Nursery school teachers at the kindergarten have been operating the semi-open concept for several years now.
This means that the children switch between working in groups and outside their groups throughout the course of the day. There is a fixed structure for this, with mealtimes and the morning circle always taking place as group activities.
The children are given the opportunity to have a direct influence on the way they spend their day at the kindergarten. The children also have a say in the projects, rules and structures of the kindergarten, as well as getting involved in decorating the rooms. The nursery school teachers allow the children to find their own solutions and develop their own learning and development processes and interests. Particular attention is paid to appreciating, respecting and enhancing the children’s individuality. This allows them to learn through their own experiences and by using all their senses.
The children’s participation and their involvement in decision-making processes are fundamental values for our kindergarten and are also firmly embedded in the Berlin education programme. They form part of everyday life at our kindergarten, with children’s conferences taking place regularly.
Full-time German-English daycare
Our establishment is a bilingual German/English daycare centre.
Language learning is a key element for this age group. The younger the child, the easier it is for them to learn a foreign language. We make the most of this early advantage with our special language model, in which our German and English-speaking nursery school teachers communicate exclusively in their own mother tongue with the children. This means that we follow the IMMERSION METHOD, which basically means: one person, one language.
Day-to-day life at the kindergarten takes place in both languages. The English-speaking nursery school teachers (native speakers) also lead the morning circle, read English-language books and discuss topics for project work with the children.
The morning circle is part of our daily routine and is a good opportunity to discuss subjects the children are interested in as a group, sing together, read stories aloud and establish the activities for the day.