Kindergarten & Preschool

Daring together - growing safely

In our kindergarten there are about 105 children enrolled between the ages of 1-6 years. Each group is led by a German-speaking educator and receives support from an Ethiopian assistant with advanced German language skills or from interns from Germany. The group sizes are between 16 and 20 children.

Our facility has a large crèche room, three group rooms in the kindergarten as well as two pre-school rooms, a large sanitary section and an attractive outdoor area.

Currently 12 different nationalities attend our kindergarten, which is why language acquisition is an important part of our educational work. this way, not only different languages meet, but also many cultures.

At the core of our educational conceptual planning there is always the child with his or her needs, experiences and interests, but our planning and actions are also influenced by current life situations of the children and their families. It is important for us to work together with the parents and to receive support on all issues, so we make our work transparent.

Our image of the child
Every child is special and unique in its own way. Every child has weaknesses and strengths, talents and special features. We accompany the children on the path of “growing up”, encourage them to act independently, develop empathy and learn frustration tolerance.

Our goal is to accompany the children in all areas of development, to question the world and to discover it with all senses.

Every child needs space & time to fly high and to develop freely!

  • Our team:
  • Accepts the individual child with all its strengths and weaknesses
  • Goes to great lengths to see the world through his eyes
  • Adapts to the needs of the child by giving him space and time to develop his personality in a self-determined way
  • Involves the child by taking its abilities into account
  • Supports the child in expanding these abilities through impulses and encouragement in all areas of education
  • Stands for tolerance and openness. => only those who learn to appreciate this at an early age can develop into a strong and respectful individual
  • Shows the child the diversity that the world has to offer

Kindergartenleitung

kindergarten@dbsaa.de

Kleonike Chrissochou

Pedagogical concept

Our work is based on the “Quality Framework for Kindergarten and Preschool at German Schools Abroad” and the Thuringian Curriculum. It is based on the individual educational requirements of the child.

In 1840 the first kindergarten in the world was opened in Bad Blankenburg. Thus the kindergarten is a Thuringian invention. Daycare facilities for children as well as our kindergarten have an educational, upbringing and care mission that complements the family and enables children to experience something beyond the family framework.

For each area of education, central priorities and educational tasks are set. These educational areas are:

  • Language and written education
  • Science education
  • Musical education
  • Mathematical education
  • Artistic-aesthetic education
  • Motor and health education
  • Socio-cultural, moral and religious education

In order to make the children’s everyday life as realistic as possible, we work in mixed-age groups in a partially open concept. Each child has a fixed place in his or her home group. There they celebrate their birthdays together with their familiar kindergarten friends and meet daily for the morning circle. The educational activities take place partly in the home group and partly across the groups. During the free play time, the children can also use the play areas in the other group rooms, visit friends or just have a look at what the other teachers have to offer.

In this way we promote the children’s decision-making ability, independence and self-activity. They quickly find their way around the house and get to know many play and learning possibilities. Their social behaviour is trained as they come into contact with many different children and adults. However, if a child needs the closeness and security of their familiar surroundings, they are of course able to do so for as long as they need it.

Children learn in all life situations. All senses are used. They perceive their surroundings attentively and concentratedly, connecting them with movements, with research, action and play. The child’s play is the main activity in the children’s everyday life. Our task as educational specialists is to perceive what moves the children and how they express this in their play. We take part in the children’s discoveries and give impulses for deeper play. Observing, reflecting and documenting opens up the children’s themes and the possibility of supporting the learning and educational process individually.

Self-education processes play a decisive role in the child’s development. In order for them to shape their image of the world, they need opportunities, support and complementary impulses. Independently found solutions bring a sense of achievement, which is radiated in positive energy by the child. This positive learning attitude continues to shape the child beyond the kindergarten age.

We take the children seriously, accompany and support them in growing up to become self-determined individuals.

Daily routine in the kindergarten

We want children to feel at home with us and spend the day in a harmonious atmosphere of security and peace. Therefore we attach great importance to a structured and well-organized day.

The children are welcomed in their groups7.30 - 8.00 a.m.
Common meal of the healthy breakfast brought alongutdoor exercise games (depending on weather conditions)8.00 - 8.30 a.m.
Language development: one hour daily for 4-5 year olds, two hours daily for pre-school children8.30 - 10.00 a.m.
Morning circle with topics of the children, greeting, explanation of the daily routine. Offers in project form. Pre-school lessons9.00 a.m.
Drinks break - fruit break10.45 a.m.
Free play and exercise in the garden; role plays outdoors11.00 a.m.
Dismissal of the children12.50 p.m.
  • Once a week in each group:
  • Sports
  • Early musical education
  • Creative Education
  • Role plays

Full day care

In the kindergarten there are 72 places in all-day care until 16.00 hours . We offer the children a balanced and healthy lunch. After lunch, we attach great importance to dental care and a rest period for the children. During this time the children have the opportunity to listen to stories or look at books. Not only the youngest children use this time for a nap.

