Introduction/specifics

We introduce ourselves:

We are a day care centre for children from one year old until they start school and work under the sponsorship of the Magistrate of the University City of Marburg. Our pedagogical way of working, which has been established since 2017, according to the situational approach and needs-oriented work, lives from and with the different needs of the children cared for in our day care centre and their families. Education, upbringing and care in day care centres are in constant flux due to legal foundations as well as changing external and organisational factors.

The day care centre consists of two core groups in functional rooms and a crèche group. 

Our work focuses on movement, language, nature and sustainability.

The midday meal is prepared by a kitchen worker. We pay attention to a balanced menu with regional, organic and seasonal ingredients.

There is also the possibility of integrative support for children with special care needs.

Rooms

Our facility has several functional rooms, a role play room, a building room with a workshop, a creative area, a crèche group, a sanitary area, a corridor with cloakrooms and a small play area, a library, a bistro, a bedroom and a kitchen.

Outdoor area

The outdoor play area is designed close to nature. There are two sand play areas, climbing, swinging and sliding facilities, a tree house, lots of bushes and trees as retreat areas as well as an adjoining piece of forest. The entire area is enclosed by a fence.

We look forward to welcoming you to our facility.

You are welcome to contact us by telephone on 06420 233 or

by e-mail to Kiga-michelbach@marburg-stadt.de 

to get in touch with us.

Rooms

U3 crèche:

Our U3 area is attached to the day care centre in a nest group with up to 10 children aged 12 months to 3 years. The pedagogical approach in the crèche is based on Emmi Pikler (freedom, patience and development at one's own pace). 

"Children are researchers and creators of their living environment". 

Educators must provide the framework so that children can develop themselves in their engagement with the world. 

Our crèche area offers:

• Varied movement
• Here children can be explorers and discoverers
• Balance between rest and movement

The 3 pillars of the Pikler pedagogy:

• relational care
• independent movement
• the facilitation of free play                                                                                                                           

Building space:

In the building space, children can construct their own personal world. Building is one of the hundred languages of children. As little constructors, they can create their own buildings. When building, children engage with the adult world. They deal with geometric shapes, learn about physical laws and make basic mathematical experiences. By assembling, disassembling, comparing, the children learn to recognise connections. Here the children learn about a basic need for spatial design. (Length, height, width of different building blocks and structures).

Also the perception of different materials trains the sensory perception, all these experiences mean for the child a step into life as a learning person.

Patience and concentration are learned, experiences are gained through play, the child's own creativity is encouraged and social learning and negotiating skills with play partners are learned.

There is a small workshop in the construction room. Wood is worked on at a workbench, sawn, filed smooth, sanded or nails are hammered powerfully into the wood.

There is consultation, development and drawing, and mutual assistance is given. A staff member supports the children in their ideas and shows them how to use the tools.

Role play room:

In the role play room, children find everything they need to slip into different roles.

The doll corner, the stage, the dress-up corner, the make-up table, the fire brigade, the shop, etc. encourage the children to role play. Their imagination knows no bounds.

In role play, they acquire social and emotional skills and develop their language skills. The teachers pick up on the children's interests and needs in order to develop changing ideas for play.

Picture books and musical instruments complete the offer in the role play room. 

The children choose books to browse through and to tell stories. This stimulates language and imagination. The teachers read to the children regularly. The children use musical instruments to experience sounds, rhythms and melodies. Little plays and dances are created. They act out stories and use the Kamishibai (storytelling theatre).

Studio:

Aesthetic and artistic education is an important educational goal in the Hessian BEP. 

Through creativity, the child develops possibilities of design and representation for his or her feelings, ideas and sensory impressions.

In our studio, the children are encouraged to act independently, creatively and imaginatively through a variety of materials.

The children expand their eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills and dexterity in handling pens, brushes, scissors, glue and tools.

Outdoor Facilities

Our facility has a large, wooded outdoor area that is used by the children every day and in all weathers. This outdoor area is divided into three areas:

The terrace, the playground at the bottom of the grounds and the small forest next to our playground. 

