Artistic daycare for children in Poland (Includes interview and first-hand account)

The owner of this daycare says that their intention was to have a place different from typical and predominant education entities (“daycare factory”) for young children.
This is a family daycare where artistic personality of a child can grow in a relaxed and close to family atmosphere.

Carved figures of klezmer band, artistic children daycare “Burczybas”, village of Opypy, near Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.

Joseph Boltrukiewicz

It’s the place like no other of this type that meets all security and food safety regulations but different when it comes to specific musical education of the children. The owner, Kasia Kania Stróżewska says that she has always had music in her veins thanks to her father, Antek Kania and “natural pedagogic” attitude and skills thanks to her mother. When she grew up, she channeled these two things into one outcome and decided to form the artistic daycare.
Why “Burczybas”? Because this is the name of the old Polish folk instrument made of a barrel and horse tail hairs. Burczybas is the logo of the daycare.

Religious figures in the artistic children daycare “Burczybas”, village of Opypy, near Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.

Joseph Boltrukiewicz

This education facility started out 10 years ago as a preschooler’s club “Bartek” where the kids learned to play old folk instruments at the Gallery of Old Folk Instruments in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. It turned out that all the attendees of the club “Bartek” were much better prepared to go to school than other kids due to their developed social skills. Moreover, they were already advanced in music education when starting real school.

Carved figures of klezmer band – always 13 of the musicians, displayed along the wall of the artistic children daycare “Burczybas”, village of Opypy, near Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.

Joseph Boltrukiewicz

The daycare has the program of overall development of children’s personality based on the rule that every young person is a different individual. The staff’s program is to develop intellectual, emotional and social skills of young individuals, teach them assertiveness and problem solving skills.
There are several teaching programs to achieve these goals by putting a special stress on social, science, art, culture, sport, health and linguistic programs when teaching new skills.

Carved folk figures, artistic children daycare “Burczybas”, village of Opypy, near Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.

Joseph Boltrukiewicz

The children here live by musical tradition like nowhere else. They have a chance to touch the folk instrument and play it. They are taught about folk musical traditions of their fathers and told about how folk music was played in old days by klezmer bands and syrbaks who, in older times, were the musicians not licensed to play in the cities.
The syrbaks were old time buskers who, nowadays, we see plaing on the stations of SkyTrain in Vancouver, for example. Klezmer music is the music that comes from Yiddish culture and tradition and has a lot of elements of both Gypsy and Dixieland music.

Carved figure of fiddler on the roof, artistic children daycare “Burczybas”, village of Opypy, near Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.

Joseph Boltrukiewicz

Carved and painted folk figures decorating the walls of artistic children daycare “Burczybas”, village of Opypy, near Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.

Joseph Boltrukiewicz