Introduction/specifics

Our aim is to support your child and their development in a holistic and age-appropriate way. Every child should receive individual and optimal support. For most children, daycare is the place where they leave the family and take their first steps into public life. A new and important stage of life begins. Not only for your child, but also for you as parents. We want to make this transition a pleasant one for everyone involved by treating them warmly and lovingly.

Our educational work is based on the Hessian Education and Upbringing Plan (BEP). Under the motto "Education from the very beginning", the BEP covers the ages from 0 to 10 years with the intention of providing children with optimal and sustainable support as early as possible. The BEP stands for a pedagogy that focuses on the child with its individual learning requirements.

"The child actively grasps its environment and co-constructs its learning experiences".
 

Our image of the child

Children are equipped with skills and abilities from birth, they are the designers of their individual development. Even as newborns, children have the basic ability to develop thought processes. They strive to make experiences with all their senses.

Children make contact with their environment on their own initiative. They are capable of self-determination from birth. For this, children need a consciously designed environment and attentive adults who offer them a variety of opportunities and incentives for self-development and age-appropriate freedom of choice (participation).

Children should retain their curiosity and be prepared to constantly renew their knowledge and learn new things. From birth, children actively shape their education and development through research. They differ in their personality and their individual preferences and inclinations.

We see the child as an independent personality; every child is an individual. Our mission statement is to encourage children in their thoughts and actions and to support them in becoming independent and responsible individuals.

Our aim is to support every single child in the crèche and kindergarten individually and according to their personal development. We create stimulating and prepared environments in which the child finds opportunities to engage with their environment and experience different forms of play and learning. They can try things out, experiment, be curious, ask questions, make mistakes, be angry or sad as well as happy, thoughtful or anxious. The child learns to make friends, to explore the world independently and in a safe atmosphere and to build up trust in their caregivers.

Children have rights. In particular, they have a right to the best possible education right from the start. Because early childhood education is the foundation of a successful educational biography. We work towards this goal in our facility according to our educational concept.

Children explore the world in their own way. The acquisition of skills is based on their individual needs and interests. By observing the child's development, the educational staff determine what needs and interests the child has, what questions it asks and derive their educational activities from this.

As basic needs, security and well-being are important prerequisites for children's good emotional, cognitive and motor development. Our basic attitude consists of attentiveness, appreciation and authenticity.

Our goals and priorities at a glance:

• structured daily routine as security and orientation aid
• daily rituals
• empathy
• fixed rules
• space for the children's natural urge to move
• suitable play material
• suitable play stimuli without overtaxing
• opportunities to rest
• individual time for the child during changing

Basics

Our most important pedagogical principles and approaches:

• based on the situation-oriented approach
• participation (co-participation)
• integration
• intercultural learning
• play as active learning
• movement (motor skills)
• music education and support
• communication and language development 
• emotional perception and development
• social-emotional development (group skills)
• independence
• cleanliness development
   

Participation

Participation in the crèche and kindergarten means that our educational staff involve the children in decisions as often as possible. This makes the children aware that their opinion is important and makes a difference. Through participation, they experience appreciation and gain self-confidence. They actively shape their everyday lives and influence planning and decision-making processes that affect them. Through participation, the educational staff empower the children to self-determination, social responsibility and social commitment.

In order to be able to implement all of this in the best possible way, the facility strives to work largely according to the situation-oriented approach.

Situation-oriented approach

The situation-oriented approach assumes that the children's current forms of expression (play behavior, behavior, painting, speech, movements, dreams) result from past events, experiences and impressions. That the present is a reflection of the past. This is why children develop emotional-social skills best by processing and understanding individual experiences. Children should build and expand practical life skills, broaden their horizons of experience, develop their independence and see themselves as part of their environment.

We see it as our task to observe the children attentively and to pick up on the children's current issues. This observation of the forms of expression listed below requires close cooperation between teachers and parents, which is why this is a prerequisite for the situation-oriented approach.

Specifics

Playing as active learning (learning time)

Why play is so important for children and their development!

Children need the opportunity to make their own experiences. They do this by playing with their peers at nursery or in the family as well as in solitude and concentration. They learn to deal with different materials, their properties and possibilities.

