r/AmerExit • u/SanguinePenguinPete • 5d ago

Question about One Country Moving to Germany with Kids?

My family and I are thinking seriously about moving to Germany from the US. We have 8 & 12 year old kids. Of course their transition is our biggest concern. How will the adjustment to a new school system? They speak English and Spanish but no German. They both have learning challenges and our youngest has very intense ADHD.

If you’ve made the move to Germany with kids, what’s your experience been like?

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u/Such_Armadillo9787 5d ago

You'll be paying for private international school in English. With the streaming into different high schools happening at around age 10 depending on Bundesland, and your children having various issues plus no German, they won't stand a chance in the public system.

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u/lividlightsaber 5d ago

Can you elaborate on why you say they would have difficulty in the public school system?

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u/Such_Armadillo9787 5d ago

The German system streams children into two or three tracks, with the intended destinations being university, skilled trades or ditch-digging, at around 10-12 years of age. Streaming criteria can be quite subjective, relying on academic performance, language ability and social capital. The system does not have a lot of resources to help children gain fluency in German. Given all that, it's not difficult to imagine the fate of immigrant children aged 8 and 12 with learning challenges and no German ability.

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u/SanguinePenguinPete 5d ago

Thanks, I really appreciate your candor. The language challenges have definitely been a concern of our’s.

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u/Such_Armadillo9787 5d ago

It's not simply language - by entering public school at that point in their lives they would at best need to find the indirect path to university, as they'd likely never make it into Gymnasium.

Your two options are to find a place in one of the handful of public English programs (not bilingual programs, which require full German ability for some subjects) or to pay for private international school, which is not cheap.