Childcare and Schooling in Switzerland - Page 2

lemondrizzle · #21 05.03.2010, 19:57

	Quote:	runningdeer
	Thought I could help out on the equivalents for the french-speaking cantons:

Wow! Runningdeer, this is a fantastic post. Thanks so much!

thaysa · #22 01.04.2010, 02:40

Thank U so much guys for all the information about childcare and Schooling in Switzerland.
I arrive in Geneva in June and I have a little girl - she is 2 now. I am quite worried about schooling stuff. Firt of all, I am really worried of not finding a place for her to stay during the day - as I will have to work. I read that some people had to enrol their babies when they were pregnant!! :-)
Also, I would dream to find a place where my little 'me' can stay without being asked too much... I mean, I would like a place where she can play and thats it... 2 years old, so young to have a big responsability of exercises, etc... dont want it. I am praying that I can find a safe and nice place for her...

Hug hug people... cross tour fingers!!! lol

Daniel_D · #23 29.04.2010, 13:49

If you are living in the Basel and looking for child care this could be interesting for you: daycare-basel.ch

Take care,

Daniel

prathibhar82 · #24 12.05.2010, 09:58

although u r a beginner u found a lot..welldone swisspea

jetset · #25 21.06.2010, 12:35

many thanks for everyone who contributed the very useful information in this thread. your efforts are commendable!

Treengler · #26 23.06.2010, 11:43

really, my understanding is that Kita is short for Kindertagesstaette. whereas Krippe is a creche i.e. also for babies. A Kindertagesstaette doesn't necessarily take babies.

Tilia · #27 23.06.2010, 20:51

Nope, Kita is just the official name for a Krippe/Creche. Same thing. Some takes babies and some don't but that isn't depending on what it is called.

	Quote:	Treengler
	really, my understanding is that Kita is short for Kindertagesstaette. whereas Krippe is a creche i.e. also for babies. A Kindertagesstaette doesn't necessarily take babies.

SusanP · #28 27.07.2010, 11:32

A good idea also is to have our child got to a bilingual daycare / preschool if you want them to prepare for later attendance in the public school system / kindergarten.

This way they pick up the language easily. I know there are quite a few in the Zurich area and I can highly recommend Little Learners Bilingual Daycare in Zurich Witikon (www.littlelearners.ch). My daughter goes twice a week and loves it.

MaKita · #29 23.08.2010, 14:01

Hi well after more than a year in 3 kinderkrippe waiting list i start to colaps :-(
my little girl 2 1/2 old is having problem for the speaking (well dont speak only like 5 words) , will start soon with Sprach therapie, but i feel so bad because i can found any kinderkrippe.
any advice? i live in Uster.
thanks

Longbyt · #30 23.08.2010, 14:51

Maybe there is something I am missing here, but I cannot quite work out whether you 'feel bad' because you think your daughter is not in the best environment for improving her speech (in that she doesn't attend a Krippe) or whether you need to go out to work (whether financially, to continue your career or for your own well-being) and 'feel bad' because you can't.

If your daughter is slow to speak, I'm not sure that putting her into a group where she is likely to be confronted with different languages and accents in addition to the ones she already has to contend with is really a solution - or even a step towards one. You don't tell us whether the people she spends her time with all speak the same language. If not, it is no surprise that she is 'behind' others of her age. However, it is never a bad idea to see if there is an underlying reason (poor hearing for example).

Are you really looking for a Krippe, or would a play group (Spielgruppe) be an alternative? If you Google 'Spielgruppe Uster' there are several possibilities. Perhaps something will help you further there.

MaKita · #31 01.09.2010, 12:16

Thanks, but well the problem the woman from the kinderspital zurich say, is my daugther need to have more contact with children.
At the moment the only contact she have is screaming with little girls in the park sometimes.
I dont work , and i guess will be like that for a while (pregnant again :-) 2 months)
Well many people say for my little girl will be more dificult start to speak, (i speak spanish with her, husband speak german, and she look tv in english, and husband and I speak english together) and other like the specialist say no, is not because of the 3 languages, she say in the end she need therapie, but also need more contact with other childrens.
I m desesperated to put her in a kinderkrippe, because i think that really will help her, she is really close to me, and i think is time for her be a little more independent (i mean not cry if she dont see me in 5 minutes)

swisspea · #32 01.09.2010, 16:11

I would suggest you find a good playgroup (spielgruppe) - there are English and German / Swiss-German groups around...even Spanish ones...

I know it's hard to get out there and find things when you speak a foreign language, and you have a very demanding toddler to look after...but it will be worth the effort...

If there is a speech delay for your child, the first thing is to check the hearing, and do a medical history, and then, expose your child to as much good-quality example as possible. The TV is not enough for language - in fact, TV time takes away from 'real' communication time...

