surfsunsand | ExpatWoman.com
 

surfsunsand

surfsunsand
22
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 23:57
I realise that this is an old post but maybe someone will still find it relevant. I think your decision depends on whether you will end up in Germany at some point. As someone pointed out the German school system is very unforgiving, (and rather archaic) so if you are going to be returning to Germany, and think you will send them to a public German school then at some point you need to transfer them to the German school system. I would say at the latest by Grade 3 to make the transition easy for them. In Germany at the moment there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the school system. If however you don't think you will ever live in Germany or if you do they won't go to school in the public system then I would choose an english language school. This is of course assuming that the children will get enough German at home for them to be fluent German speakers. If your DH has a problem with the German school in Dubai then the local primary school in Germany is going to horrify him!
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 23:20
We have our children at a French school. I am Australian. I don't know much about the Canadian school system but assume that since people are saying that the American or British curriculum schools are a good fit that it is not too different to those school systems. The French school system is very very different to both the British and American school system. What Vagabonda says about the French schools is definitely true but I think that if you are looking for an easy return to the Canadian school system for your daughter, then the French school system is not going to be suitable. I have to say though the the kindergarten (maternelle) at the French schools is excellent and in my opinion you could definitely consider sending your daughter to maternelle and then swapping to an American or British curriculum for Grade 1.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 23:06
I have an August born DS. My husband is German. In Germany he would not start grade 1 until age 7, although in British Curriculum School he would be in Grade 3 at the same age! We choose to put him in a school with a curriculum where the cut-off date was not as early as the British schools but not as late as the German school cut-off. He is now 7 years old and in Grade 2. His school has a cut-off date of December 31st, (IB system schools and the French schools generally have a Dec 31st cut-off) which means he is not the youngest and not the oldest in his class. I don't think you need to worry about what grade he would be in when and if you return home or move to a different country. That will sort itself out later. Of course if you already know now, that you will be returning and when, then I would put your child for Grade 1 into a school with a curriculum as close as possible to your home country. It saves a lot of stress later on.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 15 May 2012 - 14:46
We also have friends who regularly take their dachshund with them in the cabin from Germany to the USA.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 15 May 2012 - 01:49
A long time ago (at least 7-8 years ago) even a tourist could go and get a 1 year UAE temporary driver's from the RTA. My German DH did it when he forgot his international driver's license and wanted to hire a car in Dubai. The rental car company just took him off to the RTA and got him a UAE license valid for a year, and everything was fine. You can't do that anymore, but maybe that was what tigerente was talking about.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 15 May 2012 - 01:41
I'm also not from Austria, but we do live in Germany right next door and we have been to Vienna a couple of times! Don't worry about the nappies, they have them there. I don't remember them being a lot more expensive or cheaper so I presume they are about the same price. The same for the fresh fruit and vegetables. I would take your formula with you. I have not heard of it so you might have problems finding it. Babies can be quite fussy and yours might not like the taste of a different formula. Also if your baby has never eaten baby food from a jar, s/he might not like any of them. I know my DD did not want to eat jar food, only home cooked baby food, and it took me weeks to get her use to it in preparation for a holiday, and then in NY she didn't like the US baby food anyway. Thank goodness we were only there for 4 days! If you take some from home you can mix it with the formula/baby food you buy there and s/he might be happier drinking/eating it. But maybe you are really lucky and have a completely easing going baby who take anything!
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 13 February 2012 - 15:12
Not knowing much about you I too am going to answer the original question. I too think that opposites can attract. As someone said if DH and I were the same type OMG would we have problems. 2 of me and we'd me in an insane asylum and 2 of him and we'd both be sitting looking at the wall with nothing to say, no where to go out and no friends :). Luckily most of the time we appreciate the things about each other that are different. Whether you think it can work or not depends on the type of person you are. My sister-in-law actually thought/thinks it is important to be friends first and then see if it clicks, and that is how she got to know her fiancee. And she is very happy. My DH and I on the other hand did it the other way, and it clicked right from the beginning and the afterwards the friendship came. Don't forget that the sparks are not going to last your whole married life, it just gets you through the first 6 months! (Although after 12 years of being married I still think he is kind of cute.) I think a friendship with common values and goals is a good basis particularly if you are planning on having children because they really mix up your relationship anyway.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 13 February 2012 - 13:17
Thanks for comments. I had been thinking of a McLaren Techno, so I might give DH the thumbs up for that. I was only concerned about whether it reclined enough for a new born. <em>edited by surfsunsand on 13/02/2012</em>
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 December 2011 - 02:20
I would give it a go Lilli34 and ask them. But then I am Australian and we notoriously open and willing to talk to anyone!
