Bressol is our early-childhood project for children between 9 months and 3 years. We are located in the heart of Gràcia, across two spaces that provide the warmth and closeness essential during this stage.
Montessori refers to this developmental stage as the “absorbent mind”, understood as the extraordinary capacity of children’s minds (from 0 to 6 years, especially 0 to 3) to absorb the environment effortlessly and without discrimination. This places a responsibility on us to be very mindful of what we show them and how we expose them to the world.
At MA we are highly conscious in how we support children: how we address them, how we organize the spaces, how and when we intervene, and how we arrange materials, to create a harmonious environment that facilitates balanced, healthy development for all those sharing it.
At MA, we believe that before focusing on Montessori materials, it is essential to place each child’s emotional and physical well‑being at the center of our educational practice. A child who does not feel cared for physically and emotionally cannot learn. Awareness of this allows us to support healthy management of emotions respectfully. The educators accompany the children, allowing them to express their emotions according to their needs, always recognizing and validating them.
When children feel cared for and know the environment is safe, and bonds with educators are healthy and solid, then different learning unfolds in an atmosphere of harmony and well‑being.
Children often arrive at Bressol after being at home with their family or a trusted adult. To feel safe in a new space, they need time to establish new secure bonds that enable them to open up to their surroundings. They also need the certainty that a caring adult is nearby and available whenever needed. To make this possible, we maintain a ratio that enables individualized support:
NIU (9-12 months): 5 children per educator
CAU (1-2 years): 6 children per educator
CASETA (2-3 years): 7 children per educator
We operate as a trilingual family: each group is accompanied by a Catalan, an English, and a Spanish educator. Each educator speaks in her/his native tongue while children explore oral expression freely and engage in organic listening and learning of all three languages.
Care spaces offer the child an intimate relationship with the adult and guarantee satisfaction of their basic needs. Through being cared for, children project a safe and kind world, which provides them with the security needed to follow their instincts and explore their environment with strength and harmony.
One of the main sources of learning is play. Through free play, the children get to know the world around them at their own level and pace. Play offers children a wide range of experiences to help them understand reality, process emotions, and channel their creative energy.
We trust in the child’s initiative and capacity to move and relate to their environment. Therefore, we offer the space and support needed for movement to happen spontaneously and autonomously. In this way, the child can reach challenges at their own rhythm and build a strong self-image.
This is the group for the youngest children at MA. In NIU, the pace slows to match the vital rhythm of the youngest children. Moments of rest, feeding, and care, structure the children’s day, allowing them to move freely and explore the space.
In this group, three educators care for a maximum of 15 children. This ratio allows us to meet each child’s needs individually, at a stage where adult presence is essential to ensure emotional and physical safety.
At NIU, children are exposed to the three project languages (Catalan, English, and Spanish) and are accompanied by three educators, each speaking her/his native language. This creates a trilingual family where each adult uses the language that accompanied his/her own childhood,building a deep, loving and genuine bond with the children.
Caseta is the group for children aged 2 to 3 years old. At this stage, children experience a time of great intensity and change on all levels. Movement becomes more extended, speech emerges strongly, and the drive to understand who we are as individuals leads to powerful self-assertion. Saying “no” helps separate from the external world and affirm the self as an autonomous being, but it can also lead to conflicts and frustrations that the child is not yet able to manage alone.
A prepared adult is essential so that children can grow and integrate their learning with security and calmness.
At this stage, self-care and autonomy are two important Montessori milestones and they align with the child’s natural drive. Montessori emphasizes the importance of offering autonomy tailored to each child’s physical, cognitive, and emotional capacities. At this moment in a child’s development, it is often the child him/herself who first demands a chance to try and do things, showing the desire to carry out tasks autonomously.
Our role as caregivers is to prepare an environment with materials adapted to the children’s needs, within reach, and always available. At MA, each child has the opportunity to engage in activities that respond to his/her interests, creating a dynamic and personalized experience.
So, we might see a child squeezing an orange to make juice, another reading a story, a small group of children kneading bread, others playing with blocks, and some exploring the garden to see if the rain brought out any snails. This freedom to choose supports their connection with their inner teacher, allows them to feel true to their essence, and fosters their ability to self-regulate.
Children who are familiar with the daily routine at MA can enjoy music workshops from Monday to Thursday, 15:30 to 17:00. These workshops are led by music professionals specialized in early childhood music pedagogy. During the afternoons, children are accompanied by a MA educator and a workshop facilitator.
