You, dear parents, know just as well as we do how important fine and gross motor skills are for the development of your child. Your little darling needs time to master the movements and to become confident in them. We give your child the time it needs.

Only when your child feels safe does the next sequence of movements follow. The fact that they have achieved something under their own steam increases their self-confidence and self-confidence.

We accompany your child and offer them developmentally appropriate toys for independent discovery and exploration. Through platforms and levels, your child can discover different room perspectives.

Your little darling is creative from birth. With his innate abilities, he discovers the world of his own accord and is always trying new things himself. Through musical and creative activities, we take on this quality, expand the horizon of experience and inspire your child’s imagination.

For different age groups we offer:

• Singing together
• Rhythmic games and movements
• Making music and experimenting with different instruments
• Discovering creative resources
• Experiencing colors and materials
• and much more

Clear boundaries and freedom – these seem to contradict each other at first glance. But through structures, rules and rituals, your little darling learns points in everyday life that give him security, orientation and support. Between our recurring things like breakfast, lunch or nap, your child has the opportunity, for example, to try out free play and experiment with age-appropriate play material. This is how we strengthen your child and it feels strengthened.

We want to teach your child good social behavior. We want them to learn that every person has their own personality and wants to be treated with respect and appreciation.

Feelings like anger, sadness, disappointment, frustration but also joy, pride and love are feelings that everyone experiences in their life. Your little darling feels these feelings too and more intensely than we adults do, but can’t exactly name them or deal with them. We would like to support your child and show him ways in which he can address conflicts and resolve them non-violently. In this way, it learns to respect itself and the other children.

Healthy and balanced nutrition should begin at birth. Eating and drinking together plays an important role in living together. When eating together, the children have time to share what they have experienced and learn to fit into the group.

The children quickly adopted their eating habits at the table and they are difficult to break. It is therefore particularly important for us to set the right course here.

All of the food that is used in the children’s villa for breakfast and snacks comes mainly from controlled organic cultivation, the Stuttgart markets or from local/regional cultivation. Our main meals are prepared every day in our in-house kitchen by our loving kitchen team, using fresh ingredients, handcrafted and carefully. We make sure that the food is seasonal and varied. The special needs of the children, such as allergies, e.g. lactose intolerance or gluten-free nutrition, are taken into account.

This also applies to breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks and to all festivals celebrated in the Kindervilla.

We give the children water to drink.

You, dear parents, as the main caregiver, cannot be replaced by anything or anyone.

You are therefore cordially invited to take part in selected activities. We welcome your ideas, suggestions or suggestions for improvement. Please also tell us if you don’t like something at all. After all, just like you, we only want the best for your child.

When it comes to care, we attach great importance to doing this in a loving and warm environment. In a separate and child-friendly room, your child’s privacy is protected and the teacher can concentrate on your child. We support your child in getting dry and with their own hygiene, such as washing their hands and brushing their teeth.

After a busy morning with peers, we offer your child the opportunity to take a break. They can choose whether they want to sleep or go to the relaxation room. With singing songs, telling stories or soft music, your sweetheart will easily fall asleep.

If your darling decides to go to the relaxation room, a story will be read or told to him or her quietly. This way your child can rest even if it doesn’t want to sleep.

In our children’s villa there is no such thing as bad weather. We spend at least 30 minutes in the fresh air every day. This way we can explain the seasons to your child and show them how nature changes.

In our small herb garden, your little darling can plant the herbs themselves with the other children and find them fresh in their lunch. In this way, your child will learn about another wonder of nature and know that they can create something useful.

Since some children are picked up after their nap, we introduced the outdoor day once a week so that these children can also play outside with their little friends. The children are then handed over outside and have breakfast outside. If you prefer your child to stay indoors during the winter, there is a small group that is looked after indoors there too.

Since the Kindervilla is a bilingual nursery, your child will learn English as a second language with us. But fear not, dear parents. We won’t push your darling into monotonous English classes. We follow the idea of the immersion method. We have English teachers and German teachers.