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 December 2011 - 02:15
Hi, my children are a bit older now so I haven't been to a Kinder Hotel for about 4 years. When my children were the age yours are now though I went to a few different ones in Austria. We always went for skiing and tried GINA and also Heidi Hotel. Both were good. April is a bit late for skiing though. I think for small children that Gina's was probably better. We speak German. I don't know how you would do if you don't speak German as it is very German orientated.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 13 August 2011 - 19:21
Sorry I haven't logged on for a while. I am not German so my view of the German school system will not the same as a German. If your child leaves the German school system with Abitur then everything will be fine. The German Abitur is recognised to get into University for all countries I know of and what they learn at Gymnasium is not better or worse than in any other system. However the German kindergarten and primary school system and the 3 tiered secondary school system is very different. A German kindergarten is not divided up according to age. There are groups with a mix of children across all pre Grade 1 ages, so from 3 years to 6 years in one group. There is little to no formal learning but free play. The year before a child starts school there is often offered a pre-school class and these children are taken out of the group for a set time either each day or maybe only once a week it depends on the kindergarten. It would be very very unusual for a German kindergarten to teach children to read or do maths, that is for school and Grade 1. Schools are a state matter so the rules can change from state to state. Generally children start Grade 1 when they are 6. Some children in some states might be 7 and others in other states might be 5 and 8 months. So while children in a British curriculum school will learn to read and write etc with about 5, a child in the German system will only start learning at 6. They catch up pretty quick. Then at the end of primary school, it is decided whether a child goes to Gymnasium or not. If your child does not go to Gymnasium then s/he can not go directly to University. There are 2 other types of secondary schools but these do not offer a high school leaving certificate which allows you to go to university. It is possible to later change school streams and get Abitur but this option is much more difficult than going straight from primary school to gymnasium, and in reality only a fraction of German children follow this path. Hope it helps. Being an international school the German school in Dubai might differ from the tradition set up for schools in Germany. It has been a while since I went over the school in Dubai. At the time nothing seemed much different to what was offered in Germany, but it could have changed since then.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 June 2011 - 01:28
As someone said every country has their own rules, and they change them constantly. However it is common for countries not to allow 2nd generation children born out of the country to gain citizenship. It is not something new either. My parents were living in PNG at the time I was to be born and my Mother especially flew to Sydney 6 weeks before my birth so that I would be born in Australia. I also know that for my children (both born outside of Australia but in the home country of my DH) that unless they live in Australia for 2 years my grandchildren (unless born in Australia or they have a right through their Father) will not be entitled to Australian citizenship. Personally I think that is fair. On the otherside, some countries like Germany or the Czech Republic give citizenship based on heredity rights (not place of birth) and then as long as one of the Grandparents is German or Czech then the child is entitled to the citizenship. It was also common until recently to only be able acquire citizenship through heredity from your Father. It lead to the absurdity that the child was British or German if their Father was, but if their Mother was British or German then that didn't count. In most western countries that has now been changed, in some cases retrospectively. I would think that in most cases with a bit of planning a "stateless child" can be avoided.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 June 2011 - 17:13
We have 2 children and my DH is German. We moved to Dubai from Germany when my DS was 2 and my DD 3. Both spoke German when we moved. We were in Dubai for 2 years and are now back in Germany. I am English speaking and only speak English to the children. Being very young when we moved and not having a German mother it was noticeable how quickly they were starting to lose their German. Of course I have here in Germany I have a similar problem but with English. After 2 years in Dubai when we returned to Germany both still spoke German fluently and understood everything, and had no accent. What was noticeable was that they had a smaller vocabulary when compared to German children the same age. Here is what we did: I actively looked for German activities for the children to do. So that they were with other German speaking children. FOr my children at the time that meant a German speaking playgroup, and also we went to the German Lutheran church even though we were not particularly reilgious. I use to also invite children over who were German etc. So that it was fun for the children and not just "learning". I also joined the German Women's Club - not for me as I am not German - but to meet other German families etc. We had my husbands relatives come and visit regularly. I have 2 Mother-in-Laws (my DH's parents are divorced and his Father remarried), and we invited them regularly to stay. My DH's brothers and sisters came, and the children's German godparents with their children. I and the children also regularly went to stay with his family in the summer holidays. It would normally not be my choice as I am not particularly close to his family but for the children it was great for the children. In Germany I enrolled them for 2 weeks in summer camp so that they were with other German only speaking children. Ski holidays were always in a German speaking country while we were in Dubai. We could also afford to have an au pair in Dubai for 3 months each year which was a great help. DVDs were also in German, and we had lots of CDs for the car in German. Now in Germany to encourage their English, I do the same. I have a number of English speaking friends and have joined an English speaking Women's Club, which also has activities during the year for the children. I regularly organise for the children to have play dates with English speaking friends. We go home to Australia every year for 4 weeks. I encourage both my DS and DD to read in English. They regularly telephone with their cousins, grandparents and family in Australia, and they write emails and letters etc. I only speak English to my children here and I expect them to answer me in English. (This is up to you though whether you want to insist on that many people don't think it is good - it works for us). If there is a word they don't know and say in another language then I normally try not to correct them but find a way to repeat the phrase with the correct word. I have always tried to find fun ways for them to stay in contact with the language, so that it did not become the language that only Mummy (or Daddy) spoke. Even though both spoke and understood German when we arrived back in Germany it was a big struggle for both to settle back into the German way of life, and education system. Just as a word of caution, if you think that might ever return to Germany, as you no doubt know, the German school system with its split secondary school system can be very unforgiving for children who are not at the accepted level. We know of children with German parents who although they had excellent grades were not accepted to Gymnasium because their German was not at a high enough level. On a positive note we also know of children where the gymnasium was fantastic and the children integrated really easily. You didn't say whether your DH was German or not? Maybe he can help out too. If he speaks German then maybe German can be the family language at home? Good luck.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 15 June 2011 - 21:10
