My son has been going to PEL for over a year now and it's definitely positively supplemented his…read moreregular school learning. We felt like he was starting to fall a bit behind and school work/assignments alone weren't giving him enough practice/rigor. He's been doing both English/language arts and math programs. The extra attention and practice/repetition caught him up and then some. PEL also has some fun incentives for kids to help support their motivation: they earn "money" for work completed successfully and can "buy" prizes. This also helps teach value and rewards/incentivizes saving for bigger prizes. If your kid could benefit from some extra practice/structure, it's worth at least doing the free consultation to see if PEL would be a good fit for their learning style.

PEL stands for "Pre-Eminent Learning" and is the new Kumon with the Singaporean math trend focus on…read morecommon core math that us millennial parents didn't grow up with. There aren't any Russian math options around Alameda yet so we decided to sign up for the free consult/testing for PEL for our then five year old at the end of TK to see where he was at and he's been enjoying it ever since. We go twice a week for one hour and with the daily homework, our kindergartner is enjoying math drills and writing practice/phonics/reading. It takes a second to make it a habit but now he enjoys it and timing himself on the homework (cue childhood trauma from Kumon where my mom had a stopwatch!). I stopped correcting the homework for my sanity (more trauma - my mom corrected all our Kumon with the borrowed answer books and yelled if we got too many wrong). At this young age, they have Junior PEL which is with a teacher in a small group (versus the older kids who independently work and then raise hands for help). Our son's favorite teacher is Teacher Anna. For the waiting parents, this place has better parking, location and amenities than Mathnasium or Kumon with the Southshore shopping center. You can go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Safeway, pickup dinner, get a foot massage at W Spa, go for a run/walk by Crown Beach, return Amazon purchases at Kohl's, go to the bank, charge your car, etc. It's a carve-out time for errands that makes PEL seamless into our hectic family life with two young children. You can also just veg on the phone or work while waiting in the lobby (they have a super clean bathroom and it's quiet). The couple that owns this location also has a sister location in San Leandro and they run it efficiently and smoothly bc Alameda is their second location. Director Lawrence and Ms Kiwi are caring and kind and they also conduct regular parent teacher conferences, which is helpful at projecting and quantifying the hours invested into PEL. The icing on the cake is the annual honor roll ceremony in October. They did a great in putting the event together with the kids and parents in mind and our son is so proud of his honor roll trophy and shows everyone that comes over. Highly recommend PEL (especially those in public school in alameda bc K doesn't have homework!)

This team did an amazing job at my 5 YO son's birthday party. They were on time, professional,…read moreeducational, and super safe with the littles. Thank you, Things That Creep!

Great birthday party for 8-10 year olds for us! Really nice folks and animals. Knowledgeable…read moreabout reptiles and made sure everyone had a chance to interact with the fascinating animals. Our favorite animals were very nice. We particularly loved flo the king snake and Darwin the monitor lizard.

Very kind and respectful staff overall. Ease of finding the building, and escort support from the…read morefront desk person. Clean space all around, easy instructions upon arrival, and no confusion whatsoever. Testing space RE lighting, temperature, and comfort was satisfactory.

Just passed my second (and final) test for my professional license at this center. It's well…read morelocated, easy to get to and most important, when I am 100% freaked out about my high-stakes test, VERY NICE and VERY KIND people that work there. Check in and security check terrific. I can't express how grateful I am that they are organized and really put one at ease. Note -- everyone is taking a different test so don't go by what time others leave. They have noise canceling headphones available at each cubicle, this easily distracted person is very happy for that. THANK YOU!

My daughter just completed the Cardiology Camp at Stanford, and I cannot speak highly enough of the…read moreexperience. The instructors and camp leaders were exceptional. They created a welcoming, supportive environment where the kids felt comfortable, connected, and truly bonded with one another. Thanks to this camp, my daughter has gained so much confidence. She made amazing friends and came home at the end of the week excited to share what she learned. A special thank you to Emily, who is incredibly kind and quick to respond to any questions. Dr. D was an inspiring teacher--knowledgeable, patient, and truly engaging with the students. And Julian made a lasting impression by remembering the kids' names from the very beginning and being consistently warm and friendly. Thank you so much to the entire team at Education Unlimited for such a meaningful and memorable experience!

This was an excellent service. They got us two amazing tour guides who were friendly and…read moreknowledgeable in the peak season when all the campus tours were already booked. The company representative was easy to reach and constantly kept us in the loop via text. Highly recommended!

