Stages of a childhood - from the nursery to the hoard

Due to the structure of the nuclear family, which prevails in Germany, almost all families are dependent on external, paid childcare. The type of care chosen depends on the age of the child and the requirements of the care situation.

In the course of his childhood, a child goes through several institutions where it is externally cared for. When choosing care facilities, different points must be taken into account. The top priority is always that your child feels comfortable. As a parent, you must trust the competence of the caregivers and endorse the educational concept used, as cooperation between parents and carers is extremely important for a calm and continuous development of your child.

The Cribsystem

Eight weeks in some nurseries is the minimum age at which children are admitted. The children stay there until the age of three. Characteristic of the nursery is, on the one hand, that the number of caregivers is higher in comparison to the kindergarten. This is due to the more intensive care needs that very young children have. On the other hand, the facility must be tailored to the special needs of small and very small children. This concerns, for example, the safety precautions as well as special hygiene and care options. Often, the nursery is attached to a kindergarten, which has the advantage that the child does not have to change the institution at the age of three, but can be cautiously acclimated to the new care area.

The nursery of your choice should definitely meet the following conditions:

• Individual acclimatization time between two and six weeks. Careful familiarization is very important so that the child does not suffer any later binding damage.
• During the acclimatization and first time in the crib, the child should have a steady caregiver who cares for it
• The concept of day nursery needs to go beyond mere care and complement family life. The basic condition is that there are enough caregivers to provide the child with adequate care in every respect

Nanny

An alternative for very young children is provided by private day mothers. As a rule, one to three children are cared for by one person in their home environment. This form is particularly well suited for very small children and infants, as within the day care a protected and controlled space is created in a small group. Registered childminders can be found through the youth welfare office. If only up to three children are cared for, a registration is not necessary there.

When choosing the childminder, the following must be observed:

• Check the pedagogical qualification of the childminder. What education does she have, does she have children of her own?
• How is the home environment? Pay attention to safety precautions!
• Even more than in the nursery must be paid to appropriate parenting methods.

kindergarten

By the age of three at the latest, children will move from day nursery to kindergarten. There they are cared for until transfer to school. In principle one differentiates here three forms:

Regular kindergarten

Here children from the closer living environment are taken. Carriers may be the municipality, free carriers (for example Caritas or Arbeiterwohlfahrt) or parents' initiatives. The classification is usually based on age groups.

Integration kindergartens

In this form, disabled and non-disabled children are cared for together. A maximum of five disabled children are integrated into a group of ten healthy children. The caregivers must have special education or special needs education.

Day care centers with a wide age mix

Kindergarten and nursery school children are cared for in common groups. The groups must be correspondingly smaller in order to afford the higher care and care costs.
When choosing a kindergarten for your child, you should spend some time there before you make a final decision. This is the only way to get to know the facility and to judge if it is the right one for you and your child.

Important points are here:

• What is the supervision level of the institution, are there interns for support?
• Which games are available?
• Does the existing care concept fit your home style?
• Are values ​​taught in addition to care? If yes, which? What are the educational goals?

In addition to the conventional kindergartens, which are based on the education and training plan of the respective federal state, there are many alternative kindergarten concepts, such as forest kindergartens, Montessori kindergartens or Waldorf kindergartens.

Hort / after-school care

When your child comes to school, afternoon care is often required. Often this is a place that is attached to the school. Although homework can be done there as well, a shelter usually sees itself primarily as a care facility rather than a homework help. In addition to the care in the hoard there are various all-day schools. If the care needs only in the midday, a midday care can be used. The children will have lunch there and can usually be looked after until 14:00.

Also when selecting the hoard there are some important points to consider:

• Is a high-quality lunch offered that tastes good to the child?
• Is there homework help, if so, how qualified is it?
• Are there any other offers? Are the children promoted or only "kept safe"?

Special forms of childcare, such as au pair or replacement must be checked carefully. It can be very good, but it also causes problems because of the lack of training of caregivers.
Even if you can not get along without a day care, you as a parent should very carefully choose where your child spends his time. In addition to the mentioned criteria, the well-being of the child should be at the top of your list.

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