Concept

Education according to Maria Montessori: Becoming independent at your own pace

Independently at your own pace

All Biberbau kindergartens are oriented in their educational work according to the approach of Maria Montessori. The quintessence? Children have their own pace of development, based on their individual needs. Read here how we support your child in his or her development.

Help me to do it myself

As early as 1907, the Italian physician, scientist and philosopher Maria Montessori began developing her reform educational concept - at a time when authoritarian upbringing and educational concepts were seen as clear benchmarks for child development. Maria Montessori broke with the authoritarian tradition by closely observing early childhood behavior and over the years formulated a very true-to-life, needs-oriented theory of children's learning behavior, which has lost none of its relevance to this day. Montessori education is constantly being developed according to the demands of our time, but the basic principles remain the same: education takes place through observation - and should be adapted to the needs of the child, his or her own inner, individual "blueprint".

For the Kindergarten Biberbau, this means: We accept your child as he or she is and help him or her to gain as much independence as he or she can. And we put trust in the inner drive and curiosity. To do this, we create a lovingly designed environment according to each child's nature, stage of development and needs. Montessori education also sees itself as learning through comprehension. By freely choosing his or her activity (free play), your child can remain absorbed in it for as long as he or she wishes. Because of this voluntary concentration and the time we give your child, he/she will reach a deep, inner satisfaction, which is important for his/her positive development.

Show me how to do it. Don't do it for me. I can and will do it on my own.

Take the time to observe your child closely when he or she learns something new. You will see: Even babies try to imitate certain movements that you know them to do. A good example is the independent use of a spoon when eating. Your child may hold the spoon upside down at first. It will not hit the mouth, spill with porridge. Very likely, it will get angry in between because everything is not working as expected. But once interest is aroused, your child will not give up until he or she can safely guide the spoon to the mouth by himself or herself - and do it with enthusiasm! These small successes will strengthen your child's self-confidence and independence and motivate him or her to take learning and developmental steps at his or her own pace.

Have patience to understand my ways. They may be longer. I may need more time because I want to make several attempts.

Of course, in everyday life you don't always have time to accompany a child in a needs-oriented way. After all, one of the great challenges of family life is to reconcile the needs of all family members without anyone being forgotten or disadvantaged. Especially in the often demanding daily life, Kindergarten Biberbau supports you in making room for the needs-oriented development of your child.

We work with proven materials from the Montessori pedagogy. On the one hand, these are play, learning and motor skills equipment that are used according to your child's age and preferences and encourage independent exploration and trial and error. On the other hand, we give your child the space and time he or she needs. Our educators offer opportunities - they don't demand anything from your child. They see the individual needs. And they give each child as much time as they need to learn new things. In this way, we celebrate each small milestone in your child's development with you as parents, and you can be confident that he or she has achieved it through his or her own efforts and with great joy.

Allow myself to make mistakes and make an effort - because I can learn from them.

Failure is also part of growing. Children learn quickly to cope with situations that are frustrating for them. It is crucial to accompany them lovingly and encourage them not to give up. Child-centered support and attentive care in the first years of life lay the foundation for a self-confident, healthy development of your child. In our kindergartens, we observe every day how children outgrow themselves - and we are happy to be part of it.

Pikler pedagogy in the Biberbau

Mindfulness. Security.

Even the youngest children communicate with us: when it comes to satisfying their basic needs, but also beyond that. Emmi Pikler developed the concept of mindful and loving communication in a protected space - one of our most important foundations in the Biberbau.

Give me space, give me time

The loving, mindful pedagogy according to the Viennese pediatrician Emmi Pikler is based on an appreciative image of the child as an individual, similar to that of Maria Montessori. Every child has its own personality and therefore its own learning and developmental pace, which can vary greatly from child to child. You know how it is: some children start talking very early, others are more motorically fit. Still others are enthusiastic about music and creativity at an early age. We would like to get to know this "learning personality" of your child and accompany him on his way. The basic principle of Emmi Pikler applies to us: The child develops all motor skills and self-confidence by itself, if it has a correspondingly appreciative and loving environment for it. The Kindergarten Biberbau offers this environment.

Safety and communication - even with the youngest children

According to Emmi Pikler, education begins very early, namely with infant care. This is also logically understandable, after all, a baby makes the largest part of its social experiences in the first time during the satisfaction of its basic needs. Feeding, bathing, diapering, dressing and undressing create the first moments of social interaction. You will notice this at home: Even the smallest ones communicate with you, expressing well-being and displeasure as well as the desire to do something themselves. If a baby or toddler demands through signals or verbally that they want to participate - Do it yourself! Eat yourself! Dress yourself! - we give them the space to try things out. We communicate attentively with your child and get to know him or her with all their preferences and idiosyncrasies. In order for your child to feel comfortable with us, we give him or her time and fixed attachment figures. Through this bond between your child and his or her caregivers, we make sure that we understand your child well and are there for him or her.

Free, undisturbed play and movement

Your child enjoys exploring its environment. In the protected space of their Biberbau group, it moves a little further each day - or chooses to take a break and go to the safe environment of its reference teacher.

In our group rooms, we offer your child high-quality Pikler furniture, such as the Arch Ladder. Your child can use it to test its own limits in gross motor skills and gradually push them. If it uses the rungs at first to stand up and hold on, it will soon be able to climb and train his own balance. We communicate gently with your child, we don't steer it and we don't speed up steps that your child doesn't want to take yet. After all, grass doesn't grow faster if you pull on it - and your child should explore the environment safely and securely.

Immersion - learning language through play

At Biberbau, we speak German and English with the children, enabling a gentle introduction to multilingualism. Find out here how we implement our bilingual concept - and what the benefits are for your child's development.

