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The ‘German School of Ft. Lauderdale’ was founded in summer 2002.
We offer a daily bilingual preschool program, furthermore the curriculum includes ‘German Lessons at the Elementary Level’ and group lessons teaching ‘German as a Foreign Language’ for children and adults.
Classes are being taught by certified instructors.
Our pupils participate annually in the “National German Exam' of the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) and in the examinations to "The german Language Diploma', administered by the ‘Central Agency for Schools Abroad’ (ZfA).
Our program furthermore includes a diverse music- and art program. Recorder lessons, singing, music, arts and crafts play a role in the various courses offered. ‘Learning With All Your Senses’ and open work-forms count among the dominant teaching principles and methods. In our daily preschool program, we work according to the ideas and principles of the Montessori Method.
At the German School of Ft. Lauderdale the teaching principles of ‘Learning With Your Head, Heart, and Hands’ like those of ‘Learning With All Your Senses’ play a particularly important role for children being introduced to the German language and culture. The full immersion concept of our school is based on the belief that languages are best learned in situations, in which students play, explore, create, sing, and learn. Using games, puppets, songs, rhymes, and small scenes, our curriculum builds upon German speech patterns, the children may apply to various settings they find meaningful. While students will become more and more fluent in speaking the German language, they will be prepared to enter an American Kindergarten at the end of our preschool program, since letters, phonics, number etc. are introduced in the English language.
The teachers at the ‘German School of Ft. Lauderdale’ act as guides and helpers in the children’s natural desire to learn. Teachers prepare the classroom, its materials and guide students gently towards their individual goals. Instruction methods emphasize natural learning processes, play, and fun. The ‘German School of Ft. Lauderdale’ recognizes that students learn from their peers, and that they can be positive role models for students both older and younger than themselves.
Our classroom is equipped with exclusively educational materials and we have incorporated some aspects of the ‘Montessori Method’ and its materials into our curriculum. The ‘Montessori Environment’ is quiet, respectful, and non-competitive. Children move freely and purposefully throughout the classroom choosing materials they wish to “learn” with, returning them to the shelf as found before moving on to new work.
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