St. Martin’s Day Celebration

German School of Madison

We cordially invite you to our annual St. Martin’s Day celebration!  Come and join us on November 9, 2014, at 4:30 p.m., for a lantern walk, followed by a campfire, and a potluck meal.

2012-12-14 19.13.22

We will meet at the Shorewood Hills Community Center, 901 Swarthmore Court. Festivities will begin after our weekend project classes have ended (they run from 1-4 p.m.).

Please bring lanterns (if you need inspiration for how to make a lantern, check here or here), a contribution for the potluck (main dish, salad, bread, dessert, drink — anything), plates, cups, and silverware for your family (we will also have disposable goods available).

The program will start at 4:30pm. We will sing some traditional songs and enjoy a performance of the story of St. Martin performed by our students.  Around 5pm we will head out for the lantern parade around the Shorewood Hills neighborhood, meeting back at the Community Center for a potluck meal together.  We will have a campfire outside to enjoy as well.

IMG_5325

All are invited – this is an event for the entire German-speaking/German-interested community in the Madison area.   The event is free for families of the German School of Madison; for all others, we ask for a sliding scale donation of $5-10 per family.

 

“Das Badger Blättchen” has arrived

German School of Madison
2014-10-14 09.07.32 am
Our youth group students (led by teachers Chris Tabisz and Iris Hengst) proudly present the first edition of their monthly bulletin Das Badger Blättchen.  Click on the link to see what they have been up to!

This is the first issue of our monthly bulletin of the GSoM, “Das Badger Blättchen,” written by our middle and high school youth class. It is bilingual so that all of our families can discover what our school has been doing and what is coming up in the coming weeks and months.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about “Das Badger Blättchen,” please don’t hesitate to contact me. We are always on the lookout for new stories about German language and culture in our school and the Madison community. Just send us an email, if you have such a story (germanschoolofmadison@gmail.com).

Viel Spaß beim Lesen!

Project classes

German School of Madison

Our weekend project classes are off to a great start. On October 5, Deutsch 1 and Deutsch 3 teachers Morgan Achterberg and Fabian Fischer led a fall-themed class for our Deutsch 1/2/3 students.

Picture of Project Class Deutsch 1/2/3, Oct. 2014

Project Class Deutsch 1/2/3, Oct. 2014

The next project class will take place on November 9. This class will bring together students and teachers from our DaF 1 class (2-4 p.m.), Vorstufe (2-4 p.m.), and Deutsch 1/2/3 (1-4 p.m.).  The class will be followed by festivities in honor of St. Martin’s Day, including a Laternenumzug (lantern walk). Details will be announced soon.

St. Martin Laternenfest

St. Martin Laternenfest 2013

For the most up-to-date information on events (including dates and times of future project classes), please always check our calendar.

Open House on Sep. 25 (edited)

German School of Madison

With 60 children enrolled, our classes are off to a great start! This year marks an important step for our school: We have officially established a collaboration with the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA), which, among other things, means that we have increased the amount of instructional time per week in most of our classes and that we are following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Europäischer Referenzrahmen) in our curriculum.

ZfA Logo

On Sep. 25 we hosted an open house/information evening with ZfA advisor Anka Fehling (Chicago), who visited some of our classes and gave a presentation on the various forms of ZfA sponsorship, including information about proficiency exams. Did you know that children enrolled at our school can take German proficiency exams, like the German Sprachdiplom (DSD), for free? Or that our school is the only German part-time school in Wisconsin? After the presentation, Ms. Fehling addressed parents’ questions reaching from internships in Germany to recommendations for second language learning apps.

2014-09-26 12.00.34 am

Anka Fehling im Gespräch mit Eltern

We thank everyone who attended the event and look forward to continuing our collaboration with the ZfA.

Back to school!

German School of Madison

Welcome to the new school year! Classes will begin after Labor Day. Our teachers cannot wait to meet your children! From left to right: Morgen Achterberg (Deutsch 1), Bhavani Nagaraj (Dachse), Chris Tabisz (DaF 1, co-teacher Youth Group), Fabian Fischer (Deutsch 3), Richard Hrosek (Deutsch 2), Sarah James (Vorstufe, Toe Dip), Catrin Weimbs (Instructional Director). Not in the picture: Iris Hengst (co-teacher Youth Group).