It is important to us to respect the child's play and to create the necessary space for it. In a well-prepared and stimulating environment, the children can pursue their own initiative, individual interests and preferences. We encourage their development by providing stimuli and a wide choice of specific play environments.

There are various basic forms of play:

• functional play/exercise play
• construction games (building/constructing)
• symbol and role-playing games (imitating and slipping into a role)
• rule games (according to rules)
• movement games
• social games
   

We offer visibly limited spaces such as

• doll corners
• building corners
• cuddle corners
• creative areas
• regular communal play areas
   

In the various play and activity areas there are opportunities for

• quiet play
• imagination and role play
• spontaneous activities
• movement

and for

• trying things, experimenting
• constructing, building, laying
• experiencing, exploring, learning, observing
• cuddling, listening to stories
• building caves
• making music etc.
   

​​​​​​​Cross-group activities

Cross-group working is an important feature of our facility. It is important to us that the three groups do not work in isolation.

In addition to our group work (in the main group), we offer play and learning opportunities in various mixed-age children's groups. This gives all children the opportunity to experience our facility holistically.

Our children experience cross-group work, for example, through

• joint excursions (visit to the police, fire department, riding stable)
• singing in the hall
• playing together in the garden
• forest days
• playing in the hallway (with hallway driving license)
• joint parties (summer / fall festival)
• reciprocal visits to the neighboring group (up to two children per group can take advantage of this offer), e.g. to deepen friendships
• vacation program (joint excursions / picnics / creative activities)

Through this form of cooperation (e.g. preparation and presentation of various activities), the educational staff can contribute their individual strengths and skills and complement each other. The children are experienced by several pedagogical specialists and thus a qualified exchange is possible.
 

Communication and language development

Language comprehension and language development are the focus of our educational work.

Awakening the children's joy of speaking, expanding their vocabulary and helping them with language difficulties is a fundamental concern for us. We offer the children a language-stimulating environment and attach great importance to communication with each individual child.

Language is an omnipresent part of everyday life at the daycare center. Learning to listen, being able to understand, telling stories and sharing experiences are integral parts of this.

Our aim is to enable the children to express their concerns linguistically and to gain confidence in using language. We achieve this through

• rhymes, finger plays, songs, verses, stories, picture books and poems
• rhythmic movement units such as clapping or movement games
• role-playing games to get into conversation with each other
• eye contact with the child when speaking
• listening and letting them speak
• linguistic example from us educators
• corrective feedback in the event of phonetic errors or grammatical weaknesses (what is said is repeated correctly by the educator)
• giving suggestions for verbal conflict resolution
• creating opportunities to speak, e.g. by talking about experiences

Through this approach, we want to give the children the opportunity to develop fun and enjoyment in using language.
 

Integration (inclusion)

The aim of integration in the daycare center is to enable equal participation in all areas of life for all children with different social and cultural backgrounds. The children's natural interaction with each other, playing and living together creates a good basis for mutual acceptance and tolerance.

Integration children are encouraged and supported in everyday group activities as well as in individual or small group situations. The child's strengths and abilities are the focus of our work.
 

Intercultural learning

In our everyday pedagogical work, we treat all children according to the principle of equality and recognition. We also apply this principle to the area of intercultural education. Our aim is to prepare all children to live together in a multicultural society characterized by acceptance and respect.

It is therefore important to us to consider cultural needs, habits, traditions, rituals, norms and values and to address them in our everyday educational activities. We try to enable all children, with and without a migration background, to develop a positive identity and a feeling of acceptance. We offer various intercultural activities in the areas of language development, the discussion of cultural habits and traditions, themed literature and play activities, health education and nutrition.
 

Musical education and support

Creativity

Visual and performing arts are another focus of our educational work with the children. Giving free rein to creativity through painting and design, role play or music is part of our daily work. Through targeted projects and free work, the children can try things out and discover their strengths and resources. In this way, we aim to strengthen and encourage the children's forms of expression.

A wide variety of materials are available in the group rooms and can be used by the children. We want to enable the children to experience many materials by using found natural materials on excursions/walks and also everyday objects for their works of art.

