Information
Dear Visitor, on our website you can find basic information. Before joining us, we want to get to know each other. Therefore, we invite you to a personal meeting where you can get to know us.
We are a place for kids 3-7 y.o. and the whole family. We specialise in the forest education area with a strong preference towards NVC and free play of children. We are registered as “niepubliczny punkt przedszkolny” – a kindergarten unit working within the Polish education system.
We have been working since November 2017 and we are constantly striving to create the best environment at the same time developing our small community of families and adults. We know more and more about ourselves, what is important in a kindergarten like ours is to make this time of being together fruitful for us, to satisfy our needs. Probably every year we will learn more and more. For now, we would like to provide you with the following information that we have developed so far.
Our main 5 pillars are the following:
1. Forest nursery
We are a forest (or Scandinavian) kindergarten. These are kindergartens where children spend most of their time playing outdoors. We play, learn, eat and rest outdoors. Yes, it is an unusual idea in Poland, but it has been practiced in Scandinavian countries for a long time. The first forest kindergartens were established in Poland in 2015 and there are more and more of them every year. Forest kindergartens do not have to be located in a brick building, they are often heated tents / yurts located in the woods. We have a nice, comfortable house where we can stay in winter or during heavy rainfalls or wind. From spring to autumn, we spend most of the time, and in summer, we spend almost the entire day outdoors. We really take advantage of the fresh air, because our huge backyard almost ends in the Kampinos National Park! Being able to play freely, children like to climb trees, play in puddles or in the mud. For this reason, at the beginning of your adventure with us, you will get a list of clothes useful when attending the kindergarten and we want to inform you that children can end the day being very dirty.
2. The language of the heart, or communication
Respecting others is important to us. That is why we look for ways to educate our children to show such respect. Our help is Nonviolent communication – a method of communication developed by the psychologist Marshall B. Rosenberg. This way is also known as heart language or giraffe language. It allows you to express your own feelings, needs and requests and at the same time helps you to hear the other side. NVC is designed for people-to-people contacts, both between adults and children. By developing this method, the author hoped that it would enable permanent peace in the world.
3. Christian values
At our kindergarten we want to respect everyone, with any religious or non-religious background. The framework for this is Christian belief in the freedom of a person. We want to base our actions on Christians beliefs in the dignity of a person. The kindergarten is to be a meeting place, for both believers and non-believers. Even if these meetings evoke a lot of emotions, it will be easier for us to meet and hear the needs behind our feelings using Nonviolent Communication. We want to learn inter-religious dialogue. We do not perform worship of any religion.
4. Sensitivity to the environment
We want to be sensitive to both the natural environment and the wise use of natural resources, as well as the creation of interpersonal relationships in the local environment. That is why we talk to our neighbors and organize trips to local public places. We also pay attention to how we use goods: the amount of food needed, the reuse of packaging, the use of natural raw materials. Another aspect of the environment is the diversity of ethnicities arounds us. It is why we often invite guests from other countries, speaking different languages to enrich our environment. That is why we also want to meet you – non-Polish speakers 🙂 Our whole team speaks English and we would be very happy to have you with us and to enrich our community.
5. Practical skills
We want to learn in action. We get to know the world by engaging in authentic activities and tasks, learning, inter alia, taking care of nature, gardening, cooking, baking, DIY, creating. We engage in setting the table and cleaning up after lunch. Every year we grow some plants in our garden, and we build our own infrastructure. We also learn English practically – by communicating in English for some time every day.
Daily routine
At our place children experience time and space for free play. Our daily rhythm is determined by the morning circle and the times of meals. To create a diverse environment for our children, we also offer them activities conducted by adults, e.g. art classes on Mondays, bike trips outside the kindergarten on Fridays, music, DIY, gardening, experiments, drama, cooking classes – depending on the interests of kids and possibilities of adults.
Our daily schedule:
• 8.30-9.30 – time to come to us, free play
• 10.00-10.30 – morning circle
• 10.30-11.00 – second breakfast
• 11.00-12.30 – free play / organized activities, trips
• 12.30-13.00 – soup time
• 13:00-13.30 – rest, reading / organized activities / free play
After 13.30 we complete the day in the framework of our afternoon projects called “Popołudnia w Mariewie” which continues as follows:
13.30-14.30 organized activities / free play
14.30-15.00 main meal
15.00-15.30 free play
15.30-16.00 tidy up time
16.00-16.15 snack time
16.15-17.30 free play / organised activities
Caregivers
We have 7 amazing people in our team. We work in two shifts to be able to effectively take care of ourselves and the children. Our team consists of: Kasia, Marysia, Ola, Olga, Jagoda, Ewelina and Karol. For most of the day (except for first and last hours when there are few children), there are 3 adults with the children. We have different educational backgrounds and qualifications in our team: kindergarten education, psychology, empathy, forest education and physical education.
Children
They are also amazing and different, they have interests in many different things but what is common for most of them – they all like to dig in the ground 🙂 We have 3, 4, 5 and 6-year-olds (the so-called „0” grade). Our maximum group size is 22 kids.
Adaptation
It is very important to us that the child joins our group when she or he is ready for it. Therefore, we do not want to accept children younger than 3 years old, because they rarely have such readiness. Therefore, we want parents to have time to be with their child for the first period. And the length of this period individually depends on the child, it may last 1 week or 1 month. It is very important for us that the family has time to adapt.
Maintenance of this place
For the maintenance and development of this place, we need approximately 1,500-1700PLN per month per child. We realize that this is a large amount, for some it is possible to share, for some it is difficult, and for others – not possible at all. Therefore, if you can give us this amount, it will enable us to function well. However, if this is too much for you, perhaps you can make a different contribution towards the maintenance. If this scenario applies to you, consider other ways you can contribute to our community.
Food
Children bring their second breakfast from home in their backpacks. We order soup and a main meal from an outside catering company, Mrs. Iza from Borzęcin. The afternoon snack iis prepared by us, the kindergarten team. The cost of soup, main course and afternoon snack is PLN 12 per day.
Community
We are a small place where we mostly know each other by name and not only 🙂 In the early years, we often organized campfire meetings, now less often, but maybe we will come back to that 🙂 Our families know and visit each other, together we survived the time of the coronavirus shutdown and still we have got to know and support each other – without imposing ourselves, with kindness and openness. We invite you to join us 🙂
Choosing a kindergarten
Perhaps we are a kindergarten for you, and perhaps not. We would like to have the chance to find an answer to this question for both you and us!
Outdoor events and birthdays
During the weekends we sometimes organise events for the whole family. There is information about it on our website and/or fb profile. We also organise outdoor birthdays for kids. In this, we cooperate with our friends: https://www.facebook.com/Po%C5%82%C4%85czeni-Lasem-100390838782143
Contact
Phone: +48 504 755 165
E-mail: przedszkole[@]mariew.edu.pl
Address: Przedszkole leśne w Mariewie, ul. Kwiatowa 136A, 05-083 Mariew.
Hope to see you soon!
Ewelina, Jagoda, Ola, Olga, Kasia, Marysia and Karol with all the kids and families!
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