that I walked under a lamppost where a bird was sitting and we...er...collided. Isn't that a great way to start off your shopping day in another language? Luckily I had some baby wipes in my backpack. I used half the bag trying to clean off my head. This only happens to me in Germany.
School supplies: each kid has to have this very specialized backpack called a Schulranzen. It's like a big square box with various compartments inside. It's been studied, actually, and shown to be bad for posture and a bad way to carry heavy weight, and yet the schools continue to insist on it. The normal price ranges from 99-115 Euro. Per backpack. This is for a first grader, mind. My husband found a couple that were the last in the store yesterday (since school does start tomorrow, after all), and they only wanted 50 and 60 Euro for them (different brands). Granted, they come with a lot of stuff inside, but still, I usually pay 5-10 USD at Walmart. It's *only* a school backpack.
So anyway, they come with all these zippered bags called "Maeppchen" ("Schlampermaeppchen" being the oddest-sounding one). One came filled with colored pencils (triangular instead of round--this is required, mind you), a pencil sharpener, and regular pencils (HB, or #2). Another bag is for your glue and scissors. Another is for your gym clothes. One kid's Schulranzen came with a water bottle and tupperware thing for a sandwich. (Which reminds me. Do I send food to school with them? They don't eat lunch there, per se, but maybe I'm supposed to send snackies? What time does school get out, anyway?) Then we had to get all these different sized notebooks and paper pads and paints and some Lappen? What are Lappen? The lady at the biggest store in town said they were just little clothes, to wipe paintbrushes on. Did they sell them? No. But you can get them anywhere. Ah. Anywhere but the biggest store in town, that is. So we didn't get the Lappen. We did, however, pick up Hausschuhe (slippers) for the kids. Yes, they wear slippers in school.
Then there's the Schultuete, the giant cone FILLED WITH CANDY that all first graders get from their parents. They bring it to school and savor it in class. It's supposed to "sweeten their education" from here on out. My child might not get a lot about his new school, but he's sure cottoned on to the idea of the Schultuete.
On German kids--they are way, WAY more independent than American kids. I have yet to see a single bike with training wheels. Every morning I bring child #3 to kindergarten (German preschool for 3-6-year-olds). Nearly every kid is on a bike. Kids who look like they're two are riding bikes, no training wheels. We have a six-year-old who I don't even think can ride a bike WITH training wheels. Luckily we live next to a bike path.
German kids can go anywhere with the bus system. I walked behind a group of probably ten-year-olds today in town. They were totally on their own. Not because their moms were home shooting up, but because they needed to go downtown and do stuff, so they did. In America, the parent would have to bring them everywhere. Not to mention safety issues. I don't think I've lived in places with all that bad of crime, but still, I've always felt I needed to keep an eye on my kids. On one hand, I really hope my kids do gain some independence. I don't want to do everything for them all the time. On the other, though, I have things I want to teach them before they're adults. Things about right and wrong, about thinking through decisions well before diving in, about looking both ways before crossing the street. Before they hop on that bus and take off.
I'm sure this won't be the first time I try to make sense of this. Right now, though, I need to pack the Schultuete before my child comes back from the playground.
School supplies: each kid has to have this very specialized backpack called a Schulranzen. It's like a big square box with various compartments inside. It's been studied, actually, and shown to be bad for posture and a bad way to carry heavy weight, and yet the schools continue to insist on it. The normal price ranges from 99-115 Euro. Per backpack. This is for a first grader, mind. My husband found a couple that were the last in the store yesterday (since school does start tomorrow, after all), and they only wanted 50 and 60 Euro for them (different brands). Granted, they come with a lot of stuff inside, but still, I usually pay 5-10 USD at Walmart. It's *only* a school backpack.
So anyway, they come with all these zippered bags called "Maeppchen" ("Schlampermaeppchen" being the oddest-sounding one). One came filled with colored pencils (triangular instead of round--this is required, mind you), a pencil sharpener, and regular pencils (HB, or #2). Another bag is for your glue and scissors. Another is for your gym clothes. One kid's Schulranzen came with a water bottle and tupperware thing for a sandwich. (Which reminds me. Do I send food to school with them? They don't eat lunch there, per se, but maybe I'm supposed to send snackies? What time does school get out, anyway?) Then we had to get all these different sized notebooks and paper pads and paints and some Lappen? What are Lappen? The lady at the biggest store in town said they were just little clothes, to wipe paintbrushes on. Did they sell them? No. But you can get them anywhere. Ah. Anywhere but the biggest store in town, that is. So we didn't get the Lappen. We did, however, pick up Hausschuhe (slippers) for the kids. Yes, they wear slippers in school.
Then there's the Schultuete, the giant cone FILLED WITH CANDY that all first graders get from their parents. They bring it to school and savor it in class. It's supposed to "sweeten their education" from here on out. My child might not get a lot about his new school, but he's sure cottoned on to the idea of the Schultuete.
On German kids--they are way, WAY more independent than American kids. I have yet to see a single bike with training wheels. Every morning I bring child #3 to kindergarten (German preschool for 3-6-year-olds). Nearly every kid is on a bike. Kids who look like they're two are riding bikes, no training wheels. We have a six-year-old who I don't even think can ride a bike WITH training wheels. Luckily we live next to a bike path.
German kids can go anywhere with the bus system. I walked behind a group of probably ten-year-olds today in town. They were totally on their own. Not because their moms were home shooting up, but because they needed to go downtown and do stuff, so they did. In America, the parent would have to bring them everywhere. Not to mention safety issues. I don't think I've lived in places with all that bad of crime, but still, I've always felt I needed to keep an eye on my kids. On one hand, I really hope my kids do gain some independence. I don't want to do everything for them all the time. On the other, though, I have things I want to teach them before they're adults. Things about right and wrong, about thinking through decisions well before diving in, about looking both ways before crossing the street. Before they hop on that bus and take off.
I'm sure this won't be the first time I try to make sense of this. Right now, though, I need to pack the Schultuete before my child comes back from the playground.
