Kids in Barcelona - Family and parents guide to activities, shopping, holiday apartments, events, health, schools and nurseries, babysitting and childcare, and playgroups in Barcelona.

We have a 2 year daughter and have started sending her to the local guarderia. While she is very sociable and loves being with other kids, we are questioning our decision.

The school is very 'traditional catalan' i.e. lots of rules and regulations, and the kids spend most of the day sitting at a desk drawing pictures.

Furthermore the directora is very rude to us because we don't speak Catalan (despite having fluent Castellano), and won't let our daughter come in if she is 1/2 hour late (inevitable at times since we run a couple of small businesses)

We are looking for somewhere a bit more progressive with more focus on communication, and hopefully a bit of English and perhaps some music and other activities.

Could anyone recommend somewhere in Left Eixample, Gotico, Borne, Raval, Poble Sec?
The ones listed on this site look wonderful but most of them are in Poble Nou or Zona Alta which is too far for us to go twice a day...

Any advice is most welcome since we are desperate to pull her from this school as soon as possible.

Sorry to hear about your issues with the guarderia. Currently there are spaces for your daughter's age group in the Barrio Gotico at BCN KINDER. Please take a look at their website www.bcn-kinder.org or call Esther from 10am-12pm on Tel. 93 268 2578

They have smaller groups and let you adapt your child over a prolonged period of time. They are a German nursery but have groups that also function in Catalan. Many of the parents are international.

Hamelin International is also listed on the site but that is a bit further away in Vila Olimpica.

Best of Luck.

Hi,

Sorry about your experience - it sounds a lot like those we've heard about from others...

We have a 2 1/2 year old son who does not attend a guarderia - if you might be interested in getting together for a 'playdate', Oscar would love it (I'm sure) - this doesn't solve your problem, but it might be a nice alternative for your daughter in the interim?

We're in the Barri Gotico - hope to hear from you.

Good luck!
Katie - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hi,

I had concerns about the care that my daughter was receiving in a nursery in BCN so have started a small group 3 mins walk from Jaume metro for 3-6 year olds. Slightly younger children are also welcom. The times are currently 11-1.30 Tuesday and Thursday.

The teaching language is English and we follow the English Foundation stage, with learning through play and exploration and we also do alot of music, singing and drama within the sessions.

Please call me on 617 310 578 if you would like more information. Best times are afer 9pm weekdays or anytime at the weekend.

Best wishes,

Lianne

Do you want your child in a Catalan School? If so, my child goes to Perez Iborra on Consell de Cent between Rambla Cataluyna & Balmes. It is strict as well, but if you call to say that your child will be late, they don't say anything. They do have English class once a day and playtime on the patio. My son was in P2 last year and I must admit I was a bit concerned with the strictness, but now I am grateful for it. Although the teachers are very nice and professional. You could also just send your child 1/2 day. We don't speak Catalan, but there are plenty of parents that do speak English and the director does, although he doesn't really like to. My son is now going to be three next week and he speaks 3 languages. I personally think for now it is good for them at this age to absorb the languages. I will be putting my son in an international school once he goes to P6. Here is the website if you are interested. www.pereziborra.com. Please feel free to contact me wheneve you like.

Melinda