In open-group work, also called “open work” group structures in the KiTa dissolve. But also the ties to the educators are dropped. Many toddlers have great problems with this, lacking the security of the limited circle of the group.
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Open Work – What Does It Mean For The Children?
Since the 1970s, openwork has been increasingly preferred to the situational or function-oriented approach. Following the example of Rousseau, Montessori, and Piaget, groups have been broken up in favor of free activity. The children choose their own activities and play partners by choosing between the open theme rooms and the materials presented. In the process, “reference educators” are now introduced, but their reference should function unilaterally because they are contact persons for the parents regarding the developmental status. For the children of the open KiTas, all respective present educators are to function as reference persons.
Open Groups – And The Smallest Children Get Lost
The open pedagogical concept is problematic when working with the very youngest children between 0 and about two years of age. Children at this age are not necessarily able to make decisions yet. For one thing, they often lack the ability to act when they can’t walk yet or don’t communicate that they want to paint now but can’t get the colors open on their own. For another, not all children are capable of handling the wealth of information, and some are overwhelmed after just a few hours in the open spaces. Alternative concepts can be found here.
When Children Experience Too Much Stress: Openwork And Very Young Children
Some children lack the “nest feeling” in the open-group KiTa, the security of the small and fixed group with the fixed educators of a group that belongs together. Then the children may withdraw or the stress is expressed afterward screaming in the safety of mommy’s or daddy’s arms.
The dissolution of the group structure in kindergarten, as practiced in openwork, is therefore often only useful from the age of two or three, depending on the personality of the child. But older children can also suffer from open work. Above all, however, the attachment structure (see attachment theory) of the children can suffer from open and at the same time attachmentless education, since there is no fixed figure in their daily routine other than an educator who knows them and who is always there for them.
