Image of the child and understanding of education in our day-care centres: seeing the individual

The educational work in our day-care centres is based on a specific understanding of education and a clear image of the child, which focuses on individuality and the active desire to learn and experience. We would like to support every single day-care centre child in crèches and kindergartens according to their personal development. The children play and learn in stimulating, well-prepared environments. There they find the ideal opportunities to interact with their environment, experience different forms of play and learning, make friendships and build trust in their caregivers.

Did you know…?

As newborns, children already have the basic ability to develop thought processes. They strive to have experiences with all the senses. As a result, children not only shape their education from day care, but actively explore from birth onwards.

Education & day care: four pillars for a happy childhood

What forms the basis for a happy childhood? For the educational employees at our day-care centres, this basis consists of four pillars, enabling a successful partnership with you as parents in educating and bringing up your child.

Individuality

Children discover the world in their own way. The acquisition of skills is based on individual needs and interests. By observing development, the day-care centre employees identify the child’s needs and interests and the questions they ask in order to derive from this your individual support for your child’s education.

Security and well-being

As basic needs, security and well-being are important prerequisites for children’s good emotional, cognitive and motor development. The quality of the relationship between educational employees and the child has a crucial influence on the development of the child’s brain.

Participation and co-construction

Our educational employees want the children to take part in decision-making as often as possible. By participating in this way, the children feel appreciated and gain self-confidence. They actively shape their everyday life and influence planning or decision-making processes that affect them.

Practical examples of participation at the Wichtel Academy:

  • Selection of music
  • Idea walls
  • Children’s conferences
  • Interior design

Co-construction is also crucial: Learning takes place here through collaboration in that the children and employees develop their learning processes together. It is crucial that children actively build their knowledge. This is shown, for example, in the independent resolution of conflicts.

Educational and developmental support

The educational employees at our day-care centres see themselves as educational and developmental supporters and communicate with the children as equals. They talk to the child and perceive them as an individual. The relationship between children and adults is characterised by respect and understanding.

Enjoying learning: our understanding of education

Children want to actively participate with all their senses and their previous experiences. What’s important is: this journey should be fun and enjoyable for them. After all, we know from research today that only what we have enjoyed learning will also stay with us permanently and result in a good education.

  • Our aim is for children to learn consciously and develop an understanding of learning processes. A shared understanding is only created through an intensive collaboration, a communicative exchange and the adult’s interest in the child’s topic and their viewpoint.
  • The education in our crèches and kindergartens is open-minded. The child’s interest in other cultures, languages and customs is awakened and nourished. Openness and curiosity in otherness are exemplified and handled in a child-appropriate manner.
  • In our current individualised knowledge society, the demands on expert and special knowledge are changing rapidly. For this reason, the development and acquisition of skills and the development of a desire for life-long learning take priority in our day-care centres. They form the core of our understanding of education.

Five areas of education in the day-care centre

Eleven educational areas are listed in the Bavarian Educational and Upbringing Plan (BayBEP), which we summarise into five areas according to our understanding of education for the day-care centres. Our preschool teachers document the daily activities with the children and the areas of education addressed on info boards outside every group room each day.

Aesthetics, art, music

Children perceive the world with all their senses from birth onwards and have their first aesthetic experiences. Art reinforces sensory perception and the children’s ability to experience. Through different stimuli, the child learns how to use their fantasy through play and how to creatively express what they have experienced and their own thoughts and emotions.

Movement, rhythmics, health

Movement is one of the fundamental forms of expression, which young children use to make their first impressions of the world, acquire knowledge of their own bodies, and communicate with the world. Rhythmics is a comprehensive approach in which movement, music, language and rhythmics are linked to each other. Health relates both to the physical and the emotional, mental and social well-being of the children. Education in these areas is given key importance in our day-care centres.

Mathematics, science, environment

Mathematical thinking is the basis for life-long learning and the foundation for knowledge in almost all sciences, in technology and business. Children develop mathematical thinking by discussing materials and in a communicative exchange with adults. Environmental education relates to the children’s experiences in nature itself, but environmental protection and sustainability are also looked at closely here. Engagement with these topics is particularly important and valuable for your child in the context of an advanced day-care centre education.

Values, emotionality & social relationships

Ethical education supports the day-care centre children in discussing questions about life and death, meaning and value, and God and the world. It is crucial for the understanding of education in our day-care centres, as it forms the basis on which the children develop their own view of the world, find answers and develop their own ability to judge and assess.

Language, literacy, media

Even in the day-care centre, the aspects of education and language are closely linked to each other. This is because language skills are a fundamental prerequisite for the children’s emotional and cognitive development and a key qualification for academic and professional success and societal integration. Literacy relates to skills and early-childhood experiences relating to book, rhyming, narration and written culture and continues to develop throughout their lives. Media literacy promotes the conscious, critical and responsible handling of the media.

Enriching vocabulary while having fun: discovering the language with literacy

For optimal support: observation and documentation

The regular and systematic observation of individual learning and development processes is a central part of our understanding of education and forms the basis for educational action in our day-care centres (crèches and kindergartens). In addition, professional observation, documentation and analysis ensure the quality of the educational offer. We use the results of the observations to orient ourselves to the strengths, skills and interests of your child.

To do this, we document the initial meeting with you as parents, the final meeting after the familiarisation phase and the general development of the child and discuss this with you. Daily reports and parent surveys also form part of our transparent and informative evaluation.

Do you have any further questions on the subject of “education in the day-care centre” and “image of the child”? Then please contact us. We look forward to getting to know you personally!