German Language?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Im happy to see so much interest in German. And I don't even speak it but I won't my daughter to be able to speak to her extended family. (and yes they speak English but I don't want her to rely on the rest of the world being bilingual). I would love to utitlize a DPR facility. Even if we could just start with a saturday morning program with some langauge/games etc in German for little ones that would be great. And I bet Geothe would be helpful with some funding if needed.

Why not just put her in the DSW Saturday program? There is also a summer camp (at least there used to be) run by the former head of the Kindergarten that is all in German. You can contac them and find out.

Have you been to the school and spoken with them? The school is really nice and has great facilities--and it is basically a chunk of Germany in the US. I'm German born and raised, and it reminds me of my school years.

[Anonymous]

Just to comment on what an after school immersion or charter would offer that DSW doesn't: opportunity for English speaking kids.

If you look at threads in the private school forum you will see hostility toward families enrolling children who are not fluent or who do not have a German speaking parent. DSW is not an immersion school designed to teach English speakers German. It is a school for German children who happen to be in America. I know this because I wanted to send my son, researched the matter heavily, visited, and spoke with families. The Portland school is an immersion/dual language program that embraces both American and German families. It is different. DSW parents view English only children the same way that high SES families view ESL kids in a classroom, as a weight that is holding their child back. Many of them will be returning to Germany. In the end I decided to do the Saturday school and summer immersion camp at Concordia Language Villages. http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/youth-languages/german-language-village

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is the Hill summer program:

Summer German Programs for Children
23 June - 25 July 2014
Capitol Hill and Potomac, MD
[phone]
[e-mail]

The Goethe-Institut Washington is proud to announce it will be offering one, two and three-week half or whole-day intensive German courses for children on Capitol Hill this summer. This program is offered in partnership with Mrs. Karin deJong, the former Kindergarten Director of the German School Washington in Potomac, MD.

In addition to the programs on Capitol Hill, Mrs. deJong is also offering four weeks of programs for children in Potomac, MD.

Thanks so much for this info. I'm not the OP but I've been looking for a German program to keep up the language for my children who spent some time there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to comment on what an after school immersion or charter would offer that DSW doesn't: opportunity for English speaking kids.

If you look at threads in the private school forum you will see hostility toward families enrolling children who are not fluent or who do not have a German speaking parent. DSW is not an immersion school designed to teach English speakers German. It is a school for German children who happen to be in America. I know this because I wanted to send my son, researched the matter heavily, visited, and spoke with families. The Portland school is an immersion/dual language program that embraces both American and German families. It is different. DSW parents view English only children the same way that high SES families view ESL kids in a classroom, as a weight that is holding their child back. Many of them will be returning to Germany. In the end I decided to do the Saturday school and summer immersion camp at Concordia Language Villages. http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/youth-languages/german-language-village

This is a loaded statement and you ought to be careful when throwing it around. They may "object," like non-ESL parents object to the presence of ESL students, because the needs of the children are very different and there does not exist a viable means of providing each group what they need (and deserve) within the same classroom. Someone necessarily loses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to comment on what an after school immersion or charter would offer that DSW doesn't: opportunity for English speaking kids.

If you look at threads in the private school forum you will see hostility toward families enrolling children who are not fluent or who do not have a German speaking parent. DSW is not an immersion school designed to teach English speakers German. It is a school for German children who happen to be in America. I know this because I wanted to send my son, researched the matter heavily, visited, and spoke with families. The Portland school is an immersion/dual language program that embraces both American and German families. It is different. DSW parents view English only children the same way that high SES families view ESL kids in a classroom, as a weight that is holding their child back. Many of them will be returning to Germany. In the end I decided to do the Saturday school and summer immersion camp at Concordia Language Villages. http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/youth-languages/german-language-village

This is a loaded statement and you ought to be careful when throwing it around. They may "object," like non-ESL parents object to the presence of ESL students, because the needs of the children are very different and there does not exist a viable means of providing each group what they need (and deserve) within the same classroom. Someone necessarily loses.

DSW parent here. Yes, we "object" because it drags the entire class down when a child cannot speak the language. It is not an immersion school, it is a German school. I don't need my 6th grader returning to Germany with below grade level skills after 3 yrs there because half the class speaks/reads/writes at a 3rd grade level. That woud be a problem, and that's why many parents object to non-native speakers attending the school. There is no segregation of classes based on skill level, if there were, there likely would be less objection. But that would raise other issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is the Hill summer program:

Summer German Programs for Children
23 June - 25 July 2014
Capitol Hill and Potomac, MD
[phone]
[e-mail]

The Goethe-Institut Washington is proud to announce it will be offering one, two and three-week half or whole-day intensive German courses for children on Capitol Hill this summer. This program is offered in partnership with Mrs. Karin deJong, the former Kindergarten Director of the German School Washington in Potomac, MD.

In addition to the programs on Capitol Hill, Mrs. deJong is also offering four weeks of programs for children in Potomac, MD.

Thanks so much for this info. I'm not the OP but I've been looking for a German program to keep up the language for my children who spent some time there.

04/10/2014 10:23 here. Mrs. DeJong is the former Kindergarten Head that I mentioned in my post. The Kindergarten was very well run during her tenure, and my children loved it there.