Introduction/specifics

Who we are:

Our nursery offers space for up to 30 children between 1 and 3 years, divided into two groups, to play and discover.

A permanent team is available for the children. This currently consists of 8 professionals who bring their skills and personalities to the daily work with the children.

The groups are composed as follows:

• Frog group with 15 places (6-hour group)
• Duck group with 15 places (full-day group)

Daily Schedule

Bring phase

• from 07:00 to 08:30 (depending on registration).
• The bring phase is a very important and sensitive phase for children and parents. This is sensitively accompanied by our staff in creating a positive welcoming situation.
• This is also where the constant exchange with the parents takes place in the morning. All important information concerning the daily routine and the condition of your child will be clarified.
• When saying goodbye, please allow time for a conscious farewell. This will give your child the security he or she needs to start the day at the nursery.

Breakfast

• Start approx. 08:45 a.m.
• A fixed and important part of the daily routine, which provides structure for your children and thus creates security and trust.
• We eat breakfast together in our cafeteria.
• The children, depending on their age and motor skills, pick up their bag independently from our bag shelf, find a place and try to unpack their food on their own. Therefore, it would be nice if your child had a bag that they could open independently.

Free play / Pedagogical time

• Approx. 09:30 to 11:00 a.m.
• Takes place mainly in the group room, on some days or during some offers the intensive rooms or the movement room are also used.
• During free play, the children are free to choose what they want to do. Taking into account the stage of development, different play and material offers are available.
• From time to time, the children are allowed to play in the hallway or group visits take place.
• Weather permitting, we take the children for walks or use our outdoor area. Here the children can follow their natural urge to move and have direct experiences with nature. Therefore, please remember to bring suitable clothing for outdoors.
• This is also the time for individual naps in the morning, which some children need to recharge their physical and mental batteries. This will be discussed with you in advance.

Morning circle

• from 08:30 to approx. 08:45 a.m.
• Starting the day together gives the children a sense of "togetherness" and "togetherness".
• The morning circle is both a ritual (introducing the day, providing structure) and a learning environment (talking, listening, singing). Contents include a welcome song, discussion of the day, identification of the helper child, praying together, transition to breakfast.

Singing circle

• from 11:00 to approx. 11:15 a.m.
• collective end of the morning as a clear structure in the daily routine for orientation.
• There are finger, perception, concentration and movement games as well as songs. Furthermore, the sitting circle offers a transition to the common lunch as well as the 1st pick-up phase.

Pick-up phase

• before lunch
• The times at which your child will be picked up will be agreed upon with the staff. If possible, please adhere to these times so as not to interrupt the daily structure that is so important for the daycare children.
• Please also allow time at pick-up to talk with the staff about the day and to give the children the rest they need to say goodbye.

Lunch together

• Start from 11:15 a.m.
• Again, we eat together in our cafeteria. The beginning is heralded with a table prayer. This again provides structure and security for our daycare children.

Pick-up phase

• after lunch
• Contents see first pick-up phase

nap / afternoon rest

• after lunch
• The nap serves the children to relax, to process what they have experienced, and to recharge their mental and physical batteries. It is a recurring ritual in their daily routine.
• The duration of the nap is agreed upon individually with the parents in advance and existing rituals and needs are discussed, as well as the use of pacifiers, cuddly toys, etc., in order to make it easier for the child to fall asleep in a new environment.
• The children who no longer need a nap take a midday rest. Here, the children rest in the group, read a book, do relaxation exercises, etc. This also gives the older children the opportunity to recover from the morning. This will also be coordinated with you parents.

Snack / fruit break

• approx. 15:00 (according to the sleeping rhythm of the children)
• This small snack is taken together in the cafeteria after the nap / afternoon rest. Here, too, a joint start is important to us. Thus, we wait until all children have woken up, "arrived", changed and dressed.

Free play / Pedagogical time in the afternoon

• approx. 15:15 to 16:00 o'clock
• Contents see above Free play / Pedagogical time

Pick-up phase

• During / at the end of free play or in the late service (depending on registration)
• Contents see first pick-up phase

Basics

Principles of our pedagogical work
We see our nursery as a place of security, experience and learning. Constant attachment figures, a roughly structured daily routine, our weekly rhythm and the annual cycle serve as a framework that gives the children orientation and also conveys security, consistency and stability, but also sets limits. The child with its own small personality is the focus of our work. We take into account the sensitive phases, the personal needs, interests and the stage of development of the children, so that each child can develop at his or her own pace.

