Hestia Daycare in Amsterdam, Amstelveen and Driemond

“A conscious childcare organization with all the attention for the human potential of the children and their teachers.”

Hestia Childcare is a warm home where children can discover themselves in complete freedom under the watchful eye of our loving and well-trained people. Our daycare centers are different from what you may be used to. We follow the natural development of children with our unique Hestia Way vision, inspired by Reggio Emilia, Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner, among others. We believe that everything is already in a child. Our employees help children become who they want to be. We honor and respect the autonomy of a child and help them become aware of themselves, others and the world around them. At Hestia, we consciously support our children and employees to discover and develop their own nature. We help them to develop the confidence to express that and to use their potential to do good in this world. Read more about Hestia’s pedagogical vision and working method here.

Our teams consist of permanent people who pay attention to the children and their development with a lot of love, commitment and knowledge. Because we offer bilingual childcare, we have international teams at all locations with both Dutch employees and people from all over the world. This results in an energetic dynamic in which everyone is inspired by the pedagogical vision of Hestia.

Our daycare Amsterdam Amstelveen and Driemond locations are all light and spacious. We think it is important that the spaces feel homely and warm so that children, parents and our employees simply like to be there. In addition, we try to create a community space at each location where children, pedagogical staff and parents can meet and talk to each other. There is also always a kitchen at the daycare centers so that fresh food can be made for the children or cakes can be baked together with the children. There is also a large garden with natural play materials for all the children at the daycare. Finally, at most locations we have a large vegetable garden where vegetables and fruit are grown together with the children and then processed into the fresh hot meals.

At Hestia daycare we believe that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing and preparation. Being outside, with fresh air, in nature, is good for children. It helps them release energy, builds resistance and connects them with how nature changes through the seasons. We also support adventurous play (within limits). By allowing them to make their own choices, children know much better where their limitations lie. And they grow in self-confidence instead of being insecure about their own abilities.

Young children are sensitive to learning a second or third language. This means that when they come into contact with multiple languages, they will learn a language faster and with less effort (even at an older age). At Hestia Rivierenbuurt, we offer all our children Dutch and English. In practice, this means that there is always a Dutch-speaking employee and an English-speaking employee in the group.

Hestia is a melting pot of diverse cultures and different backgrounds. We have a mix of Dutch-speaking families and many foreign families who have come to Amsterdam on an expat basis, for example. Our bilingual offer is preferred by international parents and Dutch parents because they believe that their child benefits from it. We believe that we need a more inclusive society in which diversity is celebrated. That is why children from all over the world are brought together from a young age to learn from each other and connect.

Inclusion and diversity are paramount at our locations. Hestia is a home for all children, parents and employees. At Hestia, it is often the case that children speak another home language or languages ​​in addition to English and Dutch. We welcome these home languages ​​at our locations. This is reflected in the Home language corners at the locations, and in our advice to parents to always speak their own language with their children. We encourage curiosity about what we do not know and create respect for perspectives that are different from ours. Read more about our bilingual childcare here.

“You will have seen the Night Watch in the Rijksmuseum with Hestia before you are 4 years old”. We believe it is important to show children the world around them. So we regularly take them on cultural excursions or go into nature together. There is also plenty of room for creativity and sharing passions of the pedagogical staff in the group. Think of art, music, cooking and baking, gardening in the vegetable garden and history. We are inspired by what is going on with the children and connect with important moments in the year. For example, we have a lantern night, we celebrate Halloween and there are all kinds of cultural festivals that we celebrate together with parents.

At Hestia, we are very committed to the well-being of society and the planet. That is why we have set ourselves the goal of really thinking about how we can do this in a sustainable and inclusive way in all facets of our organization. We are proud to be the first childcare center in the Netherlands to receive the Bcorp certificate. Following the high standards of Bcorp will help us to become better every day and to improve our way of working in a sustainable, inclusive way. Read more about the sustainability developments within Hestia here.