Guidelines for the Bilingual Elementary School at the German School Campus
Practical examples for teaching and assessing learning progress.
The central element of the Flexible Primary School is to view the existing heterogeneity of students in the classroom as an opportunity and to make it productive for learning. In the planning and organization of the lessons, decisions are made that affect both the quality of the learning content and tasks, as well as the methods and forms of learning.
The curriculum goals for elementary school are organized into competency areas, as is common practice in Germany, and often meet or even exceed the standards of the state of California. Starting with Mathematics, to also learn the metric system.
German: (reading comprehension, text analysis, development of language skills, speaking and listening), The standards are divided into four areas – reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and specify what students should learn by the end of each grade level.
English: Students engage in new and challenging reading experiences while developing skills and knowledge according to the California Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts. The standards are divided into four areas – reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and language – and specify what students should learn by the end of each grade level.
Learning to read is of great importance for students at this time, but learning also focuses on three new emphases: (1) greater exposure to content-rich informational texts, (2) developing opinions using evidence from books, and (3) engaging in groups and individual reading activities around more complex texts and practicing new vocabulary.
In Science and Social Studies, students are challenged to develop their understanding of basic concepts and awaken a passion for learning that will accompany them throughout their developmental years.
Grades one to five meet from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. With a low student-teacher ratio, students benefit from individual attention and a personalized curriculum. The multi-age classroom promotes a strong community where older children serve as role models for their younger classmates. Younger children typically develop independence more quickly due to the support of an older buddy in the group. While observing positive social, emotional, physical, and intellectual behaviors, our younger students also benefit from a wider range of interests, personalities, and abilities.
Report Cards:
In the report cards of Grades 1 and Grade 2, students receive feedback on their performance solely in the form of verbal assessments.
Learning Development Conversation instead of Interim Report Card.
At the Bilingual Primary School, the interim report card has been replaced by a documented learning development conversation. During the conversation, the student, class teacher, and parents or guardians exchange information. The focus is on the individual situation of the child, including their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for development.
Starting from the second semester of Grade 3, the performance in subject areas is generally evaluated using numerical grades.
To ensure high-quality feedback on performance, the report card forms for Grade 1 and the interim report card form for Grade 2 still include a separate text field for each subject, where statements about the acquisition of competencies are made.
The report card forms from the annual report card of Grade 2 onwards still contain statements regarding the following areas
- Social behavior
- Learning and work behavior
- English (Grades 3 and 4)
- Additional engagement
- Statements about the acquisition of competencies in the subjects
- Numerical grades in each subject
- Statements about individual learning development
Do you evaluate children for learning difficulties?
We understand that children have different types of intelligence and learn at their own pace. It’s important to avoid labeling children as “ahead” or “behind.” If a child hasn’t acquired certain skills by a specific time, it could simply be a matter of readiness, and allowing them to develop those skills when they are ready is often all that’s needed. Rather than categorizing our children, we believe it’s more beneficial to recognize and appreciate their unique talents.
However, if we notice that your child is consistently facing challenges in specific areas that remain unresolved, we will reach out to you to discuss an individualized assessment. This assessment will involve one-on-one interactive activities to determine your child’s ability levels in different subjects. Based on the results, we will provide concrete recommendations to parents on how to support their child’s learning.
