Phew!! It's been a while ... German school verses English speaking

Hi there ... it's been a while since my last blog post!! Where has the time gone?  Well I've been busy preparing an LDS missionary and moving my children from German school back to English speaking. It's been BUSY!!

Elder Robertson

Our children attended the International School Frankfurt for the first three years of living here in Germany.  They did really well, however we always had the goal and intention of them integrating into German school after this period of time.  We wanted to be apart of the culture etc etc ....

The time came ... our second son did extremely well socially.  We would expect that as he really is a sunshine child and loves people.  He was even voted in as 'Schulsprecher' ... Head boy of the school.  However academically, with the German school system, he was never going to get the grades he needed for entrance into University.  He was our priority to get moved back into the International school as he is in critical years ... Grade 10.  He now attends Frankfurt International School Frankfurt.  He is excelling and we are very happy.

Rugby match in England with Aunt S and Uncle G

Our third son didn't do too badly academically at first but socially he struggled at first.  Then socially things improved and academically things were not improving enough to be promoted to the next grade.  A new European school opened last September - European School Rhein Main (ESRM) in Bad Vilbel. This was a solution for him and he was able to carry on in Grade 9 so he wouldn't skip a year.

Happy number 3! 

Then our fourth (and last) son who had attended the local Kindergarten and started at the Grundschule (Primary) school was doing OK, but having seen our other children struggle at High School level, we didn't want to take a chance with him.  So guess what? He now attends ESRM too.  What a huge difference to his 3 R's.

and number 4! 

The thing is we just couldn't sacrifice their futures for wanting to make it work.  We tried ... it didn't work ... we found a solution!!

And as for me?  Well I feel a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders.  There is nothing worse for a mother than to see her children struggling. Being able to communicate with their teachers and other staff is just an added blessing!

The important thing to remember is what ever decision you make, it has to be right for your family and not what other people think is right for you.  Make a plan and if the plan doesn't work, change the plan.  All of the experiences have been for the betterment of my children's characters.

We are all settled and thriving!! PHEW!!  Back to aHappyLife! =)