German Immersion

Our German Immersion Preschool Kinderstube is designed to combine elements of both the modern German Kindergarten and the American preschool. Our teachers respect and prioritize young children and their needs as active and curious explorers of knowledge. Our pedagogy nurtures the development of cognitive, physical, creative, and social-emotional skills, complemented by the acquisition of vocabulary, grammar, and cultural knowledge related to German-speaking countries. Through our total immersion approach, Kinderstube offers a curriculum that is fun, authentic, meaningful, interesting, and engaging, which helps children expand their identities and their access to the world through the German language.

Every day, our teachers support Kinderstube children in exploring their environment through active indoor and outdoor play and by incorporating sensory elements, science, music, art, books, games, and physical activities. We place significant emphasis on developing social-emotional and self-help skills, which are critical for a child’s journey to independence and their ability to interact with others, preparing them well for kindergarten. 

Whether your child continues their German language journey beyond Kinderstube or not, bilingual education at a young age has been shown to have numerous benefits for overall brain development. These benefits include more complex and flexible language use in all of the child’s languages, better mental flexibility and creativity, improved academic skills, and better social-emotional behavior. Temporary effects of immersion education, such as a smaller vocabulary in each of the child’s languages and a tendency to switch between them, are common and tend to diminish over time. Bilingual children also often develop greater empathy for others, appreciating diversity and cultural pluralism–skills that are crucial in today’s society. 

In everything we do, we aim to center the whole child and enhance and promote their German language proficiency to help them become skillful language users and confident and well-rounded individuals. We believe that by fostering a love for learning and a deep appreciation for different cultures, we are preparing our children to become compassionate global citizens who can make meaningful contributions to our interconnected world. All of our teachers have a native-speaking command of German. English is only used to clarify confusion or to provide comfort to students when needed.