Category: red

Our team is the core of the kindergarten. The basis of team work is effective communication. This includes supporting and complementing each other. The collaboration within the team creates a cooperative, equal, open and harmonious basis for team work. Every employee contributes according to their area of work.

The necessary preparation and reflection times as well as weekly team meetings are integrated in the daily running of the kindergarten. During the team meetings, the educators’ observations regarding the pedagogical work and administrative tasks are discussed and organized. The strong team spirit is based on constructive discussions and democratic decision making processes.

Once a month the entire team meets in order to reflect on its work with the necessary objectivity. The team is regularly engaging is professional development.

The relationship between the team members is nurtured through joined activities such as bowling and Christmas parties

Team Meeting

Once a week, the team comes together in order to share observations and identify ideas and interests of the children, which are used to plan and prepare projects, seasonal topics, pole play activities and songs.

A lot of time is given to discuss individual children and their behavior, skills and abilities, conflicts, difficulties, fears, position within society as well as their social, emotional, motoric and cognitive development and the child’s relationship to its care-givers, guardians, and the other children in the group. The team deliberates on strategies to solve problems and prepares parent meetings together.

Furthermore, the team plans the daily routine including, work hours, responsibilities, activities, the conducting of parent meetings, planning celebrations, planning parent evenings, organizes ideas and materials collaboratively and reflecting on possible changes within the team, current themes, the yearly planning and so forth. The team engages in informal, professional exchanges of ideas on a regular basis.

Professional development

In order to build on our abilities and competencies, all team members engage in professional training regularly. Every employee has the right to participate in trainings that are offered or take educational leave.

Each educator completes their own extensive preparation for their work. They collect ideas, search for materials, songs, games, etc. to enrich the project at hand and cater for the children’s developmental levels. They engage in professional literature such as journal articles, write documentation about parent meetings, parent letters and invitations. Each staff member collects topics for the agenda of the team meetings. These are also used for thorough preparation prior to parent meetings. Staff members engage in continuous reflection on their pedagogical work and the cooperation within the team. The team participates in regular professional development. The time is also used to purchase materials, run errands, organise appointments, and redesign the rooms.

Sufficient staff is employed to provide the wide spectrum of offers and the supervision of the children.

• Head educator,  40 hours per week
• Deputy head educator, 40 hours per week
• Educator, 40 hours per week
• Educator, 30 hours per week
• Educator, native English speaking educator, 40 hours per week
• Native English speaker, 40 hours per week

Furthermore, we employ trained staff, such as a native English speaking children’s yoga teacher, swimming instructors and other staff on a casual basis. In cases where a staff member is ill or the group is doing a special activity, additional casual staff is used to ensure the smooth running of the kindergarten. We are also a teaching kindergarten, offering on the job training to apprentices and ‘Anerkennungsjahrpraktikanten’ (interns, who have completed their school based training). We are also offering internships.

We accept children from 12 months on. Independent of nationality or religious view, we ensure a balance between age as well as gender.  Priority is given to sibling children and English speaking children. One to two times a year, we have an open day. On this day, parents and other interested persons can look at the kindergarten and find out about our philosophy and pedagogical work with the children.

To ensure that parents are convinced that they have chosen the right kindergarten, we offer visiting days free of charge.

Because of the rising demand and the unpredictable changes in the families’ life situations, we do not keep a waiting list.

Signing of the Contract:

Before completing the legally required contracts, we document the specific needs of the child such as eating habits and allergies. Furthermore, the parents receive information about our policies regarding health and an emergency contact sheet, both of which are discussed in detail. These will be used and followed in the case of a child showing signs of illness.

At Lilolei, all children aged 1 to school age are in one group. There are 30 children in the group. For certain pedagogical activities such as pre-school classes or children’s yoga we separate the children according to age or developmental level. This allows us to cater for the children’s individual needs.

The kindergarten is split into two separate areas.

On the left hand side of the Kita ‘Lilolei’, is a large room which is used for a variety of activities, free play as well as for meal times. Next to it is the ABC room, which is also used for pre-school classes. This room also contains the change table. Furthermore, the left hand side contains a cloak room, kitchen and toilet facilities for the children, educators and visitors.

The right hand side of the kindergarten contains the office.

Opposite the office is the sleeping room for our children. The sleeping room also has two change tables.

Next to the sleeping room is a play room. It is used as a multi-purpose room. Among other activities, it is used for the morning circle, yoga and certain pedagogical programs and activities, mainly for the U3 children (children under the age of 3). It was specifically designed to cater for these children.

When designing the kindergarten, we focused on using friendly colours and age appropriate furniture, which caters for the needs of the children. Children and adults can easily navigate their way around the kindergarten ‘Lilolei’ and feel safe. Although we value organization and order, we continue to redesign the rooms together with the children. The design of the rooms shall give a sense of comfort, warmth and safety.

The Art room is located at the end of a long hall way which is used to show case the children’s art work. It is important to us to nurture the children’s creativity and imagination. Therefore, we provide sufficient materials in the supply room.

The kindergarten is located in a refurbished ‘Altbau’ in Wilmersdorf, in the West of Berlin. Its location in Pfalzburger Str. is close to the city, quiet and close to public transport. The kindergarten is close to Nelson-Mandela-School, a library, many parks, a range of shops and possibilities for excursions. Furthermore, it is surrounded by many playgrounds. The Berlin district Wilmersdorf has about 315.000 inhabitants. It is considered the “City-District” of the West part of Berlin featuring the Kurfürsten Damm as its vibrant center. Its Shopping Miles with exclusive boutiques and cafés are main attractions for tourists from all over the world. The western part of Berlin Wilmersdorf provides the benefits of a relaxing and good neighborhood while being close to the city. The center of Wilmersdorf however seems like a small town featuring quiet, family-friendly residential areas with apartment buildings from the beginning of the 20^th century, many parks and playgrounds.