Communication with the children is always in the respective language. This means that the English-speaking educator only speaks English with the children. She supports her language with facial expressions, gestures and pointing. It will not be translated. In this way, your child will discover the language for itself. In this way, your child will learn English through play and fun and will practically grow up bilingual.

It absorbs the English language like its mother tongue. Without any pressure or coercion.

How nice is it when your little darling can order food in English in another country. Be amazed at what your child can do if you encourage and support their curiosity.

So that we can support your child optimally and you are always up to date with regard to the development of your child, we write down everything important that has happened in the day-to-day life of your darling. For this purpose, we communicate with you via the Kindervilla’s own Kivi app and also keep educational and learning stories as well as a memory book.

In the diary we write down every day what your child has experienced. We will then give you this so that you can write down what happened in the evening and in the morning before your visit to the crèche.

Please bring the diary back to the crèche every day. In this way, together with you, we can support your child in the best possible way and respond to their individual needs.

The educational and learning stories describe how an educator experiences your child in a specific situation. We follow the approach of Margaret Carr. We do not assume what your child needs to be able to do at a certain age and what they can actually do or not, but we try to understand your child’s strengths in order to be able to support them better.

Because often a child seems to have an apparent weakness. But if you take a closer look, you can see that it has developed other skills that other children do not yet have.

Your sweetheart is also individual in its development and learns at its own pace. We record this in the learning stories. They either find their way into the memory book or are sent to you in the form of a letter.

For the memory book, please bring a book with blank pages. We will then fill it with the best memories of your little one.

His small works of art, favorite rhymes, photos and the documentation of special moments find their place in the memory book.

We want you, dear parents, and your child to feel comfortable and in good hands with us right from the start. This also includes getting used to it. The children’s villa implements this according to the so-called “Berlin model”, which is divided into three phases. Before that, you have the opportunity to get to know the educators and ask questions in a preliminary talk.
The Berlin model has proven itself very well in practice. Not only the children feel at home here. Parents also have a good feeling when they leave their children with us.

Stage 1:
In the first three days, one of your child’s parents or another caregiver comes with you to the crèche. The visit lasts no more than an hour or two. Your child can discover the crèche world and do what they want. It can always come back to you when it needs closeness or is unsure.

Stage 2:
On the fourth day we make a first attempt at separation. If your child is open and doesn’t keep coming back to you, you can leave the room for a short time. You say goodbye to your child, but remain within reach. If your child is crying and cannot be comforted by the teacher, you can come to them immediately.

Stage 3:
If your child does not cry when you say goodbye, please stay in the group room for a short time and pick your child up again at the agreed time. Of course, your child can take their “comforter” with them to the crèche.

During the familiarization phase, you and your child will get to know our premises and toys. You can familiarize yourself with our daily routine and activities. You will also experience how we implement our concept in everyday crèche life.

In order for your child to settle in successfully, we make sure that there are not too many settling-in children in a group. This way we can concentrate on your child and make saying goodbye easier for him and for you.

In our Kindervilla international preschool & kindergarten we look after and support 20 children in each of 2 groups from the age of 3 years until they start school. A group of 3 educators and an assistant is supervised in total. There is at least one teacher per group who speaks English as a native speaker.

Within the groups there is a further division between preschool children and kindergarden children. Here the children are divided into individual groups according to their age and individual level of development, which then take part in separate activities and study hours throughout the day.

But why this division and what does it actually mean?

Our concept in the Kindervilla is based on the school system in the USA. There, “preschool” means kindergarten and “kindergarten” means preschool. The division into these two different groups proves to be very useful in everyday life. Three-year-old children have a different level of development and perception than a five- or six-year-old child. So it is easy to imagine and visible in practice every day that a five-year-old child in a group of three-year-olds quickly gets bored because it is simply not challenged. As a result, the child gets upset and aggressive. We want to prevent this through our division. This makes it possible for every child to be encouraged and challenged according to their age, so that boredom cannot arise in the first place. In this way, children and educators benefit equally.

