German Primary School Homework Help for International Parents

If you grew up outside Germany, the school system can feel like a game whose rules nobody explained. One parent in r/germany put it this way: "Since we’re not German, we don’t really know about the expectations of the German school system". This guide covers the basics: how the school day and the school years are organized, what the grades mean, which words show up on worksheets, and where help is available. It is a general overview. Transition procedures differ by state (Bundesland) (KMK, 2006 (in German)), and details can differ elsewhere too, so your school and your child's teacher have the last word.

How German primary school works

Children enter the shared elementary school at the start of compulsory schooling. It runs from first to fourth grade, and in Berlin and Brandenburg to sixth grade (KMK (in German)). The main facts at a glance:

Because lessons are mostly in the morning, the afternoon is where homework (Hausaufgaben) and after-school care (Hort, OGS or Ganztag) come in. Homework is meant to stay short. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, it should be doable in 30 minutes a day in grades 1 and 2 and in 45 minutes in grades 3 and 4 at schools without mandatory all-day care (gebundener Ganztag). The ministry also says homework should be something children can do "selbstständig ohne fremde Hilfe", which means independently and without outside help (Schulministerium NRW (in German)). Other states set their own limits, so ask your school. The rules of all 16 states are compared in How Long Can Homework Take in Elementary School?.

For you, this means: homework is a short practice task, not a second school shift. If it regularly takes much longer, tell the teacher. For the bigger picture of the first school years, see our guide Starting School 2026. How children learn to do it on their own step by step is in When Do Kids Do Homework on Their Own?.

Grades and expectations

The standard scale on German report cards comes from a decision of the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK), the body of the state education ministers. Lower Saxony's report card decree repeats it, and we use it here as an example:

Source: Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium, Zeugniserlass (in German), section 3.5.1, quoting the KMK definitions. Stand: October 2026.

Three things trip up newcomers:

• A 2 is not "second best, so a problem". By the official definition, a 2 means the work fully meets the requirements. The r/germany parent we quoted above asked exactly this: their second grader got mostly 2s, and they wondered whether only 1s count as good. By the definitions above, a 2 is a good result. If you are unsure about your child, ask the teacher; the parent in that post reported that the teacher saw nothing specific to work on.
• The first years may not have number grades at all. In Lower Saxony, the focus in grades 1 and 2 is on the teacher observing the children, and report cards for these years are descriptive reports (Berichtszeugnis). For grades 3 and 4, the school conference decides between number grades and descriptive reports (Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium (in German)). Other states handle this differently, so ask what your state does.
• Number report cards may not use plus and minus. In Lower Saxony, intermediate grades are not allowed on number report cards (Zeugniserlass (in German), section 3.5.2). Whether other states differ, and what a "2-" on a worksheet means, is something to ask the teacher.

The transition to secondary school (Übertritt)

In most states, children move on to different school types after fourth grade; in Berlin and Brandenburg, elementary school runs through sixth grade. How binding the school's recommendation is depends on the state: the KMK describes that the decision is made either by the parents or by the school or school authority, depending on state law (KMK, 2006 (in German), an older report, so check current rules in your state).

Bavaria is a strict example. The transition report card is issued on the first school day of May in fourth grade. A grade average of 2.33 or better in German, math and general studies qualifies for all three school types (Mittelschule, Realschule, Gymnasium). One rule matters for families who speak another language at home: for children with a non-German mother tongue who did not attend a German elementary school from first grade, suitability for Realschule or Gymnasium can be confirmed with an average up to 3.33 if that average is attributable to weaknesses in German that appear remediable (Bavarian Ministry of Education (in German)). Ask your state's rules early, ideally in third grade.

Worksheet vocabulary: what the instructions mean

Worksheets (Arbeitsblätter) use a small set of instruction words again and again. Learning them removes a lot of guessing. This list is our own compilation of common school German, not an official glossary. Words can differ slightly between schools and textbooks.

A literal translation can mislead: a number wall is not a wall. Check the meaning of the task in context instead of relying on a literal translation alone. Why the methods themselves look different from what many parents learned is explained in Why Elementary Math Is Taught Differently Today. If your child often does not know what a task asks for, Child Doesn't Understand the Instructions helps.