Instead, go out each day, find things to do - play at the park, talk to people at the shop, meet all your local shopkeepers...say "Hi' and I'm sure you will find some who speak english, or will take time to talk to your child in the local language...

BTW, my training (child development) would say that your assessment from the hospital is correct. Having more than 1 language does not cause a delay....at the most 1 month.... so if your child needs speech therapy, it will be because of hearing problems, or processing problems with the brain or mouth, or because your child is choosing not to speak...not because it's German/Spanish/English....

If your child has a speech delay, I would not recommend a large, noisy Krippe/Kita. They need somewhere that they get clearly understood, good quality language examples, and enough time to hear and understand what is going on - if they have any sort of hearing problem, then being in a busy and noisy environment won't help - but for the social aspect (and it sounds like you suspect there is more than just language issues) - then a good quality preschool would be good.

What preschools have you tried ? Are you prepared to travel further than Uster ? Places you could ask would be your local doctor, the local library (and they usually have fun activities planned for kids), the community centre (GemeinschaftZentrum), even your local pharmacy, will know what is available in the local area - playgroups, music, art, craft, story time...

Good Luck!

Greeka · #33 06.10.2010, 15:02

	Quote:	Wordbird
	Apologies for sounding a bit grumpy about 'the Swiss way of doing things', I'd had a tough day. I think it was the name "Kindergarten" that threw me - I have an image of a Kindy as a place like a nursery, where children simply play and make friends. But in fact, in Switzerland it is part of the school system. I suppose Swiss Kindergarten is a place where kids are brought up to speed and get the skills they need for the full-time school system where they learn to read and write etc. I agree that in the UK my daughter would also have to behave properly in class, but she would find it easier because she would understand what the teacher was saying to her. She's finding it particularly difficult because she has so many new things to learn at once and I wanted to pass this on to fellow parents who might think it's better for their child to keep them at home full-time. With hindsight, I believe a year of Nursery would have helped our girl enormously with developing the skills she's expected to have and, very importantly, with learning German. I had been assured by mums whose kids have been through the process that my daughter would quickly pick up German and would be "fine by Xmas". So I wasn't too worried. She's a friendly kid and makes friends easily. However, simply attending Waldspielgruppe with German-speaking kids hasn't given her enough grasp of the language to feel confident in school. She just plain doesn't understand what is being asked of her. She is getting extra tuition at school in a small group of children whose mother tongue is not German, but because all these kids already speak the language, she's struggling there too. My suggestion that we get her private lessons to top this up has been politely but very definitely refused by the teachers who insist she will learn on her own. Frankly, I feel I've let my girl down by not preparing her for this and I wanted to pass on my experience to parents of preschoolers who are debating whether to put their children into nursery. If I could turn the clock back a year, I would be chasing the local nursery to get my daughter a place.

Hi !
I know this message has been posted over a year ago ... but , as my son is in exactly the same position as your daughter was ...... I wanted to know how things are a year later . Has your daughter managed through the 1rst year of Kindergarten ?
My son is 4 1/2 . Entered K1 not speaking a word of German ....all the other kids speak a bit of German . He is getting tutored at school ... but , only 1 1/2 months into the year and already both his German teacher and Kinder teacher are calling us for an assessment because they feel he is not understanding what is being taught .
Can someone explain to me , how my son is supposed to understand what is going on when he is learning German but his Kinder teacher is speaking to him in Swiss German ????
Help ! The kids wont play with him because they dont understand him and I can't seem to find anyone to come over and play . I know I'm not alone ... but need to find a solution !

baboon · #34 06.10.2010, 15:05

13 posts in total and last on-line 10 months ago...don't hold your breath waiting for a reply from Wordbird.

Longbyt · #35 06.10.2010, 15:17

This is in no way meant to be a criticism, but does your child 'switch off' when he hears a language he doesn't understand? Many children do and many adults do as well. In a lot of situations, we don't actually need to understand the words, or certainly not all of them. We pick up clues from what is going on around us.

I had non Swiss German speaking children and one deaf child in a group I taught and to begin with they would say that they didn't understand me. I used to ask them what they thought I had probably said when every other child went and picked up a ball. This took the pressure off 'understanding each word' and made them aware of what was going on around them. Things improved by leaps and bounds then.

