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The past year has brought A LOT of changes for Willa and us! They haven’t all came easy, but we are so grateful for this experience to learn and be immersed in the German daycare system! Thankfully, we can now fully say, WILLA LOVES KITA! She is thriving and learning so much everyday there!
WATCH OUR OTHER GERMAN KITA VIDEOS:
Going to German Kita PART 1: https://youtu.be/XmqkZ90nah0
German Kita Culture Shocks PART 2: https://youtu.be/HfvyVG_l6Bc
7 Months at German Kita as a Foreigner! Here’s What We Know! | Our Experience with German Daycare https://youtu.be/JrhFAY5WqhE
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Lots of love,
Tanner, Risa + Willa
37 Comments
What a nice idea to finish the first year of Kindergarten with a ceremony, a greeting card and handing over the pictures Willa has made in this time! 👍😀 You can now collect all her future pictures in this big folder!
As other followers have already told you you should really stop to use any vocabulary that has to do with school when talking about a Kindergarten. The children learn and play in groups, not in classes and are cared for by pedagogues or educators, called Erzieher/in in German. I heard that the first year of school, a kind of preschool, is called kindergarden in the US. But not so in Germany. In a German Kindergarten children from 3 to 6 or until they finally left for school, were looked after. And in the last year before school the children are called Vorschulkinder and are taught to concentrate longer and optimize some skills like drawing and using scissors. Originally most children came between 7.30 and 8 o'clock and were picked up before the Mittagessen. Only a few children came back from 2 to 4 p.m.. That was in the time when most women stayed at home as housewives. Later, when most mothers worked at least part time, more child care was needed. Without interruption at noon, but with a lunch at the Kindergarten and a sleeping break afterwards. So the institutions needed either larger kitchens or a good catering service and a room to let the children sleep there. Then the very young children between 1 and 3 years who still needed diapers, were also brought to the Kindergarten, and also school children whose parents were both working needed surveillance after school. So the Kindergarten institutions were reformed and most of them are now called a Kindertagesstätte. That means that they also take toddlers and very young children as well as school children (in the afternoons) and that they are open continuously for a much longer time now. The abbreviation of Kindertagesstätte is Kita.
Willa has grown into a big child.
Soon she has to learn to share with a sibling.
It's good that she has already found friends and learned to share in kindergarten.
I would love to hear Willa sing a german song from Kindergarten! How she said "Käfer" was perfect!
Kita is short for Kindertagesstätte.
The difference to the Kindergarten is that the Kita cares for the kids for the "whole" day (= til late afternoon).
"Das ist meins!" Willa has gotten used to speak German with you 🙂
What a lovely keep sake of willa journey of her First years of kita with the photos & her art work 🥰.
Great to hear willa has settled in to her new Group 😊 the time goes so fast .
Have a Good week 🥰
There is nothing like kid, to prove how adaptable us humans are.
Hi there, great to hear and to see how Willa is handling and enjoying to go to Kita. I am happy for her as well. She will make it. Please keep all her drawings, paintings and all other arts she has made so far. Not sure but my big collection is somewhere. Unfortunately I didnt made it up to being well recognized for that and future art works but may be Willa one day 😀. Dont get shocked when she comes back using words you wouldnt expect. Well, all bad behavoir she must have seen or teached by her comrades in Kindergarten 😀. Btw, most of the kids will find at least one supervisor in Kindergarten with a really good bond and will become "part of your family" I mean, they will know whats going on in your family too. I may not forget to say, that traveltime will be limited when she is on school. In Germany they are very strict and isnt easy to get them days off, even for just a single day. I wish Willa all the best, making lots of good friends. Are you already involved in the huge birthday celebration
some parents these days do ? For me it seems families have to top over each other in celebrating those days.
To me as a east german there is not an diffrence in age but in form
Kita csn be privat not as many kids ornits what your work office offers
Kause itbstands for Kindertagesstätte (child day care) they are watching ur child for the day alsondont have nessesarrily a outside area
While Kindergarten has multiple groups a lot of children an outside area and a lot of diffrent toys and educational toys and programs
Soni was confused at first
Because at least when i went to kindergarten we devided the ages here into
Krippe (babys technically)
Krappelgruppe (todlers )
And normal Kindergarten (3 -6)
West german terms always so confusing
You are the cutest family living in Germany right now. I hope you stay here at least until Willa is 15 years old or else many Germans will suffer from mental depressons…or is it just me. One thing I am very curious about is the super secret mission of your husband in Germany. You have never ever talked about in any of your videos….
It's really interesting that you differentiate btw kita (young kids group) and kindergarten (older ones) and I'm not sure if that are just the names in your Bundesland or if you call it that. I'm from Berlin and I work in a kita and here kita and kindergarten are the exact same. Kita is just the abbreviation. The exact name of the younger and older groups are different from kita kita here tho. So f. e we call it Nest (like in nest where little baby birds grew up in) and Elementarbereich (idk the right translation sry) but in another kita I heard them saying the babies are in the red saloon, the 2 to 3 year olds are in the blue room and the pre schoolers (4-5/6)are in the green saloon. There they just named the age groups after the colour of their group room.
Have a wonderful Sunday, lovely family! Hugs from the Netherlands!
It's no wonder the system is crashing and single working parents and parents who work long hours CANNOT find a Kita place, but parents that stay home, to work out, drink coffee all day, edit a video and watch TV get a Kita place no problem at all instead of keeping that child at home, doing painting and drawing activities etc. with their child and taking them to the local park and other activities to socialise with other children. Something needs to change! Parents working outside the home and single working parents NEED and deserve these Kita places more. There are far too many places taken up by parents who should not get them. I speak from experience! I see these kita places, 100's of them, filled by stay at home parents. A most unfortunate situation.
