Guiding principles of our educational approach
Our educational work is based on an appreciative, loving, and respectful attitude toward every child. We treat children as individuals, respecting their unique personalities and creating reliable relationships in which they feel safe, seen, and accepted. The caregivers consciously shape everyday life as role models and exemplify mindful, respectful, and empathetic behavior. In this way, children develop social skills, empathy, and an appreciative attitude toward others. We work in a resource-oriented manner and focus on the individual strengths, abilities, and potential of each child. Through positive reinforcement and sensitive guidance, the children experience emotional security that enables them to approach new learning and life experiences with curiosity, openness, and self-confidence. The well-being of the child always comes first. In a warm, stimulating, and protected environment, we create the foundation for children to develop individually, at their own pace, and according to their interests and talents.
During childcare, children are gently introduced to the culture of the education center. They get to know their surroundings, the daily routine, and shared rituals that provide orientation, security, and reliability. These structures are taught in an age- and developmentaly-appropriate manner and experienced together with other children. We provide holistic support for the children and encourage them to develop their personal, social, and technical skills. In doing so, we focus on the individual needs, interests, and developmental stages of the children. A wide range of cognitive, creative, social, motor, and playful activities enables the children to gain diverse experiences and further develop their skills. Participation is an important part of our daily childcare routine. The children are actively involved in decision making and are given space to express their opinions, help shape outcomes, and take on responsibility. This allows them to experience self-confidence and develop a positive understanding of community and cooperation.
The daily routine is clearly structured, lovingly rhythmic, and divided into pedagogically meaningful sequences. Established rituals such as the morning circle, singing circle, or storytelling circle are an integral part of everyday life and provide the children with orientation, security, and stability. These rituals are consciously cultivated and invite the children to actively participate. Physical activity plays a central role and takes place in a balanced alternation between free, independent discovery and targeted, guided activities – both indoors and outdoors. Daily contact with nature is consciously encouraged. Equally important are rest periods, which give the children space to relax and process their experiences. Meals are eaten together and promote enjoyment of healthy food and an appreciative table culture. Birthdays, annual celebrations, and holidays are celebrated and enrich everyday life. The reliable structure and established rituals ensure that transitions are smooth and the children's well-being is strengthened.
The premises of the easy-kid-care children's education center in Olten, Egerkingen, and Kappel are child-friendly, modern in design, and create a bright, friendly atmosphere in which children can feel comfortable and safe. Spacious interiors offer plenty of room for play, moving around, and explorin. They are clearly structured to meet the different needs of children. In addition to exercise rooms that encourage children to let off steam whilst promoting motor development, there are creative rooms where children can give free rein to their imagination. Quiet rooms and story rooms offer places of retreat, promote relaxation, and encourage listening, storytelling, and dreaming. All locations also have spacious, lovingly designed gardens that are close to nature, protected, and versatile, allowing children to spend time outdoors at any time. The environment is deliberately designed to be stimulating and equipped with a diverse selection of materials so that children can learn through their own experimentation and experience and develop holistically.
We promote a connection with nature by encouraging children to actively explore and discover their surroundings. We do this by going on regular walks and providing the children with a spacious playground that meets their needs. We enable them to move around in a variety of ways and discover nature. We also run projects such as a small kitchen garden, which we tend together. In Egerkingen, we have rabbits; the children can build a relationship with the animals and learn to take responsibility for a living creature. In addition, we integrate nature into everyday life by using natural materials for crafts and offering stories and games in the great outdoors. Twice a month, we organise a forest day. Forest day is an important part of our educational concept, as it promotes the holistic development of children in a unique way, enabling them to experience nature with all their senses, strengthen their social skills, and develop a connection to the environment.
Early education
Early support is crucial as the first years of life form the basis for a child's entire future development. During this period, language, thinking, motor skills, social skills, and emotional stability develop particularly intensively. Studies show that deficits that arise in early childhood are difficult or costly to make up for later on. In Switzerland, formal education begins relatively late, which means that some children start their educational careers at a disadvantage. Early support counteracts these inequalities and helps children thrive, regardless of their background or family resources.
Daycare centers offer ideal conditions for effective early learning, as learning takes place holistically and in a way that is relevant to everyday life. Children do not learn in isolation; it is shaped through relationships, play, movement, and shared experiences. The structured daily routine, consistent groups, and reliable caregivers create a sense of security and trust—key prerequisites for learning. Early learning in daycare centers is particularly effective because it is free from pressure to perform and builds on the child's individual level of development. This allows children to develop their abilities while also developing important social skills.
Early learning is firmly anchored in the educational concept at our Children's Education Center. We see education as an active, self-directed process for children, which we consciously support and encourage. Each child is recognised for their uniqueness and supported according to their strengths, interests, and needs. Our specialists work with high pedagogical quality, clear observation principles, and targeted support. The focus is always on the child's right to education, development, and participation.
