3 ms·

German here. The initiative to provide a kindergarden for every child is quite a failure. It was decreed by the federal govt that every city (i.e. local govt) h

German here. The initiative to provide a kindergarden for every child is quite a failure. It was decreed by the federal govt that every city (i.e. local govt) has to provide enough resources, but there simply aren't enough kindergarden workers for that (and not enough money to get more people to do that badly paid job). As I see it, it was just an easy way to gain votes. It's easy to pass laws that your own government doesn't have to apply, but _someone else_.

mgbmtl 12y ago
Imo, it's worth it though. Having universal kindergarden caused a mini baby-boom in Quebec when it was initially put in place. Having good daycare is hard and extremely stressful to parents. My productivity at work soared when I finally had proper daycare for my kid. However, it's systematically under attack from the government since. It's politically easier to cut kindergarden budgets rather than health services or corporate welfare. Another important need is for better parental leave so that both parents can raise their children and have a full time job.
freehunter 12y ago
Coming from the US, the idea that kindergarten is not required seems odd to me. I was going to say that kindergarten is required here in the US, but I thought I should double check that just to be sure. I was pretty surprised by the results. Only 16 of the 50 states require kindergarten as part of the mandatory (compulsory) education [1]. The state where I went to school doesn't require kindergarten, but my very very poor family still sent me to school at age 5. So yeah, I guess we don't require kindergarten, but I've never encountered anyone in the US who did not attend kindergarten. So it still sounds odd that Germany doesn't have universal kindergarten zumal das Wort ist Deutsch. [1] http://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp http://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp
- TulliusCicero 12y ago
  IIRC Kindergarten isn't as narrowly defined in Germany as in the US; in Germany it also covers pre-school years.
- pgeorgi 12y ago
  Kindergarten covers children aged 3 to 6 in Germany, while school starts at 6 (with some variance allowed based on individual development). In any case, when entering school, kindergarten is a thing of the past. School teachers prefer kids to go to kindergarten for the social and verbal skills they acquire there, but it's not mandatory.
- thejdude 12y ago
  Funny that you say that, since the USA is a country where in many states even school is not mandatory. Why should kindergarten be? In Germany school is mandatory until you're 16 (if I'm not mistaken), but kindergarten is completely optional. Most people - if they can afford it - would send their kids there, though, because it gives them (the parents) more time off, and it's good for the kids to spend some time with other kids. There are public and private kindergartens here (same with schools), and for the public ones the price depends on the parents' income. It seems that the costs vary by county and by the number of kids you have (as an example I found this page: http://www.netmoms.de/magazin/kinder/kindergarten/kosten-fuer-den-kindergarten/ http://www.netmoms.de/magazin/kinder/kindergarten/kosten-fue... ). Looks incredibly cheap (I'm honestly surprised), so maybe it's time to plan for some offspring.

mgbmtl 12y ago

Imo, it's worth it though. Having universal kindergarden caused a mini baby-boom in Quebec when it was initially put in place. Having good daycare is hard and extremely stressful to parents. My productivity at work soared when I finally had proper daycare for my kid. However, it's systematically under attack from the government since. It's politically easier to cut kindergarden budgets rather than health services or corporate welfare. Another important need is for better parental leave so that both parents can raise their children and have a full time job.

freehunter 12y ago

Coming from the US, the idea that kindergarten is not required seems odd to me. I was going to say that kindergarten is required here in the US, but I thought I should double check that just to be sure. I was pretty surprised by the results. Only 16 of the 50 states require kindergarten as part of the mandatory (compulsory) education [1]. The state where I went to school doesn't require kindergarten, but my very very poor family still sent me to school at age 5. So yeah, I guess we don't require kindergarten, but I've never encountered anyone in the US who did not attend kindergarten. So it still sounds odd that Germany doesn't have universal kindergarten zumal das Wort ist Deutsch. [1] http://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp http://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp

TulliusCicero 12y ago
IIRC Kindergarten isn't as narrowly defined in Germany as in the US; in Germany it also covers pre-school years.
pgeorgi 12y ago
Kindergarten covers children aged 3 to 6 in Germany, while school starts at 6 (with some variance allowed based on individual development). In any case, when entering school, kindergarten is a thing of the past. School teachers prefer kids to go to kindergarten for the social and verbal skills they acquire there, but it's not mandatory.
thejdude 12y ago
Funny that you say that, since the USA is a country where in many states even school is not mandatory. Why should kindergarten be? In Germany school is mandatory until you're 16 (if I'm not mistaken), but kindergarten is completely optional. Most people - if they can afford it - would send their kids there, though, because it gives them (the parents) more time off, and it's good for the kids to spend some time with other kids. There are public and private kindergartens here (same with schools), and for the public ones the price depends on the parents' income. It seems that the costs vary by county and by the number of kids you have (as an example I found this page: http://www.netmoms.de/magazin/kinder/kindergarten/kosten-fuer-den-kindergarten/ http://www.netmoms.de/magazin/kinder/kindergarten/kosten-fue... ). Looks incredibly cheap (I'm honestly surprised), so maybe it's time to plan for some offspring.