Volunteering at the Evangelische Nazarethgemeinde Kindergarten

I feel fortunate to have been invited as a volunteer at the Evangelische Nazarethgemeinde Kindergarten. I had to apply and try out to become a volunteer, as volunteering is not something that German schools are too familiar with. I love the school. It is for children ages 3-6, and they all intermingle. It is such a wonderful learning environment. What I love about it is that it incorporates the open classroom philosophy in which children have the freedom to explore their own areas of learning in centers of their own choosing. They can stay in one room all day long, if they like, or all week long as they explore their interests and work at their own pace; or they may ask their teacher if they can go to a different room to explore something new. The children amaze me in how long they are able to hold their attention on their self-chosen tasks. There is very little teacher instruction given, although they group for art activities. The teachers do not present "lessons" as such, but offer support and encouragement to the children as they explore. They mostly observe, praise, and encourage.They are very tolerant and loving to the children, and the children are very loving with one another and their teachers and quite kind and careful with each other.

There are seven teachers and seven classrooms.The teachers rotate to different classrooms every eight weeks. Each Tuesday, all the teachers spend from 2:00 to 6:00 in a planning meeting while the parents watch the children. Each classroom is set up as a specific learning environment. There are two art rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. The upstairs room also doubles as the gathering room to check children into school. Another room is for building, construction, puzzles, and take apart, and it doubles as the story room later in the afternoon. There is another room with round tables that doubles for the library, music, and snack area when needed. There is a big gymnasium with lots of large motor equipment, and it is very loud with lots of happy children. There is a lot of physical hugging and play, especially among the boys.

The playhouse room is very large with real beds. It doubles as the rest time room. At rest time, it's interesting that even children at four years of age are undressed, diapered, and tucked into bed with their own pacifiers. They go to sleep in the dark with the door closed. When they wake up, they are changed and dressed by their teachers.Yet many of these same children, who wake up with binkies in their mouths, ride to school on their own two-wheelers. There are no tricycles at the school, but the younger children bring their little two-wheelers without pedals that they push along with their feet to learn how to balance. There is no designated bike path on the playground. They just ride around being careful not to run over anyone. The children are given great freedom in playing on their wonderful playground. Their agility is excellent for their ages, and as one teacher explained, "Physical activity is very important for brain development." The teachers trust that the children will play well with one another, no matter how adventurous they are being, even climbing up the slide on top of one another while trying to push giant building blocks up into the tree house fort. There is very little intervention by teachers or time out. The children enjoy coming to them for an occasional hug or conversation. I even got a hug from one little boy as I left the school.

Here is a funny story. A little three-year-old boy came up to me with a question in German. I looked at his sweet face blankly, and he repeated himself. Then he repeated himself a little louder, and then very loudly. I guess he thought that I was deaf, because I couldn't answer him. I finally said, "Ich spreche English," and he rolled his eyes and walked off. The children are working with me to teach me German, and I am so appreciative. Now I have a great desire to learn the German language so that I can communicate with these darling children. I am happy to have the opportunity to serve in this environment and grateful to have been accepted as a volunteer at this lovely school.

Here are some photos: