Good to know the terms! We didn’t know what to call them, but that makes sense. 😊 And that’s good because she does miss some for travels and family time!
Yes cause she is so young. Family time is more important than "school " that age. 😊everything before the age of 6 is kindergarten, preeschool or daycare in Norway. 😊
@@OurStorytoTell she is so young yet. Dont need school yet😉. School comes soon enough . 😊I am a preeschool teacher and mother of 3. Enjoy them much as possible as toddlers. Time passes by too quickly
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.
I think it might depend on the place and/or Bundesland: Our childcare is called “Kita” also for the older kids until they leave for primary school. They do differentiate between under 3 and over 3 (U3/Ü3) or mixed age groups (altersgemischte Gruppe).
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!
Hi, we are also a couple of Americans deployed in rural Bavaria, can you please tell us about your kita? Where is located and if it is avialable for Americans if we live in the town?
Even if it is hard to watch your kids cry but the truth is the biggest growth results from some "struggle". People who have it just easy most of the time tend to behave more like a child when they are grown up. They simply couldn't really learn how to deal with some struggle.
Little lady Willa is so cute, seeing her growing up so nice is wonderful. She is blessed with her wonderful open minded parents that showing her so much from the world. The first day's at a new place like a Kita is difficult, but I'm sure she finds a lot of nice friends that love to play with her. Is it a normal German Kita were she goes?
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 🥰
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.
Another fact is that the term "Kita" was more common in Eastern Germany because women there were expected to return to work sooner. They would sometimes have their kids start Kita at the age of 6 months and they would stay there up to ten hours. That is the main difference between the term Kita and Kindergarten. Kindergarten would end around 1pm (like elementary school). Nowadays these terms are not as c!early defined!
@@Fixmix78 Just in the mornings - even my Kindergarten in a small village opened in the afternoons, too - and that was at the beginning of the 70s in Bavaria. My son's then had a group where you could bring them from 7:30, all day (apart from Friday afternoon) until 16:30. That was in the 90s. That they opened a toddler group started about 10 years later. For me - that worked full time starting when my son was 2 months old that was not sufficient so I always had my Mom, Granny and a day mom taking care of him even when he was in Kindergarten.
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.
We couldn’t agree more! It was a bit of a struggle for her to share but now you wouldn’t believe how well she shares! Thank you kita 🙏😂 Good timing with a baby on the way 😊
@@OurStorytoTell It is important to learn social skills and she does that in KITA. But she also learns German and other things while playing. Her world will be bigger, maybe a balance if she will share mummy at home.
In Germany you don’t graduate from Kita or Kindergarten since they’re not part of the compulsory school system. You only graduate from high school or university.
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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.
We are for sure keeping all of her paintings and drawings! 😊 And oh we have already heard her say so many new words in the past couple weeks. It’s really fun 😊 And great tip about the supervisor… we are starting to form that relationship already! So special!
And no we don’t go all out for birthday parties! We want to make them special but we aren’t into all the huge & intricate decorations… don’t have time for it 😂
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
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.
Kita is _Ki_nder_ta_gesstätte. And Kindergarten is normally from 4 to 6 year, everything before is considered Kinderkrippe. Therefore both Kindergarten and Kinderkrippe are called Kita. Even a Kinderhort (for kids of school age) is considered a Kita.
@@quentinmunich9819 what's the difference between Kindertagesstätte and kindergarten? In Berlin a regular kindergarten is open from 6.30/7 to 17 o clock and it start from the ages 2 to 5/6. But again I guess it's a west and east difference again. My aunt lives in baden Württemberg and she told me that the "late" opening time (meaning opened until 14) is something you need to "Book" for your child specifically bc it's not usual for them to be open that "late". I was shocked when she told me that bc how are parents supposed to work then?
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.
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.
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!
Hey Erika! Thanks so much for your comment! We definitely can relate with the mindset you now have as you've lived in the States! We appreciate the straightforwardness of Germans, but it is kind of interesting the differences of thought process lol! We agree that you can't spoil a child either! :) So again, thank you for taking the time to write your comment! :)
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.
