FAQ

Choosing the right day-care center is an individual decision that depends on the needs of your child and your family. During a visit to the day-care center, you can enquire about important topics such as: educational concept, staff qualifications, premises/equipment, daily routine, nutrition, location/accessibility, costs/subsidisation, atmosphere/feel-good factor.

The demand for day-care places is high, so enrolment should take place as early as possible. Baby places are particularly rare, so we recommend that you register at the beginning of your pregnancy if this form of childcare is an option for you.

This varies greatly in the KiBiZ day-care centers, depending on the current capacity of the respective center. The waiting time for baby places is generally longer, as we have a limited number of places available. If you as parents are flexible in your choice of week days, this may enable an earlier start as the management of he day-care center can plan more easily.

Once you have registered, we will contact you to arrange a tour of the day-care center. You will meet the day-care center management and be informed about our educational concept, the staff and all topics related to the childcare services. We will also show you the indoor and outdoor areas including our directly adjacent own garden.

Yes: two weeks in summer and the week between Christmas and New Year. 

We also offer childcare places for children with special needs («KiBeBe») in all KiBiZ day-care centers. The day-care center management decides together with the team which care options are possible. To this end, we work closely with the Special Needs Education Service of the Canton of Zug (HPD), which supports the child and the parents. If additional staff resources are required for the care, these are funded by the Zug municipalities via the HPD so that the parents do not have to bear any additional costs.

The childcare costs are the same in all our day-care centers. KiBiZ is recognised as an organisation for childcare vouchers. You may find the details of the fees and everything else here.

In 2022, KiBiZ decided not to conclude any new employment contracts for internships prior to apprenticeships, as in most cases this is tantamount to an extended apprenticeship and therefore exploitation. Instead of very young pre-apprenticeship interns, KiBiZ employs adults and experienced people to provide support. These care/household assistants cost up to six times as much as interns, which is reflected in the fee. In return, these employees provide support with their experience, which has a noticeable effect on the quality of care and relieves the care team. In addition, KiBiZ pays its employees fair wages in a low-wage sector and is constantly improving working conditions. KiBiZ is voluntarily certified by the external label Quali-Kita, consistently adheres to the legally prescribed childcare ratio and is in close dialogue with the supervising authorities. KiBiZ is a non-profit organisation which means that we budget towards zero - or in other words, every franc is reinvested into the quality of childcare for your children. 

When designing its services, KiBiZ tries to prioritise the children's perspective wherever possible. Our most important mission is to promote a healthy development. Children are extremely adaptable. However, during the first months and years of their lives, constant caregivers and familiar routines provide them with stability and security and thus support their ability to build strong bonds. Bonding is the foundation for their self-confidence and self-assurance. The more changes of caregivers and locations there are during this time, the more a child is likely to develop restlessness. KiBiZ understands the parents' need for flexibility. However, we consider the development space and consistency to be crucial for the children and the children's groups that we maintain the minimum car of two days per week. We think this is the best way to meet the needs of children in our modern society. 

If your child is ill, we immediately inform the parents to discuss the next steps. Should infectious diseases circulate in the daycare centre, the parents will be also informed. If your child wakes up ill in the morning and is not in a good physical condition (including fever), we kindly ask you not to bring the child to the day-care centre, the less if they have been given fever-reducing medication. The child needs to rest at home and may be infectious to other children. Children with highly contagious illnesses (e.g. gastro-intestinal, paediatric illnesses) must also stay at home. When dealing with illnesses, we adhere to the standards of the industry association kibesuisse.

KiBiZ consistently adheres to the legally prescribed childcare ratio (the ratio highly depends on the age mix and size of the group and is complex). Due to the implementation of «infans» (our educational concept) and our own quality standards, there are generally more staff on duty than required by law. This enables us to provide the best possible care for the children and to implement our concepts in a good 

KiBiZ works according to the «infans» concept, Purzelbaum Kita and modern educational findings and approaches aimed at promoting the individual abilities and social development of the children. This includes learning through play, movement, creativity and social interaction. 