Leila is amazing and my family would have been absolutely lost without her help. We moved from LA…read moreto the Bay Area this year and she helped us figure out both middle and elementary school for our children. She has a wealth of knowledge about schools, teachers, pedagogy, the application process, how to write an essay, etc. She helped us every step of the way and also organized school visits for us on our trips up from LA. Every penny you spend on Sparkjoy Consulting is well worth it. In fact, I still text Leila with questions about extracurricular activities, restaurants, etc.! She is amazing and her sunny disposition makes her wonderful to work with through this process which would otherwise be very stressful!

I whole-heartedly agree with all these glowing Yelp reviews of Leila and her services. She brings…read morea wealth of experience as a teacher (check out her resume!) and parent to her work, and it feels like having a friend on the inside to guide you through the school selection process. Leila helped me navigate the process with more lightness, and homed in on the right questions to help us make important decisions. Leila provides a wonderful service for parents wading through the many great school choices available to East Bay families!

My son is now a different person thanks to Lina!…read more Before we met Lina: We found out my younger son, Yi, had speech & fine motor delay when he was 15 months old. Early intervention started when he was 18 months old, followed by OT, ST and PT. Then he got the ASD diagnosis at 2-year old and ABA started two months later. However, with all the helps from all the therapists, no one was able to help Yi establish eye contact or help him learn to point. I got perhaps half a second eye contact with Yi in an entire month. Even when we had it, I was not sure because it was so brief - I thought it could be just me imagining things. Yi had many tantrums a day, very intense. He's in pain, we were in pain, every single day. When we met Lina: Day 1: within half an hour, Lina helped Yi establish SOLID eye contact with me!! I almost cried! He saw me! Day 2: Yi started to point, thanks to Lina! Before meeting Lina, I felt so overwhelmed and didn't know what I should focus on. Lina helped me prioritize and establish a plan for the next steps. - Thanks for Lina's push, I started the GCCF diet right after the training. Yi used to vomit when he had tantrum and cried a lot, which happened on a daily basis. A week after cutting out milk, Yi's vomiting stopped. - I signed up and took Hanen program "More Than Words" parents training, thanks to Lina's recommendation. It was another really helpful program that helped us a lot. Soon after meeting Lina, Yi's eye contact dramatically increased (we adopted the same method from Lina and taught all other therapists to do the same). He learned to point to communicate his needs. His vomiting stopped. With all these changes, Yi's tantrum greatly reduced. Yi has transformed from a suffering child living in his own iron bubble to a cheerful little boy who opens up to the outside world. I can't say enough thank you to Lina! She took time to understand my son, and gave us individualized trainings based on Yi's unique needs. You can tell this is not just a job for her. It's something that she cares deeply and passionate about and she's highly competent. We lived in the South Bay and I work full time. I'm so glad I made the decision to take time off from work and brought Yi with me to see Lina. It was the best decision I made and time really well spent.

We have been seeing Lina for a few years and she has been both an instrumental "boots on the…read moreground" and "eye in the sky" when it comes to our autistic son. I cannot think of any higher praise that I could provide other than she is the model of what I think an excellent consultant is; knowledgeable, experienced, practical, compassionate, passionate, and responsive. Her services are truly valuable, both for my son, and our family as a whole. Having someone in your corner with the above skillset is hard to find in any profession, let alone the autistic one, and I recommend you not lose her number.

I've taken a class taught by James Sansing at Fort Mason time after time over the years, Art &…read moreAssemblage Workshop: the Re-Contextualizing of Objects. I wouldn't return if it wasn't any good. Assemblage (say it with a French accent to impress your friends) is, simply put, an art form where found objects, everyday articles and whatever you got are glued or screwed together to make freestanding sculptures or wall hangings. James' class is very low key and freeform. It's actually more of a guided workshop than a structured class. James brings in huge bins of junk, debris and discarded materials which might consist of doll heads, driftwood, electric appliance parts, photographs, toys, old telephones and what-the-heck-are-these-things. James supplies tools and glues. Many students bring materials from home. Then the students take the materials and put them together to complete their own masterpieces. There's a lot of "networking" that goes on between the students. It's fun to go around to the different work tables to see what the others are doing, and many times we offer suggestions or take advice from each other. I've stolen some of my best ideas from other students. James is very low key and non-judgemental but he has a subtle way of guidance that is always helpful and inspiring. He is a master of tools and adhesives, and he is a great problem solver when it comes to assembling art where a student is unable to figure out how to put something together or needs another eye to see what works best in the way of balance, color, etc. Besides being knowledgeable in the utilitarian side of things, James is an accomplished artist with a very strong vision of his own that is not forced on anyone else. On top of that he's a very likeable man. If you are looking for a very structured class with a teacher who has a definite agenda and a syllabus, I wouldn't recommend this class. If you're looking for a class that is freeform but has a steady mentor who is there if he is needed but is savvy enough to know when to stand back and let your creativity flow, then this is the one for you.

