Introduction/specifics

Our house is located in the Stadtflur district in a quiet residential area and we offer a total of 25 places for children aged 2 until they start school and 15 places for children aged 0 to 3. Our kindergarten concept is based on the principles of Waldorf education. In our Waldorf kindergarten, Rudolf Steiner's ideas, beliefs and insights are kept alive and his suggestions implemented in our daily work with the children. The basic idea of ​​Waldorf education is:

Nurture what lies dormant in the child.

All possibilities lie before him,

all the riches in him.

The adults act as role models: their meaningful actions indoors and outdoors, from pruning trees to sewing to preparing a full breakfast, are part of their educational activities. By taking on real tasks such as gardening and housework, the children learn to support others and their environment with joy and confidence. In doing so, they recognize meaningful connections between things and their origins, between actions and their consequences. In addition to independence, respect for the child's individual personality and their own activity is the focus of our educational and upbringing work. Values ​​such as conscious nutrition, the appreciation of each individual, the child's independence and daily closeness to nature are particularly important to us educators and the families who bring their children to us and underlie the work of our institution. We offer the children a reliable and familiar environment that gives them security and a protective shell so that they can mature in peace.

We would like to point out our costs in addition to the crèche/kindergarten fee:

Eurythmy                     => currently €12/month (only for kindergarten children)

Breakfast                     => currently €15/month Kiga

lunchtime                     => currently €3/day mandatory for extended childcare hours

Lunch at crèche           => currently €2/day, mandatory

Material costs               => currently €5/month

Garden fee                   => currently €20/garden day & child if you cannot take part Kiga

care contribution           => currently €0.25/day of attendance

Nursery care fee           => currently 1.25 €/day of attendance (after drying out, nursery care fee)

Contribution Waldorf     => currently €10/month for 1st child, €5 for 2nd child, from the 3rd child onwards free of charge (if children are cared for in our facility at the same time)

Rooms

In the kindergarten we have a large group room with an integrated kitchen, where almost everything that concerns everyday kindergarten life takes place. The household and craft activities of the adults, which can be accompanied by the children, also take place here, as do the children's artistic activities in large and small groups and free play. Everything in the group room is accessible to children and tailored to their needs. Things should be understood in terms of their meaning and how they are handled. In our crèche we have a large, bright and friendly furnished group room, a bedroom and a large bathroom with a changing area. Just as in kindergarten, children see adults as role models and can imitate their activities. The play material is freely accessible to children and, thanks to its nature, promotes creativity and their own play instinct. For naptime, each child has their own bed with their own blankets and cuddly toys.

Outdoor Facilities

The kindergarten has a large, natural garden around the house, in which a wide variety of vegetables and fruits are planted. There the teachers work with the children so that they unconsciously experience the big connections between sowing, growing, caring for, ripening, fruiting and harvesting. Open areas invite you to play running and exercise games, climbing and activities in the sand. Not a day goes by in the Waldorf kindergarten without the children getting plenty of exercise in the fresh air. Whether in the spacious garden or on a weekly walk in the forest, in the tree house or playing hide-and-seek - nature is always a living partner. Our fairy tale room is located in the outside building. Here all the children gather for the final circle at lunchtime, listen to a fairy tale/story together and say goodbye to each other.

Daily Schedule

A day in the Waldorf kindergarten is similar to that of a well-coordinated family. The teachers consciously pursue activities that serve to organize everyday kindergarten life. In our Waldorf kindergarten, the organization of the day is very important. Particular emphasis is placed on ensuring that the day runs rhythmically, i.e. the phases of free, moving play and quiet, guided form alternate. The children are not kept busy or entertained. You are active independently by trying to imitate, help shape or play things. The entire group of children arrive from 7:30 a.m. until around 8 a.m. They play freely for themselves or with each other until breakfast at 9:15 a.m. Meanwhile, the teachers prepare breakfast, do crafts and sewing, for example for the seasonal table or write invitations for an event. The children have the opportunity to actively participate or watch. When the teachers finish their work, that is the signal to clean up together, because something new begins: everyone comes together for the morning circle. Similar to round dance, songs, verses, rhymes and finger games are repeated over a longer period of time with the children using gestures for the respective season. In this way, the children train their memory in a playful way, expand their language and discover the joy of making music and singing. After washing their hands, the future school children set the breakfast table and everyone takes a seat. Depending on the day of the week, there are home-baked rolls, muesli with fresh fruit, carrot salad or other wholesome delicacies. We serve tea or water to drink.

After breakfast, the older children help clear the tables and then they go outside for free play. Digging pants, rubber boots and a rain jacket are required every day. During this time, the teachers work with the children to do useful things around the house and garden, such as raking leaves and planting flower bulbs. We regularly take a walk into the nearby woods. The morning ends in peace in the fairy tale room with a fairy tale and the farewell song in a circle of chairs. The children play in the garden or in the group room until lunch. Children who are cared for until 3 p.m. receive a warm lunch at 12.30 p.m., which is eaten together with the teachers. This regulated daily routine helps the child, like a scaffold, to take their own developmental steps in a protected environment, confident that everything will happen the same way again tomorrow.

Food

A balanced, wholesome and development-promoting diet for children is very important to us. The health, growth and vitality of children are significantly influenced by nutrition. The basis of the diet in the kindergarten is grain combined with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. It is particularly important to us to avoid sugary desserts. All ingredients for the exclusively vegetarian dishes come from organic farming. Every day a teacher prepares breakfast together with the children, which is repeated weekly. It is then eaten together, creating a positive, joyful communal experience and enjoyment. During free play time outdoors, children are offered a snack of fruit, vegetables, etc., as well as tea or water. Our lunch is prepared fresh daily by a chef in our own kitchen. The recipes change with the season and the regional offerings

Basics

One of the most important tasks in the Waldorf kindergarten is to bring life itself, the work of life, into the kindergarten. Children want and should learn to recognize and understand the world in its context step by step. At least five levels of learning and life are taken into account. The activity level, the social and mental level, the ethical/moral level, and the emotional level. Children gain confidence in their own growing strengths and abilities. Waldorf education is a pedagogy that nurtures and develops children's joy of playing, that provides suggestions and that gives children time to promote the growth of their strength. Children should discover the meaning of their own actions, feelings and thoughts. To do this, they need adult role models, lived and perceived values ​​as well as orientation, clarity, truthfulness and meaningful rituals.

