German and American School Systems

Wanda Wise English 101 Ms. Allred July 5, 2012 The German and American School Systems Although German students and American students start at around the same age, and both attend Kindergarten and their goals are the same, the school systems are very different. The German School System German children start Kindergarten at around the ages of four to six years old. They attend five days a week. Kindergarten starts, on average, at eight in the morning and usually ends around one in the afternoon. They start learning the basics of reading, writing, math and a foreign language; most times this will be English. Secondary language skills are taught throughout the remainder of their school years. Primary school begins at around the ages of six to seven years old. The students attend Primary school until they are around fourteen to fifteen years old. Students attend classes for forty-five minutes in each subject studied. Every day begins with foreign language class. Secondary school I begins in the ninth grade, at around age fourteen or fifteen. The students attend school three days a week and start an apprenticeship. During this apprenticeship, the student is a salaried part-time apprentice of the institution, doctors’ office, bank, or Attorney’s office and others. Secondary school II begins in the eleventh grade, at around age sixteen. The student’s apprenticeship is then extended to four or five days a week and classes one or two days a week. The student will learn all of the economics of the job that they are training for and often are hired by the employer that is sponsoring their apprenticeship, once they have completed their studies at school. After completion of the thirteenth school year, the student can either join the workforce or continue their education at a University. German schools are regulated by each individual State. The German federal government has limited control over the school system. The American School System American school children start attending Kindergarten around the same age as German students; however, the American students also have Pre-schools and Head-start schools. Children in the United States start Kindergarten at around the age of five or six. They learn the basics of ABC’s, writing, counting and basic math skills. American students attend Kindergarten five days a week, usually starting around eight in the morning and ending around twelve-thirty. American students begin attending Elementary school at around the age of six and attend through the fifth grade, at age eleven. School starts at eight in the morning and usually ends at around three in the afternoon. Students then start learning reading, writing, math, science and geography. This is usually taught by one teacher in one classroom. Middle school is grades six through eighth, students are around the ages of eleven to fourteen. Classes are taught by subjects with a teacher for each subject. The students go from one class to their next class, as the teachers remain in one class. Classes are usually an hour long and the student has a recess and lunch break. High school begins with the ninth grade and ends with the twelfth grade. In high school, as with Middle school, students attend classes that are about an hour long. With high school, there are dances, sporting events and prom. This is not available in German schools. Once the student has graduated from high school, they have the option to continue on to a college, university, trade-school or vocational school; depending on their academic ability and goals in life. Many students that attend Vocational schools also have apprenticeships; such as, welders and electricians. For the most part, the federal government has control over the American school system through the U.S. Department of Education. State and local governments have control over such things as dress codes, discipline and academic competitions.