Any of you have sent their children to this Kinderkrippe?
We are considering a Globegarten kinderkrippe (in Zollikon) for our daughter and we would like to hear other parents feedback. As I understood is one of the biggest kinderkrippe chains in Zurich region and prices are more or less average (compared to other city Kitas). We visited the one in Zollikon and liked the people and the set-up.
We used one of the city Globegarden centres for my son but we weren't too impressed with it. It's fine for a daycare but I felt they completely oversold the whole "early education" thing. It's meant to be bi-lingual but they didn't have any native English speakers when my son was there, as they advertised.
The menus were all meant to be organic this, that and the other (not that I'm overly fussed with organic or mainstream produce) but there were an awful lot of "Migros budget" products used...
So, in summary: OK daycare but don't be fooled by all the marketing.
Thanks. In Zollikon they had to native English speakers.
They are really into Marketing
I can't comment on Zurich, but we visited two out of the three Globe Gardens in Zug. We were not that impressed. English was not a skill they had. The 'dedicated' English person struggled to hold a conversation with me. Also, when we visited it was untidy and they could not provide me with a routine. We ended up at Little Star, which is more expensive, but we felt immediately comfortable. (I believe they have one in Zurich) Don't get me wrong, nothing is perfect, but we certainly are more than happy to pay the extra for Little Star.
' Also, when we visited it was untidy and they could not provide me with a routine .'
Just shows how a 'good' Kindergarten/school can mean so many different things for different people. Personally a very tidy place with a strict routine would have scared me away. Hey ho.
We visited the place after the kids left, so it was tidy.
So far, it's the only one I've seen around with a really big garden. The fees are around ~3,000CHF/month, which is the usual non-sense day-care cost.
Depends if it's just general toys and craft stuff, which is fine as general clutter but if they don't bother to shift the lunchtime stuff / highchairs, etc., or there is an overflowing nappy bin, spilled paint or glue or the kids' coats and shoes are strewn all over the place that puts me off.
This didn't happen at my son's place, I have to say. It was orderly, at least.
A routine where they have meals/nap or quiet time at the same time, and the strict aim to pop out into the fresh air once or twice a day is fine but I agree that the day shouldn't be broken down into 5 minute segments.
Globegarden used to run the daycare at Novartis. I won't go into the litany of reasons behind the decision, but the contract was terminated early.
Staff working for Globegarden were very unhappy with their working conditions and as a result there was huge turnover within the team. It was clear to me that corners were being cut and that profit was being put ahead of the well-being of the children at the daycare center. When the contract was subsequently awarded to Familea, Globegarden refused any sort of handover and were as obstructive as possible. They literally vacated on the Friday with the new provider starting on a Monday -- quite traumatic for the children.
In a nutshell, I would never put my children into a Globe Garden center after seeing how the entire Novartis debacle was handled.
Overflowing nappy bins and a messy changing area may be your preference, but not mine. Regarding routine, I expect the Krippe to have activities that help develop the children. I'm not talking about a regimented minute by minute approach, but when I asked what type of activities they did with kids, I got 'singing and dancing'
This is good to know. I will ask the GlobeGarten in Zollikon about their turnover rate.
To be honest, my employer also has a daycare and it has a really bad reputation... but it's not managed by Globegarten.
We visited Globegarten in Zollikon and we're really not impressed. The children appeared bored and they were so busy speaking to us - the adults - they didn't bother to acknowledge our son!!
We chose Little Frogs in Seefeld in the end and couldn't be happier with it.
I normally would comment but I really didn't get a good feeling in Globegarrren Zollikon!
Hope that's helpful.
I've had to yell and scream at the management at the one in Zug to get their people to stop dragging overflowing diaper bins through our apartment building (they're downstairs), leaving nasty trails all the way to the container room (including piles in the lift).
It makes me wonder how hygienic their actual nursery is.
Hmm...we are going to visit ghe one in farbstrasse in Thalwil.hope they are better than that.
I would also love to hear if anybody can recommend a baby day care in Thalwil area.
I have once been at a Globegarden (Seefeld) with a young girl who looked for a post as an apprentice in early childhood education. The English I overheard there was veeery accented... I asked if the term "Kindergarten" was meant to be the same as Kindergarten in Switzerland and if they had a real Kindergarten -Teacher with diploma. The answer was "no".
I interviewed to work at Globegarden in Seefeld and turned down the offer. It was just too institutional for me. I worked as a full-time Montessori teacher before having our first. I stayed home with our daughter, and then when we did need childcare for our son, I found a Taggesmutter instead.
Having stable relationships with caretakers is very important for children. The turnover at a center like Globegarden would be the biggest problem for me.
At our son's in-home daycare (Taggesmutter set up here in the States) there are six children maximum and consistent care and routines, including lots of outside time, from one caregiver. I'm really happy with it and feel good about leaving him each day.
No personal input on this, but I would be offpit by the name Globegarden alone. It just doesn't sound appropriate for w place to which you would entrust a small child. To me the name rather conjures up e image of some shady holding company on the Bahamas that helps financial advisors avoid taxes.
I'm the mother of a child who has been enrolled at Giacometti Zollikon since June 2015 and I can say that he loves it. It's got a huge garden with a pool-sized sandbox and it's right next to the EPI clinic, so the children often go to feed the animals. It's located on a quiet street with little traffic so it's not dangerous like some krippes can be that are located on busy streets in downtown Zurich.
It's true that the turnover rate is an issue at Globegarden, but it is also an issue at most other krippes. The kids there are also very nice and kind, which is a factor often overlooked by parents when choosing a krippe... personalities / group dynamics. I recommend it.
What bothered me most when visiting 2 or 3 Globegarden's in Zurich was:
Every single location looked like a regular apartment (too small for a krippe, no courtyard or garden to play, next to busy roads) Don't go here if you don't want your child to learn English. You will have to pay for the bilingual thing and they do not guarantee they will speak German only to your child. Our child is going to Güxi (next to Binz) instead and we've been very happy with them.
Dear parents, our opinion on Globegarden is based on our experience, as our child has been visiting a Globegarden daycare for quite a long time. We decided to take our child to a Globegarden daycare because of
a. the recommendation of a friend, and
b. because of the clean facilities and the overall impression that they were professional.
We then started having bad experiences with several things, indicators of
a. the fact that in all aspects the profit is the top priority and
b. the fact that the children are not treated particularly well.
To mention some examples: 1. Our child has had diaper rush regularly, which was getting better during the weekend and worse during the week.
2. Our child was playing around on its own most of the time, calling it "free play”. We have rarely seen any activities out of the oh-so-advertised curricula.
As my child started talking, we found that things were happening there that exceeded what we expect and accept from a day care. When discussing about what happened when a child was misbehaving, our child told us that it was closed in a room. After that, we changed daycare.
Even after leaving Globegarden, we continue to see things about it that we previously didn’t. It comes as a surprise, for example, how much people smile at the new daycare, in the contrary to the always stressed, unhappy and physically and psychologically tired personnel at Globegarden.
Coming to a conclusion, I see this post as a way to contribute in the improvement of the provided childcare services. In the year 2018 in Switzerland, where everything is of a really high quality, it is unacceptable that the childcare can be that poor. And it is our duty as parents to speak up when we see it happen.
Globegarden is an over sold chain that uses gimmicks to sell itself, (for example, the "bilingual " aspect) and it is unfortunately taking over Zurich, particularly since it is expensive . Expect to pay 500 chf more per month then you have to.There are many smaller kitas where lovely people will care for your baby, without offering dumb things like a fancy education for your 2 year old, who really just needs a safe place to play and a caring staff who will attend to her physical and emotional needs.