Great info!! We will be sure to use the proper terms from here out! We know its definitely not like school, but didn’t know how else to explain them. So thanks! Interesting to hear about the process. 😊
I guess you mix up the terms Kita (=KInderTAgesstätte), Kinderkrippe and Kindergarten, and maybe of Kinderhort. Kita is the umbrella term for Kinderkrippe (age 0 to 3rd birthday), Kindergarten (age 2/3 to 6/7) and Kinderhort (school children) So Willa finished Kinderkrippe/Krippe and now she is in Kindergarten, but still goes to KiTa.
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.
We didn't know otherwise until the comments about the use of the word "graduate" have come in. We appreciate the insight for that! In Willa's class they had a celebration for the end of the year and moving onto a new class, so we thought the word was appropriate, but we knew she didn't receive any specific award or paper of "graduating."
@@OurStorytoTell Well, thank you for your answer. I didn't want to be that harsh. But I hate it when kids at that age have to play the piano, learn Chinese and be prettier and smarter than everyone else. In your homeland there are even public beauty contests for little girls. I want to make it clear that I know you're not like that and you treat your daughter well. But here in Germany, people are very sensitive when it comes to protecting children. They can move freely if possible, but are protected from the public. Or do you want your daughter to be applauded by the other parents and kids on her first day of school because she's famous? And how will she find that when she gets older? That's what I mean. Europe and America are very different in such things. Again, I know you're not like that. I wish you all the best and good luck. K.K.
"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.
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
Also i hope she lerns good german fast or else she might has to go to Vorschule Wich would get her to elementary school with the age of 7 instsd of 6 (If irs the same process in your germsn plsce)
German Kitas don´t have classes. :-) And you don´t graduate from there. ;-) Till school starts at age six with class one, the children dont need to learn any numbers, letters or anything academical. So they cannot fail a year and they dont need to graduate. They just come back to the same group after the summer. Children from age 2 or 3 up to age 6 are all in the same class, which is called "group" not class. The group changes only a bit each summer, because the 6-year-olds went to school and a few little ones (age 2 or 3) took their places. I think this is what Willa is doing now. She start her Kita-Group. Before she has been in a nursery group.
I don't think Germans make a strict differentiation between Kita and Kindergarten. Kindergarten is kinda the over reaching term, saying she's going to the next year of Kindergarten would've been fine. I guess you made a point of subbing that for the Americans where Kindergarden means something different?
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.
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.
Kitas and Kindergärten are not schools. They don't have teachers, but educators which are mainly surrogates for parents, and they don't have a curriculum in the meaning as schools have. There are no classes but groups. And the kids do not graduate, they transition. The job of Kita and Kindergarten is to prepare children for social life and train social skills, learning basic fine motor skills, getting an understanding of environmental risks and things like this, and above all to give those kids a great time and allow them to play as much as they can.They are not about academics at all. Thus, missing a day or a week or even a month is nothing problematic. When transitioning from Kita to Kindergarten, more often than not the kids will be together with many or some of the same kids they had in their group at Kita. The same will happen when they transition from Kindergarten to elementary school, btw.
Its just moving on from the little one‘s (0-3) Krippe to (3-6) Elementarbereich. Some Area‘s of Germany call it Kita and Kindergarten. But its not a big Deal. My Son even stays in the Same Facility. 😄 Please don’t call the Erzieher = Teachers, thats only at school. In Kindergarten they are Educators ✌️
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....
Thanks for the sweet comment :). Unfortunately we don’t have the option to stay past 5 years (at one time) anywhere overseas. So, 5 years will be the longest time that we can live here, but 3 years is the initial assignment, with the option to extend 2 more years until 5. As for work, I work as an Industrial Hygienist on one of the bases here. In Europe it’s most commonly known as occupational hygiene, but it is closely related and congruent with occupational safety. Not so top secret 😆, but it’s true that we don’t talk about it all that much!
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.
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.
Was soll der Quatsch? Selbstverständlich hat auch das Kind einer Mutter, die Zuhause ist, das Recht auf einen Kindergartenplatz. Gerade ein Kind wie Willa soll in den Kindergarten, um die deutsche Sprache gut zu lernen
Und die meisten Kinder antworten gerade nach der Eingewöhnung, dass sie in den KiGa wollen, denn da ist was los, da sind viele Kinder, Freunde, Spiele und kindgerechte Aktionen
I don't know where you live, but most parents I know have a job or younger siblings to care for. Doing those vids is a source of income for this family and can be considered work.
