german kindergartens that close in the middle of the day - how do you manage to work?

[sannie]

Hi There,

DS1 has just got a place at kindergarten. It's really hard to get a place where we are so I'm really pleased about it. There's just one problem though - it closes at 2pm. Although it's not a problem at the minute as I'm at home wioth DS2, I would like to get my life back and go to work at some point.

I'm just wondering how I will be able to do this though if the kg closes in the middle of the day. I have put his name down on the waiting lists for other kgs that stay open longer but I'm not so keen on moving him if he is already settled in somewhere.

Just wondered if anyone else has this problem and how they get around it...

Thanks

Hi sannie.

I'm in Germany but don't work yet so I'm not entirely sure how people manage. Most of the mums round here who work (with small children) have either found places at kitas where they can leave them all day but there aren't that many and most have long waiting lists I think, or they have grandparents/relatives nearby who look after their dc.

Other than that you could look for a childminder who can pick your dc up from kindergarten.

Hi Sannie,

I live in the South and my DS1 is only 6mnths so not quite at your stage yet. All the parents I know with older children work part-time and I think that's quite general with most German mothers. Certainly schools here also finish by 1pm. I think their kids then go to "after school homework classes" until 4pm run by the school?

Only suggestion is if you have a "Familienzentrum" you could go to, to see if they can advise/offer something? I know my one offers child minding as well as the normal mother baby groups and things.

Good luck