Education in Early Childhood

Lifelong learning begins at Kindergarten. The findings of brain research, developmental psychology, and educational research show that early childhood is the development phase in which human beings are most receptive to learning. However, there is as yet no social consensus in Germany about making the most of early childhood as the first phase of a process of lifelong learning. Many parents and grandparents still believe that “proper” learning does not begin until a child goes to school and prefer to protect their children from too much education in their preschool years.

In their education and orientation plans, all German state governments acknowledge that daycare centers are integral components of our education system and have approved curricula for educational activities in daycare centers. These activities must now be redesigned to reflect these curricula, and new strategies must be developed to make the transition into elementary school as seamless as possible for children. Educators in daycare centers and elementary schools should work closely together to achieve that.

The Robert Bosch Stiftung developed a focus area Education in Early Childhood to help reform the entire system of education and childcare in the context of the new challenges facing educational, family and social policies.

The first major program in this focus area was “PiK – Professionals in Daycare Centers”, an initiative aimed at professionalizing Education in Early Childhood.