Favoritism with children. Popularity contest. We really tried but after numerous issues we left highly disappointed.

This place is safe . The teachers are kind and nice to friends. The price is fine . We will go there next year and would love to recommend!! read more

We are so happy to have found Der Kinder! Our daughter (who started at 15 months) enjoys going to daycare there and each teacher cares very much about her. They do a great job making each holiday special! read more

I am giving two star because I am only giving star for staff . I went for tour staff is nice I can't tell anything about staff . But at the same time i don't like several things . Very old school , it's not clean and there is not really security system everybody can enter Doors were open when we went there . When I asked why doors open and not really security the women laughed at me and said we have been here over ... years nothing happened but it doesn't mean it will never happen . I wouldn't send my kids here . I found better options read more

Great teaches who are kind and caring. I feel 100% safe leaving my son with them. It's not a fancy daycare with all the bells and whistles but just very homey feel with sweet and caring teachers. Would recommend to any first time parent who is unsure about daycare. read more

Great place to take your little one! They pay great attention, friendly and clean! They have plenty of space for kids to be indoors and out! They came highly recommended by a friend and they were right! read more

My grandchildren love Der Kinder Garden. There is only kindness and goodness there, wrapped up in safety, good boundaries and learning. I am forever grateful to the Director, D.J. for her unwavering support during a difficult time for our family. Few teachers go beyond, yet they seem to dedicate themselves to the love of children. read more

I take my daughter here and was told that she handled the 1st time being at day care well and I have to think it is the care she receives that makes her happy to leave mommy for the day. They have no TVs and play fun music while she plays with her friends. Their outdoor yard has many fun toys that inspire creativity while enjoying the fresh air. They serve her the lunch I make her and with give medicine when your child needs it. Their daily reports shows her sleep, diaper changes and food intake. Super detailed. They teach numbers, alphabet and potty training. This place is very clean and I'm very happy to have her develop in a caring environment as this one. After a long search I am happy that I choose this establishment. DJ helped me through the enrollment process and when child number 2 arrives I am definitely taking baby to Der Kinder. read more

Our daughter has attended Der Kinder Garden since she was 8 months old. She is now almost 2 and we recently moved and had to send her to a new school. We miss Der Kinder Garden so much! Our daughter loved going to school every day and it was obvious why. The caretakers there are very loving and nurturing with the children. We visited several local daycare centers in the area and did observations for a while. We chose this school because we felt that the caretakers there were the most affectionate and loving towards the children. Ms. Rosalie, Ms. Pat, Ms. Annie, Ms. Betty, Ms. Patty and all of the ladies who worked with our daughter were nurturing and kind to her, and great at communicating well with us, too. Our daughter has also learned a lot from attending this school. She left there knowing her colors, letters, numbers in English and Spanish and came home every day with a cute little educational art project. These projects took a lot of time and energy on the part of the staff there, and our daughter was always proud to collect and show us her art for the day. When we came to pick our daughter up from the junior preschool (which begins around 18 months), she was always playing happily with her friends and the teachers, and sometimes she didn't want to leave! Maybe I would take away half a star because the outdoor play areas are not updated and the food that they do offer there isn't super healthful. Neither of these proved to be an issue for us. Most preschools don't even offer lunch, and I never heard of any child being harmed as a result of the older play area. The biggest issue for us was that our daughter be around caretakers/teachers who are nurturing and affectionate, who will get to know her, teach her and make us feel comfortable talking with them about any questions or concerns. We absolutely got that here and highly recommend the school! The director, Ms. DJ, is super easy going, flexible and caring as well. We got to know her too and have a lot of respect for her and the school that she runs. read more

My son and my daughter attended der K. This place is great. The kids are the main focus, they're kept healthy and happy, caregivers are affectionate, the administration is easy to deal with, and the school's vacation schedule is manageable. The kids are in fairly small classes and appear to interact well together. Sometimes, the staff help the kids design costumes and put on a parade for each other -- not as a pageant for the parents but as a fun thing to do together. There are many activities, tons of toys and a charming, private environment. The kids seem happy. The school is well-designed. The many toilets and wash-stations help with potty-training. The infant room is not "walk through" and therefore is more hygienic. The outdoor areas are shaded. Wide windows run all along the rooms to the inner courtyard, so that even the few minutes you spend picking up & dropping off your kid give you a sense of how the kids' days go. The place is clean (I saw concerns about this in another review, but my son was sick less often at der K than he was at another place). At the same time, der K is also fairly tolerant of a runny nose or a teething fever which is great for working parents. There's little turn-over among the staff. The staff are clearly trusted by the administration and exercise a lot of autonomy. They not shy about talking to parents and problem-solving with them. The administration is also responsive. The couple of times I approached them with an issue, I got a thoughtful and effective response. Der Kindergarden is open all but 3 or 4 days a year, so working parents can govern their own vacation schedule. During this past Christmas season, they were only closed 2.5 days including Xmas and New Year's. So in short: great for kids, easy for parents to work with, and caregivers are well respected. Too bad they don't have more parking. read more

