Even at a very young age, children connect language with people. They learn a language through everyday life, as well as through targeted play, singing and listening. This applies both to their mother tongue and to foreign languages.

Because one caregiver in each group speaks to the children only in English at native-speaker level, the children learn through play that caregiver A says „Apfel”, while the caregiver B calls the same object an „apple”. Your child will pick up their first foreign language without even noticing.


Language learning is one of the most important aspects of development for a young child. As the child becomes increasingly able to process and understand language and to use it productively to express their wishes or control interaction with others, the child becomes more and more integrated into human culture. The child thus shapes their social and personal identity.

Children are born „language all-rounders”. They are equipped with processing principles that allow them to learn very different mother tongues. Even immediately after birth, infants can distinguish human language from other sounds and are able to assign sounds to relevant phonological categories.

Aged around 10 months, children can differentiate categorically between sounds and differentiate words in their mother tongue from those in foreign languages. We foster your child’s linguistic skills through fun sound exercises in English.

The settling in phase for a child is a fundamental part of successful and good integration into the Glückskinder community. The younger the child, the more intense and mutual their relationship with their parents.

For both sides – the child and the parents – leaving this familiar environment for hours at a time is the greatest imaginable challenge.

The Berlin settling in model is an educational concept that gives the children a long period of time to familiarise themselves with their new surroundings and develop a close relationship with a specific caregiver (direct attachment figure). The involvement of one of the parents in the settling in process is a key feature of the concept.

We therefore plan the child’s settling in phase together with the parents in great detail, based on the Berlin model. It is very important to us that one specific parent is able to dedicate themselves to the process without limitation for a period of around 4 weeks. The settling in phase is complete when the child has developed an initial emotional bond with the caregiver. If the child feels at home, safe and emotionally secure, they will begin to independently explore their environment and make contact with other children.

This first shared undertaking forms the basis, and also an opportunity, for successful communication within the child-parent-caregiver relationship now and in the future.

We believe that consistent rules and daily routines help children to deal with everyday life more easily. That is why we have such a clearly structured daily routine.

Example:

7:30 Arrival and free play

The division of the group space into separate play areas is the basic requirement for useful free play. The areas may include a construction space, doll’s house, drawing table, picture book and breakfast space, handicrafts space and craft table. In this prepared environment, the children have the choice between a wide range of materials and play options on offer. They can choose whether to play alone or with others, and decide for themselves how long they want to spend on each activity.

The activities offered in the group space are constantly redesigned in line with the children’s needs, so that the children have plenty of opportunities to try new things and gain new experiences.

8:45 Morning circle time and breakfast together

10:00 Activities, time outdoors

Guided work in small groups during free play time gives children the opportunity to take part in relaxation exercises, educational courses, looking at picture books, household activities or crafts, or to work on an interesting topic as part of a project.

From 11:30 Lunch

From 12:30 Afternoon nap

3:00 pm Snack

From 3:30 pm Play, drawing, movement

Movement


The movement room – or our outdoor area if the weather is good – gives the children a very special opportunity to pursue their need for movement and be creative in a wide range of ways during their free play time. The children can choose between a ball pool, wall bars, large foam elements, a wobble board, blankets, climbing frames and slides. The children love using the materials independently and with great imagination, allowing them to experiment with movement in new ways all the time.

Projects in the groups

As we observe the children during the morning, talk to them and find out about their lives, we discover what they find interesting and important. All children bring experiences with them that influence what they do. We draw on these experiences when developing a project. Suggestions, ideas and requests are collected, written down and later put into practice together with the children.

6:30 pm End of the Glückskinder day

The day at Glückskinder is at an end. Our staff clear up the spaces, tidy up the rooms for the next day and return the blankets, toys and drawing and craft supplies to their original places, so that the children find everything just as they expect, when they return to the environment the next morning.