At Maikäfer, our children learn about the rules and boundaries of social interaction within a small, friendly and essentially mixed-aged environment. This includes respecting the needs of younger children and learning from older ones as well as asserting, adjusting and negotiating individual interests within the group as a whole. Tackling conflicts and finding appropriate solutions is something we want to enable each child to learn.

We attend to each child individually, taking into consideration the child's physical and mental development as well as individual needs. Comprehensive infant provision is one of our key missions.

In line with the requirements of the Berliner Bildungsprogramm (educational framework for Berlin ), we focus on seven educational goals: communication; body and movement; health; social and cultural environment; art and creativity; music; basic maths, science and technical activities.

Our concept is based on Maria Montessori's educational approach. We put her child-centred credo "Help me do it by myself" into daily practice, thus enabling children to act independently. A further focus is on project-oriented work both within and beyond of the confines of the nursery. Together, we work on topics such as "I discover my body", "We discover plants and animals in our environment", "We travel around the world", or "Autumn has come".

We value the routine of numerous daily and weekly processes as this helps to keep the children grounded and gives them orientation. This includes offers such as early music education, sports and movement (gymnastics, swimming), language development (morning circles with language games and singing, as well as a daily reading circle), excursions (experiencing nature and environment, road safety education, discovering the neighbourhood, visits to theatres, museums, the zoo, etc.). Organised activities aside, the children have ample time for self-directed play. Throughout the year, Maikäfer holds various fun days and outings, among them a nursery group trip that starts with a nursery sleep-over.

Complete Concept Kindertagesstätte Maikäfer e.V. - PDF Format