U3 Groups
When students or members of the university become members, superivision of their small children can become a test of endurance, if parents wish to return to their studies or work as soon as possible. There are often not enough carecenter spots for children under three years of age (U3). There is also no legal right to such carecenter spots.
Unique Project
In 2007, RWTH Aachen's Family Services Center reacted to this discrepancy and initiated a unique state wide program. Within the framework of this project, children under the age of three have supervision through a flexible and individual strategy. This pertains first and foremost to the children of RWTH Aachen employees. Through collaboration with the organization "Familiäre Tagesbetreuung", the project administration is coordinated by the university's Family Services Center and is consistently further developed. The organization "Familiäre Tagesbetreuung" is a special advising office and agency for child daycare in the Aachen city region and works on behalf of the Youth Welfare Office. There are currently three groups, each with nine children. Two of the groups are located on Hörn, while another is located in the city center.
The Conceptional Approach
Initially, rooms at two existing daycares centrally located in Aachen, were rented and made suitable for children: Johanniterstraße 4 and Philipp-Neri-Weg 11. Engaged childcare providers were sought, who assumed the daily supervision of nine children between two months and three years of age. These childcare providers did not work as employees, but rather are self-employed and work for RWTH Aachen. For parents, this means that they can directly negotiate a supervision contract with the childcare providers, that determined the number of supervisory hours and more. Since this strategy was very successfully implemented, another location at Kronenberg 132 could be opened in 2008. Since then another nine spots for children between two months and three years of age were available. With the loss of the city spaces due to need, new spaces at Ahornstraße 51 and 51A were found in August 2011. St. Sebastian parish is the renter and has made not only two ideal rental properties available, but also the large parish garden with a small grove of old fruit trees. In total, RWTH Aachen's Family Services Center offers 27 childcare spots for daily care to children under the age of three.
Distinction from Other RWTH Aachen Childcare Institutions
The U3 group supervision offers parents, who are members of the university and have children under three, an ideal framework for year round childcare. This means the supervision in the groups is independent from school holiday breaks. The institutions named above are unfortunately closed between Christmas and New Year's.
Dedication of Childcare Providers
The childcare providers, who work for RWTH Aachen, were qualified by the "Familiäre Tagesbetreuung e.V.“ In accordance with the legal requirements, all childcare providers participated in a training of 160 lesson units and dealt with topics including child development, health, nutrition, education, social contact in childhood. Furthermore, they were required to attend a further education class of 12 lesson units on various topics in the course of a year. Through RWTH Aachen, the childcare providers were additionally trained semiannually on current topics in quality assurance, project development, and team building. RWTH Aachen's U3 supervision team is currently made up of eight female childcare providers and one male. Almost all of the providers are parents themselves of practically grown children and can provide many years of professional experience as childcare providers. It is very important to them to have open contact with parents as the basis of good sustainable work with the children.
The Pedagogical Approach
"Every young person has the right to the promotion of his or her development and to an uprbringing as an independent and social competent personality" (§1 Child and Youth Welfare Act).
The childcare providers work against this backdrop, cater to the children's individual needs, and provide them with safety and comfort. Social skills are learned through games and the development of independence is supported. A crucial principle of all childcare providers for promoting independence reads: "I will help you do it yourself." The result is not the focus, but rather the desire to try.
The children should be happy to come, feel comfotable, and develop playfully. The childcare providers place great value on a structured daily schedule, which links periods of open play with small rituals, since this offers children orientation and safety.
Starting daily childcare is often the first separation situation from parents for children. Good contact with parents is necessary so that a trusting relationship between a childcare provider and child can develop. Open communication between parents and the providers promotes understanding on both sides for the varying roles and serves the development of the child.
Times of Supervision
Depending on the individual living situation, parents book the necessary number of hours and determine the hours of supervision with the childcare providers. The times of supervision typically lie between 7:30am and 4:30pm and can be flexibly booked. This means, that a six-month old child is first supervised from 9am to 1pm. If necessary the number of hours a day can be increased. A minimum of 25 hours of supervision a week are recommended to help a child integrate into a group.
Cost of Supervision
Starting August 1, 2012, the new City of Aachen constitution includes childcare. This determines the requirements for funding and the amount of parent fees for child superivision under three years within the framework of the Kinderbildungsgesetz KiBiz.
Parents pay a fee to the Youth Welfare Office depending on their income, unlike previously where they directly paid the supervision fee to the childcare provider. Coorespondingly, children are funded through the youth welfare offices of the respective municipality. Money for food is not included in this regulation. This is still directly paid to the childcare provider.
Fpr parents who live in the Aachen city region: Depending on the municipality, the supervision rates, requirements, and applications may differ.
If you have questions please contact the Aachen City Region, your responsible Youth Welfare Office, or the RWTH Aachen Family Services Center.
Parent Contacts
A stable social network makes life with children much easier. The Family Services Center in RWTH Aachen's Equal Opportunities Office offers parents evenings within the groups, in order to inform new parents and support the creation of networking structures among parents. The exchange of experiences in upbringing and steps in development of the child can minimize insecurities and promote individual calm. For example, suprising changes to appointment in the workplace can be more easily handled, in that a trusted parent takes the child of the indisposed mother or father along, until the parents can pick up the child.
Furthermore, parents can arrange individual advising appointments on topics in the group, questions of upbringing, or the basic problem of making family and career compatable.
Quality Assurance and Development
Parents' satisfaction with the U3 supervision of their children is a central concern of the RWTH Aachen Family Services Center. An evaluation questionnaire (de) was developed for this purpose within the framework of a current quality assurance process; parents receive these during the supervision period. The evaluation results are regularly evaluated and offer reponsible indidividuals and their teams an informative foundation for all viable decisions.
Contact and Registration
Since the need for childcare spots can unfortunately not be met currently, there is a waiting list, on which all registered children are entered. If a spot in a group opens up, that corresponds to the parents' wishes for supervision, it is possible to tour the institution and get to know the childcare providers. Since visits from new parents to the institutions is linked to excitement and unrest for the children in the groups, visits can only take place after arrangements have been made and exclusively where the spot has opened up. All questions about the U3 group supervision can also be answered beforehand at the Equal Opportunities Office Family Services Center.