From our or other nursery to our Kindervilla Preschool & Kindergarten

Parents whose children have already been looked after by us in the crèche know the daily routine very well. This will essentially remain the same. We only adapt the offers to the age of the children. For example, more trips are made and to places that older children know more about than younger ones.

In view of the imminent start of school, we then gear our daily routine towards the children’s independence and ability to concentrate. For example, we teach them to concentrate on a task for a longer period of time and to get in touch if they have any questions. This is very important for the start of school and most children find it difficult to implement these necessary rules in everyday school life. To make this transition easier, we prepare our protégés for it.

Nevertheless, children are children and they can and should stay that way with us. We’re going to be more playful about it. This motivates the children to participate and later makes it easier for them to settle into everyday school life.

From the parental nest to our Kindervilla Preschool Kindergarten

If you have kept your child at home for the first three years, the starting position is of course a little different. In this case we are of course in close contact. We, the educators from the Kindervilla, would then like to know from you what level your child is currently at, what your wishes are and what your educational goals have been so far. We will then pick up from this point and introduce you to our offers with which we can support your child in the best possible way. Of course, moving from the parental home to kindergarten always involves a certain amount of adjustment for both the parents and the child. But the little ones quickly get used to everything and have a lot of fun and enjoy what they do. In this case, too, we want to encourage your child to be independent and concentrate. Because it doesn’t matter whether it’s with us from an early age or only from the age of three: every child has to go to school at some point. And the better the preparation, the easier everyday school life will be for the children.

Of course, the children are not allowed to do whatever they want in our Kindervilla. Of course, we do not tolerate aggression of any kind.

With our everyday rituals for breakfast, lunch and naps, we give your children security and support. The children learn through play that there is a certain daily routine and that there are certain rules that everyone has to follow. But the little ones are allowed to play, romp and learn what they want.

If school enrollment is soon an issue, we structure it a little more. The children are given tasks that they have to devote themselves to for a while and are taught not to talk wildly but to point things out. Otherwise you will not be understood or will not understand the others. Through their own experience, the children are then shown that there must be such rules so that everyone gets their rights.

We want to be your partner in the process of your child’s education and upbringing. We see ourselves as an extension of your home, and we want you to feel part of the Kindervilla. We encourage you to attend our parent evenings, coffee mornings and tea and cake events.

• “Coffee Mornings”: Parent-teacher conference on current educational topics for children.
• Annual parent talks
• “Tea-and-Cake Afternoon”: Information event on all topics related to the children’s villa.

In addition, we have developed various activities to give you the opportunity to participate in your child’s development in the Kindervilla. There are rotating mother, father and grandparent days, Halloween parades, holiday celebrations, parent-caregiver conferences, weekly newsletters for kindergarten and preschool children and daily face-to-face exchanges between parents and educators.

Volunteers
The Volunteers are a voluntary parental group that supports us with various activities throughout the week. Parents are always invited and bring new ideas. We encourage you to voluntarily participate in the Kindervilla activities. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact us.

07.30 – 08.45: Arrive at the Kindervilla
During this time the children are cared for in a collection group before they go to their own groups. Current information about the child is exchanged and later passed on to the group leader. The handover of the diary also takes place during this time. After the little ones have said goodbye to their parents, we start the day comfortably. This means that some children are still tired and are initially looking for the security and closeness of the caregivers. Others are already alert and take advantage of the various games on offer.

08.45 – 09.30: Breakfast
Children can only start the day with energy if they are given the right nutrition. That’s why it’s important to us at breakfast that the children get valuable vitamins from fresh fruit and vegetables.

9.30 – 10.00 am: morning circle
We meet with the children for the children’s conference. Here we tell what we have experienced, sing songs together, play finger games or change places and discuss the upcoming daily routine, which is tailored to the needs of the children. In addition, the “morning board” is discussed with the children every morning. Here is counted, the weather, the calendar day, the day of the week, the letter of the day and much more is determined.

