German summer project: Language lessons in the wintry Spessart - New registration procedure launched

Sunshine and blue skies, plus frosty temperatures and clear air: winter is at its best on the Spessart-Anhöhe near Bad Orb. Ten primary school children from Offenbach are currently spending the last week of their Christmas vacation here at the Wegscheide school hostel. They are improving their German language skills with daily language and drama lessons. There is also a varied leisure program - after all, it is the vacations.

As in the first three weeks of the summer vacation, which the children also spent at Wegscheide, the boys and girls, who are around ten years old, are closing their grammatical learning gaps and expanding their vocabulary in this final spurt of the city's German summer language promotion project.

Between these two vacation projects, the fourth-graders in Offenbach spent two afternoons a week "on the trail of language" with the German Summer Detectives. Around half of the more than 20 German Summer children were thus supported in their linguistic and personal development for six months.

Head of Education Paul-Gerhard Weiß: "The latest Pisa study has once again revealed a poor level of education among German pupils. Once again, it shows how important it is to invest in our children's education." The federal and state governments in particular are called upon to do this. But the city of Offenbach, as the school authority, is also committed. Councillor Weiß: "Especially in primary schools, early language support is the basis for successful learning. This is where we come in with our German Summer, now in its 15th year, making an important contribution to supporting children in need of special support and improving their starting opportunities."

The language support program is funded equally by the Frankfurt Erhard Kunert Foundation and the City of Offenbach. The participating children are recommended by the elementary school. As project manager Jörg Muthorst reports, the registration process for the German Summer 2024 began in October last year. "We wanted to give parents the opportunity to take this unique support program into account when planning their summer vacations. We have already received the first registrations." The registration deadline is after the Easter vacations on April 26, 2024.