I am a teacher and was unhappy with my kindergartener's school. She simply hated school and no…read morechild should hate kindergarten! My wife attended this school for junior high and she said it was the best years of her academic life ! After our first tour, I thought I died and went to heaven. We literally nicknamed the school "Ed utopia". Let me say as an educator with 20 years experience, it takes a lot to impress me. This school has it all. Amazing teachers that truly care, a community sense where every teacher (no matter the grade) knows every child, multiple teachers for every class, ridiculous technology innovation, opportunities for public speaking, and the parents truly join together and get to know one another and help each other in true community form. I now have a fifth grader and first grader here. We live 30 minutes away but it is well worth the drive for the experiences my children have that only this school could provide . You will not be disappointed in this school.

Dont work at this school. It doesnt care about there staff. all they care about is how much money…read morethey can raise. and put in there own pay checks. how many schools can pay there head over 250,000 per year? The school for the very special!!! kids. NO brains just parents with money.

This is a wonderful summer camp for kids who are super active and love doing different things every…read moreday. They take the kids on tons of different field trips, and when they stay on-site they bring in fun activities and entertainment. My kids loved the add-on activities, which include horseback riding, rock climbing, and cooking classes. I like that you can see the entire summer's schedule, day-by-day, before you enroll, too. As a parent I really appreciate how accessible and responsive the owners Brooke and James are. They replied to every question and concern quickly, and they were very helpful and professional with each interaction. I can tell these are parents who truly care that every camper and parent has a great experience with them. Oasis is a great option for families who need flexibility--there are large windows for drop-off and pickup, and you can even enroll your child one day or one week at a time. I've never found another day camp with this kind of flexibility and I really appreciate it as a working parent.

As a parent I was very attracted to this camp by the array of activities, particularly the twice a…read moreweek swimming and weekly field trips to local kids arcades and fairs. But my child did not enjoy the long bus rides to the various destinations. Many of the places they went were an hour or more away (Rockford water parks, Brookfield zoo). Apparently the camp did not have kids doing group bus activities (telling stories etc) on the long drives. When we saw how much time they were spending sitting on buses without bus activities, we were surprised. We don't recall our camp field trips this way--bus rides were chances for counselors and campers to invent wacky songs or play group games...but it seems this wasn't the case here. Our child also said that the counselors weren't as attentive as counselors at other camps. When we fetched our child at 3:30 or 3:45 each day we also found that counselors were completely unengaged--texting or dozing on the gym floor. Kids were running around unsupervised. We assumed the extra expense of this camp (which costs more than other day camps) was because kids could stay the full day...but when we saw that after 3:30 the camp becomes a free-for-all with unplugged counselors, we made an effort to get off work early to pick our son up at 3:30. The camp should insist that the counselors remain engaged and actually supervise children in the 3:30-closing period. Many of the activities were great on paper but didn't quite materialize. Cooking class with real ovens didn't happen, No real arts activities, at least not during the weeks our child was there. Theme weeks the weeks my son was there theme day and a half--a trip and a related optional dress up day. Also, the theme did not seem to bring other learning or creative opportunities....which is fine, since camp should be mainly about having fun...but if your kid is expecting a full week of Harry Potter extravaganzas, he'll be disappointed. I'd like to believe that a lot of the problems with the camp this summer had to do with the fact that one of the camp directors/owners was pregnant and recently had her baby (I don't think I ever saw her at the site, and I don't think I ever met the other director, either...save for at the open house day in the spring). Perhaps they were more hands off than normal because of the baby. I do think an effort should be made to find more engaged counselors for next year. Of all the male counselors I've met at various camps, for some reason this lot looked the most bored...and kids pick up on that. At least our child did. I don't want to be completely negative here. The camp did some nice things I have not seen done elsewhere--posting photos online each week of the kids at the pools, trying to offer a variety of fun activities. If better, more engaged counselors were found and encouraged to remain attentive all day, and if the long bus rides were minimized and activities for those rides created, the camp could be as good as it soujnds like it should be.

Wonderful staff who instills in preschool what learning should be...inquisitive and FUN. My…read moredaughter loved her few mornings a week she went in. She got to make friends, go outside daily, make crafts, learn about the world around her, celebrate birthdays. When I would pick her up, she would sing songs, about what they were learning, over and over again. This place is incredible for kids. So loving.