Not a fan. I have a couple of co-workers whose kids attend here so I thought I'd check it out. It was ok, but not my favorite. I looked at about 10 places so far in Torrance, Redondo, and Manhattan Beach. I found several that are closer, cheaper, and nicer. It just wasn't for me. Pros: - The staff are nice - My co-workers like this place Cons: - Old Facility - Not very clean - Lots of rockers/bouncy chairs - The lead teacher was sitting in a rocking chair the whole time we were there directing the aids. She never once got on the ground with the kids or walked around. - A little pricey - Lots of cement on the playground, wish they had more foam for the younger kids. - Out of the way for me (distance wise) read more

I recently toured this facility and my experience was far more satisfying than trying to inquire over the phone. The director was really nice all along, the caregivers seemed genuinely involved and the kids seemed happy. Im waiting to hear from an employer and hoping for my son to go here. read more

I'm a first time mommy, and finding a daycare was so scary. I cried several times over the fear of dropping him off to strangers. I toured all facilities in the area, and I LOVE this place so much. If you are like me, you drove past it on 11th street and thought it didn't look so inviting. However, that could not be further from the truth. The entrance is on 10th street and walk in and meet any of the staff. There is so much excitement in the kids playing and all the of the staff are wonderfully involved. My son is in the infant room, and that's a large room with great sunlight and a big wonderful area for the babies to play. The caretakers are professional, thorough, knowledgable, and most of all, loving to all the babies. It's quite frankly amazing to watch them work so wonderfully with all of the babies. It took my 9 month old a couple of weeks to acclimate to daycare, but once he did, he feel hard in love with this place--just like I did. My son loves these women and sometimes squeals with excitement when we walk in the room. They play, sing, and teach him so much. He is learning all kinds of new words and can wave! He is so loved here and at home. He is reaching all of his milestones and more, and is such a happy baby because of all the fun he has all day. It's perfect. Even if I could stay at home with my baby, I would still bring him here because he is socializing and being cared for in the best way. read more

I enrolled my 9 month old daughter to daycare for the first time in Der Kinder Garden's infant program. Upon joining, the school's director DJ offered us a very pleasant and detailed tour of the entire facility. She was kind, patient and answered all of our questions with thoughtful responses. All of the kids of different ages looked like they were having so much fun playing, learning, and even politely eating lunch together at the same table. Der Kinder has a cozy and charming feel to it. What I was most impressed with overall was the high level of established organization. Every kid has their own bin of items, sign in sheet and bed. Prior to first day I received a list of necessary items to make my daughters day care experience as comfortable as possible. All the care givers in the infant program are very sweet. It speaks highly of the program that many of them have been at Der Kinder 15+ years! I highly recommend! read more

Both my kids have been through der Kindergarden, and it's been a great ride. We continue to have great relationships with the ladies who run it, and we've made lasting relationships with the other parents who came through there with us. From the baby room through graduation, there's definitely a feeling of family there. The buildings have been refreshed recently and they're reopening in a couple weeks. read more

See all

My wife and I moved to southbay recently (2years ago) and wanted an affordable daycare for our 2nd kid that was nurturing like our old daycare Carousel in Westchester,Ca. Well we found one! Our guy has been there for over 9 months and each time we go in he is treated like he is the favorite child.The ladies there all are amazing and have been with Der kindergarten for a long time, some over 25 years. I have recommend this place to several people and they have their kids in their now. If you want all the latest bells and whistles for your kids and think that's what is best since that is the in thing to do Don't go here. If you want old fashion TLC, respect and appreciation for each child I would strongly suggest going here. It is a little outdated in appearance but I am not the elitist that cares about appearance when true people and true feeling matter more. They make us and our child very happy truly a gem that all parents should send their kids. Bonus they open the earliest at 6:30 for those people working early In the morning like we both do. read more