10 a.m. – 11 a.m.: “Learning Time”
During this time, guided offers take place in age-homogeneous groups. In order to be able to respond effectively and to the respective developmental level of the children, the preschool children are separated from the kindergarten children. In different rooms, the children are taught different learning opportunities and playfully encouraged.
Depending on the daily program, for example, sports, mathematics, English, art, etc. take place.

11.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m.: Free play and movement
During this time, the children’s independence is encouraged and challenged in particular. The children have to decide where, with whom and what they want to play. You decide how long and how intense this game will be. If possible, the free play takes place in the garden.

12pm – 1pm: Lunch
From 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. it is time for lunch. The menu is posted every Friday for the following week. After lunch, the children go to brush their teeth and get ready for a rest or quiet activity together.

1pm – 2pm: Bedtime and Storytime
During this time, all children who are tired lie down to sleep. For all children who do not want to sleep, our “Storytime” takes place. The teachers read a story or look at picture books together and discuss them.

2.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m.: “Learning Time” again
After the afternoon nap we use the time to actively learn something together again. Here, too, we pay attention to age-homogeneous groups.

3 p.m.: Afternoon snack
To recharge your batteries, there is a small, healthy afternoon snack (seasonal fruit/vegetables and sources of energy such as rice crackers, spelled sticks, wholemeal slices with cream cheese and the occasional piece of cake if it’s someone’s birthday). In the remaining time the children play in the garden or in the group room.

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.: collection group
Depending on the size of the group, the children will be combined into a collective group during this time until the end of the day. This gives educators a chance to catch up on their day and prepare for upcoming projects and lessons.

17.00 – 17.15: Second snack
During this time, the children are provided with fruit or vegetables to snack on.

Until 5:55 p.m.: pick-up time
Here the parents are informed about special events. The teachers say goodbye to the children and their parents.

6 p.m.: The Kindervilla closes its doors.

From kindergarten age, our protégés are particularly receptive. Bad table manners are quickly acquired, but very difficult to break the habit. That’s why we attach great importance to the fact that even the little ones learn the right table manners in a playful way. With us, eating becomes a ritual. The tables in the dining room are beautifully set. In addition to the caregivers, two or three older children take on this task. Before everyone can start eating, a table verse is said together. In this way, the children learn that eating is not something you do on the side, but that eating is an important part of life. The children learn to eat consciously. Nothing is gulped down and thrown down. Your children should also get a feeling for food here. You will be actively involved.

In the kindergarten it is important to us that your children become independent. Older children are allowed to spread the bread and cut the vegetables before eating the snacks.

Friday is always something very special for our protégés. Because on this day we play restaurant. With candlelight and beautifully laid tables, we convey a dinner atmosphere. With the help of role-playing games, the children learn the children’s etiquette with us. You will learn how to behave in a restaurant, what the individual pieces of cutlery are used for and the importance of placing the cutlery in certain configurations.

It’s great fun for the children and later they use the children’s etiquette as a matter of course.

All of the food that is used in the Kindervilla for breakfast and snacks comes mainly from controlled organic cultivation, the Stuttgart markets or from local/regional cultivation. Our main meals are prepared every day in our in-house kitchen by our loving kitchen team, using fresh ingredients, handcrafted and carefully. We make sure that the food is seasonal and varied. The special needs of the children, such as allergies, e.g. lactose intolerance or gluten-free nutrition, are taken into account.

We in the Kindervilla attach great importance to the afternoon nap. Beautiful, comfortably designed rooms invite the children to relax. Of course, we know that children of a certain age no longer want to take a nap. Then they feel big and sleeping is only for little ones.

However, we also try to get the older children to lie down. Because the latest studies have shown that not only adults benefit from a nap. Children who slept for an hour at midday retained what they learned in the morning much better than children who did not sleep. This effect continued into the next day. The study also showed that the children processed the information they received while they were sleeping.

Since we at the Kindervilla attach great importance to early childhood education and our offer is wide-ranging, we naturally want to use this effect for the development of your child. Not only do they have fun learning and absorb everything new with joy, they even keep it “in their sleep”.
But not only such studies show the usefulness of the afternoon nap. Anyone who has children knows that little ones reach a point of exhaustion throughout the day. The little ones have experienced a lot and at some point they have to process what they have experienced. They get cranky and cry very easily. It is then no longer possible to add anything new.

