Introduction
Nowadays, more and more families have both parents working, which means that they need a childcare place for their small children if the family, for example the grandparents, cannot fill in. Most children attend a KITA, but in some regions of Germany, KITA places are very scarce, so that more and more parents are discovering the childminder for themselves. If parents have a free choice between the two forms of care, the question quickly arises as to which is the right or better accommodation for their own child and the whole family.
Comparison of the two forms of care
KITAs often have public sponsors, such as the city or municipality. This means that they have to meet certain standards. A nanny is a private person.
Accordingly, the care of a childminder also takes place in her private premises, i.e. in her apartment or in rented rooms. In a public KITA, the rooms belong to the provider and not to the individual educators. In most cases, KITAs also offer the children an outdoor area, i.e. a garden to play in.
A childminder can also offer this, but she does not have to. A childminder accommodates a maximum of five children, always with the same person. In a KITA there are usually several groups, with about two educators and 25 children.
The children not only get to know many other children there, but also different educators, day care workers, FSJs, interns, etc. For this reason, a KITA has a wide range of toys, groups that do handicrafts, sing, paint or go to the garden, etc. In a kindergarten, the main responsibility is always borne by trained and certified educators, whereas the childminder, on the other hand, has completed a short training course in childcare at the Youth Welfare Office and may have acquired further knowledge through further education and training, works independently or is employed by the Youth Welfare Office.
Advantages
The KITA offers the following advantages over a childminder, which cannot be dismissed. In a KITA the children have more contact with many children, so that various friendships can develop. The many children also create a completely different and more diverse range of activities, with different groups and more play materials.
In this way the children also have contact with several caregivers who can exchange ideas and give advice. Furthermore, there is a reliable quality in public institutions, which is regularly checked. In addition, accommodation in a public KITA is considerably cheaper than that of a childminder.
However, accommodation with a childminder also has advantages. The children are not permanently at the mercy of a large group, but spend the day with a maximum of four other children. This way, the childminder can become an intensive caregiver for the child by providing a high level of care. In addition, the atmosphere at a childminder is completely different from that at a KITA, it is much more familiar and intimate, this is because the childminder usually looks after the children at home. In addition, a childminder is much more flexible than a KITA when it comes to the timing of the accommodation and is completely dependent on the needs of the parents.