Multilingualism and internationality are playfully incorporated into our day-care centres. The children and staff at KiBiZ are multicultural, the common language is (Swiss) German. KiBiZ is convinced that focusing on one language in the linguistic development is of best service for most children. The vast majority of children start kindergarten/school in a public school in the canton of Zug after day-care. From the first kindergarten/school day onwards, German is the language of instruction. Many years of experience have shown that it is much easier for children to start kindergarten/school if they know and master the local language of instruction, hence German. Otherwise they may start their school career with a disadvantage over other children. The fact that 60% of expats remain in Zug and put down roots here reinforces our attitude. For your convenience, all important documents, the website and contact with the administration are available in English.

The meals for the KiBiZ day-care centers are cooked by trained chefs and are prepared daily from fresh products. We emphasise regional products and seasonality. KiBiZ sees itself as complementary to the parental home in terms of nutrition. Should[JV1]  a your child require a special diet for health reasons confirmed by a pediatrician, parents must bring the special food to the day-care center. 

The baby food for the youngest children is freshly prepared in every the day-care center. Depending on the age of the child, satiating supplements in the form of flakes (barley, oats, etc.) are added to their fruit/veggie porridge.

KiBiZ daycare centres fulfil the standards of the labels ‘Fourchette Verte - Ama terra’.

Eating is an important moment in the day-care center's daily routine and provides a variety of learning and experience opportunities for the children. Meal situations should be enjoyable for the children and we ensure a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. We encourage the children to try everything, but each child is allowed to decide what and how much she or he will eat.

If, in exceptional cases, a child does not like any of the food components, we offer an alternative in the form of carbohydrates (e. g. Darvida, crispbread and/or raw vegetables). No child will remain hungry with us just because some food is disliked.

The transition process is individual and is based on your child's needs. It usually lasts two to four weeks and is organised in close consultation with you as parents. The transition is particularly important as it shapes a child's entire stay at the day-care center. Accordingly, KiBiZ organises these first steps very carefully according to clear guidelines. The ‘Berlin Model’ provides the basis for our transition planning. 

Something can always happena. also at KiBiZ. Our employees are well trained for all eventualities. They attend an annual emergency refresher and regular fire safety trainings. In case of an incident, the parents are informed immediately and the next steps are discussed. Clear procedures are defined. Emergency situations are analysed by the team, measures are derived and implemented. 

In everyday life, the needs and interests of the individual children set the pace and we devote ourselves entirely to their own motivation to discover and understand the world. In addition to regular childcare, KiBiZ offer various activities such as forest days, excursions (e. g. to the zoo), cultural events and creative workshops to support the children's holistic development. 

Additional care days (one off or permanent) can be arranged directly with the day-care centre. Even if the KiBiZ daycare centres are well booked, we will look for solutions. The day-care centre managers know all about occupancy, capacity and childcare ratios and will clarify the options with the team and you.

All children go outside at least once a day, whatever the weather conditions are. Hence it is important that the children are dressed appropriately for any weather. Every KiBiZ day-care center has its own adjacent outdoor area with a garden - in the warmer months, the children are usually collected from there. This enables us to fulfil the children's need for variety and exercise at all times. Some day-care centers take part in the AckerRacker project: the children can gain experience in gardening. They can build a real connection to food by planting, tending and harvesting their own vegetables. 

The daily routine may vary as we also do special activities with the children (e.g. forest days, excursions). The basic structure of our daily routine looks as follows:

7.00 -8.45       Individual arrival, free play

7.00-8.00        Breakfast

8.50                Morning circle with educational boards: every child picks its own educational program/zone

9.15                 Morning snack in the eductional zones

9.30-11.00      Educational time in the self chosen zone

11.15              Lunch circle

11.30              Lunch, brushing of teeth

12.30              Sleeping / break 

14.00              Afternoon program

15.30              Afternoon snack

16.15-18.15    IFree play and individual pick-up

All important documents are available here, scrolling down..

