From 3 to 6 years: playing and learning at nursery
Children start to go to nursery (Kindergarten) when they’re three and stay there until they start school.
Nurseries encourage children’s entire development with games, art, music, exercise and other diverse educational activities. The work carried out by nurseries is based on a professional concept derived from Hessen’s Education Plan for Children aged 0 to 10. This is a standardised specialist framework for learning objectives and teaching content in child daycare centres and primary schools.
Hessen – a family-friendly region!
Just like crèches and child-minding initiatives, nurseries are not part of the state school system and are therefore not free of charge. The fees are partly based on parents’ income; nurseries and child daycare centres (Kitas) are run by towns and communities, but also often churches, social institutions, associations and private companies.
The State of Hessen currently covers 5 hours of childcare costs a day for children in their last year of nursery. As of 1 August 2018, nursery will be free for up to 6 hours a day for all children for three years until they start school.