After snack time, the group leaders work with small groups on language development. Circle games, role-playing games as well as card and dice games are very popular with the children in the afternoon. In addition to the regular program, every Tuesday our assistants offer the working group “Ethiopian Culture and Language”, which is very popular with the children.

Lunch together11.30 a.m.
Siesta, independent activities with books, listening to stories and audio CDs1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Afternoon snack2:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Free play, topic-related offers, activities, project work in the group rooms Language promotion in small groups2.30 - 4.00 p.m.
Pick up time dismissal of the children4.00 p.m.

Language support

At the DBSAA the number of children whose first language is not German is growing. The reason for this is the opening of the school to Ethiopian children and the increasing internationalisation. In order to support these children in learning German in the best possible way, the targeted language support starts already in kindergarten.
In the first year of kindergarten, the 2-3 year olds are familiarized with the conditions of everyday kindergarten life. From the 2nd year of kindergarten onwards, the children receive targeted language instruction from a trained German as a foreign language teacher who works with the children for one hour every day. In the pre-school year the lessons are intensified. The preschoolers receive 10 hours of “language support” per week in the specially equipped DaF room at the primary school. The equipment was made possible by grants from the “Partnerschulinitiative” (PaSch) of the German Foreign Office.
The children work with the language support programme KonLab – a programme for early language support for children with language development delays and for children with a migration background, but also for German-speaking children abroad. KonLab was developed by a Swiss scientist and is based on the normal language development process of an infant.

Cooperation with parents

The parents and the pedagogical staff work closely together in the education, upbringing and care of the child. In order to ensure a trustful cooperation, the parents and educators are in dialogue with each other.
On the one hand, through the “talks in the hallway “, in which the parents and educators can exchange brief information every day.
On the other hand, there is the possibility of individual conversations. These conversations are desired and encouraged by the educational team. During these talks, the parents are informed about the status of their child’s learning and development process. This includes an anamnesis interview, a familiarisation interview and once a year a detailed development interview.
The parents support this process by openly informing the educators about changes in the family, the social environment or about educational difficulties. The parents are regularly informed about the activities within the nursery. This is done through notices and announcements. Parents’ ideas and suggestions are welcome and encouraged.

Role of the educator

Supporting the children in the acquisition of all competences through:
– Promoting and developing positive self-esteem and self-confidence
– Support of curiosity and promotion of individual interests
– Development of preferences for play and other activities
– Perception and expression of own needs and feelings
– the social integration within the group, feeling part of it, loved and respected
– age-appropriate support and promotion of independence
– Creation of free space in which the child can decide what it wants to do and in what way
– learning to take personal responsibility for his actions
– the experience that tasks and problems can be solved by their own efforts
– the discovery of your own rhythm between activity and relaxation
– Promotion and development of all senses such as sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste
– memory training, e.g. by retelling stories and past events
– Encouraging imagination and creativity
– the possibility to experience the joy of movement and to live out the urge to move
– the experience to develop a positive body feeling through rhythm and dance

Sleeping, changing, eating

Sleeping:
The common sleeping and resting phase is from 12.30 to 14.00 hours. Falling asleep can be made easier by bringing along cuddly toys, dummies, etc. The sleeping arrangement is accompanied by the educational staff.

Changing, care:
When changing diapers we follow the rhythm of the children. The parents bring along the diapers, additional care products and a change of underwear.

Food:
Each child receives a lunch, which can also be pureed if necessary.

Educational activities / offers

We want to support the children holistically and take up their current interests. Free play is our priority and takes up the largest part of the daily routine. In the case of guided offers, we take into account the level of development of the individual children and whether the interest is there. Offers take place at regular intervals. A targeted activity lasts about 10 – 20 minutes, depending on how long the interest lasts, when possibilities are exhausted and whether concentration is still present. It is very important to us that the children are given a lot of freedom within an activity and can bring in their own ideas.

Our kindergarten groups

Mäuschengruppe

Group leader: Jamila Hinz

Zebragruppe

Group leader: Elshaday Mechelke

Faultiergruppe

Group leader: Antonia Kerrom

Elefantengruppe

Group leader: Aurelio Macone

Our preschool groups

Löwengruppe

Honigdachsgruppe

Nursery group "Rainbow - Dwarfs"

Admission: With the completion of the 1st year of age your child can be admitted to the nursery group. Your child will then remain in this group for 2 kindergarten years. A change of the child to the kindergarten is always only possible at the beginning of the new kindergarten year and at the age of 3 years in August of the respective calendar year.

Admission conditions are the same as for kindergarten.

Opening hours: 7.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m.

Staff:
1 state-approved educator   
1 specialist for infant pedagogics
1 educator in the year of recognition
1 changing aid

Personnel key: 1:6 to 1:8
Accommodation: Berlin Model
Group size: max. 12

The Little dwarfs

Group leader: Jamila Hinz
Teacher: Julia Sobbota
Assistants: Yeshareg Gebre & Heyment Seyfe

Idioms and phrases by theidioms.com

GDPR