Instead of calling it a class we call it a group. And teachers are more like educators. Its also not too bad to miss kita. Its not like missing school
Good to know the terms! We didn’t know what to call them, but that makes sense. 😊 And that’s good because she does miss some for travels and family time!
Teacher - In der Schule: Lehrer.
In Kita: Erzieherin/Erzieher
Yes cause she is so young. Family time is more important than "school " that age. 😊everything before the age of 6 is kindergarten, preeschool or daycare in Norway. 😊
@@OurStorytoTell she is so young yet. Dont need school yet😉. School comes soon enough . 😊I am a preeschool teacher and mother of 3. Enjoy them much as possible as toddlers. Time passes by too quickly
I would love to hear Willa sing a german song from Kindergarten! How she said "Käfer" was perfect!
Aww that would be fun to share with you guys! She absolutely loves to sing and when she does it in German…. oh melt our hearts! 🥰
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.
Thanks for such a kind comment! 😊 She really has! It’s crazy to see how fast she is going! Kita has taught her so many valuable things!
I think it might depend on the place and/or Bundesland: Our childcare is called “Kita” also for the older kids until they leave for primary school. They do differentiate between under 3 and over 3 (U3/Ü3) or mixed age groups (altersgemischte Gruppe).
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!
So kind to think about a note to her kita educators!! Thank you! :)
Hi, we are also a couple of Americans deployed in rural Bavaria, can you please tell us about your kita? Where is located and if it is avialable for Americans if we live in the town?
Even if it is hard to watch your kids cry but the truth is the biggest growth results from some "struggle". People who have it just easy most of the time tend to behave more like a child when they are grown up. They simply couldn't really learn how to deal with some struggle.
She's a smart girl - she will do her way! ♥... and you are nice parents!
Thanks! She is smart!
We don't say they are in a class, but in a group.
I allways love to watch your videos, especially seeing cute little Willa ☺.
Thanks for the info. A group makes more sense! 😊 and it means a lot to us that you watch them! So thank you!
Little lady Willa is so cute, seeing her growing up so nice is wonderful. She is blessed with her wonderful open minded parents that showing her so much from the world.
The first day's at a new place like a Kita is difficult, but I'm sure she finds a lot of nice friends that love to play with her. Is it a normal German Kita were she goes?
Thanks so much for the kind words! Yes it is a normal German Kita. ☺️
There is no way not to love little Willa ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
We agree!!
Yea she is always serving cuteness overloads :3
There is nothing more beautiful than a happy, healthy, and beloved child.
💗 We are obsessed with her!
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 🥰
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.
We appreciate your comment! Thanks taking the time to share so we can learn. Super interesting!!
Another fact is that the term "Kita" was more common in Eastern Germany because women there were expected to return to work sooner. They would sometimes have their kids start Kita at the age of 6 months and they would stay there up to ten hours. That is the main difference between the term Kita and Kindergarten. Kindergarten would end around 1pm (like elementary school). Nowadays these terms are not as c!early defined!
@@Fixmix78 Just in the mornings - even my Kindergarten in a small village opened in the afternoons, too - and that was at the beginning of the 70s in Bavaria. My son's then had a group where you could bring them from 7:30, all day (apart from Friday afternoon) until 16:30. That was in the 90s. That they opened a toddler group started about 10 years later. For me - that worked full time starting when my son was 2 months old that was not sufficient so I always had my Mom, Granny and a day mom taking care of him even when he was in Kindergarten.
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.
We couldn’t agree more! It was a bit of a struggle for her to share but now you wouldn’t believe how well she shares! Thank you kita 🙏😂 Good timing with a baby on the way 😊
@@OurStorytoTell It is important to learn social skills and she does that in KITA.
But she also learns German and other things while playing.
Her world will be bigger, maybe a balance if she will share mummy at home.
Have a wonderful Sunday, lovely family! Hugs from the Netherlands!
Hugs to you guys! Have a great day too! 💗
In Germany you don’t graduate from Kita or Kindergarten since they’re not part of the compulsory school system. You only graduate from high school or university.
Thanks for that clarification!
Just so you guys know. You have to "mark" a ad, like in this video, with "Werbung" or "Advertisement". It has to be good visible while you show the sponsored part. Otherwise you could get in trouble
We always try to or do, but must have looked over this one on accident!! Thanks for bringing it to our attention. We will mark it :)
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.
