Educational principles and emphasis

The goal of the kindergarten is to provide each child with the opportunity to reach their full potential – intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or preexisting abilities. Interculturality encompasses:

• The intake of children from a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds;
• An encouragement of the discovery of similarities as well as differences together in a nonjudgmental setting;
• Mutual appreciation and tolerance towards each other’s differences. Multiculturalism and multilingualism are not seen as an exception nor a disadvantage, but are embraced as an enrichment for the entire group;
• Multilingualism between the teachers and the children as well as between the children.

ORIENTATION ON MARIA MONTESSORI’S PEDAGOGY

Maria Montessori’s pedagogy, internationally recognised and practised worldwide, is particularly suitable for our institution. Its principles can be summarised in three key words:

Holistic: experiencing and learning with all of the senses. The child is viewed as a holistic being. Mind, feelings, sensory perception and movement form a harmony. Their joint activation serves to develop the child’s personality, sharpen their perception, and awaken the desire to discover the world. Exercises with special materials (sensory materials) form the basis of understanding, and stimulate the child’s intellectual development.

Independence: means that the child’s need for spontaneous learning is taken seriously and that they are enabled to carry out daily activities independently from an early age. Even during the kindergarten years, children learn to tie their own shoelaces, set the table, sweep the floor, wash the dishes, maintain order and take care of personal responsibilities within the range of their abilities. The teachers are guided by Montessori’s motto: Help me to do it myself!

Individuality: means seeing and supporting each child according to their own abilities, possibilities, interests, cognitive and emotional needs. Each child has their own developmental profile, their own personal strengths and weaknesses, and develops their own character. Recognizing and strengthening these individual characteristics is the continuous endeavour of the kindergarten staff. The children also get to learn and respect the abilities and interests of others. In this way, they learn that not all people are similar, and through the otherness of the other arises mutual recognition.

Of particular importance to us, is what Maria Montessori calls the prepared environment. This includes the provision and handling of developmental material (Montessori materials), which enables each individual child to conquer and appropriate the world in an autonomous and individual manner.

Musical, physical and creative activities complement our educational programme, as do the celebration of festivals from different cultures, visits to museums and libraries, and seasonal activities. Great importance is also attached to a caring interaction between adult and child as well as between the children. Whilst eating and doing activities together, the children experience the benefits of polite behaviour.

Educational partnership – COOPERATION OF THE PARENTS

The foundation of a well run kindergarten is a close cooperation between staff and parents. This transpires in the following ways:

• Executive board and Team constantly exchange information;
• Parent Teacher assemblies take place five times a year. Here, all important topics and general business are discussed and coordinated;
• All parents are expected to take an active role in the day-to-day running of the kindergarten. This includes, but is not limited to, the weekly shopping, laundry service, and helping out in kindergarten when a member of staff is sick, on holiday or a training course.

Opening times

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 8:00-16:45
Tuesday and Friday: 8:00-15:45

On Wednesdays, the children visit the physical education course of KISS at TSV Ost München (with the exception of the school holidays).

Closing times

• 1 week at Easter
• 3 weeks in the summer holidays
• 2 over Christmas and New Year

Fees

Current fees can be downloaded here: Baobab fees.pdf