The transition into school is a big change for all children going to kindergarten. The Stiftung Kindergärten Finkenau takes part in the quality initiative Brückenjahr (literally translated as “Bridge Year”, meaning the year before enrolment) to prepare and provide professional guidance for the important transition from kindergarten to school.

In Hamburg, parents can decide whether their child continues to go to the kindergarten or goes to pre-school, where it already starts learning about letters, numbers, etc. The parents are faced with a major challenge that often leads to uncertainty: will my child be missing out if it stays at kindergarten? Could there be disadvantages for my child in comparison to others? …

10 good reasons for the Bridge Year at kindergarten

• A diverse range of learning opportunities – the facility’s entire educational staff incorporates the broad spectrum of educational areas here. Exercise-oriented offers continue to have high priority. The individual interests and talents of all children are nurtured.
• Language support – language support is a key objective; it can take place in special language support units (with internal or external language support staff) as well as in everyday language situations.
• Child-teacher ratio – compared to the pre-school class in schools, the ratio is usually better here. As a result, there is usually more leeway for excursions and explorations through the district. All of the facility’s staff members are available for projects with their specialist fields. In some cases, speech pathologists and other therapists come directly to the facility as well.
• Reconciliation of family and working life – we offer support service with early and late shifts from a single source with flexible care periods.
• Healthy meals / communal meals – we offer mostly organic food and wholefood products. The children share in the communal breakfast and lunch and are given drinks and fruit.
• Stimulatingly arranged indoor and outdoor spaces – our kindergartens are pedagogically created “spaces for children”.
• Learning integrated daily life – we are guided by the Hamburg educational guidelines for pre-school learning; we have the liberty to alternate structured forms of learning with playful, movement-oriented and above all self-determined forms of learning. In addition, our “Bridge Year” children benefit from all other activities in the kindergarten. They develop social skills that are crucial for successfully attending school later (speaking before a group, taking turns, waiting for their own turn, presenting their interests, resolving conflicts, experiencing disappointments, etc.).
• Learning in a familiar setting – the presence of trusted people as well as familiar surroundings support the children in embracing learning opportunities and strengthen them in their personal development.
• Change of status “I’m big now” – the children learn in mixed-age groups that they are now (and just here) the “big ones”; they are role models for the younger ones and take on responsibility (guardianships).
• Counselling for parents and development observation – before every new “Bridge Year”, the parents are invited to a parents’ evening. The children’s development is carefully documented and the development meetings take place based on standardised competence assessment sheets (Kompetenz-Einschätzbögen – KEKS) and by means of the educational and learning stories. All adults are thereby aware of the respective child’s resources, skills and aptitudes.

 [taken from, summarised & complemented: Bausteine für das Kita-Brückenjahr, translated as “Building Blocks for the Kindergarten’s Bridge Year”]

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