Pick and drop for child

[pajero 2]

Hi all, 

 

I need help badly. 

 

I need someone to pick and drop my child from his school at specific timings. 

 

I was searching for child pickup services but couldn't find any on google in deutscheland. I found similar service in the US.  https://ridezum.com/ but wanted to know if there is someone who gives this service in germany. My area of residence is Norderstedt. 

 

The total distance to and fro is 8 kms.

 

I cannot manage it as i have to leave for office early and the bus services takes a long time from my house to the schule. 

 

Appreciate if someone can help me on this. 

 

-dsilva

[vronchen 418]

What about Betreuung/Hort before school? Doesn't that start at 6 or 6:30? Or how early do you have to start work?

[pajero 2]

54 minutes ago, vronchen said:

What about Betreuung/Hort before school? Doesn't that start at 6 or 6:30? Or how early do you have to start work?

Thanks for the advise i have chosen hort from 11:55 to 5:30 PM - I thought morning would be easy to drop by 7:30 AM but found out that the bus service near the schule has a 20 min gap so overall ill loose around 40 min if i drop him by bus and will eventually reach my office quite later. 

 

I need to start office by 730 latest. 

 

secondly to keep the child at 6:30 AM in the shulhort till 5:30 PM would take a heavy toll on the child. 

 

if a pick and drop service is there its the most convenient without me worrying for my child to pick and drop him. 

[Guest]

I agree with the OP in that the problem is that the child gets tired with a way too long day ... and the way there and back is not in a Papa/Mama taxi but on public transportation.

 

The Arbeitsamt expects children to be able to pull 50-60 hour a week week weeks with NO holidays other than the 4 weeks the parents hopefully get.

 

By law, the JA is to help the family stay together and the child form having to switch school but they do not as they have large financial incentive to let the family fail so the child can be taken to a Kinderheim longterm as the family is 'Überfordert' (don't know if the 'o' is supposed to get an Umlaut here).

 

My daughter tired from the long commute on public transportation position because I don't have a driver's license. Other parents might dream of colllege for their daughters but I so hope she can get a driver's license when she's a young adult so she can keep her family together. My daughter, because I would get her home on public transportation or back on top of my bike (the bus was as is the OPs some times not often enough so to pick her up in time I would have to ride my bike) too late would be exhausted the next morning and I would get to the office late. She much enjoyed her teacher and the school was civilized and had lots of space to run around on the grounds there. We both knew we had really lucked out in terms of a wonderful teacher. I asked the school system (REBZZ) what I could do to be able to as a single parent keep her there, and also the Jugendamt.

 

On top of that we were were being threatend with eviction (although paying the rent) by my ex, who was the main tenant, who said he had no time to help pick her up, if even he could have picked her up one time a week it would have been so helpful, she could have stayed there. 

 

The only solution the JA/school system could offer  to allow us to stay in Hamburg was to keep applying for a spot at a school close to home. The ones I knew would be a good match for her close to home or my job were always full. Outside of Hamburg I could have gotten help, but her Dad is in Hamburg and two parents are imprtant to me for my daughter to have. One opened at the start of her third grade (after asking for a spot for over two years), but the school did not want my daughter (they had refused her for first grade which is why she ended up at first grade far from home), so they put her in a special ed focus class, nice children, our neighbors, but instead of a German and Math teacher there was a Lernplanner who would just hand things my daughter was to fill out on her own with no grade-appropriate instruction, timely correction, or motivation for that matter.

 

After two weeks of that she asked me to put her back in a 'normal' school. And she pleaded with me come to the school with her and stay in the hallway so she would have someone to answer her questions when the Lernplanner would repeatedly refuse to teach her third grade.

 

I took her to a psychologist expert in school matters and he said I would unfortunately have to put her into a normal teaching environment and if her school does not permit that she should be moved. I took her for a second opinion and got the same advice. REBZZ was useless. Another public school advisory office near our home tried to convince me to move her to a school in Veddel.

 

She tested a week at a local private school at the beginning of fourth grade, she LOVED it, but my ex blocked it. My daughter went into a crisis, was very angry at him and hugely dissapointed in me unable to advocate for her, I was blamed by JA and my ex for moving her too much (she was born two streets from where we've lived her whole life, and she would be able to continue at the same Sportverein, keep the ame neighborhood friends...) and I had no other way to keep my family together.

