Kindergarten in CroatiaSome thoughts on kindergarten in Croatia from a foreign Dad It was only when I was having a coffee on the square with some friends over from the UK that I realised what a good deal we had with pre-school education here. As my three year-old chased their son through a Dalmatian square in what has to be one of the safest and relaxed places to bring up kids in the world, conversation turned to childcare and going back to work.
They were paying £42 a day for childcare back in the UK as Lou had decided to go back to work. £42! I almost dropped my cup. Here there are two option for kids aged 3 to 6 (school starts at 7 here) - every day from 0800-1230 including a morning snack for 260 kuna a month (£30 approx) or the full day from 0800-1600, including lunch for 450 kuna(just over £50). It was their turn to almost spill the coffees.
The first day is an emotional as your little angel, resplendent in finest Hello Kitty t-shirt and matching rucksack shows you she doesn't need you any more and disappears into the abyss inside. Nervous mothers wait on the nearby square, chain smoking over espressos waiting for the call, that their child is in tears and wants Mummy.
Things settle down into a routine very quickly and the little ones make friends, and I quickly realise that my three year old has a better social life than I do, and knows far more people! Indeed, more people now speak to me as I am her Dad...
But apart from the cheap price, the quality of the service is outstanding. It is not a place to merely park kids while the parents work, but an extremely well-organised experience, with the children's minds being occupied and stretched. Singing, painting, plastecine, nature trails, table manners (!), a great and varied experience for all, culminating in the Christmas concent and the highlight for many, the carnival. On the coast at least, the kindergarten in Croatia is open for almost ten months a year, closing in July and August. It is even open on Christmas Eve, although this foreign Dad learned that it is poor form to drop your child of on that day - I was the only one and the four staff, who had the possibility of the day off if nobody turned up, looked less than impressed... But just as my experience has been extremely positive, others have not been so lucky - such as this negative experience in the state system.
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