Der Kinder Garden Preschools

I have had my children at der Kinder Garten preschool in Manhattan Beach for 3 years, and I highly recommend this school to anyone. The staff is welcoming and friendly, and sincerely enjoy working with children. Classes are appropriately divided by age, and only combine ages towards the end of the day as children start being picked up for the evening. The current management of the preschool have ALWAYS been very attentive to my needs as a parent, consistently provide feedback about how my kids are doing, and treat my kids with love and kindness. They have worked with me on discipline strategies and potty training issues. After more than a year at der Kinder Garten, my oldest child started kindergarden well prepared, accustomed to listening, doing classwork, and enjoying a structured day. They still greet him with love and enthusiasm when he visits. Some parents on this site have expressed concern about the english language skills of the staff members, and I had some concerns about th more

Der Kinder Garden doesn't seem to be up to the standards of most of the other day care centers I've been to. The caregivers didn't seem very happy to be working there; most of them didn't even greet me with smiles or 'hi' when I walked in to drop my child off. My child is not happily greeted either. They keep moving babies to different rooms saying they don't have young babies any more and join the young ones with much older toddlers. It could be because they need to meet the 4:1 ratio. It is often very chaotic during meal times. Director lady also has a very condescending attitude. Facility is very old and needs a lot of updating. more

I do NOT recommend "Der Kinder Garden"! My son went there from age 9-months to 14-months (he is now 16-months old). I felt that he (and other children) were NEGLECTED. Often times when I would pick him up, he was strapped in the baby swing or in the crib/playpen pacing back & forth. Even when I picked him up early, he would still be strapped in the baby swing and he could walk at 11-months yet he was strapped in the swing. When I asked them about it, they said he was "fussy". My son is the most laid-back, easy baby and NOT fussy at all! They were very neglectful and he hated going there! When we would say good-bye, my son would not even look at the caregivers, he just would hold on to me and suck his thumb. It was terrible. Also, the playgrounds are so old and very unsafe. The ground is concrete or hard surface, not the soft rubber floor that are found in newer playgrounds. However, the worst thing about Der Kinder Garden is that the caregivers are Neglectful, they do NOT interact or s more

My wife and I recently moved to Manhattan Beach and had both our six month old daughter and two and a half year old son enrolled at Der Kindergarten. While the child care providers at Der Kindergarten are reasonably attentive, the extent to which they genuinely interact with the older children (not infants) is minimal. A number of the instructors are over-weight, which contributes to them often sitting in a chair while giving directions/instructions. Also, many of the teachers don't speak English as a first language, leading to some linguistic challenges for children who are developing language skills. While the turnover for the teachers is quite low, it is because they are life-time child-care givers, as opposed to staff at other daycare facilities at which staff are taking additional educational opportunities to achieve a degree related to child care/development/psychology and then subsequently advancing professionally. With respect to our infant daughter, the ratio of instructo more