We are for sure keeping all of her paintings and drawings! 😊 And oh we have already heard her say so many new words in the past couple weeks. It’s really fun 😊 And great tip about the supervisor… we are starting to form that relationship already! So special!
And no we don’t go all out for birthday parties! We want to make them special but we aren’t into all the huge & intricate decorations… don’t have time for it 😂
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
Thanks for sharing that! Going to look into it 😊
Ok next to the term cute in any dictionary there should be a picture of sleepy Willa. So sweet!
Awww she is so precious!
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.
Kita is _Ki_nder_ta_gesstätte. And Kindergarten is normally from 4 to 6 year, everything before is considered Kinderkrippe. Therefore both Kindergarten and Kinderkrippe are called Kita. Even a Kinderhort (for kids of school age) is considered a Kita.
@@quentinmunich9819 what's the difference between Kindertagesstätte and kindergarten? In Berlin a regular kindergarten is open from 6.30/7 to 17 o clock and it start from the ages 2 to 5/6. But again I guess it's a west and east difference again. My aunt lives in baden Württemberg and she told me that the "late" opening time (meaning opened until 14) is something you need to "Book" for your child specifically bc it's not usual for them to be open that "late". I was shocked when she told me that bc how are parents supposed to work then?
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.
Kids are so resilient, it’s incredible! 😊 We are happy the video sparked some memories for you! Thanks for your continued support!
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.
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!
Hey Erika! Thanks so much for your comment! We definitely can relate with the mindset you now have as you've lived in the States! We appreciate the straightforwardness of Germans, but it is kind of interesting the differences of thought process lol! We agree that you can't spoil a child either! :) So again, thank you for taking the time to write your comment! :)
Willa congratulations 🎊 little princess 👸!
Thanks! 😊
How was Kita today, Willa?
"...so actually..." LOL She is the absolute best!
Hahaha right!? 😂 actually is something she says a lot lately and it cracks us up!
Could Willa be any cuter? She has such an adorable personality. 😊
We agree, but we know we are bias too so thanks! 😊
This is so emotionally cute!!!
So sweet!!
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.
Great info!! We will be sure to use the proper terms from here out! We know its definitely not like school, but didn’t know how else to explain them. So thanks! Interesting to hear about the process. 😊
as always cute willa ,nice couple
Thank you for watching! Kind comment too! 😊
I guess you mix up the terms Kita (=KInderTAgesstätte), Kinderkrippe and Kindergarten, and maybe of Kinderhort. Kita is the umbrella term for Kinderkrippe (age 0 to 3rd birthday), Kindergarten (age 2/3 to 6/7) and Kinderhort (school children)
So Willa finished Kinderkrippe/Krippe and now she is in Kindergarten, but still goes to KiTa.
"Das ist meins!" Willa has gotten used to speak German with you :-)
Willa is wonderful! But it should also be said because she has great parents!
Too kind!! Thanks ☺️
Sweet ♥️♥️♥️
Thanks for watching! 😊
When will you do your first video in German?
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.
Yeah, they don't get it
We didn't know otherwise until the comments about the use of the word "graduate" have come in. We appreciate the insight for that! In Willa's class they had a celebration for the end of the year and moving onto a new class, so we thought the word was appropriate, but we knew she didn't receive any specific award or paper of "graduating."
@@OurStorytoTell Well, thank you for your answer. I didn't want to be that harsh. But I hate it when kids at that age have to play the piano, learn Chinese and be prettier and smarter than everyone else. In your homeland there are even public beauty contests for little girls. I want to make it clear that I know you're not like that and you treat your daughter well. But here in Germany, people are very sensitive when it comes to protecting children. They can move freely if possible, but are protected from the public. Or do you want your daughter to be applauded by the other parents and kids on her first day of school because she's famous? And how will she find that when she gets older? That's what I mean. Europe and America are very different in such things. Again, I know you're not like that. I wish you all the best and good luck. K.K.
Willa will turn out well in Kindergarten. Everything is gonna be fine. Even Grownups are afraid with new jobs and new Coworkers.
So true! We know she will. Thank you!
"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.
Thanks for giving us some more insight!
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
Also i hope she lerns good german fast or else she might has to go to Vorschule
Wich would get her to elementary school with the age of 7 instsd of 6
(If irs the same process in your germsn plsce)
There is nothing like kid, to prove how adaptable us humans are.
100% agree!!