A 10-minute routine for the first weeks

This is our suggestion, not an official rule:

1. Sit down together once a week and read the homework instructions aloud. Pick out the instruction words from the table above.
2. Let your child explain in German first, in their own words. If that is hard, let them explain in your family language and then find the German words together.
3. Write unknown words on a card and keep them in the homework folder.
4. Do not correct everything. The teacher uses homework to see where the class stands. NRW, for instance, says teachers review homework regularly and use it in the following lessons (Schulministerium NRW (in German)). More on how much to help is in Should Parents Help With Homework?.
5. Send one short message to the teacher when something is unclear. A one-line question is normal.

More ideas for families who speak several languages are in Homework Help for Multilingual Families and in our guide for multilingual families.

Where to get support

Support depends on your state and school, but these are the usual starting points:

• The class teacher. Ask at the parent-teacher meeting (Elternabend) or in a talk (Elterngespräch) which textbook the class uses, what the next topics are, and what language support exists. Questions you can bring: "Welches Buch nutzt die Klasse?" (Which book does the class use?) and "Wie kann ich zu Hause helfen?" (How can I help at home?).
• German as a second language (Deutsch als Zweitsprache, DaZ). The education ministers' scientific commission (SWK) recommends qualified teachers and diagnostics for newly arrived children. The press release also quotes the conference president as saying that the states already have numerous language support programs (SWK, press release (in German)). Ask your school which language support it offers.
• After-school care. Ask whether your school's after-school care includes supervised homework time and language support.
• Paid tutoring support. Children from families who receive certain benefits (such as Bürgergeld, Kinderzuschlag or Wohngeld) can have a legal claim to learning support (Lernförderung) through the education package, if the school has no comparable offer, and for Bürgergeld recipients this one needs a separate application (BMAS (in German)). If you receive another of these benefits, ask your local authority how to apply. For commercial tutoring options and costs, see Tutoring in Elementary School 2026.

Where Gennady fits in

Gennady is our own product, so take this paragraph as one option among those above. Gennady is an iPhone and iPad app: your child photographs the German worksheet, and Gennady explains the method step by step and checks your child's answer. If the answer is wrong, there are hints first; Gennady shows the correct solution for comparison only on the third try. The last hint leads right up to the result; your child takes the last step on their own. That applies to tasks from the worksheet. A question typed in freely, without a worksheet, gets a direct answer. The app is available in 32 languages, with explanations in 21 of them: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Greek, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Bulgarian, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish. The worksheet itself stays in German. See scanning a worksheet for how it works. An app does not replace the teacher or language support at school.

Frequently asked questions

Explain the worksheet, step by step

Gennady reads the worksheet task aloud, explains the method step by step and checks your child's answer. For worksheet tasks, a wrong answer gets hints first; Gennady shows the correct solution for comparison only on the third try, while a freely typed question gets a direct answer. Try it free for 7 days, then subscribe through the App Store.

Open in the App Store

Sources

• Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK): Grundschule (Primarbereich), Stand 2026. KMK, Grundschule
• Eurydice (European Commission): Germany, Organisation of primary education. Eurydice
• Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium: Zeugnisse in den allgemein bildenden Schulen, Erlass (Stand 10.11.2023). Zeugniserlass
• Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium: Leistungsbewertung und Zeugnisse/Zensuren in der Grundschule. Leistungsbewertung
• Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Unterricht und Kultus: Fragen und Antworten zum Übertritt. schule-in-bayern.de
• Kultusministerkonferenz: Übergang von der Grundschule in Schulen des Sekundarbereichs I (Bericht 2006). KMK, 2006
• Ministerium für Schule und Bildung NRW: Hausaufgaben, Fragen und Antworten. Schulministerium NRW
• Ständige Wissenschaftliche Kommission der KMK: Sprachliche Bildung neu zugewanderter Kinder und Jugendlicher fördern (Pressemitteilung, 2025). SWK
• Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales: Leistungen des Bildungspakets. BMAS
• Reddit, r/germany: "Grundschule expectations", parent post, quoted verbatim. Reddit