 

With the result that the JA and my ex got her kicked out of the sought-after Gymnasium for excellent DE-EN bilingual instruction on our street with girls she knows and where she could play with her pals who attend other neighborhood schools (we have 5! schools with 5th grades in our neighborhood), so no more having a ball going with her friends after school to the neighborhood pool... because 'I move her too much' and she needs stability so now she is 20 kilometers away in a not good neighborhood and a not good school. We have neighbor kids calling still and sometimes ringing the doorbell looking to play with her.

 

I and other parents I know have on the other hand had good luck with private tandems: It could be temporary room for help (with landlord permission), paid off-the-books babysitters (yes, it can cost 600 EUR a month)...maybe cram into the livingroom and sublet the bedroom for free for a month to get some relief just to get help with bringing the child to and from school?

 

JA subsidizes maybe 5 EUR an hour per child if you find someone on their list who works on the books, which means you have to pay maybe 13 EUR an hour on the books, and they must give invoices, and from that maybe the 5 EUR will be reimbursed.

 

I have also had the experience that single parents who get their children into religious schools, be it Catholic, evangelical or jewish, tend to escape better the Jugendamt. I know 3! families that if they could not have gotten their children into private schools would have had their children taken form them by the JA (one did have them taken and went to court three times to get them back, children are now super happy at the local private religious school)

 

Is there a religious school nearby your home? This would open up the door also to playpals in the afternoons. When my daughter was far away at school I could not do the usual childminding exchanges, but as soon as she moved to the local school it was super easy plus she culd go on her own (or walk there and back with neighborhood children on the team) to the local sportsverein.

 

I am against leaving a child in a car with an adult stranger, but out of desperation when my daughter was exhausted I would pay mornings 10 EUR for a taxi to bring her to school sometimes. I am guessing what you need is going to be about 20 EUR one way daily.  040 211 211 is supposedly on the expensive side, there are probably cheaper taxi firms in Hamburg.. maybe ask how much it would cost. My daughter found taking the taxi 'cool'. I was horrified at the security risk.

I never tried to have a taxi pick her up from school and bring her home.

 

I am afraid only a school, job or home change will financially solve your logistics problem, but due to my experience and the experience of other families I know I strongly advise if you decide to as I did to reduce exhaustion of your child to switch schools closer to home and are a single parent do not switch to a public school but rather a religious school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swimmer 3,706]

2 hours ago, pajero said:

The total distance to and fro is 8 kms.

 

A lot of Germans and others I know would just put the kid on the bus in the morning.   They'd not go with them or deal in "specific timings". Seriously.    They train them to go by bus alone right from when they start school.  Exactly because of the maths you set out.  4km one way is also not that unusual.   The other thing would be if there's any other kid(s) they cna buddy with.

 

I have used said buses periodically.  It's not like much can really go wrong (and even if there is, they are full of people like me plus bus staff who know we have to look out for the little kids if there is a problem).  And when I walk down to the stop, quite small kids pass me on their own on scooters and bikes etc, and plenty of others are waiting for the tram etc.

[Guest]

I think the problem is that the child would have to start quite early and then come home quite late. The hours would be more than legally allowed for an adult. My daughter would have been just fine with the bus if her hours were not so long. Leaving in the dark, coming home in the dark, in the summer when it is super hot with the Schulranzen, sports bag, and whatever else stuff...wasps following her (she is scared when wasps follw her)... just not nice...

And when the goverment requires children to put in longer hours than is legal for adults I think it is too much for the chidlren.

 

 

 

[pajero 2]

11 hours ago, swimmer said:

 

A lot of Germans and others I know would just put the kid on the bus in the morning.   They'd not go with them or deal in "specific timings". Seriously.    They train them to go by bus alone right from when they start school.  Exactly because of the maths you set out.  4km one way is also not that unusual.   The other thing would be if there's any other kid(s) they cna buddy with.

 

I have used said buses periodically.  It's not like much can really go wrong (and even if there is, they are full of people like me plus bus staff who know we have to look out for the little kids if there is a problem).  And when I walk down to the stop, quite small kids pass me on their own on scooters and bikes etc, and plenty of others are waiting for the tram etc.

thanks i agree with you but we have just moved to germany and once the child is not with parents and out of school no one can guarantee the child's saftey. The school and schulhort authorities are amazing and take great care of the child but once the child is out of school premises risk factor is doubled. 

