Amos Comenius Day Care Centre

In our group of three mixed-age children, the sea children, the forest children and the sky children, as well as the youngest (up to two years old), the animal children, we give your child creative freedom and encourage it early in its development.

Why are we called Amos Comenius?

Amos Comenius (1592-1670) is one of the most famous teachers. He was the first to come up with the idea of raising children outside the home, which was the prototype of a kindergarten. He saw schools as »workshops of humanity«, in which everyone should be taught in everything. He understood education not only as the accumulation of knowledge, but also as the goal of learning to learn. His approaches influenced August Hermann Francke's educational reforms, which can still be felt today in the school and education system.

Our Concept

We look after your children in multi-age groups. This enables the children to accept age differences within a community as normal at an early age and to learn from each other. In the groups, we strive for a balanced relationship between creative freedom and targeted learning opportunities. Playing, handicrafts and painting are as much a part of the day as practicing certain motor skills through dance and sport and preparing the older children for school through language games and simple set theory. Through a cooperation with the Robert Koch indoor swimming pool, swimming lessons up to the acquisition of the DLRG seahorse badge are possible. Activities and celebrations together with the parents promote not only the contact between parents and educators, but also within the parenthood. The aim of these activities is to support the children at an early age and to prepare them for life and not just for school. We also rely on the active participation of the children. The children jointly elect a children's council, which is involved in the decisions of the Day Care Centre. In this way the children learn to formulate their own wishes and to have a voice in the content.

Our rooms

Our nursery uses rooms on the ground floor and on the 1st floor of the building in Voßstraße, which was completely renovated in 2005. Our rooms open directly into the large garden, which we use in all weathers. The children of the Montessori Kinderhaus and the after-school care of August Hermann Francke also use the garden.

The animal children, sea children and sky children each have an area with a children's kitchen, sanitary facilities and cloakroom. The forest children use a storey room. We also have various rooms for creative activities:

• The Klexraum is a painting place in which children can use the maximum freedom of painting: Free painting on sheet after sheet, different techniques without interpretation, without the urge to teach. Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:oo a.m. on, the Klexraum is open to play and awaits enthusiastic children to paint. Creative things and handicrafts are also created. A wooden farm and round-abouts are there for discovering and playing.
• A Bewegungsraum in the cellar invites you to romp around and try out new movements. We use sports equipment according to the concept of movement pedagogue Elfriede Hengstenberg. The children learn to know their own movement potentials and learn to assess their own abilities in a playful way.
• In the Musik- and Theaterraum in the basement, the children can gather their first musical and acting experiences and rehearse small performances together. The room is also used by us as a sports room.

   

Our Team

At the present time the Director, the Deputy Director, 15 educators, an educator, a pedagogical assistant and a technical assistant are working in the Comenius day care centre. After many qualifying further training courses, we offer English lessons in mixed-age groups as well as musical and religious education courses. Children aged 4 and over can sing in our Daycare Choir. Pre-school children also have the opportunity to gain their first experience in theatre play. With them we also regularly visit the Pflanzgarten School Garden of the Francke Foundations for offers in environmental education.

On certain occasions during the church year, the pastor of the foundation, Friedrich Wegner, visits the day-care centres of the Francke Foundations. At the Amos Comenius daycare centre, he talks to pre-school children about important church festivals: Advent and Christmas, Passion and Easter, Pentecost, Thanksgiving and Saint Martin. The children learn in a playful way why these festivals are celebrated.