Basics
For us as educational staff, the settling in of the new children is a special, very sensitive time. The children's different previous experiences, the families' special situations and the personality of each child should be taken into account. In order to make this phase easier for everyone involved, a “parents café” takes place in our facility. Children who do not yet attend our facility get to know the daycare center in a relaxed atmosphere and with the security of their caregiver. In most cases, this makes it easier to get started with everyday kindergarten life.
When it comes to settling in children under the age of three, we use the “Berlin settling-in model”.
An individual adjustment phase is discussed with the parents. The parents accompany their child in the first few days and enable the teachers to make initial contact. The duration of the first visits should not exceed one hour and should be increased slowly and individually. In order to make the children's stay in kindergarten easier, habits and rituals (pacifiers, cuddly toys, etc.) are brought along and maintained. The teacher increasingly becomes the child's caregiver in everyday kindergarten life and the parents withdraw. Once the child has gotten used to the rooms and the teachers, the parents leave their child alone in the facility for a short, agreed period of time.
If the child engages with the teacher (can be comforted), the time periods can be extended. If the child has difficulty separating from the parents (does not calm down), the parents will be informed by telephone and new arrangements will be made.
Rituals are very important in everyday kindergarten life. It is very important to us that continuity is ensured in the initial period so that the child can adjust to new caregivers. The new situation requires time, patience, understanding, mutual trust and support from parents.
The morning circle, breakfast, playing and various discussion/singing/playing groups are certain rituals that structure the child's daily routine and give them security at the beginning of kindergarten.
During the acclimatization phase, it is important to us that the child is seen individually and gets the adjustment period that he or she needs. The length of acclimatization can vary from person to person and cannot be generalized.
