Our approach to teaching

The element-i approach to teaching is defined by the conviction that educators and carers must serve as adult partners to the children, demonstrating a genuine interest in and awareness of them. We are guided by how children see the world while also allowing them insights into our mindsets and ideas.

Educational specialists serve as guides and companions along the path of a child’s development

Through attentive and trained observation, our educators identify a child’s state of development and provide them with a stimulating environment. They engage with the children with sensitivity, accompanying them and enriching their learning processes.

Playing is learning made fun

For children, learning and playing is the same thing. When playing, children become the creators of their own world. The children are provided with a stimulating environment and the opportunity to be a part of the care centre’s daily routine in order to stimulate their imagination and their urge to be involved.

The self-controlled play boosts their social, emotional, motor and cognitive development. They explore the environment, experiment, acquire knowledge, apply newly acquired skills, test out various roles and develop their imagination. This allows them to learn how to solve complex problems, to interact with other people in a suitable way, to overcome conflict, and to express and control emotions. This means that play provides children with competencies in many different ways.

Our approach to teaching involves organising each situation together with the children by placing it in a context in a manner that is suitable for their development and is understandable, manageable and useful for them. Instilling faith in the child’s own ability with appealing, reasonable challenges opens up the potential for new experiences. This allows children to feel a connection with the world – entirely in keeping with the motto “It’s all about me”.

Observation and documentation as teaching tools

A key element of our approach to teaching is accompanying the child through the next development step in a suitable way – essentially by providing stimuli that help a child to advance in their development. We also use the element-i observation forms for all educational aspects and the passport, which provides an at-a-glance overview of the child’s interests. The various educational and developmental aspects are geared towards the guidance and educational curricula of the states.

Educators address the topics of the children, offer them appropriate opportunities or educational stimuli, and allow the children to deepen their interests. They inspire curiosity for new things and help the children to take the next developmental step.

What form does this take in day-to-day practice? Find out here how the philosophy and teaching approach of element-i child care centres and element-i schools is implemented.