Curriculum

At Waldsee we use a curriculum uniquely suited to our immersion environment. It is designed not only for beginners, but to challenge all villagers, from Grundkurs to fluent. The curriculum is based on the Frage des Tages using question-and-answer patterns and daily themes to be used throughout the day. From Day 1, we want villagers to learn German through real communication, and not as isolated vocabulary words and grammar structures.

The Waldsee curriculum has been developed over decades to encourage context-based learning that grows with the villagers as they acquire more skills in the language. We hope that these pages will help you develop your own learning philosophy and develop fun and educational plans for your small language-learning groups (Familie). But the curriculum is also a living document -- please share your thoughts and experiences! Your comments and suggestions about how to make this manual more workable are crucial to having an effective curriculum guide for future Waldsee Betreuer. Thank you for your ideas!

The Patterns (Frage des Tages)

The patterns unite the village throughout the day at every level and in every activity. In the two-week program, the Frage des Tages is introduced during the large-group Gesang. It is then used and developed throughout the day in small language-learning groups. For example, on the first Wednesday of each session villagers will be hearing and responding to the question “Was machst du?” at Weckdienst, on the Fußballplatz, atMahlzeiten and zu Hause.

If you want, you can brows all the activities on their own page.

How to Use the Curriculum

This handbook is a guide to the daily patterns and a resource for preparing the Familie. Each day's theme is presented with appropriate extensions of the Frage des Tages, as well as suggestions for vocabulary, usage, and games. The material in the manual is divided according to three different levels of language ability: Grundkurs, Aufbaukurs and Fortgeschrittenenkurs. The largest part of the manual contains ideas for games and exercises appropriate for different topics.

The language ability levels are fluid and the Familienleiter should tailor the daily lessons according to the needs and abilities of the individual group, not the assigned language level. The curriculum design allows us to expand or contract the material, grammar and vocabulary while remaining in the topic area.

Sprache im Haus

Es sind nicht nur die Familienleiter, die Deutsch beibringen! On each page of the curriculum, you'll also find ideas from Waldsee's Sprache im Haus Curriculum, the sequence of language activities counselors can use in the cabin to support patterns learned in the Familien.