Off to the "bear cave" paradise

Created: 07/08/2022, 16:15

By: Andrea Graepel

The bear cave in the old school is also occupied by children and their carers Jörn Kaselitz, Claudia Stuhler and Pamela Zwyer during the holidays.

© Andrea Jaksch

Designing together has been a top priority in the Andechs Bear Cave for 25 years.

Founded back then by three dedicated young mothers, the care facility in the old school for children between the ages of two and ten is now a permanent institution and it is hard to imagine life without it.

Andechs

– Valentina Kaiser can still remember the beginnings of the “Bear's Cave” very well.

Together with Jutta Engelmeier and Sabine Wolf, she founded the parent initiative under the umbrella of the special care model "Netz für Kinder" - a quarter of a century ago.

"It all started when our children were born," says Valentina Kaiser.

The three mothers had the same midwife and all children were home births.

Valentina Kaiser already had an older daughter who was born in Munich and was cared for there in a parents' initiative so that the teacher could continue her studies.

The family has lived in Erling since 1992.

With the birth of her second daughter, Valentina Kaiser asked herself: "What am I going to do in the country now?"

The three mothers from Erlingen used the local election campaign at the time and quickly had the candidates on their side.

With the then newly elected mayor Karl Roth, the parents' initiative "Bear's Cave" was finally able to move into the old school in 1996.

The standard kindergarten would not have been an alternative, at least for Valentina Kaiser.

“Back then, the pick-up time was 11:30 am,” she says.

She would not have been able to take her state exam like that.

The network for children, on the other hand, is characterized by flexibility.

The Andechs parent initiative has adopted and retained this principle.

The network for children is a special childcare model limited to 150 groups of 12 to 15 children throughout Bavaria.

The age mix is ​​mandatory: in addition to kindergarten age (three to six years), at least one child of crèche or after-school care must also be cared for.

In addition to one trained specialist per “network group”, the group has parental services available that change on a daily basis.

"We saved the community back then," says Valentina Kaiser, and Roth knew this too.

There were far too few childcare places when childcare became a compulsory task for the municipalities.

In addition, the "Bear's Cave" parents provided free personal commitment.

"It's crazy," says Valentina Kaiser when she thinks back to the early days.

"There was a lot of idealism involved." In the meantime, "only" 35 hours per kindergarten year are compulsory.

The parents' initiative currently looks after almost 30 children between the ages of two and ten from 23 families.

The kindergarten is a mixed-age facility with various morning, all-day and afternoon places for nursery, kindergarten and primary school children.

Parental commitment and a family atmosphere are still characteristic today.

It's part of everyday life in the bear's cave that parents sometimes cook and a third-grader reads to a crèche child.

Chairman is Dr.

Aline Laucke.

The former parents and children of today still rave about this special atmosphere.

Due to the pandemic, the 25th anniversary of the bear cave could only be celebrated this year -- strictly speaking, a year too late.

So that the parents' initiative can continue, parents and team are happy to see committed and interested families.

As in many other childcare facilities, there are also vacant childcare positions to be filled: We are currently looking for an educator as educational staff, a childcare worker as an educational supplement and interns.

Information about the facility can be found on the Internet at baerenhoehle-andechs.de.