Gentle daycare entry with Berlin habituation model
The right to care
Since August 2013, every child in Germany has a legal entitlement to a childcare place in a day care center (Kita) from the age of one. So far the theory. How this claim can be realized in practice is another question. Which distance to the Kita is considered? Still reasonable ?? What if the pedagogical approach of the (legally) conceivable kindergarten does not appeal to you? In the conurbations of German cities, it is now advisable to submit the application for a Kitaplatz before the birth of the child. Then there is the chance until the second birthday of the child on the waiting list to have slid up enough to actually make use of the right of care. There is a lack of many things: enough free day-care, well-trained educators and, of course, the money to remedy these abuses. But enough of the complaint: The media-effective Kitastreiks of the past year have already brought the topic in the focus. We want to devote ourselves here to the question of what to look out for, if for your own child actually a kitaplatz got hold of, was fought or even prosecuted.
Personal relation
I worked as a teacher in Berlin for over ten years and as a man there was always a minority (male educators make up only three percent of all kiteboarding staff). The work colleagues are usually colleagues and also in the parenting one has to do it with the mothers as with the fathers. As the "odds man"? I first worked in a private care with the very little ones of one to three years. After that I was responsible for the group of two- to four-year-olds in a Protestant day care center. In both institutions, it quickly became clear that my core competence lies in the area of familiarization. Why? I do not know, it just worked well. In the following text, for the sake of readability, only the male form, "educator", applies to me. used. Please the gendered? /in? think for yourself.
Stress factor familiarization
From a child's point of view, getting used to it usually means one thing: stress. The bond built up to the usual caregivers is abruptly put to the test. The task of the educator is to build a new and, above all, sustainable relationship with the uprooted child. It takes time, patience and above all: the cooperation of the parents. I've seen many mothers who find it harder to get out of bed during the settling process than their children. Luckily, the days when children were simply thrown into the cold water are long gone: deliver the child in the morning on the first day of kindergarten, let it cry and pick it up in the afternoon, still crying. So saw? Familiarization? often until the 90s. My older colleague in the Protestant day-care center (district Prenzlauer Berg, former GDR) told me about it.
The Berlin model of familiarization
This approach to familiarization was developed by the Berlin-based institute INFANS (Institute for Applied Socialization Research / Early Childhood e.V.) in the early 1990s specifically for the admission of children under the age of three in nurseries and day care centers. INFANS was founded in 1988 by the sociologist Hans-Joachim Laewen and the educationalist Beate Andres together with a group of former scientific staff and graduates of the Department of Infant Education at the Free University of Berlin.
The Berlin model is a bond-oriented concept that focuses on the attachment of the child to the parents and the educator. It is divided into several phases and oriented in the course and duration of the needs and opportunities of the child. This means that the pace of familiarization is determined by the child himself. Before acclimation, there is a detailed conversation between parents and educators. This serves the first getting to know each other and the detailed planning of the acclimatization time. Since the actual duration of familiarization can not be estimated, a parent should schedule sufficient time with safety buffers. In the following, the three phases of the Berlin model are explained in more detail.
The basic phase
Parent and child spend three to six days together for a few hours in everyday life in the group room. During this time, the educator contacts the child through play offers or participation in the game. For the mothers (or rare fathers) applies here: Always be responsive to the child, never push it to play with others and even not play with other children. The child needs the certainty that mother or father devote all their attention to him. If the child wants to sit on the (safe) lap at first, that's fine. If it breaks loose and deals with toys or other children, that's a good sign.
Stabilization and separation phase
In theory, this phase begins on the fourth day of settling in. The educator continues to develop contact with the child, helps him with lunch and plays with him.Mother or father only intervene when the relationship of trust between child and educator is not strong enough. Otherwise, the role of the parent is limited to passive presence. Now the first separation can take place. This should not be longer than half an hour. During the separation, mother or father must be in the immediate vicinity to be able to quickly be back at any time. The reaction of the child to this first separation determines the further course of familiarization. If the child is confident and only slightly irritated, the time of separation can be slowly increased in the following six days. However, if the child does not console himself or cries or tries to follow the parent, this period of acclimatization will be extended to two to three weeks.
final phase
The stabilization phase is considered completed when the child has established a clearly perceptible emotional attachment to the educator. At the departure of mother or father, it may still protest or cringe, but it can be comforted quickly and persistently by the educator. Now parents no longer need to stay in the facility, but should be available when a child's crisis requires a quick return.
My advice
If your offspring will soon be in the day care center, address the important topic of familiarization (if the educators do not do it anyway). Read on the net testimonials from other parents who have acclimated their child to the Berlin model. In my opinion, the best way to settle a child with as little (emotional) stress as possible. However, it takes time and patience. There should never be more than two children in a group at the same time. In most kindergartens, the personnel key does not allow that anyway. If the educators work in your new day care center for other acclimation concepts, these question. Do not let yourself be phrased like that? It will, at first they all howl !? put off and send away. If educators do not want parents to be in the group for a while, that's usually not a good sign.
Have you had any experience with settling in a day care center with your children? If so, report in the comments.
