Children and learning
We believe that all children are meant to explore and experiment. At Billabong, they are encouraged to initiate their own inquiries and try to make sense of their surrounding world. We believe trustworthy and caring adults have the ability to create an environment that is safe, supportive, creative, inquisitive and fun.
All children are the same, but every child is unique – the situational approach
We see each child as autonomous and competent; and everyone has unique backgrounds, interests and strengths. The children bring their own personal experiences into our kita life and they are all equally important in our community. We are proud of the international nature of our kita, and we strive to integrate the interests and cultural backgrounds of each child in our daily work, while also considering how we can best integrate uniqueness into the group as a whole.
Children’s interests guide our learning activities, projects and pedagogy. Sometimes activities are the direct result of an idea that has been raised by the children. Other times, they are based on their desire to explore different specific themes or lessons. Our projects are constantly being discussed, reflected upon and evaluated together with the children. This approach is meant to encourage confidence in the children and offer a sense of agency in each child. Our hope is also to foster democratic values necessary for life outside the kita’s walls.
The teachers’ role
Our kita has five teachers — three of whom speak German with the children and two who speak native English.
Our task as educators is to support the children in all developmental areas and to facilitate their learning processes. Encouragement, motivation, organization and communication are all vital aspects to daily practice. We work in partnership with the children by observing, documenting and analyzing their behavior to gain a deeper understanding of each child’s development and emerging interests.
Language
Bilingualism is at the core of our pedagogical work. Our language-immersion approach means that the children simultaneously engage in both German and English equally throughout their day at kita. Following the principle of “one person, one language,” teachers speak only their native language with the children. In our kita, bilingualism is something that is meant to be organic and consistent. It is promoted not only in everyday communication but also through books, songs and rhymes.
The Berliner Bildungsprogram
The Berliner Bildungsprogramm forms our pedagogical framework and offers established guidelines for our daily work.