back packs

School starts tomorrow. I went through the boys back packs to help them get ready. They hadn't cleaned them out from last school year. But there wasn't and dead food, so it was OK. They will get a list of a million things the teacher wants them to have. I'll stand in a long line trying to buy these things. That's an annual stress test. We are going to try Sarah in the 3rd grade. I personally think we should put her in the 2nd grade from day one but I'm over ruled by Juergen. I hope he is right. She has caught up in math, but is still very far behind in German. We will see. She may still be put back. I just think it's easier from the start of the year. The kids quickly forget. In the middle of the year everyone has already formed friendships and you are the outsider. So I hope it works because it will be harder in the middle of the year. As I write this I feel like Juergen and I still need to talk. I just don't feel good about moving Sarah forward. She is too far behind in German. And in Germany every thing is German. History tests, and Biology all have to be written in German. And they do not just judge your ideas. You do not get allot of true and false...or answer A B or C questions. You have to write you answers out in German, and you have to be grammatically correct. And in the 3rd and 4th class you need to do oral reports. Sarah could not do that because of her extreme language dely. She needs more time. Great, she has caught up in math...but German is everything. And she will not make it with out extreme stress. I do not think a few days of social stress is anything to the stress of feeling always behind.