"Words cannot describe how exceptional Ayesha is as a daycare provider. From our daughters' first…read moreday, she treated her like she's one of her own. Our daughter can't stop talking about everything she does while at daycare; between playing hide-and-seek in the playground to all the running games and slides, to playing with her friends and doing arts and crafts, she loves it there. Ayesha always sends pictures to us while they're playing; our daughter is always excited to come home and look at the pictures of her with her friends. Our daughter looks forward to going to Ayesha's each day and she is always happy when we pick her up, happily jumping around, singing and dancing, full of life, brimming with energy. "A great teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart." Ayesha has indeed made my daughter highly independent. Since my child joined Ayesha's daycare her level of confidence and cognitive and motor skills have improved. She now wears her own shoes, socks, gloves, jacket, is potty trained and can use toilet independently, knows how eat and drink by herself using fork and spoon, speaks very clearly, using sentences of five or more words, tells a story in complete sentences, understands the concept of time, knows how to recite poems, songs, stories, and rhymes, and to our surprise, she even baked a pizza for us at home and boxed it. She tells us about all the projects she did at the daycare pointing at each one of them in the activity book Ayesha sends home every Friday (particularly the snowman project), and we were so happy to learn that she has learnt so much. Special mention to the Father's Day project, our daddy is super happy to see #1 Best Dad in the world project that she did. Always puts a smile on his face when he sees it . She is ready to advance to preschool with confidence now and that's how incredible Ayesha has been. I think a role model is a mentor - someone you see daily, and you learn from them. Our daughter has indeed learnt a lot from Ayesha, and we are very grateful for the friendly atmosphere Ayesha provides at her daycare and sending our daughter to Ayesha has been the best decision for our lives. It's been an incredible experience for both us parents as well as the child. We feel so lucky to have found such a wonderful childcare provider. We more than HIGHLY recommend Ayesha as a daycare provider and thank you, Ayesha, for everything! "Humble on the Outside, Confident on the Inside". This quote is so true to what Ayesha truly is. She is so humble and kind on the outside and confident on the inside. This humble quality of her interspersed with warm and welcoming beautiful smile and brimming confidence is something we truly admire in her. A happy child is a happy family! Thank you for creating a second home for our daughter in your daycare and it is now indeed a home away from home. Thank you, Ayesha, for being a STAR and lighting up our family with so much of abundant joy and happiness. You are a "HERO" in our child's life! Thank you Ayeshah - Regards Mady and Arya

From the owner: A dayhome with a beautiful space for kids to play, learn and grow together.read more

