How to get a place in a day nursery (kindergarten)
There are different types of day nurseries in Germany, but this post will focus on public day nurseries. The procedure is no different for a kindergarten. We live in Munich, I know that things may be a bit different in other states.
In order to get a place in a day nursery (kindergarten) you must:
- register online - https://kitafinder.muenchen.de
- select the desired childcare facilities on the kitafinder (up to 3 places)
- fill in the parent and child information form on the kitafinder
- Waiting for a letter about a place in a nursery/day-care centre
The questionnaire.
A place is allocated on the basis of this information. If there are any special conditions, e.g. if a brother/sister already attends the childcare centre, or if you are a single parent, you must indicate this. If so, your chance of being allocated a place increases.
The number of hours that parents work also plays an important role. The state day nursery is primarily intended for working parents. A certificate of employment showing the number of hours worked must be submitted to the nursery. You have two months to provide this certificate. The mother is on maternity leave and the child is then provided with a place in a nursery. She is not able to bring the certificate of employment because she has not started work yet. When the child starts going to the nursery, there are two months from now, during which she has to give the certificate. This means that the child can get used to the day nursery and then you can go back to work..
A place may not always be available from the desired date. It also happens that unexpectedly a child refuses and a place suddenly appears.
In our situation this happened, we asked for a place from September and got one from November.
As places are distributed, kitafinder sends out letters. We received the first letter at the beginning of May and the second at the end of June. These were just information letters about the allocation. We received the letter about the daycare place at the end of September. The place itself was allocated from 1 November.
I also have a little experience with non-municipal crèches. The first nursery was private, there was an application form on the website. You fill in your and your child's details, they receive it and put it on their waiting list. Then I periodically reminded them about me, but they never gave us a place. The second nursery is Eltern-Kind-Initianiven. I also applied through the website, they had a big application form which we successfully filled in and sent off. But they didn't give us a place either. From my subjective feelings, and from what I know, the important point here is to constantly, but politely, remind about yourself. Apparently, then they won't forget about you and will give your child a place.