CCSF Fort Mason campus has changed my life... even that is an understatement…read more I first found out there was an art campus at Fort Mason from getting a CCSF flyer in the mail. Months later, I went to their annual holiday sale to see just what kind of art was being made there. The depth and variety is amazing to me given how, all things considered, the building is kind of small. City College only takes up two floors of building B. Painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture... it's all there. I'm one of those people that resorts to drawing symbols of stick figures when asked to draw a human. Now that I've been taking classes here, I can actually draw a person to their likeness. One of the best things about the Fort Mason campus is the incredible diversity it attracts in students. Obviously there is a lot of ethnic diversity, but it's the age diversity that is such a joy. I've literally had classmates ranging from 18 to 94. The range of ages adds so much to the classroom's energy. Everyone is there because they want to be there and they're all at different stages in their life. All this life experience elevates the work and it's inspiring for everyone working there. The teachers are great too. They make it such a pleasant, encouraging, and supportive environment. I was kind of intimidated when I took my first class. I had flashbacks to grade school and was worried I'd be the only one that didn't already know how to draw at least a little bit. My worry was for nothing. If you are thinking about taking a class here, do it!

First and foremost, Learn iT! is located in a convenient part of the city (33 New Montgomery…read moreStreet) and has a great view out of many of the classroom windows. Their team is very helpful and I find my training experiences well organized with great content. They also offer WiFi, which is nice. I really enjoy going to training here. The first training I took at Learn iT! was Critical Thinking with Sheila. She was animated and kept my attention throughout the day, which can be hard to do! I appreciated the application/activities during the training, along with getting to know some of the other students attending (this was a public course). I'm happy they provide a workbook for each of the Professional Development classes, as I use them for taking notes and reference them often after the trainings. I take time to process information, so this is a great takeaway for me. Tip: they serve warm cookies at 2 PM each day and offer complimentary coffee and tea (this is available throughout the day). The cookies smell amazing in and it is a nice treat.

For some reason my company really likes to hire Learn It to teach us PC basics (Acrobat, MS Office…read moreSuite etc.). Yeah, they're pretty cheap compared to Academy X & Roundpeg but cheap doesn't equal good. I've taken their Acrobat, Excel and Word classes (I do work for a living but I like to take a couple of days out to veg out in front of a PC!). I've also attended an HTML (that was a joke) class. All Learn It classes feel like they are dumbed down, water downed versions of a dummies book. You get a paltry 2 page document as your training materials. I'm not the smartest PC applications person but I do like to learn more than remedial Word/Excel yada yada. I actually fell asleep against my monitor in the recent Word class! Very uninspiring classes. You get more bang for your buck by buying and reading a dummies book or one of those "software bible" books.

"A radical change is going to be needed to get a learning system fit for a democracy. It needs to…read moreget away from domination and its endless stream of uninvited teaching. It needs to recognize that, in a democracy, learning by compulsion means indoctrination, and that ONLY learning by invitation and choice is education." - Roland Meighan Full Circle Family is in process of opening full-time sites for your family's educational enrichment. In each site during a typical day you will find the following in full swing. Sites are comprised of adult staff and children ages 4-19 in ratios of about 1:10. Members freely intermix between age groups. The children choose the topics they explore via 100% self directed learning with choices being governed within a 100% pure democracy (each member: adults & children, carrying one vote). Adult staff entrusted with the safety and nurture of the children both emotionally and educationally are on a first name basis and children are able to truly experience being fully responsible for themselves. Young members learn through life experiences, practice learning as they go. They initiate their own academic learning, choosing their method of learning as well as taking their own initiative as to the timing of their learning. Welcome to education from the inside out! We can't wait to meet you.