Raising kids in Poland

You have to bundle them up like eskimos here unless you want to get bad looks from the grannies ;-)

My kids love Poland and their school. We find it in many ways more kid friendly than the USA. Lot's of indoor playplaces popping up makes for great options for physical activity during the winter months, playgrounds every few blocks for summer fun. My kids are learning Polish by simply immersing them in the local school. We were quite nervous about it at first, but the kids are very outgoing and it has been a huge success.

I realize that this was posted a few years back so I may not get a reply. My family and I are going to be moving to Poland once the borders open, we have a 1 year old and are excited about all that she will get to learn and experience in Poland. Any advice as a new resident to Poland with a young child?

breannaworthen19 wrote:

I realize that this was posted a few years back so I may not get a reply. My family and I are going to be moving to Poland once the borders open, we have a 1 year old and are excited about all that she will get to learn and experience in Poland. Any advice as a new resident to Poland with a young child?

Hi! We've moved on from Poland after 6 years there with our small children, but we really enjoyed the experience. Poland is well set up for kids, with lots of playgrounds, and recently indoor playgrounds were becoming very popular during the winter months (although I have no idea how COVID has affected those).

Poland is a country whose culture is very children friendly and focused. Mostly this is a good thing. However it also means that you'll occasionally be scolded by a passing grannie who isn't satisfied with how you bundled up your child against the frigid winds of a comfortable spring day... lol.

Anyway, not sure what all you're looking for, but DM me if you have specific questions.

Good to know! It seems as if Krakow, and Poland is general, is going to be a very good place to raise a family.
The cold will be an adjustment but we will get used to it eventually.
Do you have any information about residence permits? We were told by the Embassy to simply come to Poland and then apply for a residence permit and proof of insurance, income, and why we desire to live in Poland and we should not have any issues but I am hearing other things from other people.

Sure, I'll DM you a reply :-)

Hi,

I moved my family from the Philippines to Krakow Poland in August 2019 just before the CCP pandemic.

We have a really good lawyer he helped us to get my wife residency card very quickly compared doing your self and he is always a phone call away.
I would come over to Poland and get your residency card and your PESEL No. as we used the lawyer it was so easy as they know the laws and they can answer any questions during the interview.   

As for the weather kids will get used to it very quickly.
If you come from a hot country like the Philippines buy some vitiam D tablets if you feel tired all the time and loss of appitite.
From my own personal experance with my 12 year old daughter had suffered from being tired and lost of appitite. Took her to the doctors and they said it was down to the lack of vitiam D.
Since she has taken the tablets she is back to her normal self.

I hope this helps

Lawrence

It certainly depends on where you live, but from the top of my head. Poland is a relatively safe country (I have family in the USA and, yikes ), in my opinion it is family friendly, the education is great, my kid attends ITSW school and the level of teaching and teachers' approach to children is incomparable with anything I've ever experienced. Poland is quite cheap (a bit has changed in this area). There are many great places to visit with children. And there are many more things I can't recall right now.