Waldorf education stands for:

• child's needs and the child's worldview are the benchmark for educational action
• “Promote what lies dormant in the child. All possibilities lie before him, all riches within him” is an essential principle
• Each child is guided to act independently according to their individual development and interests
• Tolerance and respect for all people are the fundamental starting points of our education
• responsible behavior towards the environment
• Religious customs are maintained and the children are instructed in silence and reflection

Employee

The educational team consists of a diverse mix of different professions, educators, Waldorf educators, prospective Waldorf educators as well as a federal volunteer service provider, interns. The management is not exempt and supports the educational work in the groups.

Our team is also supported by an administrator, a cook and a caretaker. A lady from Emsland comes to the kindergarten once a week to offer eurythmy.

Quality Assurance

In order to ensure and further develop the quality of our work, we carry out the following measures:

• Annual planning days

• Weekly team meetings

• Regular participation in further training

• Participation in working groups

Cooperations

Contact with our social space is important to us, and we are in regular contact with the following facilities and institutions:

• the prophylactic assistant of the health department,
• the city of Nordhorn
• the primary schools in the city of Nordhorn
• the language support team of the city of Nordhorn
• the early intervention centers
• the joint welfare association
• the Waldorf kindergartens in the Weser-Ems region
• the kindergarten seminar in Hanover

Teamwork with parents

For us, the educational partnership with parents means trusting cooperation between the employees of our facility and the parents on an equal footing. Only together can we succeed in supporting every child in their development in the best possible way In order to ensure collaboration as best as possible, there are various ways of communication in our facility. We offer our parents opportunities to get involved through the parents' council and board, joint planning and implementation of celebrations, joint design and maintenance of the rooms, etc. Parents’ opinions and possible concerns are also important to us. This is how we inform our parents about current events on the wall newspaper. Parents' evenings, consultation times and discussions take place regularly.

What we do as parents...

• The hardest thing first: We are role models, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: in what we do and say, in how we interact with each other, under time pressure, when playing music, singing or reading aloud, when using television and computers in moderation.
• The easiest thing: to let the Waldorf kindergarten inspire you to have a more conscious education, to exchange ideas and to support each other.
• What connects: helping to organize and help at celebrations, occasionally lending a hand in the house and garden or doing handicrafts in a relaxed atmosphere - a kindergarten as a community experience.

It is also important to us to use television and computers responsibly. It would be desirable for the child to grow up without television and computers until the age of 3, as well as basic parental support in the subsequent use of media. Uncontrolled television consumption, constant exposure to radio and children's cassettes, preschool involvement with PC games or an irregular, isolated daily routine at home can be seen as being directly linked to childhood damage such as difficulty concentrating, paralysis of initiative or aggression. Parental responsibility and cooperation are clearly required here.

Specifics

Einmal pro Woche kommt ein Eurythmist in den Kindergarten. Eurythmie ist eine Bewegungskunst, die Sprechen, Tanzen und Singen rhythmisch miteinander verbindet.

Über die Woche verteilt finden Tätigkeiten wie Aquarellmalen, Werken, Weben, Nähen, hauswirtschaftliche Aufgabe u. v. m. statt. Es gibt für die verschiedenen Tätigkeiten feste Wochentage, sodass die Kinder mit der Zeit genau wissen, was an welchen Tag gemacht wird.

Bei all diesen Tätigkeiten wirken die Erwachsenen als Vorbilder: Ihr sinnvolles Tun drinnen und draußen, von der Blumenpflege übers Nähen bis zur Vorbereitung des vollwertigen Frühstücks ist Teil ihres pädagogischen Handelns. Indem auch die Kinder echte Aufgaben etwa bei der Garten- und Hausarbeit übernehmen, lernen sie sich mit Freude und Selbstverständlichkeit für andere und ihre Umwelt einzusetzen. Dabei erkennen sie sinnvolle Zusammenhänge zwischen den Dingen und ihrer Herkunft, zwischen dem Tun und seinen Konsequenzen.

Freies Spiel

Kinder vertiefen sich völlig selbstvergessen in ihr Tun, spielend sind sie eins mit sich selbst. Spielsachen sind ausschließlich aus natürlichen Materialien, ihre Wärme und ruhige Kraft wird spürbar. Puppenstube und Kaufmannsladen aus Holz gibt es auch, neben Körben voller Kastanien und Tannenzapfen, Tüchern oder Filzseilen. Allen Dingen ist gemein, dass sie einfach und „offen" sind, um die Fantasie sich frei entfalten zu lassen.

Wenn man genau hinsieht, erkennt man, dass die Kinder durch dieses „Weniger" viele Spielanregungen bekommen. In der Fantasie der Kinder kann jedes Holzstück ein Anker, eine Angel oder etwas Anderes sein, je nachdem, wie man es einsetzt, bearbeitet oder verändert.

Rhythmus

Wiederkehrende Feste, Reigen, Lieder und der gemeinsame Jahreszeitentisch bringen den Lauf von Wachsen, Gedeihen, Ernte und Ruhe ins Bewusstsein der Kinder und bevölkern ihre Fantasie zugleich mit den wundersamen Wesen aus Märchen und Sagen.