Early learning doesn't happen in isolated learning situations at our center, it is part of our everyday life together. Language is encouraged through storytelling, singing, or having a snack together, while mathematical and logical thinking is encouraged through building, sorting, or experimenting. Motor skills develop through movement, play, and targeted activities indoors and outdoors. Social and emotional skills grow through interaction with other children, conflict resolution, and experiencing self-efficacy. Everyday life therefore becomes a diverse learning environment that strengthens children holistically.
For us, early education does not end in the here and now, it is actively geared towards the future of the children. The aim is to empower them so that they can master the transition to kindergarten and school with confidence, curiosity, and a willingness to learn. Through stable relationships, reliable structures, and the targeted promotion of independence, language, and social behavior, we create a solid foundation for further learning. With us, children develop confidence in their own abilities and experience that learning is fun. These positive learning experiences have a lasting effect and accompany the children far beyond their time at the daycare center.
Bilingualism and immersion method
Bilingual means speaking two languages: bi = two, lingua = language. The term is not associated with any particular method—bilingualism can be achieved through various teaching/learning methods.
By far the most effective method of language acquisition, and one that is particularly suitable for children, is the immersion method. Immersion means immersing oneself in a language. With this method, the new language is the working and colloquial language, whereby, according to the principle of “one person – one language,” one caregiver speaks only German and the other only English. Everything the foreign language teacher says is reinforced solely through facial expressions, gestures, or pointing, but not through translation. The child thus acquires the language independently, piece by piece, from the context of the situation. This replicates the most natural way children learn languages, regardless of whether it is their first or second language. It has been scientifically proven that immersion allows a considerably higher level of proficiency in the foreign language to be achieved than with conventional language learning methods. At the same time, the native language and subject matter develop just as well or better than in children who grow up monolingual.
Because immersion learning introduces children to the language without pressure; because immersion allows children to learn at their own pace; because immersion enables intuitive language learning; because immersion teaching is very diverse and therefore individualised; because immersion learning does not focus on the language itself, but rather uses language as a tool. Neither grammar nor vocabulary are the main focus. There is no linguistic correction. This makes language acquisition pressure-free. Immersion learning is currently the most successful method of language acquisition worldwide. It requires spending a lot of time with the new language.
No. Humans are designed for multilingualism, not monolingualism. On the contrary, exposure to a second language at an early age is beneficial, promotes mental development, and even helps children develop their native language better. This is because the skills required for language acquisition benefit both languages. Less than a third of humanity grows up monolingual. Languages are acquired well when you spend a lot of time with the language and have varied contact with it. If a child-friendly method is chosen, such as immersion learning, there is no need to worry about the child being overwhelmed. A second language fundamentally promotes the cognitive (mental) development of the child. A language does not have to be complete before another can be added. Speech therapists confirm that sound formation is promoted identically in both languages.
No, that is not necessary or beneficial. Learning programs are not age-appropriate. Children learn languages intuitively by understanding things from context, just as they do with their native language. You can, of course, support your child if they enjoy storybooks, for example, by using them with easy-kid-care and expanding their book collection. However, your child should engage with the book on their own initiative and not be under any pressure. It is much more important that you, as parents, cultivate your native language at home: read aloud a lot and talk to your children a lot. If their native language is well developed, this is a good prerequisite for learning another language.
Early language support - German
Our program is aimed at children who need to improve their German language skills before starting kindergarten. Early language development is a central component of our daily educational activities at easy-kid-care. For years, we have been intensively committed to the linguistic development of children. Our bilingual approach offers children the opportunity to grow up in a linguistically diverse environment and to experience their multilingualism as a strength. Since summer 2024, we have developed and introduced a comprehensive concept based on the principles of everyday language development. The concept has been continuously refined and is firmly integrated into our daily routine.
Language forms the basis for thinking, acting, communicating, and social relationships. Well-developed language skills enable children to navigate their environment with confidence, process experiences, and communicate with others. Language skills are crucial for success at school and for active participation in social life. Early support is essential, especially for children who grow up with German as a second language, in order to create equal educational opportunities.
We treat every child with respect, openness, and genuine affection. We recognise each child's individual linguistic abilities and potential and start from where they are currently. We focus on their interests and their world, because only those who feel understood and taken seriously enjoy speaking. We see mistakes as an important part of the learning process. We provide supportive, motivating feedback that empowers children. At the same time, we are aware of our role as role models and take care to use language that is mindful, clear, and child-friendly.
Language development integrated into everyday life is a central component of our educational work. Throughout the day, we create natural opportunities for conversation – while getting dressed, eating, playing, or in the garden. We pick up on what the children are interested in, ask open questions, name actions, and expand on their statements. This allows the children to experience language embedded in meaningful, emotional situations. We create a linguistically stimulating environment and use targeted language development strategies – such as repetition, explanation, or the introduction of new terms – tailored to each individual child.
In addition to everyday language support, we also offer targeted language development in the form of structured activities. These include dialogic reading, rhyming stories, language games, and small projects that combine language learning goals with the children's interests. These activities take place regularly and enable us to promote specific language skills in greater depth. By combining everyday language support with targeted language development, we create a lively, learning-friendly environment in which each child is individually supported and encouraged in their language development.