Our Pedagogical Approach

Above all, we want to have fun with the children and to give them the opportunity to enjoy speaking and using the German language, so that they don’t feel that they are the only ones who ‘have to’ speak another language in comparison to their English friends.

The German Saturday School is for children from German speaking families who are being brought up bilingually. We don’t teach ‘German as a foreign language’, but ‘German as a second language’ and we try to find interesting and exciting ways to use this language in the UK. At the same time we also want to address topics that are specific to German speaking cultures.

The lessons take place on eight Saturdays each term, from 10am – 12noon.

Aims:

• Enjoyment of German as a native or second language
• Contact with other bilingual children
• Getting to know German traditions and customs, festivals and personalities, as well  as the geography and history of Germany, Austria and Switzerland
• Fun with interesting projects
• Vocabulary building (conversations)
• Awareness of language structure (grammar)
• Learning written German

We use materials designed for German Kindergartens and primary schools, including songs, games, sketches and creative activities, and we enjoy celebrating  traditions from ‘home’ with the children.