Hi Swiss Girl, we ended up at Mon Ecole by accident really. After looking at a number of nurseries, English, German and French ones, Mon Ecole suited us the best. We decided that seeing as the children were young that we could try it out and if they did not cope with the additional language then we could take them out and put them in a traditional English speaking school. However both loved Mon Ecole and had no problems at all absorbing another language. Both my husband and I come from mixed nationality families and we feel that learning another language is a wonderful opportunity for our children. It opens up to them not only a new language but the culture, views and way of thinking of the people who live in that country as well. We did not know where we would end up after Dubai, but of course the French school system is almost everywhere! In fact we ended up in Germany. Both the children went to the local German kindergarten when we returned but after 5 months we had to admit it was a disaster so we looked around for alternative options and were actually very grateful that we had the possibility to apply one of the French schools here in Germany! Whether they both stay in a French school for secondary is not yet decided. (It's a while off!) At the moment it is working out very well for us and them.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 15 June 2011 - 13:24
Hi, we sent our children to Mon Ecole. They were there 3 years ago. At that time my DS was 2 and my DD was 3.5 years old. We were very happy with Mon Ecole. We also looked at Le Jardin Enchante but decided to go with Mon Ecole and did not regret it. We just felt at the time that they had a more established set-up and programme, and we preferred to the atmosphere. We also looked at Children's garden but decided that it did not have enough French for what we required. We do not speak French at home, and by the end of the year both our children understood AND spoke good French. We then changed both children to AFLEC (a French school) because our eldest child was in the top class of Mon Ecole. Of course it is very dependent on the teacher they get and both our DS and DD had great teachers. Both were leabanese but according to my French friends whose children also went to Mon Ecole they both spoke perfect French. The group sizes were small. Most importantly both children loved going.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 June 2011 - 01:59
My DS and DD went to Mon Ecole and we were very happy with it. We are not French speaking (Australian/German) and both DS and DD understood and were speaking French by the end of the school year. They both changed to a French school for school and had no problems at all.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 17 May 2011 - 11:40
I bleach, or far less frequently wax/thread.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 May 2011 - 20:18
I can second what nonnoniente said. We went too but last summer. I went with my Mum, and DD and DS. We also were made to buy swimming caps, but they were not expensive. We had a great time. Nothing flash but a children's pool and shaded adult pool. It was all clean and at least when we went everyone was very friendly. Interestingly we were told that DS had to be under 7 years of age, after than he had to go next door, to the men's pool. Maybe they changed it. I did think that then at least my DH would have to get out and come with us too!
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 03 May 2011 - 01:07
My DS and DD went to AFLEC (French curriculum school) which has a lot of Lebanese families as well, and as a result I knew quite a lot of Mothers who also had children at Choueifat. Generally the comments made below was what I heard too. I am Australian and I know that it was definitely a completely different system to what I am use to. Depending on when your children are born and the grade cut-offs you could look at putting the youngest 2 into nursery for 1 year while you sort out the school thing. There are some nurseries who have good programmes much the same as KG or Foundation. One I can think of is Children's Garden. We did that with our 2 for the first year and then swapped them to AFLEC and it worked really well for us.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 19 April 2011 - 00:09
Hi, I agree with Maru. My children also have dual citizenship. You must make sure that you enter and exit a country on the same passport. You should also make sure that for e.g. in our case the children enter Germany on their German passport (and exit) and in our case they must enter Australia (and exit) on their Australian passport. We use for the airline ticket the Australian passports and no one has ever cared. We show the Australian passports for check-in but after that the airline doesn't seem to mind which passport you show them. Check with the airline though when you book the ticket if you can though just to be sure.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 16 April 2011 - 11:31
I realise I am probably too late but maybe not! I'm Australian and my children are currently in the French school system. They started in Petit Section and my eldest DD is tin Grade 1 at the moment. For the 3 Maternelle (kindergarten years) it is great. After Kindergarten your DH is right and the school environment becomes progressively more tough. It is definitely a far more tradition and academic learning environment than the schools in Australia provide. Right from the start the children receive a very detailed graded report card. Having said that both my children love going to school, enjoy it and learn heaps. Before choosing an American school I would just check whether or not an American High School Leaving Certificate is recognised in Australia for the purposes of getting in to an Australian University. It use to be the case that you could not study at an Australian university with only an American School Leaving Certificate, but maybe that has changed now.
surfsunsand
22
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 March 2011 - 16:01
Agree with Famn completely. I too am out of the loop a bit as my children are older 5 and 7 years old but we also had a Safe n Sound when they were smaller. It of course also depends on how old your child is etc. I too would wait until you get to Australia and then just go straight to a Target or K-mart or somewhere like that.
 
 
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