Early musical education

Early musical education is a focal point of our educational work. By providing a playful approach to music, the children have the opportunity to experience music as a source of joy and relaxation. Musical activities promote creative, cognitive and social skills as well as language development, movement and motor skills. It also provides access to music as a means of expressing emotions and moods. We therefore incorporate many musical experiences into our everyday educational routine, for example by singing together, playing finger and rhythm games, dancing or making music. A highlight is the singing in the hallway at the beginning of the week and at weekends, where the entire facility sings together and offers movement and rhythm games.

There is also a cooperation with the external "Musikgarten". This offers the opportunity to participate in early musical education in age-appropriate small groups within our childcare hours and on our premises.
 

Movement / motor skills

Being a child is inextricably linked to movement. Even in infancy, people discover the world through movement. It should be emphasized that physical and mental development are closely linked to movement and movement experiences.

The experiences that children gain with their bodies create an image of their own abilities (child identity development). Experiencing what they can and cannot do, success and failure, power and powerlessness, their capabilities and their limits, helps the child to gain an idea of their "self".

A large and varied repertoire of movements enables the child to master new situations and tasks independently from an early age. Playing plays a key role here, as movement experiences and emotions are linked together during play. This strengthens self-confidence and self-esteem in the long term. Furthermore, regular and varied physical activity has a positive influence on intelligence.

We give the children the time and space they need to develop their cognitive and psychomotor skills. The activities on offer are geared towards the children's stage of development.
 

Our goals in physical education:

The children should:

• develop and maintain a love of movement,
• have achieved a high level of movement safety, agility and dexterity in all basic motor skills and in the use of equipment by the end of kindergarten,
• improve the ability to perceive by processing visual, tactile and auditory stimuli when moving. This strengthens the children's safety, independence and self-confidence.
• develop a healthy and stable musculoskeletal system (prevention of imbalances and obesity),
• experience tension and relaxation,
• learn orientation in space and time and practise dealing with forces that influence movement,
• develop their own creativity and develop it further in exchange with other children,
• develop the ability to recognize, support and help shape social rules during movement games.
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Physical education in everyday life at our facility:

During daily free play, we give children the opportunity to act out their urge to move in the fresh air. We go out with the children in almost all weathers and give them the opportunity to practise a variety of freely chosen and self-devised movements (sliding, running, balancing, rolling, jumping, swinging, etc.).

• Our outdoor area offers plenty of space to run around, sandpits, a trampoline, climbing frame, play area and a wide range of equipment.
  This includes sand toys, scooters, tricycles, pedallos, stilts, balancing track, spinning top, bobycar, etc.
• The children also have access to various materials in our gymnasium, such as balls, hoops, ropes, ropes, ropes and ropes: Balls, tires, ropes, cones, rolling boards, etc. and equipment such as: Gym bench, climbing frames, gym mats etc.
• In addition, we often take the children for walks within the town, e.g. to playgrounds, the municipal meadow, the Rhine etc. and go on excursions; this allows the children to move freely and experience new stimuli for movement.
• We work with an external music teacher who accompanies the children with rhythm, melody and song to encourage movement. She offers weekly music lessons for children aged 3 and over.
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Observation

Observation and documentation is an important method of pedagogical work, also in relation to the education and upbringing plan. On the basis of this, conclusions can be drawn about the children's stage of development and needs and interests can be recorded and incorporated into the daily work according to the situation-oriented approach.

Observations are carried out using pedagogical observation sheets as well as throughout the kindergarten day and also serve as points of reference for the annual parent-teacher conferences.

This gives us the opportunity to build on the children's skills and develop pedagogical strategies and targeted activities that make a positive contribution to the children's development.
 

Independence

One of the aims of our daily work is to promote the children's independence.

This includes coping with everyday tasks such as dressing and undressing, going to the toilet and eating. But it also includes more far-reaching aspects of independence, such as taking care of themselves and their needs and interests, making their own decisions or contributing their own personality to the group activities. This is why we try to create space in our everyday educational routine for children to be active on their own and to participate, co-design and co-determine, in order to provide stimulation and encouragement for independence and to positively influence their development.