Thanks to our long work experience in the field of home child care we have noticed that smaller urban settlements need extra child care facilities to fully cover the special needs of families which nowadays can’t always rely on a social network and/or relatives to take care of the children when necessary.

Therefore CASA BIMBO has tried to find an answer to this demand and, together with local councils, the Province of Bolzano and public services has devised a pilot project for the assistance, care and education of children aged 0 –11 years.

The first project in the village of Bronzolo has shown that this new child care centre really responds to the needs of the families in this area and has become a model for further ten child care centres throughout the region.

These centres provide a familiar environment and are similar in concept and structure to the work of the Tagesmütter. The rooms and furniture  resemble that of a family home and the daily routines should meet the children’s and families’ needs. 

The number of children present is fifteen at the most and there will be from three to four operators in each centre. They will group the children according to their ages as far as possible so that each group can choose suitable activities.
The educational approach adopted in these centres is the same as the one of the Tagesmütter who work in their own homes and which has been presented in the previous pages.

Not the centre but parents can choose how long their children will be staying. This means that operators together with an educator/pedagogue will organise a series of activities for different age groups to stimulate and develop the interests of each child offering both individual and also group activities.

Just as at the Tagesmutter’s, great attention will be devoted to the period of “fitting in” and “welcome”: the children are welcomed together with their parents and will gradually  join group activities so as to  respect each child’s personality and individual needs.

Activities will  preferentially be devoted to exploring and discovering with the five senses, to developing creativity, music and movement.