When moving to the North Shore I had my work cut out for me to find a preschool that was both…read moreplay-based and offered full-time care. Banner was the answer. From the moment we visited the school, I knew it was the right place for our daughter to begin her preschool experience. "Warmth" is how I'd describe the environment at Banner both in appearance and culture. The classrooms are inviting, cozy, and creative. This is a school run by teachers who love what they do and create a warm, positive environment for children to learn, develop and thrive. Our daughter wakes up excited to go to Banner every day which is the best testimonial a parent could offer.

We highly recommend Digital Adventures with its wonderful programs, and especially the teacher…read moreMr.Jim. The classroom is engineered to be easily adopted by young kids set in a play-based environment. My 4-year-old boy can easily adapt to the new learning. Mr. Jim and the founder/staff are nice, patient and great. We are impressed by the program as the parents. It was not just us, our kid loves and rates DA the best among all his other STEM enrichments by comparison. We have also helped spread the word to our parent communities. Overall, very good program, and excellent business!

My son really enjoyed this class.. we are staying for another class now! (2hours)…read moreHighly recommend this place.. very friendly.. clean.. just positive vibes!!Love it!

What a fantastic school for children! We have been at the school for 2.5 years and had a wonderful…read moreexperience in every way. The owners and management of the school truly care about the children and families. The teachers are passionate and engaged. I highly recommend the Skokie Goddard School for anyone looking for a program for their child.

I couldn't have asked for better or more attentive leadership from the family that ran itread more

This was our first time at a Camp Galileo and there were some good things and some not so good…read morethings. First, the camp is extremely well organized. You get detailed emails on exactly what your camper needs, drop offs and pickups are organized well, the atmosphere is cheerful, and there's an actual curriculum. Sometimes it feels like summer camps are just extended play sessions or babysitting centers, but there's some actual learning going on here, which I appreciated. But, keep in mind this camp is big. It's a full on school sized camp, and your camper can get lost. My little one was surrounded at recess by a bunch of older boys who were throwing balls at his head. They wouldn't let him leave, and while he had his hands up to try to protect himself, he eventually got hit, hard, by one boy who came along and said I'll get him. I feel like in a smaller camp this kind of bullying would have been noticed, but counselors didn't see until he had already been hurt. It sounds like he missed out on a greater part of the day since he was sitting in the office crying and with an eye pack over his eye. I'm disappointed that this was not reported to me the camp itself. He had a hit to his head and no one called me. At the very least I should have been told at checkout. I only learned of it once my little one developed a black eye and complained of headaches. The whole story only came out at the doctor's office. The camp needs to strive to have better communication with the parents.

Like one of the other reviewers, we had a bad experience at this camp. One of our younger children…read morewas threatened with physical harm at the camp from the older campers here. When we brought this up to the staff they were unsurprised and knew exactly who the culprits were. Apparently this is a recurring problem in the camp. I would have expected the camp to either remove or keep a better eye on the kids who were known to cause trouble. I would say this camp fails at keeping the kids safe.

Brief history: We toured a half dozen daycares in River North and selected our best one. Later we…read moremoved to the South Loop, toured another half dozen daycares and picked our best one. This year, we transitioned to Child Development Center and have never been more pleased. Stacy and Charmaine run a great facility, and our kids love the play-based learning environment!

From the owner: Our Center is also a State PreK located in the downtown area. We have 5 classrooms for 2-5 year…read moreolds year round and offer a summer camp for older grade school children throughout the summer. You won't be disappointed with our early childhood degree teachers in all of our classrooms. Give us a call or an email to set up a tour.

My son has been going to Christie's for nearly a year and I can't explain how much he enjoys it! He…read morehas made friendships that I'm sure will last a lifetime! Previously, he had been in a private daycare (which was great at the time) but he was ready to socialize more and meet new kids. While the first few weeks were a little tough, all of his teachers did a great job and he is confident now. The space is everything you would expect a daycare/pre-k space to be and so much more. He has such a fun day everyday and we look forward to the seasonal performances the kids put on! Thank you so much to everyone at Christie's for making this experience one to remember! The teachers are all so energetic and happy all the time!!! It takes a special person to be surrounded by children all day, and Christie's hires the best!

I could not imagine a better preschool experience for my kids. My daughter loves going to…read moreChristie's. She is learning so much. The staff genuinely cares about the children and provides them with a safe, fun, nurturing environment.

So much fun! My jaw dropped when I saw my daughter so happy and engaged while enjoying the sensory…read moreactivities. She let loose like I've never seen before. I think I had as much fun as she did!

Art Party is the best! I cannot rave enough about the tremendous creativity and love that has gone…read moreinto this studio. My son and I both had the best time. We had the freedom to get messy and playful, while diving into self-expression and art. Thank you Jamie! Can't wait to come back!