Language support in Barnim: This is how 2,000 children get off to a strong language start!

Language support in Barnim: This is how 2,000 children get off to a strong language start!

In an exciting time for preschool children in the Barnim district, school enrollment is just around the corner. On September 8th, the big phase of life begins for almost 2,000 children at 40 schools. Before we start, the little ones have already gone through the school entrance examination by the health department. During this important examination, not only are health conditions checked, but language and speech tests are also carried out. In Brandenburg, around 20% of children have problems with language development before starting school.

The increase in children with speech and language disorders in Barnim is particularly worrying. While 20.9% of children were affected when they started school in 2019/20, this proportion is now 25.3% (2023/24). District Administrator Daniel Kurth emphasizes the immense importance of early childhood language support for children's educational careers. He emphasizes that a solid linguistic education is the basis for knowledge, social contacts and personal development and makes a significant contribution to a successful life as an adult. The BMBF supports these efforts and specifically promotes language education, as inadequate language, reading and writing skills are an urgent problem in Germany.

Support for daycare centers

The Barnim education initiative offers extensive support for all daycare centers in the district in order to promote the children's linguistic development. Educational specialists can count on individual language and practical advice. The state also provides free practical materials, including a language support catalog. These measures are regularly reviewed and reflected on to ensure that the children receive optimal support. Events to implement programs such as “compensatory language support” and “Kiez-Kita” provide additional support for the daycare centers.

The Barnim Training Academy also comes into play and organizes special training courses for specialists. The last events discussed, among other things, sign-supportive communication, non-violent communication, multilingualism and difficult discussions with parents. Dr. Christine Schäfer, head of the education and school administration office, emphasizes the importance of individual advice in this context. Parents and daycare centers receive support in language development as part of serial examinations by the health department.

The role of parents

However, a trusting partnership between educational professionals and families is also crucial for positive language development. Studies show that the family as a place of education has a more lasting effect on language development than the daycare center itself. Therefore, cooperation with parents is a central aspect of early childhood education, which is also anchored in the educational plans of the federal states. The initiative Language daycare centers promotes this partnership and supports parent- and child-centered projects.

Families are the first experts for their children and have a great interest in helping to shape everyday educational life. By actively participating in excursions or festivals in the daycare centers, they contribute to their children's education. Offers for cooperation should be designed to be needs-based and low-threshold in order to reach all parents. This way you can ensure that they can actively participate in their children's language development.

Looking back at the challenges and opportunities in language support in Barnim, it is clear that both daycare centers and families play a central role. Through the combination of targeted support in daycare and an active parent partnership, the Barnim district can significantly improve the language development of its children and support them on their educational path.