The outdoor area is designed close to nature; there are two sand areas, climbing, swinging and sliding possibilities, a tree house, lots of bushes and trees as retreat areas. The entire area is enclosed by a fence.

Here, children can follow their natural urge to move.  

Our outdoor area offers a variety of possibilities for individual experiences. Children can feel their environment with all their senses, experiment with sand, water, earth and natural materials, experience the changes in nature, role play and get to know nature and insects.

>> Nature is the ultimate development space for children << (Thomas Armbrusten; Children's Forest Expert)

Food

Bistro & Food:

Our Bistro offers the children a place to meet together for a meal, to have a leisurely breakfast together in a time slot from 08:00 - 09:00 and after the morning circle from 09:30 - 10:00.

Lunch is served from 11:30 am - 1 pm.

The children cultivate their social relationships and experience how nice it is to have a meal together with friends. The Bistro provides a space with many opportunities in the areas of health, nutrition, hygiene & domestic activities.

"Healthy eating" is particularly important to us, as we want to teach all children to be aware of food, thus paving the way for a healthy lifestyle.

For us, food is well-being and enjoyment, an opportunity for conversation as well as gaining knowledge about a wide variety of foods.

Part of our lunch is delivered by Hofmann-Menü. Part of it is cooked fresh on site by our housekeeper. She puts together healthy, balanced, varied and seasonal food. We make sure that we use mostly products from the region. Meat and bread products are therefore sourced regionally.

We partly prepare the meals for the children, partly together with them.

We support them in their independent and responsible actions.

We pay attention to each child and take their individual, health-related, religious and cultural nutritional needs seriously.

Basics

Pedagogical focus of our facility

• Movement
• Language
• Nature and sustainability

Employee

Our pedagogical team consists of one director and nine educators and one integration worker (currently).

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance

As an educational institution, we are required to continuously review and optimise our offer and service profile.

This is done through:

• A regular exchange with our BEP advisors.
• An ongoing conception process
• Regular attendance of further education and training for the educators
• Participation in working groups

Cooperations

Cooperation with other institutions:

We work closely with our childcare service in the city of Marburg.

We are in close contact with the primary school Michelbach (cooperation day care centre/primary school).

In the area of dental health, with the health department of the city of Marburg.

Especially in projects, we work together with some institutions, so that children get to know their everyday environment.

Teamwork with school

Pre-school work:

You can do a lot if you dare to do a lot! (Humboldt)

We see the entire day care period as pre-school education. The competences to be acquired are reflected in our daily work within the functional rooms.

Our daily work offers a variety of opportunities that contribute to easing the children's transition from day care to primary school and to awakening their anticipation of school.

We do not work with "pre-school folders".

In the last year of kindergarten, the preschool children meet weekly from April onwards to work on questions and fears about the topic of "school".

In addition, the following excursions and activities take place:

• Local exploration
• School visit
• Non-violent communication according to M. Rosenberg
• A forest week with the Kita Waldacker (Kita Michelbach-Nord)
• Two forest days with the primary school
• Traffic garden/traffic police

Teamwork with parents

Cooperation with parents
We would like to support you as parents in your educational task and strengthen your children for the future.

"Every child has the right to learn, to play, to laugh, to disagree, to progress and to self-actualise." (Hall-Denis Report)

Parents are the most important attachment figures for a child and thereby our most important godparents in education and upbringing.

Therefore, contact with parents is of great importance in our pedagogical work. The conversations, the get-togethers and the exchange of information between parents and educators during the entire day care centre are an important prerequisite.

We organise this through :

• Parents' letters/notices
• weekly reviews
• regular parent meetings
• festive events
• Parents' evenings (co-responsibility/participation)
• Parents' council
• Information/exchange (door-to-door talks)
• Design of transition
• Feedback talks

Projects

Public Relations:

We take part in the village events:

- Participation in the children's carnival in the community centre

- Distribution of flower seeds and planting of flower strips

- Participation in the project "Our village has a future

- Social space oriented work