Our pedagogical approach - attachment- and needs-oriented
"Education is: example. And love. Nothing else."
                                                          (Friedrich Fröbel)

The basis of our concept is a child-oriented pedagogy, which is oriented towards the developmental and age-specific needs of the children as well as their individual abilities and skills. The children are the center of attention and are prepared by our qualified pedagogical work for independent action in the most diverse life situations.

As the children's first educational institution, we have made it our task to promote the children's development in an environment characterized by security and well-being. The experience that reliable caregivers enable bonding and the intensive personal attention in everyday situations play the paramount role here.

Our goal is to perceive and recognize the needs of each child individually and to act sensitively accordingly. By acting with empathy, we also encourage the children to express their feelings and needs freely. In this way, we prepare them in the best possible way for the life ahead of them.

Furthermore, children of daycare age are "developmental giants". In no other phase of life does development proceed as rapidly as in the first years of life. Here, it is particularly important to provide the children with good educational prerequisites through very good specialist knowledge, constant bonding and emotional affection.

Through our attachment- and needs-oriented pedagogy, we thus create the most important foundations and ideal conditions for children to have many opportunities to explore their environment in a self-determined and creative way, to develop individually in their emotional and living environment, and thus to develop a unique personality.

When parents know that their children are in good hands in such an environment, trusting relationships can develop. This is the basic prerequisite for constructive cooperation between the child's important caregivers - the parents and the pedagogical staff.

Partially open concept

"Together we are strong!"

We want to convey this motto in our everyday life as well. That is why we work according to the partially open concept. This means that we work across groups. Since our facility consists of only two groups and we have a close bond, it is important to us that we also organize our daily routine together and do not spend our time "side by side". Therefore, we celebrate festivals and birthdays together and also carry out cross-group activities. In addition, we have an "open time" in the mornings after breakfast from a quarter past nine to ten o'clock, during which the group doors are open and the children can move back and forth between the groups or play together in the hallway. This daily contact strengthens the sense of community and the bond between the two groups.

Religious / Christian education
Christian education is part of our daily pedagogical routine. We identify with the Christian faith, live and communicate it and are role models for the children entrusted to us. Our interaction with each other is characterized by tolerance, honesty and helpfulness. Particularly important to us is openness and tolerance towards all families, regardless of denomination, culture or living conditions.
The Christian values that we impart to the children are intended to strengthen them and guide them in their lives. Our faith and the values we pass on become visible through the joint organization of the church year.

Cooperations

For the benefit of the children and to support the families and the pedagogical staff, cooperation and collaboration with other facilities and institutions takes place.

The goal of a cooperation is the continuous improvement of the collaboration between the cooperation partners to build / secure the integration of the children and their families in their living environment. In addition, the competencies of the management and professional staff are deepened and expanded through regular conferences and exchange meetings.

Our daycare center collaborates with many supporting networks. These are:

• all daycare centers in the Twist community
• the Twist family center
• the community of Twist
• the KÖB Twist
• the old people's home St. Anna
• the diocese of Osnabrück
• the Caritas Association
• the youth welfare office
• the early intervention centers
• Vitalus Meppen
• the technical schools, grammar schools and secondary schools
• various specialized services and counseling centers
• the pediatricians
• the district of Emsland
• the regional education authority

Furthermore, the following exchanges take place:

• regular management conferences of the day care center management in the diocese of Osnabrück under the leadership of the expert advice of the Caritas association
• regular leadership meetings of the Catholic parishes in Twist under the leadership of Pastor Risse
• regular religious education meetings of the religious education specialists in the parish of Twist
• regular meetings of the specialists of the everyday integrated language education in the district of Emsland
• joint blessing ceremony with participation of all daycare teams at the beginning of each daycare year

Teamwork with parents

Educational partnership
"Parents are experts for their child!"

Parents are the most important attachment figures for their child. Therefore, a trusting educational partnership at eye level is enormously important, because only together can we act for the benefit of the child and achieve the best possible development of the child.

We see the constant exchange of information as the first step in initiating an educational partnership. The more parents know about our daycare center, the better. It is therefore important to create transparency about our pedagogical work in the daycare center.

But not only parents need information about our work. The more we know about the child and his or her family, the better we can coordinate our work with the child's family and use the resources of his or her environment.

The competences of the parents as experts of their children and the professional competence of us professionals for daycare pedagogy must thus function in a harmonious interplay with each other, the cooperation must be based on trust, mutual appreciation, openness, tolerance, readiness for dialogue, honesty and respect. Therefore, we should support each other, talk to each other regularly and remain in constant exchange.

This is done through:

• Initial and settling-in talks
• Door-to-door talks
• counseling sessions
• well-founded development discussions around the child's birthday
• regular information for parents
• Parents' evenings
• Parents' Council
• Final talk at the transition to kindergarten