"Haus der kleinen Forscher" (House of Little Explorers)
Our day care center is one of 50 pilot facilities that was already certified as "Haus der kleinen Forscher" (House of Little Explorers) in 2006. The foundation of the same name supports the development of young children in the fields of mathematics, science, and technology. It provides pedagogues with the respective qualifications and has become the largest early education initiative in Germany.
As a Haus der kleinen Forscher, we offer children the opportunity to try out, learn and explore with the help of various specially designed projects. This movie about a sustainability project in our rooms is a good example for the success of our projects.
Participation and Contribution
In our day care center the children have the possibility to help shape their day care life according to their respective ages. We take the children seriously, trust them and take their fears, feelings, and interests into consideration. We give them a wide range of possibilities to express their own ideas, respect the opinions of others and to find solutions. This way, they are able to make their first basic democratic experiences. Once a week, we hold a children’s conference with the four- to six-year-old children. Within this little conference, we plan projects and actions and also develop rules for living and playing together. Our team has been intensively involved with the rights of children and is currently developing a pedagogical guideline in which they will further define the concrete (co)decision rights of the children.
Forest Groups
Our forest groups set out once a week to explore the Grunewald forest, the Domäne Dahlem, and the Schwarze Grund park, all of which are close to our facilities. Our “Waldkinder” (forest children) explore their environment as a natural habitat for plants, animals and people, experience the changing of the seasons and observe the cycles in nature. With the help of these experiences, they develop an understanding of the environment and respect for other living beings.
We put an emphasis on a wide range of experiences that challenge the children to become active and equip them with encouraging materials. In addition to free play, there are projects and activities within the various educational areas of the Berlin Education Program ("Berliner Bildungsprogramm" ). It is important to us to answer the children's questions in a variety of ways and also to encourage them to gain “knowledge” through their own actions and experiments.
“Journey into the world of things"
In the project “journey into the world of things, playing and experimenting with everyday objects” the two- to three-year-old children did not use their usual toys. Instead, they could use brushes, filters, bike rims, and all sorts of technical equipment to tinker with, disassemble and reassemble – everything that adults use in their everyday life. In close cooperation with the artist Anat Manor, we concluded this project with an impressive exhibition.
Bambini Run
Once a year, our older children take part in the annual run at the Tiergarten, which is organized by Berliner Wasserbetriebe. It is a great community experience for them to run about 800 metres through the Tiergarten with other children. Of course, we prepare ourselves for this challenge together with a special “runner’s training”.
Travel
Biesenbrow is about 120 km northeast of Berlin, a place that some of the day care children have chosen as their favorite place. The annual day care trip gives them the opportunity to discover nature and the place for themselves. Here, they can run around and be close to animals (sheeps, donkeys, chickens, dogs, and cats). They also help prepare this annual trip as they have the opportunity to participate in a day trip there and observe the place. The children usually return with many impressions that help them to plan their longer trip.
Festivals and Celebrations
In the course of the year, we have many opportunities to celebrate. These feasts are important to us, give us a break from everyday life, are fun and leave us with beautiful memories. For our preschool children there is an annual children's festival in the "Freiraum" - the event hall of the culture department of studierendenWERK.