Hope you find a good solution.

celine79 · #36 23.11.2010, 16:31

	Quote:	Wordbird
	Apologies for sounding a bit grumpy about 'the Swiss way of doing things', I'd had a tough day. I think it was the name "Kindergarten" that threw me - I have an image of a Kindy as a place like a nursery, where children simply play and make friends. But in fact, in Switzerland it is part of the school system. I suppose Swiss Kindergarten is a place where kids are brought up to speed and get the skills they need for the full-time school system where they learn to read and write etc. I agree that in the UK my daughter would also have to behave properly in class, but she would find it easier because she would understand what the teacher was saying to her. She's finding it particularly difficult because she has so many new things to learn at once and I wanted to pass this on to fellow parents who might think it's better for their child to keep them at home full-time. With hindsight, I believe a year of Nursery would have helped our girl enormously with developing the skills she's expected to have and, very importantly, with learning German. I had been assured by mums whose kids have been through the process that my daughter would quickly pick up German and would be "fine by Xmas". So I wasn't too worried. She's a friendly kid and makes friends easily. However, simply attending Waldspielgruppe with German-speaking kids hasn't given her enough grasp of the language to feel confident in school. She just plain doesn't understand what is being asked of her. She is getting extra tuition at school in a small group of children whose mother tongue is not German, but because all these kids already speak the language, she's struggling there too. My suggestion that we get her private lessons to top this up has been politely but very definitely refused by the teachers who insist she will learn on her own. Frankly, I feel I've let my girl down by not preparing her for this and I wanted to pass on my experience to parents of preschoolers who are debating whether to put their children into nursery. If I could turn the clock back a year, I would be chasing the local nursery to get my daughter a place.

Hi, this is my first research regarding childcare in Switzerland and I've just realized the problem of German. We are Italians but we live in London where our 3 years old son started nursery when he was 18 months. he struggled a bit at the beginning because the two languages but then he picked up English fast and well.
We are now gonna face another relocation, in the Geneva/Lausanne area. Is German a compulsory language in nursery/pre-school? How can I start to look for places when I do not even know where we are gonna stay exactly?
thank you, I've found the entire discussion very interesting and helpful:-)

irish_temptation · #37 23.11.2010, 16:57

Hi Celine

If you are moving to Geneva then your child will not have to learn German but French because Geneva is in the French speaking part of Switzerland. German will then come at school but that will be in a few years time so nothing to worry about that right now.

If I were you I would be looking for a bilingual day care / pre-school where he can start with English. That makes it easier for him as everything will be new for him already (so I wouldn't throw in a new language on top of that). But if he speaks Italian he will pick up French fast as the roots of the languages are the same. Don't worry, he will learn fast, they always do! Look for a bilingual pre-school in the internet and try to fly over from London to visit so that you can get a feel of the place and the location. I believe that it's important that they can go outside so check if they have a playground or go to a public playground regularly.

Good luck with the move!

turtlemoon7 · #38 04.01.2011, 15:19

I have read through the thread above and found it to be very helpful. I will be relocating to Basel in March with family and we want to send our 3 year old to a private school. Is it possible to live in Switzerland and send him to private school in Germany or France?

windycityfamily · #39 05.01.2011, 22:17

I've read through the many posts and they were all helpful, now I'm hoping to get some current/relevant info and feedback on schools. It seems new schools open frequently, and of course schools evolve and change over time.

We are relocating from Chicago to Zurich this year. My husband is moving this weekend, our 9-year old daughter and I to follow in the summer. Shortly my husband will be starting to look at and evaluate schools in Zurich, with a preference for bi-lingual, since our daughter has good basic German and ultimately she should be prepared for the state schools. We will likely stay at least five years. My list so far is as follows:

Terra Nova
Swiss International School
Lakeside School (probably no room here in 4th grade)
TAZ Horgen
dInsele Montessori
Lernstudio - not a bilingual school, but very small class size might be a good compromise for first year(s) in Zurich
Pädagogische Tagesschule Seldwyla
www.houseofkids.ch

Because private school is part of the relocation package, we believe taking advantage of this for the first year(s) is a good idea. On the other had I read on one of the threads that public schools do a good job integrating kids. So I wouldn’t rule them out completely. One other thing to consider is that since Kindergarten she has been very happy in a Montessori school in Chicago, so going to a state school and only speaking German would be a big (but not insurmountable) leap.
Thanks in advance!
Anne

swisspea · #40 06.01.2011, 01:12

Welcome!

If your daughter is already in a Montessori 6-12 environment, then Montessori bilingual should be a strong option, and as far as I know there are only two with established 6-12 programmes in Zurich that could take a year 4...

www.dinsle.ch (you have that one on your list)
and
Rietberg Montessori.

The main decision will be a geographical one. D'Insle is on the seefeld side of the lake, and Rietberg is on the Enge/Wollishofen side.

Always, my recommendation will be to actually visit the school and see how you feel about them, but both Rietberg and d'Insle have a good reputation for being well-established, well-staffed and solid Montessori educational programmes...

If you want more info about Montessori in general / in Zurich, you are welcome to send me a PM and we can talk further. I have three children all in Montessori...