I think we have finally figured out our school situation for next year. It still has some kinks but the overall plan is in motion. All 3 boys are finishing the school year in their current school since it's the easiest and they are used to it by now. (School year ends on July 24, by the way, with first day of school on September 7.) However, all will go to different places next year. Our current school was a good transition school - we didn't know where we were going to live, we don't speak any German and the administrations here does, and finally it was a bit of an easier transition for the boys to still have English in their lives, and not just drop them into an all German school. Also, Ilya was a bit too young to attend regular school so it was a good compromise. The negatives, however, outweigh the positives. The boys haven't learned much German, having them in the same class hasn't been ideal and the school is Montessori-type school which means that it's self-paced learning. That hasn't been ideal either.
Next year Anton will go to a regular local German kindergarten (kindergarten starts at 3 y.o. here and the kids go there until they start school at 6). He will most likely go 7:30AM to between 3 and 5PM. Potential problem is that there is no nap, but none of the school we saw have a nap for 3 year olds. A bit upsetting but not much we can do about that. Andrei will to go to a local German school. Public German schools usually have short days - they start around 8AM and are done by 12PM (give or take about 30 minutes on both ends). He might go to extended day a couple of days a week but that's still undecided. Ilya will go to Russian-German school which starts at 8AM and pick up is between 4 and 6PM. Classes are done at 1PM, then lunch and extracurricular activities. They include dance, art, swimming pool, logic, etc. and are all part of their extended day as well as homework help. Ilya spend a day at that school and really like it despite not being able to say much. We still plan on having the boys do swimming and possible track and field (or some other sport) at the English speaking sports complex. It sounds a bit complicated, but we feel like at this point it's the right decision for all the kids.
I am enclosing some pictures from our first week of Easter vacation where we did LOTS of arts and crafts since it rained through most of it as well as some pictures from the Russian school egg coloring project.
Next year Anton will go to a regular local German kindergarten (kindergarten starts at 3 y.o. here and the kids go there until they start school at 6). He will most likely go 7:30AM to between 3 and 5PM. Potential problem is that there is no nap, but none of the school we saw have a nap for 3 year olds. A bit upsetting but not much we can do about that. Andrei will to go to a local German school. Public German schools usually have short days - they start around 8AM and are done by 12PM (give or take about 30 minutes on both ends). He might go to extended day a couple of days a week but that's still undecided. Ilya will go to Russian-German school which starts at 8AM and pick up is between 4 and 6PM. Classes are done at 1PM, then lunch and extracurricular activities. They include dance, art, swimming pool, logic, etc. and are all part of their extended day as well as homework help. Ilya spend a day at that school and really like it despite not being able to say much. We still plan on having the boys do swimming and possible track and field (or some other sport) at the English speaking sports complex. It sounds a bit complicated, but we feel like at this point it's the right decision for all the kids.
I am enclosing some pictures from our first week of Easter vacation where we did LOTS of arts and crafts since it rained through most of it as well as some pictures from the Russian school egg coloring project.
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