I haven't visited Rietberg Montessori, but have spent some time chatting with a teacher from there. I've also heard a few things from other people in the education game who've had first-hand experience.
They support their staff to gain good Montessori training, which is a plus from my perspective, but I've heard that their final year (sixth grade, last year before high school) is a bit different: they reduce or stop the Montessori work, and focus on Maths & German in order to boost Gymnasium entry chances. Depending on your perspectives, that could be either good or bad ...
I've also spoken to people who used to work in the Swiss school system, and a few recent graduates, and they've told me of "English lessons" where non-fluent Swiss teachers (and, in one case, a teacher who couldn't even pronounce more than five words in English!) worked through text books in English with the students ... but this will vary from school to school or even class to class and, as Swisspea said, if you have the time to just focus on English at home (lots of high-level conversation as the children get older, as well as heaps of literature (of all genre, not just "the classics"!), and of course watching movies & chatting to other English-speaking family on Skype) then they should be fluent in English as well ...
Great thread, it's curious that the person who started did not benefit from it at all.... I did. I am moving to Thalwil and considering enrolling my son to the House of Kids in Adliswil. We decided for bilingual because if the school it's only german, my wife and I won't be able to help, or it will force me to learn fast, maybe never fast enough though.
On this same topic it's great to hear the inside of the student that did italian and apparently his parents did not speak italian, I don't think we can do it though. If I ever get to learn German and speak confidently enough I will consider moving my kid to the Swiss public system, until there, it will be international schools all the way. To be honest I see the point made about kids leaving after some years, but t is the very essence of the expatriate family, if you embraced this type of life you'd better get used to that.
Cheers,
Ditto negative comments on TAZ in Horgen. It was a while ago now but similar issues, now in the local system with no problems.
Hello, My family is planning to move to the Basel area of Switzerland in June of 2011. I have two boys, one is 6 and the other 9. We are toying with the idea of living in France due to the cost of Switzerland. We are also trying to determine if private or public would be better. I would love any input on both topics. Thank you, Shannon
Are you sure that you will be able to get a permit that will allow you to live in France while working in Switzerland???
Jim
I would recommend a local swiss private school that offers a strong English program over an international school. When we arrived from NY one year ago, my husband and I really wanted the kids (8 & 9 at the time) to learn french and live in the culture for as long as we are here. The public school system in Vaud does not start a formal English program until 7th grade. Since we will be going back to the USA sometime, we couldn't let their formal English education slide. So, we found Ecole BlancPain in La Tour de Peilz (canton Vaud). The french was difficult for the children at first, but a year later they are fluent and happy. BlancPain follows the Swiss system, but is wonderfully bilingual. I am also happy to report that their english program is so strong that if my children had to resume school in New York tomorrow, they would be above grade level (in most subjects actually, with the exception of American History!!!) Just my two cents!
Keep in mind if you opt to live in France and choose public schools, your children will be in the French public school system, yet another entirely different type of school than what has been discussed on this thread. Search french public schools for more info on this.
I agree fully with this statement.
Just for info, this is changing and from 2012 English will be taught from what is the current 5th grade, ie, age 10 (but will by then actually be called 7th grade, as the two years of enfantine are becoming compulsory and will be grades 1 and 2). So any kid of 8 or less will start German in 3rd grade as Foreign Language No 1, and English two years later as Foreign Language No 2. Of course, this is English as a foreign language, so not the same as the English program kids would be doing back home in regular school.
Personally, I've decided the only real gaps from what my kids are already covering off in French (grammar, comprehension, poetry appreciation, writer's intentions, etc etc) are spelling, the genitive case ('belonging to', ie, 'the dog's bone/ dogs' bones') and contractions (such as cannot = can't). Nothing that can't be ironed out at home during the many hours they're home for lunch.
kodokan
Like most of the other contributors, we looked at Taz Horgen and decided that it was not the school for our children. For some reason, it seemed to me like a local school that had decided to become bilingual as it was the 'in thing to do'. Again I am stressing that this is my personal opinion. We viewed ZIS which had fantastic facilities, but taught very little German. We ruled it out as we felt at the end of the day that we were coming to Switzerland and being at ZIS the girls could have been anywhere. We wanted them to learn the language. So we opted for SIS in Wollishofen as we liked the feel of the school and had a good reputation. It teaches 50% of the time in English and 50% of the time in German and the curriculum is continuous. Our eldest daughter has been there for 4 weeks and is enjoying it. Shes still finding her way - which is to be expected - but we feel that of the schools we saw it was the best fit for us.
The problem I found as a mother was taking responsibility for the children, and making the decision for them. You want to make the 'right' choice and that is damn hard!
Hi JazzyJeff, my kids will be starting in a bilingual school soon with no German and I think from your post that you may have children in a similar position that started fairly recently? I was just wonderign how yours are finding the 50/50 language teaching method in practice and generally if you have any comments on how it has been so far?
thanks
Hi clonskeagh,
Yes we came to Zurich in July and our eldest started school in August.
We had a double thing to consider when we came to Switzerland. Our eldest daughter, even though is only nearly 6, had already completed year 1 in the UK as she had been bumped up a year (so would have gone into year 2 this September in the UK). So coming here she was basically going back a year, but we felt that it would give her some breathing space in English whilst she picked up the German.