Ask ANY tiny child "do you want to go to kita, or do you want to stay home with your mummy/daddy/Oma und Opa?" 99% of the time they say they want to stay home. THAT'S why they cry and get sad when they get shoved off. YES, of course parents need to work. But clearly, MANY do not.
I think you just invented a new tradition 🎉
That should be a thing here in Germany 🖤
Happy first day of KiTa😊
And one tip to practise German, all the mentioned TV shows have a German version 😉
They are available with English subtitles.
Willa is wonderful! But it should also be said because she has great parents!
Its so nice to see Willa adapt so quick into her new kindergarden. I have worked there before and can confirm that its often better for the kid if the Mom or Dad is not around all the time.
So they are on themselfs and learn more independence. At first there are always some tears, but when the parent is out of the room, they smile after a few minutes. For learning and indepence it also helps if older kids are around. Willa looks so more grown up now and has more self-consciousness.
Willa is growing into a great little human being ❤️. Makes me remember when my boys were growing up. They do great, actually better than we do, at changing environments. Give that girl a huge hug for being so terrific! Love watching your little family experience life.
Traditionelly Kindergarten in West Germany was from the age of 3 to 6.
Usually the kids that turn 6 in the period from 1st of July to 30th of June go to school the following school year that starts in September in Bayern. But there can be exception if your kid is developing faster or slower.
Until about 25 years ago – it was not that usual that mothers worked before the kids turned 3 in Bavaria. In every village there was Kindergartens (and at that time their was no problem with how you name it) that served kids from 3 years on but barely places apart from the cities where you could bring your kid earlier. If you needed daycare for younger kids you usually got yourself a daymom – the "Jugendamt" helped you financially with the fees for her if your income for that was too low. At that time the state paid Erziehungsgeld until the kid was 2 – the state "Bavaria" added a 3rd year. Laws changed and the Erziehungsgeld was substituted by the Elterngeld that is higher but can only be claimed for one year.
Since 1996 each kid can claim to be taken care in Kindergarten from age 3 on – since 2013 it is one year.
Just wanted to put in some legal aspects and show the development in Germany – especially in Bavaria.
As some pointed out – Kindertagesstätte just is the name for daycare – it does not especially talk about the age of the kid and can mean after school care, too. The name I know for a care of kids from babies to 3 year olds is "Kinderkrippe" (crib) and from 3 on the common German word for it is Kindergarten.
These days everything is celebrated as an achievement. 🤷🏼♂️
There is nothing more beautiful than a happy, healthy, and beloved child.
Could Willa be any cuter? She has such an adorable personality. 😊
Konrad the crab is a figure in a German children's book. I don't remember the story but maybe Willa does since they must have heard it in Kita when they did the little craft <3
Your government blew up (or is responsible for blowing up) the pipeline.
Europe and especially Germany is filled up with refugees generated by the bombing your country did in Syria.
Erdogan will be blackmailing the EU with a tsunami of refugees and now also with gas, after the pipeline was destroyed.
Half of german businesses will go out of business very soon.
Poverty will expand like a grass fire here.
And you guys are reflecting about traveling and Kita.
Seriously?
Such a happy ending! These new adjustments are big steps for little kids! It was so nice that you lit a candle for her to celebrate the new chapter. It's obvious that you understand that Willa is not always going to be happy every single day! As parents we do what we can to make it a bit easier. That doesn't mean that Willa is not going to be independent. She's going to be fine because she is loved. ❤You can't spoil a child by being loving and giving a lot of attention! The only children who are spoiled are the neglected and abused ones!! I'm German but have lived in the States for a long time and when I read some of these comments I realize that I have become quite Americanized. Who cares if you call it class or group? It's perfect to light a candle for your little one if you want to! You are awesome parents! Love your videos. I don't love everything here but I do love the more relaxed ways people go about their daily life!
congrats – such a big girl now 🐞👍
as always cute willa ,nice couple
Are there any German TV shows you watched? I really recommend to watch the Eurovision song contest. I guess you already heard of it. It's a song competition of European countries and a very big event. Like the superbowl of Europe. I think it's going to take place in May every year.
This is so emotionally cute!!!
When will you do your first video in German?
I am sorry how "german" that comment section got. We will let you know if you got something wrong 😉
Learning new words and using them in the right way can be very confusing. Even some Germans are confused if it comes to differences between Krippe/Kita/ Kindergarten.
Willa will turn out well in Kindergarten. Everything is gonna be fine. Even Grownups are afraid with new jobs and new Coworkers.
If any of the nursery school teachers read this: you are doing an amazing job. Willa is so proud of her art. You put so much effort into making her feel special. Thank you so much!
Ok next to the term cute in any dictionary there should be a picture of sleepy Willa. So sweet!
I loved this video and see how Little Willa is growing and mainly how incredible clever and intelligent she is. The kita is GOOD for the kids and when they grow up NOT JUST HAVE A FRIEND of the most special feeling about in there but also the teachers…. I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT HER AND BOTH OF YOU.
We are here in Germany. Here we do not rate children of this age, nor do we give them doctoral hats. We just let them be kids. We don't use the word "graduate" for children of this age.
"Graduating", "class", "teacher"… those words seem weird in that context. We wouldn't compare "Krippe" and "Kindergarten" to school. It's not like you are learning a certin Curriculum there. And you don't neccessarily switch between them in summer. Just around your third birthday.
^^ its just the age, noone gradueates in kindergarten 😛
<3
love ur parenting/travelling/hiking and giving her impressions 🙂
thats important and nice!