Waldorf El Montgó

Després de 10 anys en aquesta escola, només puc donar les gràcies per haver creuat els nostres camins. Els aprenentatges i experiéncies continuen acompanyant al meu fill en la seva vida ja quasi adulta. Persones exemplars i compromeses, sempre dispostos a ajudar-lo en les dificultats i afermar-se en les seues virtuts. Sempre Waldorf

Buena oferta educativa.

Our son went to Waldorf Montgo for one academic year in “Infantil”. The school has very lovely people working there and there is a lot of love towards the children which is very nice.
The activities were good for the children’s life skills, and they are given a lot of time playing (which is what they should be doing when they are so young) and the playground is nicely designed with structure in wood that is very environmentally friendly and that we appreciated.

The teachers are lovely people that are always open and ready to talk if there are issues. We have met wonderful parents and we really enjoyed all the friendships that came out of it.
We also wanted to share our experience about diversity and bullying in the Waldorf education.

During the school year, we encountered a problem with diversity that greatly impacted upon our don’s self-esteem. From the meetings we had and the talks we had with the teacher, we came to find out that diversity is not a topic they teach and the situation with our son was not given as much importance as we believe it should have. Regardless of our situation, we truly believe that each child should be taught the value and beauty of diversity. We unfortunately did not see this happen here.
We also came to understand that “bullying” is not recognized in “infantil”. We have been told that they do not believe that children between 3 and 5 can “bully,” therefore it doesn’t exist so there is no dealing with it. From our knowledge, bullying has variety of forms and can start at a very young age, and this was evident this year.

I would advise parents to go and talk to the teachers as they will surely explain much better than us. We really like the Waldorf education and overall it was a welcoming place for kids to learn and grow, but I would advise the school to think of different approaches about these two big social emotional issues.

Our son attended Waldorf El Montgo in 2021 for a very brief time and unfortunately, he had a very negative experience. In this kindergarten, there is a large age range of children, from ages three to six. While my daughter, being one of the older children, found this to be positive, my son began when he was three and was treated very badly and bullied by one of the older students in the kindergarten. By the time he eventually told me, he had been unwell physically for over two months, and the doctors could not explain this medically.

It became evident that part of the illness was due to psychological stress. When we met with the teachers, however, they denied any issues had taken place, and it was directly implied that either he, or I, had fabricated things. We were told that bullying does not exist for children so young, and that the other student's behaviour was a little "energetic", but of no concern. On one occasion, I even witnessed myself this student being very cruel to my son, and when looking for the teacher, saw her oblivious and laughing at a joke with the other teacher.

Other parents also raised concern about bullying and mistreatment at the hands of this student, but all concerns were dismissed. When he grabbed my daughter's arm and scratched it, for example, once again this action was excused as a "language issue."

The school has many lovely aspects to it and when my daughter started, she had a wonderful teacher, who was unfortunately replaced when my son started. The positive aspects, however, are overshadowed by the passive approach to dealing with issues that are real for many children, and denying that there are any problems at all. I was told, after a third meeting, that "there is nothing that can be done to prevent conflicts, we can only deal with them as they arise" and that "the rules of the playground" is a key operating principle in the kindergarten. While it was agreed that children cannot be sheltered from all experiences, I would prefer a proactive approach that acknowledges the potential for younger children to experience things differently than the older children in the same classroom. I would have liked to know my son would have been protected, even though he was not.

I would encourage any parents considering enrolling their children in kindergarten to meet with both teachers and consider these factors. I hope this has been helpful, and may prevent any of the very painful issues my son faced there.