Program

Admission and Integration of Children

The kindergarten enrolls children from 11 months to the start of school. The enrollment process: parents express their wish to enroll via phone or in writing, visit the kindergarten, and are placed on the waiting list. Enrollment occurs throughout the year (if spaces are available).

The introduction of new children happens gradually and individually. One of the parents introduces the child by staying with them in the kindergarten. In the first few days, this lasts for a longer period, which gradually shortens. The teacher informs parents about when the child can stay in the kindergarten on their own. It is important that parents remain calm during the introduction process and bring the child into the playroom without rushing. We kindly ask parents to communicate regularly, politely, and sincerely with the teacher. Teachers are available for meetings, and we ask parents to attend these regularly.

Parents can withdraw their child from the kindergarten, and the kindergarten reserves the right to withdraw a child if they cannot integrate into the group or activities happening in the kindergarten, if there is a significant conflict between the kindergarten’s and home’s upbringing, if parents do not respect agreements made with the teachers, if parents strongly oppose the pedagogical principles and their implementation in the kindergarten, if parents withhold important health information about the child, if the child stops attending the kindergarten without parents notifying the teacher of the reason for the absence, or if parents do not regularly meet their financial obligations to the kindergarten. In both cases, there is a one-month notice period.

Formation of Classes

Children aged approximately one to three years are placed in the first age group, and children aged approximately three years to the start of school are placed in the second age group. Classes can be age-homogeneous, age-heterogeneous, or combined.

Program Implementation

The program runs for up to 9 hours daily within the kindergarten’s working hours and is provided from Monday to Friday. The organization of the program changes during the days before holidays, between them, or after them, and in the summer months.

The daily program in the classroom is planned by the teacher and assistant, who take into account the developmental stage, interests of the children, and suggestions from the children and parents. During the program, children are given the option to choose activities, materials, and spaces. Children learn through play and their own activities in large and small groups, as well as individually.

The basis for planning work in the kindergarten is the Curriculum for Kindergartens, which outlines the principles and goals of preschool education. The curriculum is a national document adopted by the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for General Education in 1999. The curriculum areas are language, nature, society, movement, art, and mathematics, which interconnect and overlap. In accordance with our vision, we also include foreign language learning, understanding values, and various other activities in our work.

Daily Program

Children work in an atmosphere of respect, freedom, responsibility, order, and cooperation. We introduce an individual approach to children, fostering values and independence. Didactic materials encourage the child’s independent exploration.

Approximate daily program:

  • arrival of children and play,
  • breakfast,
  • planned and unplanned activities, snack, and play in the kindergarten or outdoors, walks, visits to various institutions,
  • lunch,
  • rest, quiet activities,
  • snack,
  • play and continuation of activities, and children departing home.

    • Upon arrival and departure, parents and educational staff can exchange important information about the child’s well-being. Play and activities take place throughout the children’s time in the kindergarten. We pay attention to the organization of space and selection of materials, as well as conditions that ensure the child’s activity and balanced development in all areas.

    The daily program is the core activity of the kindergarten and the foundation of our educational work. We stimulate the development of children with rich content, complemented by larger events. Some thematic highlights from our offerings: seasons, national customs, children’s birthdays, foreign languages, values, movement, nature, cultural days, family days, ecology, traffic safety, promoting reading, and intergenerational cooperation.

    When choosing and implementing content, the professional staff take into account the interests and wishes of the children and the entire group. Children have the option to choose activities, spaces, and materials for play. The teacher and the assistant create conditions for the activity and progress of each child in the cognitive, social, physical, and emotional domains.

    Enrichment Activities Led by Kindergarten Professionals

  • art workshops,
  • music, dance, and sports workshops,
  • natural sciences (children observe plants and animals, care for them, and develop a positive relationship with nature),
  • learning about values and different cultures,
  • foreign language (young children are receptive to new knowledge, including foreign languages, and have an advantage over adults in learning through imitation, without embarrassment, and they easily acquire correct pronunciation and accent. Children also quickly understand foreign languages without needing individual words to be translated.),
  • traffic education,
  • ecological education (children develop sensitivity to the environment and responsibility for its protection).

    • Special Attention is Given To

  • Children’s Safety: large, bright, and airy spaces with equipment that allows safe movement, a well-maintained garden or playground, measures for maintaining hygiene, established procedures for handling injuries or accidents involving children, and educating parents about child safety.
  • Children’s Health: through a quality educational program, healthy nutrition and care, physical activity in the green environment of the garden, maintaining hygiene, preventing the spread of diseases, and health education for children, parents, and teachers, as well as other staff in the kindergarten.
  • The Education and Upbringing of Children: by developing an understanding of themselves and others, negotiation skills, a spirit of inquiry, imagination, curiosity, encouraging speech, reading, and writing in both Slovenian and English, fostering artistic expression, and imparting knowledge from various areas of everyday life.
  • Respecting the Needs and Interests of Children: for children coming to kindergarten for the first time, we organize an introduction phase with the parents to make the transition from the family to the new environment as smooth as possible.
  • Children’s Well-being: by encouraging physical activity, rest, and ensuring emotional security in a safe, healthy, and friendly environment.

    • Children’s Nutrition in Our Kindergarten

    The food provided in the kindergarten is simple, healthy, and natural. Instead of white bread, children often receive whole grain, corn, or oat bread. We buy bread without additives. They drink unsweetened tea and water. We also pay attention to special dietary needs and parental preferences, such as ensuring children do not consume dairy products (if milk is harmful to them). Instead of sweets at the end of the meal, we prefer to offer fruit.

    The food is:

  • freshly prepared daily,
  • healthy and balanced,
  • safe and varied.

    • We follow applicable legal regulations on health protection, as well as the instructions and recommendations of professional institutions.

    The menus are:

  • weekly,
  • adapted to the season,
  • available for review on the bulletin boards.

    • Children in the kindergarten are provided with:

  • breakfast,
  • morning snack (fruit puree or fruit),
  • lunch, and
  • two afternoon snacks.

    • All children have drinks available throughout the day (in summer, water is offered, and in winter, tea).

    For possible birthday celebrations in the kindergarten, we kindly ask parents to bring foods that contain protective substances (fresh and dried fruits, fresh vegetables, fruit juices). In this way, you also contribute to the healthy eating of children in the kindergarten.

    Additional Information