3rd grade in Germany

So now that I covered the sex ed, I figured I'd share the rest of the classes that Andrei has. 

First - here is quick overview of the German grading system which is a bit different. Grades (as in marks) go from 1 as the highest to 6 as the lowest with 3 being average, 1 is excellent, 4 is below average but still passing.   The first official marks that kids get are at the end of the second grade.  Andrei has been at the regular school for about 2 years and while gets marks in math, music, sport, etc., he does not grade in German and social studies but rather a note stating that his German is not yet sufficient to be able to grade him (not to mention dyslexia issues).  It’s interesting because while his regular German is fine (according to his teacher), his vocabulary in certain topics is definitely still lacking which is something that the school and us are actively working on.

Math – covered the clock (24 hour one), multiplication with 2 and 3 digits numbers (234x16), dividing by a single digit (819/9), word problems (2 people are building a fence at different rates and when will they EVER meet) as well as learning to read the bus/train/etc. schedules (I need to be in Berlin by 17:53, which train should I take).  He knows that you need to multiply before you add (3x5+5), they have also covered symmetry and the mirror symmetry, money, and measurements both the length (mm, dc, m …) and weights (grams and kilograms).  No yards, quarts, inches or anything else from that realm here!

Music – Andrei just took a test where he had to know how to write, read and play 5 notes on his recorder, know parts of the violin, had to know about 15 instruments based on their picture which included woodwind, brass and string instruments and how are they made.  Also Mozart’s life – when and where he was born, instruments he played, some of his works, and death.

Learning to play Figaro on their recorders

English – keep in mind that it’s a foreign language class in 3^rd grade but the kids know A LOT.  They know food, pets, days of the week, things they use at school and how to construct a simple sentence using those words.   

Andrei asked me the other day what language are his American counterparts learning and he had a hard time understanding that in most American schools foreign language doesn’t start until 6^th grade.

He also has sport where all the kids are required to have about 3 months of swimming, art (no idea what he does, according to Andrei - they paint and do crafts), religion (Andrei only attends class 50% of the time and he has learned a bit about Jesus and usually whatever religious holiday is coming up), the other 50% Andrei goes to a library. There is also class called Bewegung which is essentially "movement" but it’s separate from sport.  Andrei does his own thing in German so can’t really say much about that.

Homework book (the text written nicely in a Tuesday slot is what his teacher wrote down to study for the math test)