 

if there is someone who is doing pick and drop service then i know that child is in safe hands and i dont mind paying more money as it's related to saftey. 

 

anyways if you know anyone who does this kind of work then please let me know.

[jeba 3,876]

Why not ask other parents, preferably one of those living nearby.

[Guest]

I used ebay kleinanzeigen to find off-the-books women to do picking up of my daughter (fortunately the bus going to the school had good timing and other children were on the bus, so I had MUCH lower costs than you but still would run me 600 EUR per month).

 

The problem is the parents living close to the OP do not have their children going to school so far away unless a parent is available to go with the child or drive the child.

 

I don't think the distance per se is the problem but rather the long hours the child has to endure, their not being co-commuters to and from the same school, and for school holidays there are very few children commuting alone so early and so late.

 

 

If your child must commute alone what I found to help is to get a bunch of cheap shoes and such so she would not have to carry everything back all the time... once a week I would pay someone to collect all the dirty stuff and bring it back, also a duplicate set of books can be packed, and I used to send her with a small pen case instead of the huge ones most girls use.. all to reduce the weight of what she had to carry.

 

Another thing to try just in case you have luck is see if one of the daycare workers at the school just happens to be taking a similar commute route in case you could pay him or her cash extra off the books to help out sometimes. I asked around but they were all living in the other direction as our home.

 

I tried real hard to find a solution a couple of years a go in Hamburg but moving my daughter to a school close to home was the only solution I could find without another parent willing to help with pickup.   I just warn because of my horror experience to please switch to a religious or private school instead of a public one if the reason for the move is logistics to reduce exhaustion of the child. Maybe there is a teenager with a train pass already who could do pick up?

 

And then pay a neighbor who is retired to do drop off? Still every day this adds up to a lot of money.

I would put a note up in your building, just in case you have luck, you would have to pay the retirees bus fare though, but at least usually they are available mornings.

 

 

[2B_orNot2B 8,447]

3 hours ago, pajero said:

if you know anyone who does this kind of work then please let me know.

 

Not living in the area I don't know anyone personally, but it may be that some of the folks who have posted ads seeking other types of child care work in the area may be willing to discuss a suitable arrangement with you.

 

Kinderbetreuung: Babysitter in Norderstedt - Seite 1 - ErsteKinderbetreuung.de

 

I note btw that, according to the site info under the user names, some of the posters whose ads are older have not been active for a long time but others with even older posts have been active more recently.

 

Another possible solution, if none of the listed advertisers are availble, would be to post your own offer (= Angebot or want ad = gesuche) in either the above or the following webpages. Throughout Germany, eBay Kleinanzeige is a very active portal.

 

Heimarbeit, Mini- & Nebenjobs in Norderstedt - Schleswig-Holstein | eBay Kleinanzeigen

 

Tagesmutter Gesucht, Babysitter & Kinderbetreuung in Norderstedt | eBay Kleinanzeigen

 

Perhaps it may be more economic to seek out one of the elder schoolkids (Schuler/in) who are seeking part-time pocket money kid-minding jobs. Many of them will have their own term-time bus-pass thus saving you that part of the daily expense.

 

Good luck!

 

2B

[Joanie 1,127]

The tagesmutterverein helped us find an "ersatz Oma".  it was awesome.

 

Off topic from the OPs problem but I don't know if i buy the "long hours for kids" or "kids putting in more hours than adults"  but i guess that it would depend on what Hort is offering.  If my kids were to stay at school until 5:30, from 13:00 to 17:30, its mostly fun, playing outside, doing crafts and other things. My kids were in Hort in elementary school and demanded to be in it because it was so much fun.  They had garten AG, music AG, bastel AG, sports, etc etc.  At our tiny dorf school, it was impressive how much the kids loved it. 

 

ftr, for their gymnasium now, my kids have to be at the bus stop by 6:30 am.  Its 40 mins of bus driving with their friends or listening to music, reading, then 30 mins waiting for school to start (chatting with friends).   I can see this being a problem if a kid tires easily socially, but I would say most kids we know with these long days (our school is almost all commuting kids from a 45 min travel radius) wouldn't quite compare it to an 8 hour factory job.