Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a facility for the care of children who are usually between three and six years old. However, it is becoming increasingly common to admit children under three years of age who are not yet dry, in order to relieve working parents. The children are brought to the kindergarten by their parents in the morning and stay in the facility either until noon or until the afternoon.
During the time in the kindergarten the children are in the care of educators, social pedagogues and other pedagogical staff. They organize the day with the children, for example by doing handicrafts, playing, eating, painting and going to the garden or forest. Accordingly, the kindergarten is the first stage of the educational system.
In the kindergarten, the children get to know other children, as they are in groups of up to 25 children and two carers. There is no compulsory kindergarten in Germany, but parents are advised to send their child to a kindergarten. The kindergartens are subject either to public institutions, such as communities, cities, etc. or private institutions, which are mostly church-based. The costs for the kindergarten vary from region to region and from institution to institution in Germany and must be partly borne by the parents.
Child minders
One possibility to have children or babies looked after is the childminder. Child minders look after up to a maximum of five children on their own premises, usually at home or in rented rooms. For this reason the childminder is usually much more flexible than a kindergarten.
The group size is much smaller than in a kindergarten, so the care is more personal and the childminder can respond to the children’s individual needs. The childminder carries out various activities with the children throughout the day, such as singing, playing, doing handicrafts, going to the park, etc. The children also stay with the childminders for lunch and nap time.
Usually these are children from different families who are up to three years old. The childminders need a care permit, which they receive from the responsible youth welfare office if they can bring proof of having passed a day care course. In addition, the childminders must provide proof of a first-aid course on the child in order to work in this profession. The child minders are paid by the parents of the children. In Germany most of the child minders are women, there are also men in this profession, but only a few.
Which shape is best for my child?
There are many different forms of childcare in Germany. When asking which one is best for the child, one should first of all look at the childhood. This means that many forms are out of the question from the outset.
For example, if you are looking for care for a four-year-old child, the day care centre is not up for discussion. For smaller children there are different forms to choose from, the childminder, a kindergarten or a KITA. Which form is best for the child depends strongly on how flexible and for how long the parents have to accommodate their children.
As a rule, the decision is therefore more dependent on the parents than on the child. In addition, various childcare facilities must be available in the immediate vicinity. If this is the case, the individual facilities should be visited. Before the visit, parents should be aware of which aspects are particularly relevant for their child and, regardless of the individual form of childcare, they should make sure that these wishes are fulfilled in the facility or not.