My concerns with Willowbrae is wholly about the corporate inflexibility and arguable gouging of…read morefamilies. The care our twins recieved there was good. Their teachers were caring, they were fed well and obviously nurtured. Routines were consistent, communication is solid. During the two weeks we were there, it was clear that there was some sense of community as there was a fundraiser going on for a family facing some severe health challenges. And perhaps that last point is what I find so frustrating about their corporate policies.Willowbrae is extremely expensive; amongst the highest in the city. There's certainly some perks (cameras, an app, fancy security, etc) that are being paid for with the fees. We moved to the city for my husband's work while I was pregnant. As our twins neared one year old my efforts to return to work picked up. When offered a very desirable job, I was asked to start in 3 weeks, giving me 2-3 weeks to find two infant childcare spots - which is kind of like looking for a unicorn. I called 17 providers. After a week, willowbrae returned my call with a unicorn. I went to look at it and was impressed. I was told that the pricing was competitive and in line with other providers. I was also told I had to make a decision quickly. So we did and signed the contract, paid registration and deposits. The night before the kids started, another daycare called; one that had been on my radar, that was more convenient on our commute and... Would save us $800 a month. As a non profit, family focused daycare, they did 3 things right off the bat that made it clear this we should make the move: - they agreed to hold the spots for 2 weeks so we could get SOME value for the $2500 we had paid to Willowbrae. - the do not require a registration fee or deposit - they told me that the spots had opened up for our two BC a mother had lost a job, and she was not charged anything for the sudden need to leave. We told Willowbrae the next morning, our first morning, that we would be leaving in 2 weeks. We acknowledged we owed them 30 days notice and expected to have to pay for the following 2 weeks after we left. Not good enough for them. They insisted they would have to charge us for the complete following month. See their policy for contact changes is 30 days notice beginning on the first day of the next month. So we told them on the 13th and they had us pay for the following 49 days. Had we told them on the 28th, we'd have owed 34 days. If we had said on the 3rd we had owed for 59 days. When each day was costing us over $100, this approach to contract changes which can sometimes be controlled by families but often cannot, is unfair - an opinion shared by most I talk to. We exchanged several phone calls and emails with local franchise administration who continually deferred to the corporate policy being immovable. Meanwhile the corporate office did not return any of my calls and the local franchise refused to give me direct contact information. I will - boldly but confidently - say that I ensured all conversations and communications were polite, aware of the uncomfortable conflict I was bringing to people. I assured them that I respected their people, appreciated their service, but needed them to consider my situation. In the following month I also confirmed that they aren't really all that competitive, running $100-400 more expensive a month for each infant space than EVERYONE else I talked to. The whole experience with Willowbrae cost us nearly $4000 for our 13 month old twins. And it was still worth it to us to move. We are extraordinarily happy in our new spot. My advice to others is, Willowbrae offers a great calibre of chilecare but customer service, family relation in this situation and flexibility is garbage. You must be confident in your choice - and many of you will have that luxury - and you must be committed to staying, because they are committed to making it miserable for you to leave.

Loved our time at WillowBrae! The facility is one of the best I've seen. My son was sad to leave…read more The web cams were a great plus - it helped knowing I could log on at anytime and see what was happening at the center. The facility is clean, the meals are great and the classes seemed to have enough resources. The improvements to the backyard were fantastic and the kids love to be outside. I only wish they spent more time outdoors. Some teachers took advantage of the trails behind the center and took the kids on little learning expeditions to see wild life! Great learning opportunity.

We couldn't be happier with our decision to send our daughter to the Halifax Early Childhood School…read more(HECS). She has loved her 2 years of pre-school, and comes home with songs, crafts, stories and yoga moves which she enjoys sharing with the rest of the family. The teachers are superb and have a wonderful way with the children, encouraging them to work collaboratively, share creative ideas, grow in independence, and treat each other kindly. In addition to the sunny indoor space, there is a wonderful backyard playground so the children have outside play time. And during winter months, the indoor 'obstacle course' is a big hit. If you are looking for a nurturing, fun, organized pre-school, then look no further, HECS is the place. I highly recommend it.

This preschool is amazing. Our son went here for two years, and now our daughter is in her first…read moreyear. The school is a loving and caring environment where childrens' learning is continually fostered through play. The teachers are AMAZING!! They know all the kids so well, and tailor the curriculum to each of them and their individual needs at the time beautifully. The school also feels like a real community - there is a bi-annual backyard party in the beautiful, treed backyard playground, a weekly e-mail goes out with pictures of all the kids, and there is an annual beer and art show which is fun for the parents. We can't speak highly enough of this school and would certainly encourage any family looking for a half day preschool (rather than daycare) program to enroll their kids.

I have nothing but glowing remarks for the staff at the Kids&Co Eastern Passage location. Our…read morelittle man started here when he was 3.5 during a pretty big time of transition (leaving his very familiar day home, and having his Daddy deploy with the Navy all within a 2 week span). Add to that, our darling kiddo has Autism (which had not yet been diagnosed). Needless to say, this Mama was worried about how our sweet boy would fare. I realized very quickly that I had nothing to worry about in that regard. The staff at Kids and Co have completely embraced our son exactly as he is. They support and encourage him to venture outside his comfort zone in a way that has made him thrive. They love on him when he needs a little extra TLC, and celebrate all the progress and new milestones he has reached in their care. I couldn't have asked for a better foundation to springboard our neuro-spectacular kiddo into his next phase of life.