Day care / Kindergartens / schools in Schwabing

Hi
We're coming over to Munich in May for a week to check out the implications of relocating there for our family. We've only got 6 days (plenty of time to make an objective assessment isn't it?!!!) so I need to make best use of my time.

We'd like to visit some day-cares, kindergartens and elementary schools close to the English Garden in the Schwarbing/Studentenstaden/Alte Heide area to see what the move might mean for our kids as that is probably our most important consideration. I've gone through all the links I can find on TT and on the web (kindergartens in Munich and Kindertageseinrichtungen), but am still battling to narrow it down, particularly because simply a name and address tells me very little sitting on the other side of the world, even with a Munich map at hand.

If possible, I'd like a personal recommendation on what centres/schools in that area would be worth our while meeting with in May. We plan to put our kids in the German system as the move would be a long-term one for us. May reconsider if we find the schools aren't what we would expect.

Can any TT:ers recommend Kindergartens, day-cares or schools in the above area that we could consider? Address and/or telephone nrs to them would be grately appreciated! A bilingual centre is not a requirement from our side although obviously if there are good ones in the area, we would most certainly consider them.

Many thanks in advance for your help!
Mo3

PS: As an incentive to any Aussies who can offer advice, I am happy to repay your kindness with a jar of Vegemite/packet of Tim-tams, to be delivered in May!

No clue but in case you didn't catch it - looks like Bad experience with a Kindergarten in Schwabing kindergarten in Schwabing is to be avoided.

Good luck and welcome to Munich

Thanks. Had read that thread in my trawlings and made a mental note to avoid. That is almost as helpful as knowing which ones to look at! Thanks for the welcome! Mo3

Hi,

There is a kindergarten I know of in Schwabing, called Lust am Lernen. Run by a Frau Schloetter, very small group of kids, she does an excellent job. Her address and contact information are

LUST AM LERNEN INH. MARINA SCHLÖTTER-GROß
Strasse / Nr.: HÖRWARTHSTR. 11
PLZ / Ort: 80804 MÜNCHEN
Telefon: (089) 36109776

Another one I know of is an integrated Montessori kindergarten (special needs children as well) called Mimo (Munich Integrated Montesorri...or something like that). Teachers are Renata, Jessica and Ursa, and that number is 089-2101-9490. This one has 15 children, the three teachers, and they do an absolutely wonderful job. They have all sorts of extra activities: a guy comes on Mondays and does Music with the children (private lessons, too, if you want), Wednesdays some of the children go horseback riding, etc. Mimo is at Emil-Riedel Strasse 7 (or 1, not sure). It is just on the other side of Englisher Garten from Schwabing. Bus from Muenchner Freiheit is simple.

Good luck! Any questions, let me know!

Tina

maybe you're aware, maybe not but it is not so easy to get your kids into child care over here. how old are they? we have registered our unborn child for a place in daycare which won't become available until september 2007 (if we're lucky) when it will be a year old! if we didn't do this now, who knows how much longer we would have to wait. just a friendly warning

There's a difference between getting a Krippen place and a Kindergarden place. Kindergardens are a given, but Krippen are still looked at differently and people applying for Krippen places are treated much worse.

Our eldest will be 5 1/2 when we arrive (around April 2007)so I guess will have just over a year in kindergarten before he start vorschule in Sept 2008.
Our other two (twins) would be 2 1/2 and I will probably be at home for the first year while we all settle in, and possibly look at getting back to the working world after that, all being well. Does that mean I would be able to bypass Krippen and start them directly in Kindergartan at 3 1/2?
Curious DDBug, what you mean by "you are treated worse" if you are applying for Krippen. Sounds very ominous !!! Can you elaborate pls? Thx.
/Mo3

Well, it's hard to describe, and times are a changing, but there is still an attitude of horrible parents (i.e. mothers) put their children in institutional daycare before they are three. The "hausfrau" society is still noticable in many ways. (You should have heard the director of the Munich school system blame parents and mothers for the school system!!!)

Anyway, you won't have to worry about that - your twins should be able to go straight into kindergarden. I would recommend mine - it is a city one run but one of the best (even among the private ones) in Schwabing, but it's near Luitpoldpark. Trust your instincts on any one you do pick.

If your eldest will be 5 1/2 in April of 2007 he will have one year of kindergarden (which should include vorschule) and will start first grade in sept. 2008 at the latest. Make sure that whichever kindergarden you choose offers a decent pre-school program with language support. Kids pick up things very quickly, but they should get all the support they can.

Good luck!

if you read the bbc magazine articles online this week, i think tuesday's article is about the problem of germany's reproductive rate (lowest in europe when measured in births per 1000 women i believe). it explains a bit about the problems that the state and the mentality of the people have placed in the way of mothers pursuing a career and having children. but it looks like things could maybe be changing with new legislation. still need to change the mentality of the volk though.

