Hello! I am sure this info is on here somewhere but I cannot seem to find the answer!
My family and I are hoping to move to Zug in the summer, my daughter will Turn 5 in July, I believe 17.5 hours a week kindergarten is compulsory at this age?
I just wondered if you have to pay in public kindergarten for the compulsory hours?
If anyone has a few moments to help me out a bit would be much appreciated
Thank you!
If the child is in a public school then, no, you won't pay anything.
I thought school started at 7? I am wondering about the 2 years from 5-7 for the kindergarten
In Geneva compulsory school starts at four, varies slightly from canton to canton. Anyway, if it's compulsory I don't why it should cost you anything.
https://www.zg.ch/behoerden/direktio...anton-of-zug-1
https://www.zg.ch/behoerden/direktio...ergarten-level
The two years of Kindergarten belong to school are obligatory in most Cantons, those are the two first school years, thus pad by taxes.
Hours roughly about 8-12 (MO-FR) and one or two afternoons around 13:30-15:30.
Except here where it's mandatory from age three, and elementary school starts at age 6 (or 5 if your birthday is between start of school and 31 Dec.)
Only Wednesday afternoons are kindergarten free, as is the case for all schools.
Tom
Kindergarten here is part of the school system - in Zurich they can go between the ages 4-5 - the first year is only mornings but I think only 3 mornings - and the second year is again mornings but 2 days are with afternoon. If you need daycare for the only mornings days you can use something called 'hort' which is connected to the school system and looks after the kids in the afternoon.
It is worth checking in Zug specifically as every area is different - this information should be available on the Zug website
According to the Zug cantonal website (the link Anjela posted above) two years of kindergarten exist, first is optional and the second is mandatory.
With a July birthday your daughter will not be eligible yet for the second year of kindergarten, which is the mandatory year. She will be eligible for the first year, which is optional. Hours for the optional year vary by school district... so best check with them once you know exactly where you will be living.
Just to compare school systems with the UK (approximately, depending on canton etc) - this is my interpretation from reality, not just aligning ages.
- kindergarten (2 years) = year 1 & 2 of UK primary school
- Primarschule (6 years) = years 3 - 5 primary + year 1 & 2 secondary
- Real- / Sekundarschule = years 3 - 5 secondary
The Wikipedia page is pretty good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Switzerland
Don't try to match ages for two reasons:
1. Here they start (very) slowly, but later on it is much more intense, so kids "catch up" with the UK syllabus after "falling behind" at the start
2. It's very common to repeat a year, jump a year, or do a year over two years - a child's age is only a rough guide to the year they are actually in
I would say the two years of (Zurich) Kindergarten is the equivalent to reception year of UK primary school, in that is is all about getting kids ready for school, socially and mentally. The kids do not (at least in Zurich) learn the the R's like in reception in the UK but they learn how to be timetabled and how to work interdependently and as a class, and the much needed basic skills like how to hold a pencil, concentrate for a period of time, follow instructions, sit still, move well, bond with peers, respect teachers, care for others, and some things which I thought more Erziehung (home education) than Bildung (formal education) like teeth cleaning, road-crossing, using sharp knives etc.
plus, they are very on top of helping kids with problems early on so they can go into primary school without as many issues. (e.g. German lessons, art therapy, phsycomoto therapy etc).
What they do in the first couple of years clearly is very different from canton to canton. #1 grand-daughter is nearly six (so in the last few months of her second year at school) and has learnt to count to a hundred, can read simple story books, and has several copy books full of writing exercises. The 3 Rs are definitely taught from the beginning in Geneva!
I think the three R's are delayed in the German speaking cantons as kids have to do the reading and writing in Hoch not Dialekt so they have to learn another language (or half different language) first.
I don't think you can give easy generalisations about level, ordering or delay/advance in topics.
It's a much more holistic approach - they don't much separate lessons until quite late in the process, but when they do a "thema" there are many aspects such as science and maths as well as writing and social ideas.
So the classic "Abfall" (waste) thema has obvious science parts, a fair bit of maths (proportions of stuff in waste, for example), they have to write mini-essays on stuff, and the obvious social side.
As parents we were a bit worried about how slowly they start - we looked at friends' kids in the UK who seem to be more advanced and wondered. But now we start to see the acceleration and it's not quite such a difference, and we look at international PISA reports and the general level of maturity and confidence shown by Swiss kids and we relax.
But as others have said - it varies a lot from canton to canton and school to school.