In the Biberbau kindergartens in Freiham and Untergiesing, the children also have the opportunity to participate in various activities in English during core time in the morning from 9:00 to 12:00.

Two languages? For sure!

According to scientific research, the best way to develop and learn a second language is through play. Through their natural curiosity and the perception of different sounds, tones and timbres, young children learn to recognize and assign differences. These prerequisites act as a universal key for all languages. It does not matter whether your child grows up monolingual or multilingual at home. Your child has a German and an English-speaking caregiver at its Biberbau Bogenhausen daycare center and thus has the choice of language itself. This principle of language immersion allows your child to make use of an already existing ability because every child "learns" his or her own world.

Language builds bridges

Children learn through play - and often very quickly. Especially when it comes to language, we observe how rapidly early childhood development proceeds. It often takes only a few months for a baby to imitate sounds before it can utter its first real words. Your child uses all the senses available to it in its development: smelling, tasting, feeling - and hearing. Especially when we communicate a lot. This is where we come in - with playful language development in German and English.

Singing, playing, learning

In the Biberbau, we implement the theme of bilingualism consistently, but also very cheerfully and playfully. Surely you will notice after only a few weeks how your child incorporates new words and expressions into their daily communication. And they will be delighted when you sing, recite or show them an English song, a counting rhyme or a game. The Biberbau children are enthusiastic about what they are doing and often full of joy about their own progress at an early age. And bilingual support has been proven to have many benefits for your child's cognitive, as well as social, development. Even very young children learn the ability to take perspective through the use of different languages, can express themselves better and develop a good feeling for their counterparts. These are important steps in development - in which we are happy to accompany you and your family.

Well looked after - all day long.

Your child needs time and rest

At Kindergarten Biberbau, loving and careful supervision of your child is very important to us – at every booking time. This requires the appropriate personnel capacities - we pay attention to the best possible qualifications when selecting our staff and guarantee an excellent care ratio.

Needs-oriented development requires time and quiet

One thing is certain: overburdened educators will have a hard time doing excellent work. For this reason, it is very important to us that each educator only looks after a limited number of children at the same time. This is important for the positive development of your child - and the positive work attitude of our team. Because free and need-oriented growing and learning is only possible if no tense situations arise.

Security for the youngest

For the children in our crèche group, it is first and foremost important to find a familiar environment. After all, many of our youngest children are separated from their parents for the first time for a longer period of time. The 0-3 year olds are therefore cared for in the Biberbau by a permanent team of educators. With a group size of 12 children, this means three teachers. The kindergarten group with 22-25 children from 3-6 years is looked after by three teachers. So you can be sure that competent and trustworthy staff will be there for your child at all times - no matter which booking time you choose. We focus on quality in our work and therefore have more staff than is often the case.

Care in the hands of professionals

Our team not only has the best pedagogical qualifications, but also a lot of experience - and all of our staff are constantly learning: At in-house training courses, at the Biberbau Academy we have set up, and also at training courses from external providers, we deepen our knowledge of how to best care for and accompany your child. New employees are trained through our internal buddy project and are taken by the hand when they start. Everyone in the Biberbau team shares the philosophy of our concept, we are constantly exchanging ideas and learning from each other. Your child - and your family - will benefit from this. After all, we want to give you the feeling that you can rely on us 100%.

Step by step at home in the Biberbau

The acclimatization process at Biberbau is based on the Berliner Modell - a method of acclimatization for children under the age of 3 that has been tested and scientifically researched over many years. The basic principle is that the child gets to know a new step on each day of the acclimation. The total duration of the settling-in period is 3 weeks.

Admission interview

In the Biberbau, the admission interview takes place before the child settles in. During the one-hour interview, we get to know the family well and, of course, ask for all important data about the family and the child. In addition to contact information, information about allergies and people to pick up the child, we also ask about the child's eating, sleeping and playing habits. By asking these questions, we are later prepared for the child and his or her family in the best possible way during the settling-in process.

First week

The first week of settling in is for getting to know each other. During the first three days, the reference teacher is alone in the group room with the settling-in parent and the child for one hour in the afternoon. During this time, the goal is for all three to get to know each other and to trust each other. Therefore, no separations take place here, nor are other children and educators present. It is not until the fourth day of settling in that the parent and child get to know the rest of the group and the other teachers. They spend another hour in the Biberbau, take part in our morning circle and familiarize themselves with the play situation in the group. After about 50 minutes together in the group, the parent says goodbye and leaves the group room for about 10 minutes. This first separation is usually an emotional moment for parents and children, which we accompany gently.

Second week

In the following days, the parent's visit time in the group is reduced more and more and that of the child is extended. Little by little, the child gets to know new aspects of the Biberbau: playing in the group without the parent, daily diapering with the reference teacher, eating in their new environment, brushing teeth and washing hands after lunch. Until the end of the second week, the child is picked up before bedtime at 12:00.

Third week

From the third week of settling in, the child begins to sleep in the Biberbau at midday as well. Together with the other children and under the supervision of the teachers, the child learns to put on his or her pajamas and to find peace in his or her bed. The teachers of the group accompany the child very intensively in order to give the child a feeling of safety and security. With the completion of bedtime and the extension of your child's stay to the desired booking time until the end of the third week, the acclimation is complete.

Recommendation for parents

We recommend that parents allow approximately four weeks for the acclimation process. Even though the acclimation process itself only takes 15 working days, parents should build in buffers. For example, the child may be sick for a few days during the settling-in period. This automatically extends the time. It can also happen that the reference teacher falls ill during the first two weeks of the settling-in period. In this case, the settling-in period must also be interrupted. Only after the third week can another teacher from the group continue the acclimation.