School

Well, here we are – the first post. What better way to start off with our first roller coaster of an adventure; getting Annalina situated for school. When I came to visit Robert in August, I looked at a handful of schools, did some research and started whatever I could before officially moving.

There were so many things to consider – bilingual, private, full-on German public school? What about her age? She is eligible to start first grade here even though she would be 23 days shy in America. There’s also no Kindergarten as we know it here, it goes from day care straight to “primary” school. In my earlier research I was told that holding her back in a bilingual “kita” (daycare) would be the better decision so she can adjust to the culture. Made sense. We were going with that.

Of course, once we got here we ended doing the complete opposite. In the first week we found out there would have to be a valid reason – confirmed by a doctor – why she would need to be “held back” from first grade. Now there was a whole new world of things for me to look into since my dream kita, with all my pre-filled forms and chosen start date, was swept out from under us. In an instant, Annalina was skipping right over Kindergarten and diving into first grade in a full-on German public school.

It happened so fast. We registered with city and became official within 24 hours of arriving in Berlin. We had to find an allergist to prescribe Annalina a “German” epi pen, visit the school we are zoned for and get tested by a school doctor. We had a translator come with us to drop off the signed doctor’s note and see what steps were next.

Little did we know, she was starting THAT DAY. I was not ready for it – was she? I didn’t even have a water bottle packed, or snacks. Was this really happening? Did they understand her allergies? Then Julia, our translator, turns around and tells me I could stay with her until she felt comfortable, so I did. And if it took a year for that to happen, then that’s cool too, right? I’m kind of sure Julia meant until I was comfortable anyway.

The kids were so welcoming. They ooh’d and ahh’d when Annalina was introduced as being “from America.” They looked at her like she wasn’t real, they kept trying their best to speak whatever English they could and always wanted to hold her hand. Her class is mixed with 1st and 2nd graders with kids ranging up to eight years old so that makes her the youngest and smallest in her class. I’m sure it was real intimidating for her, it definitely was for me, but she handled it really well.

The classes took a bit of adjusting, though. We had no idea where to go, when to go, what books to bring – kids kept going in different directions and disappearing. Thankfully all her teachers know enough English to explain things to me so I just had to coach Annalina on the schedule and walk the hallways a few times before she was good to go.

On her first day without me, I asked her friends to take special care of her and they did. Annalina told me they held her hand to recess and even pulled her aside in the stairwell to let the bigger kids run up the stairs so they wouldn’t get shoved or lose each other in the crowd. It’s cute seeing them interact and I’m so happy she made friends so quickly. Wouldn’t it be nice if “grown-ups” took care of each other in strange situations so well?

Some things to mention:

• The kids have separate “house shoes” for when they arrive to school. There are bins/lockers where they take off their outside shoes and switch to their house shoes. This is to keep the classrooms clean and free of dirt/mud from outside.
• There are also separate sports shoes. The kids have a separate sports bag that holds their shoes and sports clothes they change into before the start of class.
• They all write in the exact same erasable ballpoint pen.
• Their crazy expensive backpack. The “right” backpack costs around 240-270 Euros ($275-$310). We couldn’t believe this was the norm, but we HAD to get it. They are designed with comfort in mind which is what really matters since Annalina and I will be walking to and from school. It’s supposed to reduce the level of strain on the back and shift it to the hip area. The bottoms are durable, some made completely of hard plastic. The sets come with all the supplies they need for school – including a separate sports bag, pencil case that includes ruler, eraser, colored pencils, etc. and an extra pouch for any additional supplies they purchase. Once we found out all that was included it only seemed to be about 150 Euros too expensive.
• The super-cool school schedule with multiple vacations throughout the year. Two weeks in October for Autumn, two weeks for Christmas, one week in February for Winter, two weeks for Easter, and then Summer.

So now my little girl is a German first grader. I still get nervous every time I drop her off in the morning and worry that throwing her into this setting is unfair. I now have all this “alone time” (5 hours to be exact) while she is at school and I can’t enjoy it because I don’t even want to travel outside the 10-minute walk “just in case.” I was so afraid with how she would adjust being the only English student in her class but really, I’m pretty sure I’m the one that needs to adjust.

The bilingual kita probably would have been great as well had I really tried to fight for it but she would have defaulted to English every chance she got and I really need her to hurry up and teach me Deutsch. The curriculum in first grade seems great too with classes in Deutsch, Englisch, Mathematik, Kunst (Art), Humanities, Musik and Sports. She comes home excited every day to tell me what she’s learned or how she’s conquered playing a “German game” at recess. She asks me if I’m proud of her because she’s so brave (of course I am!) and that lets me know she’s in a good place.

• Annalina
• School