I came to the school during their renovation last year in the hope of finding an alternative preschool for my 3 year old. The director was nice but the school did not have many students at the time. We considered this school an option for drop-in daycare and the director gave us an ambiguous answer that she could help us during the first week of the year. Then when we asked her about it she told us that she doesn't do drop-in daycare anymore. I just wish she was more firm with her policies. It seems to change every time I call. read more

My daughter has been coming here for almost a year. She loves her school and her friends but loves her teacher more. They are open early and close at 7pm which is great and works with my schedule. read more

Great News der Kinder Garden Infant Center is reopening in September :)

I'm sad they closed. They were convenient & treated my kids wonderfully. I loved this place

My son went to Der Kinder Garden from 7 months to 3.5 years, my daughter from 7 months to 2 years. Most of the ladies are very sweet. A rotten egg (who I was dreading my son getting as his teacher) was fired last year. Pros include teachers who really care. My little girl charged up to hug her teachers every morning when I dropped her off, and my son had a little crush on a couple of his teachers. I really like DJ, the director. She knows just about everything about every kid. On my son's first day of going to school potty-trained, I called to find out how he did. DJ knew the details of exactly how his day went! We felt that the kids were well taken care of. Now for a few cons. It's true that some of the teachers speak little English. All of the teachers will give you a big smile in the morning, but it's difficult to communicate with a few of them. I took to leaving written notes at the front desk if there was something I wanted to know or something going on with my children. It was frustrating not getting any feedback. The facilities are a bit frayed and worn. Of course the kids don't care about that at all. But the major reason we pulled our kids out was that I didn't feel like my son was learning enough. While Der Kinder Garden does a great job keeping a safe eye on the kids, he just wasn't challenged there. He brought home basically the same art projects for three years. He's at an age where he's asking a million questions about everything. I feel like he could learn a lot more, given the chance. We are going to try a school with a smaller teacher-to-student ratio, which has an actual preschool curriculum. However, if we're unhappy with the new school, I would consider sending my kids back to DKG. The place played a big role in our lives for a long time, and I'm grateful for all they did for our children. read more

My kids have been going to DKG since they were babies and they love it there! I took off one star only because the facility is a bit on the older side - no air conditioning in summer, no high-tech security system at the entrance, that sort of thing. However, the teachers seem to truly love working with children and I feel confident that my children are safe with them, which is the most important thing to me. They also give the kids lots of activities to keep them occupied throughout the day. They provide hot lunch 4 days a week now for free, and "special lunch" on Fridays for 3 bucks. read more

We have both of our kids here and they both started as toddlers. We visited several other places before choosing this one and we can say that we are very happy with it. The staff is friendly, they seem to care for the kids, they make a serious effort to teach them, and most importantly the kids seem happy. I recommend it to friends. Other places might be fancier and be in better locations, but we are very happy here. read 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! I will mention that the "Level One" class was great, this class is where the babies are from 6-weeks to the time they can walk. Level Two/Level Three is combined and the kids go in this class from the time they can "walk" to until age 2 or 3. Level Two/Level Three was the class I had problems with. 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 stimulate the children to develop in a positive way and the children are out of control. Again, I do not recommend Der Kinder Garden. It would be well worth the extra money to find a better place for your children. read more

Hello to all parents.. I was reading the two reviews for this business and was amazed at the negative comments I read on one. Kudos to the parent who complimented the school . My entire family love Der Kindergarten and the teachers there. We have so far in our family had about 8 children go through the school and never had anything to complain about. The teachers are incredible with their personalized attention to each and every child. The director is awesome .. She cares for each child as her own. Never had any school or teacher shown so much love . My kids have moved on to elementary school but my nieces and nephews still go there. I will never forget how the director helped me potty train my 4th child . It was a task that I had challenges with as all my children were just two years apart and by the time I had my son I was exhausted. Thank you Ms DJ I will never forget your attention to my son and my other three children and all my nieces and nephews . read more

My son is now 2 years old and still attending Der Kinder Garden. The teachers are still friendly and very accomodating to my unexpected schedule changes for my son and my forever changing work schedules. I'm really happy to have found this daycare for my son. The daycare also has extra activities for the children, I singed up for my son for Happy Feet program which is a soccer practice. I got to the daycare early enough to see him play. He was having so much fun with the teacher and other children and didn't want to leave with me to go home. The daycare has many other activities and you have a choice to say yes or no. It's a little delay everyday picking him up because he doens't want to leave the daycare :-). I like it here for my son and I know my son love to be there too. I feel at ease while working knowing my son is in good hands!!!!Thank you to all the teachers that help taking care of my son. If my mom still here she'd say the same. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!!! read more