The educational concept of our day-care centres: How we work

In the day-care centres (crèches and kindergartens) of the Wichtel Academy, we combine the latest educational approaches with a holistic educational concept – based on the Bavarian Educational and Upbringing Plan (BayBEP). The autonomy, independence and self-activity of your child is always our focus.

Our claim: a child-oriented education

  • At the Wichtel Academy, we are entirely focused on the development and age-specific needs of children as well as their individual abilities and skills.
  • The children are prepared to act independently in different life situations thanks to our educational work according to the pedagogical concept of the day-care centre.
  • We create an environment for the children that is marked by a feeling of security and well-being. In this way, we prepare them as best as possible for the lives they have ahead of them.
  • In our day-care centres, the children should have plenty of opportunities to explore their environment on their own and creatively during free play.

Our goal:

Based on a contemporary pedagogical concept, we want to prepare our day-care centre children to act independently in the widest range of life situations. And you as parents should also feel reassured that your child is in the best hands with us. This is the only way that a constructive and trusting cooperation can be created between ourselves and you as parents.

Educational concept with quality and heart

At the Wichtel Academy, we would like to set new standards in the field of childcare and fulfil our pioneering role as Munich’s leading private day-care centre operator. We offer your child the warmth of a home from home and would like to be a trustworthy partner for you as parents in bringing up your child or children. Thanks to the modern educational concept, contemporary services and long opening hours, we create the perfect framework for combining work and family life.

Qualification and evaluation

We guarantee our high quality standards through regular staff surveys, parent surveys, a broad and obligatory range of continuing education and training and not least through continuous management workshops.

Unburdened learning: free play at the Wichtel Academy

Das Foto zeigt ein Kind beim Freispiel in der Kita und versinnbildlicht das pädagogische Konzept des Kindergartens

Structured learning processes are important for a positive development of your child. But unburdened free play as the most basic form of learning needs its place too. Our day-care centre’s educational concept harmonises these two aspects, because playing and learning are not opposites. In this way, the everyday agenda at our locations is not taught, but rather significantly contributes to personality development through intuitive independent exploration of the environment while playing, whether alone or with other children.

Exploring the environment and learning to understand

During free play, children instinctively discover their environment. Based on their interests and stage of development, they themselves decide what, where, how long and with whom they would like to play. They experiment, solve problems independently and practice social behaviour. Concentration, gross and fine motor skills, perseverance, consideration and patience are promoted.

Recording valuable findings from free play

Observing and documenting free play provides important conclusions about the interests and developmental stage of your child. The findings are directly incorporated into the educational work.

For optimal support: observation and documentation

The regular and systematic observation of individual learning and development processes is part of the educational concept and forms the basis for educational action at our day-care centres. 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.

Das Bild zeigt eine Erzieherin bei der Dokumentation und verdeutlicht das Thema „Pädagogisches Konzept der Kita

Documentation of the first meeting

About two weeks before the start of the familiarisation phase with the day-care centre a first meeting is held between the parents and the future caregiver. The purpose of this meeting is, on the one hand, to prepare the parents for upcoming familiarisation phase at the crèche or the kindergarten, but also to receive preparatory information about the child.

Documentation of the familiarisation phase

After completing the familiarisation phase, a final familiarisation meeting is held. To prepare for this meeting, the emotional behaviour, social behaviour and playing behaviour of the child is observed and entered in the familiarisation phase observation sheet in preparation for this meeting. The parents also fill out a feedback form, the results of which are also incorporated into the meeting.

Development documentation in the crèche and kindergarten

At least once per year, development meetings are held with the parents. To prepare for these development meetings, the day-care centre children are observed using a development sheet based on Seldak and Sismik. This includes the following aspects:

  • Emotional development
  • Social behaviour
  • Cognitive development
  • Hygiene and cleanliness education
  • Sensory perception
  • Gross motor skills (physical development)
  • Fine motor skills

As part of a one-hour development meeting, these observations are discussed with the parents. In the meetings, the transition from the crèche to the kindergarten or school is also discussed. There is also a final meeting with the parents when the child leaves the crèche and kindergarten.

Daily report

A daily report documents important events, such as in eating and sleeping behaviour or in the child’s hygiene. This is for informational purposes of staff among themselves as well as for the handover talks with the parents. Our Magic Moments are recorded in the Wichtel Book.

Parent surveys

In order to maintain and continuously develop our quality, we have conversations about general satisfaction and get suggestions for improvement during parent surveys, which we are happy to implement if possible.

Do you have questions about the educational concept or the educational work in our day-care centres? Then talk to us – We look forward to your enquiry!

FAQ: Frequently asked questions about the educational concept at our day-care centres

There are a variety of educational concepts available to day-care centres. The most well-known are Waldorf kindergartens, movement kindergartens, Freinet kindergartens, forest kindergartens, integrative kindergartens, Kneipp kindergartens, Montessori kindergartens, open kindergartens, the Reggio concept, the confessional concept, the bilingual concept and the situational approach. The Wichtel Academy is based on the Bavarian Educational and Upbringing Plan (BayBEP) and combines the latest educational approaches with a comprehensive focus. These are centred on the children’s autonomy and independence.

The Wichtel Academy focuses on five educational areas. These are divided into

  • Aesthetics/art/music,
  • Movement/rhythmics/health,
  • Mathematics/science/environment,
  • Value orientation/emotionality/social relationships and
  • Language/literacy/media.

At the Wichtel Academy, a happy childhood is based on the pillars of individuality, security, participation, co-construction and educational and developmental support. These are underpinned by a successful educational partnership with the parents. We believe that every child has the right to a happy, fulfilled childhood. Read more about the the image of the child in our day-care centres here.

An important part of the educational concept at our day-care centres is free play. This is very important because it gives children the opportunity to discover and pursue their own ideas and interests. They learn to entertain themselves and solve problems. They also have the opportunity to develop social skills by playing and interacting with other children. In short, it can be said that free play in the day-care centre covers all necessary educational areas.

Diet also forms an important element in the educational concept of a day-care centre. The diet in the day-care centre should be balanced and varied. Fresh fruit and vegetables every day as well as wholegrain and dairy products are important elements. It is generally important to avoid too much fat and sugar. When it comes to the diet in our day-care centres, we attach particular importance to healthy food and balanced meals, which our experts prepare fresh every day in the dedicated Wichtel kitchen.