German Kitas don´t have classes. :-) And you don´t graduate from there. ;-) Till school starts at age six with class one, the children dont need to learn any numbers, letters or anything academical. So they cannot fail a year and they dont need to graduate. They just come back to the same group after the summer. Children from age 2 or 3 up to age 6 are all in the same class, which is called "group" not class. The group changes only a bit each summer, because the 6-year-olds went to school and a few little ones (age 2 or 3) took their places. I think this is what Willa is doing now. She start her Kita-Group. Before she has been in a nursery group.
I don't think Germans make a strict differentiation between Kita and Kindergarten. Kindergarten is kinda the over reaching term, saying she's going to the next year of Kindergarten would've been fine. I guess you made a point of subbing that for the Americans where Kindergarden means something different?
Yes kindergarten definitely means different in the states!
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.
Haha just don’t make us the theme song 🎶😂 Love it!! And thanks for the tip! 😊
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.
MEANS SO MUCH TO US! :) Thank you!
Beautiful sharing 💕💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓
Thanks for watching!! 💛💛
Kitas and Kindergärten are not schools. They don't have teachers, but educators which are mainly surrogates for parents, and they don't have a curriculum in the meaning as schools have. There are no classes but groups. And the kids do not graduate, they transition.
The job of Kita and Kindergarten is to prepare children for social life and train social skills, learning basic fine motor skills, getting an understanding of environmental risks and things like this, and above all to give those kids a great time and allow them to play as much as they can.They are not about academics at all. Thus, missing a day or a week or even a month is nothing problematic.
When transitioning from Kita to Kindergarten, more often than not the kids will be together with many or some of the same kids they had in their group at Kita. The same will happen when they transition from Kindergarten to elementary school, btw.
Its just moving on from the little one‘s (0-3) Krippe to (3-6) Elementarbereich. Some Area‘s of Germany call it Kita and Kindergarten. But its not a big Deal. My Son even stays in the Same Facility. 😄
Please don’t call the Erzieher = Teachers, thats only at school. In Kindergarten they are Educators ✌️
Thanks for teaching us about calling them educators! We didn’t know the proper term so we appreciate it! ☺️
Germans would not consider Kita or Kindergarten a "class" (how you did in the thumbnail and title)
That was our thinking. We know it’s just play and social time for her, but she is learning so much! 😊
It’s good to see your perspective too!
Wonderful how Willa is developing....such a darlin'! I wish, for the world, that all children had parents like the both of you are. God bless🙏
I actually liked this, because in the end, the staff there are teachers and most of them are doing a great job with life long effects.
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....
Thanks for the sweet comment :). Unfortunately we don’t have the option to stay past 5 years (at one time) anywhere overseas. So, 5 years will be the longest time that we can live here, but 3 years is the initial assignment, with the option to extend 2 more years until 5.
As for work, I work as an Industrial Hygienist on one of the bases here. In Europe it’s most commonly known as occupational hygiene, but it is closely related and congruent with occupational safety. Not so top secret 😆, but it’s true that we don’t talk about it all that much!
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.
Hahah that’s okay 😂 We love it and are used to it by now. We appreciate it too ☺️
These days everything is celebrated as an achievement. 🤷🏼♂️
We just wanted to make it a happy day for her because her previous adjustment to kita was quite difficult! She’s two remember😊
@@OurStorytoTell ok. then I might have gotten it wrong.
Aren't you guys scared that Willa will be "too German" once you go back to the US? She'll have to like start all over.
Way too private to show your daughter Like this on TH-cam!
German politik made great life for every person, human.
All haters fighters non except foreing people, not except by democratic politic
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.
Was soll der Quatsch? Selbstverständlich hat auch das Kind einer Mutter, die Zuhause ist, das Recht auf einen Kindergartenplatz. Gerade ein Kind wie Willa soll in den Kindergarten, um die deutsche Sprache gut zu lernen
Comment of a true German...
Und die meisten Kinder antworten gerade nach der Eingewöhnung, dass sie in den KiGa wollen, denn da ist was los, da sind viele Kinder, Freunde, Spiele und kindgerechte Aktionen
Aber dann wird sich wieder beschwert, wenn die ausländischen Kinder beim Schulanfang kein Deutsch können...
I don't know where you live, but most parents I know have a job or younger siblings to care for.
Doing those vids is a source of income for this family and can be considered work.