After the afternoon nap, the children seem like they’ve changed. They have come to rest and have been able to process what has happened so far without new information pouring in on them. You have recharged your batteries and are ready to discover the world again.

Of course, we do not force any child to take a nap, but always try to get the children to lie down on their own. But if the children don’t want this at all, we try to get some rest into the day with “storytime” – the time when the teachers tell the children stories or look at books with them. So the children without sleep also have a chance to get some rest and will not disturb the sleeping children.

Movement is an important part of the healthy development of your children. It’s about much more to us than just allowing the children to let off steam.

While your children are active in sports, not only their physical fitness is promoted. The movement sequences in sport promote the ability to concentrate and learn and have a positive influence on the social behavior of a child. Exercise is a primary requirement for your children’s physical, mental and social development. It is the motor for the entire personality development.

 

We support your children in the Kindervilla with the following offers and activities:

• regular trips to climbing crags and large playgrounds
• going swimming with the kids
• regular gymnastics and sports lessons
• Movement construction sites indoors and outdoors in the Kindervilla
• regular exercise offers in the forest
• Weekly Kids Functional Training in the house (not included in childcare costs)
• Weekly ballet lesson in the house (not included in childcare costs)

New technologies and science make it clear that knowledge is constantly evolving. We in the children’s villa would also like to adapt to this progress. The two action rooms in the Kindervilla will be equipped with Smart Boards, which are a type of interactive whiteboard technology.

Our educators can use the SMART Boards to bring picture books and stories to life and encourage children to learn e.g. geometric shapes, colours, numbers and much more in a playful way and with active movement. In addition, they playfully acquire the competence to deal with new technologies and media.

How quickly is a child in school and suddenly has to speak freely in front of all the other children and the teacher? The child’s reaction to this is usually the same: it has stomach pains, feels uncomfortable and under pressure. Then it starts to stutter out of insecurity and maybe to make matters worse it is laughed at. Don’t even think about having fun.

We at the Kindervilla want to prevent this catastrophe. True to our motto “Children understand the world through their own experiences”, we give the children the opportunity to practice speaking hands-free. And through play and fun.

First, your child will learn to retell stories from books and picture books in their own words. Even with this step, which seems easy for us adults, a lot of language skills are required, which the little ones first have to learn to develop. The spirit of invention and creativity are encouraged. The children have to put themselves in the situations described and learn to express their feelings through facial expressions and gestures as well as through a disguised voice.

Once this step has been taken, let’s go one step further. Of course, it doesn’t just stop at retelling. Together with our educators, the children then come up with their own pieces. In this way, they get a feel for the language by using it in situations of their own making. Your child becomes creative and develops fun in the creative process and in the language itself. Through movement and rhythm, your child lives the thought-out piece with all their senses and incorporates it into their wealth of experience.

By performing the play, your child will learn later how to translate what it hears or reads into pictures at school. It learns to understand.

Experience has shown that the children have a lot of fun playing the theatre. This is how we optimally prepare you for later hands-free calling. They learn to trust their own abilities. Your child becomes more open, courageous and learns to work constructively with others in a group.

Children experience their environment with all their senses. And that’s right from the start. Studies have shown that babies already feel safe and calm when their mother hears classical music. When the children are only a few months old, they already move their arms and legs rhythmically to the music. We want to build on this – as we did in the crèche.

At kindergarten age, the little ones slowly learn to express their feelings through language. In our weekly music lessons, your children will gain their first experience of expressing feelings through music. Here they don’t just learn the usual children’s songs. A teacher introduces them to musical instruments and playfully explains what you can do with which musical instrument.
The musical education does not only take place in our rooms in the children’s villa. If possible, there should be a regular visit to the Stuttgarter Sitzkissen-Opera in the opera house, where your children will learn what and how much you can express with music.

