at 8 am today we were already halfway across the city, to check out a (real) kindergarten where jan can enroll this autumn when he turns three. at this rate we are already very late to be looking for one; some parents sign up for the waiting list almost as soon as their child is born just to be sure that they get a place. but we have been faced with the possibility of a move to frankfurt earlier this year which in the end didn’t push through, and that botched up all the planning.

why the pressure? sure, the state is obliged to provide a kindergarten slot for your child, but you wouldn’t want to put your child in just any kiga. seeing how some of the state-run kigas are, i would almost rather keep jan home. well, just almost, hehe. luckily we live in a small city, and we have a bit of a luxury for kindergarten slots. if worse comes to worst, there’s always the parents-initiative kiga nearby that has been advertising vacant slots for the last half-year now. it’s just suspicious why nobody would take the offer. but, among the 10 or so kindergartens in the area, we’re hoping to secure a place for jan in either the one run by caritas or the one run by lebenshilfe.

the caritas-run kiga has a good reputation, being highly recommended by other parents we know from jan’s current playgroup and by hubby’s former colleagues at the university. judging by it’s proximity to the university, i can imagine a lot of children of the faculty being there. and THAT is its main attractive point, for me at least. growing up where i did, i know the merits of being in the right neighborhood/peer group. we haven’t gone for an orientation yet, but in the 2 minutes i spent there to get the application form, i got the impression that it was run by stern old maids (nuns? am not sure). not a lot of fun, i thought. but then, my first impressions are never reliable, so, let’s see.

the kiga run by the lebenshilfe, on the other hand felt so relaxed, so child-friendly and boisterously fun. the lebenshilfe is a social NGO, and this particular kiga attempts to integrate disabled (or is incapacitated more politically correct?) children together with “normal” children (under which jan falls, his only disability being, to follow ME). i think this set-up is mutually beneficial for the disabled and the “normal” children. in a group of 15 children, up to 5 of which can be with disabilities, there are 3 “teachers” and a volunteer helper, ergo 4 adults per 15 kids. and THAT is this kiga’s main selling point. the more adults there are, the more they can cater to the individual needs of the children at a given time. if three kids want to go out and play, while two had a bad sleep and want to just cuddle and read a book, there are enough adults to supervise different activities all at the same time. they get more personalized attention.

when choosing a kiga, you’ll also have to decide beforehand what learning principles you abide by. most of the kiga here in germany are heavy on the learn-by-play principle. actually, it’s really mostly play at this stage anyway. that’s why i wrote teachers with quotation marks. they don’t really teach lessons per se. children are not even expected to know their alphabets before they enter the first grade. however, there are still specialized kigas employing the montessori and waldorf methods of learning. admittedly, i haven’t done a lot of research on these, but i think it doesn’t differ/matter much at this point, unless you’re set on putting your child in montessori/waldorf in primary school. which we are not. so. (okay, this paragraph was pointless, eh?)

oh well, so we’ve signed up for the lebenshilfe-kiga. i hope we get a slot, but we’ve got to have back-up plans just in case we don’t. jan doesn’t necessarily have to leave his present playgroup when he turns three in september, but i don’t think it’s a good idea for him to stay longer. he is more than ripe for the big-kids kindergarten and will be under-stimulated if he doesn’t move on. the question is just… where to?

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