Choosing the right childminder is an individual decision that depends on the needs of your child and your family. As soon as you register your interest in a childminder online with KiBiZ, the intermediary will contact you. Your needs will usually be assessed at your place. After signing a placement order, the intermediary will try to find a childminder who meets your needs. During an agreed visit at the childminder's home, you can get to know the childminder and her family. You may check important topics such as the premises/equipment, daily routine and nutrition with the childminder as the attitudes should match as well as possible. The feel-good factor and the atmosphere in the childminder's home also play an important role.

A childminder offers a second home in a small, familiar atmosphere. The childminder is your child's carer, who is constantly present for your child during the day. Children who need more peace and calmess may feel more at home in a childminder's home than in a day-care center. Parents with irregular working hours can cover their childcare needs with a flexible childcare contract in which the total hours of childcare are agreed on a monthly lump sum basis. With a holiday contract, parents of school-age children may obtain relief during the school holidays. Last but not least, a childminder family may provide closeness, familiarity and flexibilty if no relatives live in the area to provide support.

This depends on the capacity/utilisation of the childminders, your needs and your flexibility. We recommend that you register with us 2-3 months before the start of childcare.

Getting to know each other (intermediary, parents, childminder) is very important to us. Questions can be carefully clarified. The childminder can show you their home and explain the attitudes that are important to them. For capacity reasons, it is not possible to get to know several childminders and then select one. You can of course reject a childminder after the first meeting. In this case, we will try to suggest an alternative.

In principle, the childcare times are very flexible depending on the childminder's offer. Evening hours as well as hours at the weekend can be requested according to the childminder's offer.

Depending on the childminder's occupancy, working days and the legal requirements, you may flexibly add care hours. As soon as you have a childcare contract, you can request individual additional days directly from the childminder. Regular additional days or general changes to the days/times of care must be requested from the intermediary.

The childminder takes at least 4 weeks holiday per year. These holidays are communicated to the parents in good time. If the childminder is present and has capacity, children with a regular childcare contract can be looked after by the childminder during the school holidays, provided that on-call duty had been booked during school hours. Without booking an on-call service during school hours, the childminder does not have to guarantee continuous care during the school holidays. KiBiZ also has a holiday contract that only covers childcare during the school holidays. At least 50 hours of childcare must be paid per calendar year (no pro rata), no matter how many hours are effectively provided.

Details on the fees and everything else can be found here.

Regular contract: at least 5 hours of childcare per week (=20 hours of childcare per month).
Holiday contract: 50 childcare hours per calendar year (no pro rata).

Your child's well-being is the top priority. If your child wakes up ill in the morning and is not in good physical condition, we ask you not to bring the child to the childminder. In case of your child’s illness, please inform the childminder to discuss how to proceed. In the event of your child's absence (including illness, accident, vacation), the care hours remain owed and must be paid for.

In the event of a childminder's short-term absence (illness, accident, etc.), the childminder informs the parents immediately and the next steps will be discussed. In the event of an unplanned absence of the childminder for up to two weeks, you as the parent must provide alternative care. In the event of longer absences, the KiBiZ intermediary will try to find an alternative childminder. Should infectious diseases (gastrointestinal, childhood illnesses) circulate in the childminder’s family, you as parents will also be informed. If the childminder, for whatever reason, is not able to provide the agreed care hours, you will not have to pay any childcare costs at all.

The children's group usually consists of a maximum of 5 children, including the childminder’s own children under the age of 12.

KiBiZ childminders work according to the educational concept. Modern educational findings and approaches that aim to support children's individual abilities and social development are also used. This includes playful learning, movement, creativity and social interaction. The childminders all receive regular training and are advised on technical issues by the mediators.

The shared meals, the associated rituals and activities around eating and drinking promote a positive eating behaviour. The childminder prepares fresh meals every day. Parents bring their own baby food for toddlers. Parents also bring nappies and a change of clothes.

Every transition is individual and based on the needs of your child. A transition phase usually takes two to four weeks and is planned in close consultation with you as parents. A good transition is utterly important as it shapes the entire stay of your child at the childminder’s.

Something can always happen. also at KiBiZ. Our childminders attend an emergency refresher on a regular basis. In case of an incident, the parents are informed immediately and the next steps are discussed. Emergency situations are analysed with the intermediary, measures are derived and implemented.

All important documents are available here, scrolling all the way down.