Perhaps one day your child will play an instrument himself. With our early musical education, we want to open up this path for your child and encourage their creativity through music.

The Kindervilla is an all-day facility with a focus on bilingual education. (Foreign language is English) Your child should have the opportunity to learn an additional language in a playful, child-friendly way, without being overwhelmed or forced, but with a lot of fun.

By far the most effective method of language acquisition is the “immersion method”. “Immersion” means immersion in a language. With this method, the new language is the working and colloquial language, with one supervisor only speaking German and the other only English, according to the principle “One person – one language”.

Everything that the foreign-language tutor says is reinforced solely through facial expressions, gestures or pointing, but not through translation. The child thus develops the language independently bit by bit from the context of the situation. This recreates the most natural way children learn languages, whether as a first or second language. “Immersion” is therefore more child-friendly than any other method, because it motivates and does not require coercion or pressure to perform.

It has been scientifically proven that a considerably higher level of the foreign language can be achieved with “immersion” than with conventional teaching. The mother tongue and factual content develop just as well or better than in monolingual children. In the end, your child will grow up bilingual, even if it doesn’t have this advantage at home.

How nice can it be when parents take their children to a country where no German is spoken and the children order their lunch from a waiter themselves in English, for example.

We want to give your child the time to slowly get used to the new environment and the caregiver. The acclimatization phase is completely adapted to the pace of your child. Of course, we can only achieve this in close cooperation with the parents. In order to build a trusting bond with your child, it is important that you accompany your child to the children’s villa in the first few days. Our recommendation is to gradually increase your presence in the first 4 – 6 weeks and, if possible, not to let your child stay in the children’s villa for longer than 7 hours. Our acclimatization is based on the concept of the “Berlin model”, which has been tried and tested for many years:

“A child’s adjustment begins with the parental introductory talk. This interview is conducted by the pedagogical supervisor of the group the child is in before the start of the contract. It serves to get to know each other and exchange information and offers the opportunity to ask questions. During the introductory meeting, the parents receive the existing pedagogical concept of the facility. This contains all the important information about the kindergarten. In this conversation, the educational supervisor learns something about the child’s previous habits. The acclimatization period starts when the contract begins, is based on the Berlin acclimatization model and is divided into 3 phases:

1. Phase
In the first three days (basic phase), one parent (reference person) should be present in the group room. The child can move away and return to the “safe haven” if necessary. Visiting the kindergarten should not last longer than one to two hours during this time. A separation attempt should not be made.

2. Phase
The first separation attempt is made on the fourth day. If the child reacts openly and does not constantly check whether mom or dad is still there, the caregiver can leave the room for a short time. It is important that she says goodbye to the child. She remains close by if the child is crying and cannot be comforted by the teacher.

3. Phase
If the child can separate well from the caregiver, they should only stay in the group room for a short time in the morning, say goodbye to the child and come back to the children’s villa at an agreed time. Of course, the cuddly toy or another “comforter” should not be missing.

This allows the parents and the child to get acquainted with our daily schedule, rules, toys, premises and activities. We would also like to point out that we stagger the acclimatization periods for all new children. No more than 1 or 2 children should take part in group events at the same time. The fewer acclimatization children are in the group at the same time, the faster the acclimatization will take place.
The staff at the Kindervilla decide in consultation with the parents on the course of the acclimatization and when the acclimatization will be completed.”

In the nursery of the Kindervilla we had the diaries, the “educational and learning stories” and the “memory books”. We don’t have that much detail in our kindergarten anymore. On the one hand, it is no longer interesting here how much a child eats or drinks and how often it has to be changed.

There is still a kind of diary, but the content looks a bit different now. Of course, the educators in our Kindervilla observe your children very closely, but we do not judge what the child can already do and what not.

We observe how your child behaves in the group or report on special events. Once a week we report to the parents about the past week and the development of the child. In this way we try to find out in which areas each individual child may need special support and also offer this support. To do this, we deal with the children and support them in areas such as fine or gross motor skills, language development or other areas in which your child may need special support.