GSoM Teachers

 

Save the date: Would you like to learn more about our collaboration with the German Central Agency of Foreign Schools Abroad  (ZfA) or about our school in general? We will host an open house with ZfA Advisor Anka Fehling on September 25, from 6-7 p.m. (directly after Deutsch 1/2/3). Child care will be available. More information to follow soon.

Copyright picture Ralph Grunewald.

Curriculum update

German School of Madison

We’re excited to report that more than 50 children have enrolled for the 2014-15 academic year at GSoM! After processing all registration forms, we have the following updates to share:

  • Due to an unexpected demand for a class for beginning readers with prior knowledge of German, there will be an additional class: Vorstufe Deutsch (mostly for children with a German-language background who are entering Kindergarten) will take place on Thursdays from 4.30-5.30 p.m. (with additional project classes — shorter than those for Deutsch 1 — on selected weekends). This class will focus on the connection between letters and sounds (working with an  Anlauttabelle). A work book will be provided.
  • There will be only one DaF1 (German as a Foreign Language) class (meeting Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. and on three project weekends). No “split” class with meetings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
  • There will be only one Deutsche Dachse class (meeting on Thursdays from 4:30 pm- 5:15 p.m.). No second class beginning at 5:15 p.m.
  • Due to an overlap with Yom Kippur, our October project class (Deutsch 1/2/3)  has been moved from Oct. 4 (Saturday) to Oct. 5 (Sunday), still from 1-4 p.m. Please consult our calendar for all calendar updates throughout the school year.
  • Curious about your child(ren)’s teacher? See our teacher profiles here. You will also receive a welcome email from your child(ren)’s teacher(s) prior to the beginning of the semester.
  • Online registration will close on August 15. If you would like to enroll your child, please do so now. Some courses are close to capacity at this point, while our Youth Group (for middle and high schoolers) still needs some more students.

Reminder: 

Our teachers take great care to assign children to the most appropriate class level, to ensure a challenging yet not overwhelming language learning experience for all children. During registration, we are asking parents to choose a preferred class for their child(ren); however, teachers will have the final decision regarding class placement. Prior to the beginning of the school year, you will receive an email with information about your child’s initial placement, based on the information provided by you in the registration process and, if applicable, teachers’ prior experience with your child(ren). After a period of four weeks, teachers will reassess each placement and children may be advised to move to a different class.

Parent participation program — please sign up

German School of Madison
As you will recall, when you registered your children, we ask that each family fill one volunteer position for the school during the 2014-15 school year. Parents who have volunteered for our School in the past have found it to be fun and a great way to get to know other families in our community.  We hope you will enjoy your involvement in the school, and please know that we count on each of you.
You will find detailed information on the different jobs, as well as the on-line registration form here.
When you access the on-line sign-up form, you will see that you are asked to provide a first, second, and third choice of job. We will make every effort to match you with your preferred job.  There is a comment field at the end of the form for your ideas and questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
Please sign up before August 15, 2014. This gives us time to get organized before classes begin in September. Thank you — and we’ll see you in September.

Scholarships and deadline extension

German School of Madison
We are delighted at all the registrations we have already received for the school year 2014-15.  Some classes are almost filled to capacity, and we will be welcoming many new faces to our School in the fall. Our teachers are preparing lesson plans, ordering books, and looking forward to meeting their students!
We have exciting news.
First, for all classes, we are extending the “EARLY BIRD” DISCOUNT of $25 to JULY 15 in an effort to encourage parents to secure a spot for their child in our classes early!  Please register online and pay the $200 deposit before July 15 to receive the discount.
Second, due to the generosity of our families, for the first time we will be able to offer two partial need-based scholarships, each $200, for children enrolling in Deutsch 1, Deutsch 2, Deutsch 3, or DaF 1/German as a Foreign Language. Please click on the scholarship link to find out more about the process. The deadline for applications is also July 15.
If you would like to donate to our scholarship fund, you can do so via our Paypal donations link.
Edited to add: Thanks to the generosity of the GSoM community, we could award two partial scholarships, each $250.