In reality we found quite quickly into the term that she was bored in English and a bit bewildered in German as she doesn't understand. So I went to see the school to address this matter.
The English teacher had also recognised she was bored and we discussed ways to keep her motivated and reading books at a comparable level to those she would of had in the UK.
As for German, the teacher told me that she sees that our daughter is slowly picking up the language. Our daughter actually recognises that she doesn't understand much in the class. However, she seems to be picking up songs and not really 'learning' as we would call it, but we have been told that the kids at this age basically absorb the language and dont realise that they are picking it up.
I feel that the thing that has helped is that I have started German lessons, so she sees me learning and that makes it less scary for her - so we are learning together. This week she will get her first German book to read at home!
We definitely had moments where we thought we had done the wrong thing and that we should have stayed in the UK. However we recognised that you need to give the school and the child a chance to work.
I also felt better that the school were receptive to our concerns.
As previously mentioned our daughter says she is enjoying it. To her it is a big adventure, and she is enjoying making friends and learning new things. Its me that has an increased number of grey hairs worrying about her.
Our youngest has gone to a local bilingual nursery in Thalwil. So even though she isnt being taught she is also absorbing German. What helps is that she wants to learn as she wants to be like her elder sister. I hope that this helps you. If you want to discuss more, please contact me. JJ
Wow, I'm surprised about the comments on TAZ. I have one child at TAZ (kindergarten) and one at ZIS. The one at TAZ absolutely loves it. I've always found the teachers receptive to me, and caring towards the kids. I didn't realise there were so many unhappy parents - but then I guess they leave so it's the ones that stay that I know.
They do have a problem of students leaving after kindergarten as alot of parents put their kids into TAZ for PreK and Kindy to get the German or English exposure, and then move them to ZIS or local schools for Grade 1.
Anyway, just wanted to give another view. We're happy with TAZ. It's not perfect but for our child it's been good.
(BTW, I thought the people who started TAZ also started Lakeside??)
Wow, I am really surprised to read the negative comments regarding TAZ. I have both of my kids at TAZ since Pre-K (now 3 years) and we absolutely love the school. It is a small school, only about 100 or so kids. Everybody knows everybody. Really. Every teacher and even the headmaster knows each and every kid by name, knows the parents, knows the situation. And even all the kids know each other. There is a lot of interaction between kids of different classes and age groups.
The classes are quite small -- in my sons class there are 14 children and he has two teachers at all times (one English, one German.)
The program is amazing, they do so much stuff with the kids beyond the curricular: sports days, swimming lessons, theater productions, museum visits, weekly forest days, summer parties...
And of course the school is bilingual, so in the kindergarden classes there is always one teacher who speaks native English and one who speaks native German. From grade 1 on, the kids switch languages (and teacher and class rooms) every week.
The school management is extremely open for suggestions and works very closely with the parents to constantly improve the school.
Nothing in life is ever perfect -- but I couldn't hope for a better school for my children. And I am convinced that the vast majority of parents who have their kids at TAZ feel the same way. It is really a great school.
Has anyone had experience with Obersee Bilingual School? It makes a very good first impression.
I have two children who have graduated with IB and gone onto English universities. We found that the reaction to the IB varied enormously, but happily they both found uni's and courses that they liked and were pro IB. Worst case of not understanding the rigors of the IB in our case - University College London, best understanding Warwick (guess where they went)
We experienced Obersee school.
It is very good.
Nice class sizes, the teachers are calm and pay particular attention to a balanced bi-lingual development program. Also it is one of the most reasonably priced. They are expanding at the moment so places may be a little easier to get. Pam is the headmistress and is very helpful.
Good luck.
My kids are on OBS and in general I can say it is a good school. A very good development is that the school is now also partly run/owned by the Wurth Gruppe, which means that the organization is more professional then it used to be. At first it was just Headmistress Pam making all decisions, not always very consistent (although she meant well and wanted to accommodate everybody which just isn't possible when a school has grown to more then 200 families) and well communicated. She is still part of the board and the person to talk to when entering the school.
Now there is a professional board and decisions about pedagogical things are made by people with a degree for it, with reasoning etc. This makes at a very professionally run school and the teachers therefore have the time to care and teach the children.
Classes are small (max 14 or 15) and halfway the week the classes change rooms/teacher to learn the other language. There are plenty of afterschool classes (football, choir, piano, russian, chinese etc.) and part of the curriculum are swimming classes, skiing classes and school trips, incl 3 forest weeks for the Kindergarten, even in bad weather! School building and facilities are not the greatest but kids go outside to to play in the forest or nearby playpark every day. I by the way think the premises are just fine but I come from a big city with its small school buildings...
OBS has a very active Parent Association which organises ski days, Family Fun days, and also more serious things like charities and a speech with Remo Largo, one of Switzerland's famous pediatricians and paedagoges (??) about the founding of OBS's secondary school on the basis of individual learning.
wow, great input. Thanks lifesayko!
Hi everyone,
Are there any other parents out there whose kids went to or are enrolled at the Swiss International School (SIS) in Wollishofen (Zurich)? Would be so happy to hear about your experiences as I am considering enrolling my daughter there for primary school but thought hearing first hand experience would be best!
Thanks!
Giving this thread a bump! Any experience with SIS Wollishofen and Rietberg Montessori in Enge?