1st KINDERGARTEN
FOUR-FOREST's Early Years department is our 1st kindergarten. It is here that young children are given their all-important introduction to learning. We provide a caring, happy and stimulating environment in which every child matters.
We believe that every child has the right to an individual and high-quality education that encourages our children to become life-long learners.
Our 1st kindergarten provides children from the age of three years an effective introduction to concepts which are central to successful learning, without subjecting the children to any feeling of pressure.
Play is the language of childhood and is an essential tool. In a carefully planned setting, this tool is used to teach children how to learn, how to find things out, how to turn interests into knowledge and how to fully develop their natural aptitude for learning.
Classroom activities include sand, water, modelling, arts and craft, construction, books, games, songs, puzzles and role-play in our child-size chalet. As the children develop, we foster their skills in reading, language and numbers to provide a secure basis for numeracy and literacy. In small groups, children are immersed in two rich language environments staffed by a German-speaking and an English-speaking team. Children in the two classes are introduced to concepts in the following areas of learning:
- knowledge and understanding of the world
- communication, language, reading and writing
- mathematical development
- personal, social and emotional development
- expressive arts and design
- physical development
The bilingual 1st kindergarten at FOUR-FOREST offers an ideal foundation for subsequent transferal to our 2nd kindergarten.
Programme
At FOUR-FOREST we offer a standard three morning programme for the three-year olds (highlighted in the plan below in green) and a five-morning programme for the four-year olds. The mornings finish at 11.45am. It is also possible for all children to join one or more of the afternoon programmes. The afternoon programmes finish at 3.15pm.
Schedule
Children may visit our Early Bird Club which opens at 7.30am. In Early Bird the children play, draw, colour or listen to music or stories with other children. The morning programme begins at 8.45am and ends at 11.45am. After mid-morning snacks, children enjoy playing outside on the playground.
Children and teachers eat lunch together in their own dining room. After a nap or a rest the children play outdoors before the afternoon programme continues at 1:15pm.
In the afternoon, children can be picked up at 3.15pm or they can stay in the After-School Club, where they will be cared for until 6.00pm.
Bilingual Forest School
We attach great importance to movement and outdoor play, and as such we offer our youngest learners weekly sessions, throughout the year, therefore experiencing all weathers and the changing seasons. FOUR-FOREST’s outdoor classroom encourages an appreciation of the natural world and builds self-esteem and confidence. The philosophy of an outdoor classroom is to encourage and inspire children through positive experiences and participation in engaging and achievable tasks and activities in a natural environment, helping to develop personal, social and emotional skills.
Children need time to thoroughly explore their thoughts, feelings and relationships. This develops understanding of the world, the environment and everything within it through use of their emotions, imagination and senses. In our Forest School children gain confidence in their own ability and learn to treat the environment and every kind of life with respect. Kinaesthetic learners are particularly suited to learning in this woodland outdoor environment. The children are supervised by fully trained and qualified specialists.