“Rucksack“ (backpack) – Parents and Professionals become partners.docVIP

“Rucksack“ (backpack) – Parents and Professionals become partners to support children`s education and development “Rucksack” - what backpack are we talking about and where does it come from? “Rucksack” was founded in the Netherlands and its material was modified for the German market in 1999 where it started being available in different communities. In Berlin the program has been running successfully for 1,5 years. “Rucksack” is targeting parents, Elementary Schools as well as childcare centres. Taking into consideration the living conditions and realities of the families on the one side and the concepts and knowledge of the professionals on the other side, the program uses the resources of everyone involved with the aim that the participants become partners to support the children`s development, with the emphasis on multilingual support. What is inside the backpack and how does “Rucksack” work ? “Rucksack” stands on three legs: support of multilingual development and education of young children training of professionals in diversity, multilingual concepts and parents’ participation “Familienbildung” – which means educating and giving opportunities (e.g. locations, time, experts ) to families in order to improve their knowledge, especially in parenthood and children`s needs and development. To start the program following conditions must be guaranteed: the professionals in the childcare centre/school support the program and want to take part in trainings offered by the “Rucksack”- coordination team the childcare centre/school provides a room for the parents once a week the “Rucksack” - coordinator and the professionals find a mother in the childcare centre/school who speaks German as well as her mother tongue and is willing to lead a group of parents (for what she will get paid for). She will receive training from a coordinator in order for her to develop the necessary abilities. The course: During multilingual meetings in the childcare centre/school the parent