Dear all,

After a lot of arrangement and preparation I eventually move to Munich for 10 days ago from Geneva. I am expecting my first child and even though my boyfriend is German we do not have a clue where to look for a Kinderkrippe in town. My due-date is in July.

In another forum topic somebody gave me the good hint to look already for a Kinderkrippe before even the baby arrived in this world. It simce to be a hard think to get in this city.

Do you have maybe any hints or addresses in Schwabing you could share wit me.
What exactly is needed to suscribe my future kid on the Kinderkrippe???
Is there an international Kinderkrippe???

Thanks in advance for the information and best regards,

Sandra

As always, Google is your friend. Just type in "Kinderkrippe + München", I think the very first hit is the website of muenchen.de which will
give you the list of daycare centres in the whole town, in alphabetical order but also mentioning the neighbourhood for each one.
I guess the next step would be contacting the ones in Schwabing and finding out about availability, procedure and the like.

You can also do a search for likely threads on this very forum - use the search function in the upper right-hand corner of the screen -
you'll find the muenchen.de link I posted sometime last year, for example, plus lots of useful information provided by other people. Enjoy!

Sign up days are usually tuesdays. Getting an infant spot is very difficult since they only take one under 1 year old per group of 12-14 children.
The Stadtjugendamt will have information on Tagesmutter as well - something I would seriously recommend thinking about - depending on your work hours.
There is a krippe at clementsstr. (30 I think) which is supposed to be pretty good and a coop set up on Bauerstrasse near schellingstrasse which was the worst experience of my (sons) life, but it's still running, so maybe things have gotten better. The others I know of around here (hohenzollernplatz) are private kindergardens that will take children as young as 2, and "krabbel" groups that usually require a parent in attendance (I believe - I never went that route). Then the best bet is to go to each one in the phone book and sign up, plead desparation etc.
Good luck!

@DDBug
Can you plead desperation if you're not working? I'm just wondering when they actually decide to give you a spot (especially
if the baby is not even born yet) and how you can convince them that you'll be working if you've just arrived and are pregnant,
which means that presumably you are not looking for work just now and won't be starting work any time soon.

Well, she could plead "freelancer" or something. The priority of single parenthood still applies - though that might change Of course they can't check, and things may change, she should have her German boyfriend involved in this as much as possible to facilitate things.

It's a well-known fact that freelancers do most of their work at night!

I work nights and weekends myself However, it is also a documented fact that freelancing is not feasable without adequate daycare.

Thanks for the informatoin! You gave me very important hints. Wooow, the idea with freelancing is great!
It seems to be that the adventure to have a child is just starting. I have the impression that Kinderkrippen and Child-Care places is a gap in the north European country. Maybe we should start runing one for ourself - we might become rich with the high demand that is on the market

Best regarsd,

Sandra

I was also joking about it when I first arrived to Munich. Now after almost one year here having finally signed my soon 3-year-old in a kindergarten feel enormous relief, that I can, just like DDBug said, perhaps dreem about working during normal times and not to start a working day at 8 pm. Felt really desperate and from time time even asocial for having decided to have children.

Open own kindergarten, well good luck with that, you haven't have yet probably much experience with German bureaucracy...

Here is the list of all sorts of day care in Munich.

Don't want to take the wind out of your sails, but perhaps you should also do a search to get an idea of what's involved in setting yourself up as a freelancer in Germany.

I want to emphasize that freelancing is normally NOT a feasable alternative to proper day care. Ask Natalia as well. Working nights and weekends, lack of sleep trying to fit everything in without having your daycare base covered is not a healthy idea.

Now - you can use this as a reason for working if there is no job contract on your side.

Did I suggest looking for a Tagesmutter? One of the best things I did for my oldest was take him out of the Krippe and put him in the hands of a great Tagesmutter I was fortunate enough to find.

Treehouse.

Finally coming your way in May!! (Located just down the street from the Munich Readery) We're accepting applications for children 3 months to 6 years old, just drop me a note or stop by the Friday English Playgroup in ELKI Schraudolphst. 10.

Lara Mosdal


The Treehouse will be a daycare and kindergarten providing childcare in both English and German. We are a nonprofit, parental initiative and energetic, engaged, multicultural families are the lifesblood of our organization.


The kindergarten will provide 10 children with a comprehensive, Montessori influenced, preschool program in both languages. An additional 15 spaces are offered to daycare children under 3 years old. Both programs focus on experiental learning as well as creative expression and plenty of fresh air and exercise in our garden.


The children are imbued in an environment of linguistic, cultural, ethic and religious tolerance. Our members hail from every continent.


In addition to our childcare offerings it is our ultimate goal to address the special needs of bicultural and non-German-speaking families in Munich. This may include seminars on raising bilingual children, German cultural classes for new-comers or evening courses in German as a second language.