We've had such a positive experience with the Orchards preschool! Our kids love this school and…read morewe've had such a positive experience with the teachers and staff.

The Orchards Childcare and Preschool is better than I could have imagined a childcare center could…read morebe. I currently have my two children enrolled at the Orchards. I am particularly impressed with how the caregivers and teachers take a genuine interest in the progress and lives of each of the children in their class. Whenever I've had questions, the Orchards Director has been easy to reach and prompt in her responses. The classrooms have been recently renovated and are kept clean. There is a good variety of age appropriate and safe toys in all of the classrooms. Security is well maintained with video monitoring, keypad access to facilities and fenced outdoor play areas. I love the phone application that they use for the secure check in and out procedure, as well as the photo updates throughout the day. Their Junior Kindergarten class is quite robust in its educational curriculum. The lead Junior Kindergarten teacher has been teaching young students for over 20 years, I believe. I'm honestly impressed at the progress my four year old has made behaviorally and educationally. They also have done a great job at offering events throughout the year. Kids Christmas program, picture days, Easter egg hunts, "pumpkin patch" etc. I couldn't recommend the Orchards more.

It is hard to decide how many stars to list. The caregivers here are friendly, very loving, happy…read moreand seem to enjoy the children. They are actively involved in playing with the kids and the place is clean. The part that isn't readily apparent when you tour this home-based childcare is that there are no caregivers present who speak English for 99% of the day. This may or may not be an issue for you. But, for small children who are just developing their language skills, it is a challenge. Just as important, my child wasn't able to communicate to the providers: my tummy hurts, he hit me, etc. And, I wasn't able to communicate with them during drop off or pick up: she has been emotional this morning, she didn't sleep well last night. But for the communication challenges, we would have stayed here, but it did not work for us.

Awesome staff, kids are safe, happy, and active! My go to…read moreday care spot! Also, the location is clean and lots of toys and activities to keep my kids busy.

As a fellow early childhood educator who has run a childcare program before, when I was looking for…read morea preschool for my son, I knew I wanted a play-based program where my child would have plenty of opportunities to explore and simply have a great time. We came across The Farmhouse School, and I was so excited. The philosophy is exactly what I hoped to find- Play-based, a focus on social emotional wellbeing, open-ended exploration, and great family support. My son had only been with me for his first three years of life, and I wasn't sure how he would take to being away from me, but he's done amazingly well so far. He is excited to go, and even asks to go on the weekend. He always has a big smile on his face while we head to school, and he tells me about how he plays with his friends at pickup. The teachers are all lovely and warm, and are very compassionate. They understand how to work with children and families to ensure the transition from home to school goes well. I can't say enough about the school. It's great, and I wish there were more schools like this in the area so more children could experience what best practices are for this age group!

The Farmhouse School is a charming and wonderful school. The teachers are very patient, kind, and…read morecontinuously ask the students great questions. Some favorite components of the school for my daughter was the rotation of exploratory areas and touch areas. For example, some weeks they have a big bin of leaves and other weeks they have interesting beads, or water play. Some weeks there are tables with writing with interesting things or ways to write your name or guess the smell in the cup. There is even a quaint writing center and student mailboxes for sharing letters. An important component is outside play everday no matter the weather. They have a wonderful outdoor play space complete with garden and live chickens. One of the most important aspects of the school is the teacher interation with the students. For ex: When students are telling a story, the teacher is writing down what they are saying or writes down titles or explanations of the artwork created by the students. The preschoolers feel respected and love that their ideas are seen as important. Last year the students were interested in collectively creating a bug hotel, they worked on this project all year. The teachers helped the students generate lists of what the hotel needed and they were continually creating collaboratively. For a few weeks the students were interested in doing a play so the teachers started writing down their script ideas and in a few days at pick up all the parents got to watch a very charming preschool production on the back porch. When you are thinking about a place to start your child's education, Farm house is a wonderful, creative, and kind place to start.

Our experience with this daycare was extremely concerning and unfortunately very short-lived…read more Within the first week (my child only attended four days), there were multiple safety incidents involving classroom doors that children were able to open. On the second day, I received a call that my child had opened the classroom door and exited into the hallway. Staff told me they were changing a diaper and didn't notice right away. Thankfully he was found quickly and had only made it to the first lobby door. When I picked him up shortly after, a staff member told me he had attempted to open the door several times within about 15 minutes. I asked what I could do to help prevent this from happening again and was told there was nothing needed from me and that staff would just remain on "high alert." I was also told that the center had discussed changing the door handles before but had not done so. A few days later, I received another call that my child had exited the classroom again while the class was cleaning up and only one teacher was present because the other teacher was on break. Earlier that same day there was also an incident where the children were outside playing and my child was able to walk to another classroom door and open it before being redirected. During the phone call about the second incident, the director stated that while they could redirect behaviors like not wanting to sit during circle time or meals, my child opening doors was "too much" for them to handle. She suggested we find another childcare provider and recommended a home daycare where there would be more one-on-one attention. This was confusing because the class only had about six students. What was frustrating is that all of the behaviors they raised concerns about were things we **fully disclosed during the tour before enrolling**. We explained that our child had never been in daycare before, does not talk yet, does not always follow verbal commands, and had recently discovered how to open doors. At the time we were reassured these were common toddler behaviors and that staff would redirect and work with him. There were also inconsistencies in the information we received. During pickup after the second incident, one teacher told me the situation happened while he was in her care, while earlier the director had told us a different teacher was responsible at the time. We were also told about an additional door incident that day but never received an incident report for it. I completely understand that teachers are responsible for supervising multiple children and cannot focus all of their attention on one child. However, when staff acknowledge that doors are not childproof and a child is able to open them multiple times within only a few days of attendance, that raises serious concerns about safety and preventative measures. Ultimately, we were advised by the director to find another childcare provider. We will be doing that and hope to find a program that is more willing to work with toddlers who are adjusting to their first daycare experience.

My two children have been going to LSA for about 2 years now. All of the teachers and staff are…read moreamazing. They all communicate well, are friendly, and work so hard to create a fun and educational environment for all of the kiddos. We drop off our children every morning confident that they are well cared for. It's been a wonderful place for them to grow and thrive.

This service is very well put together the employees are so kind and generous and really have a way…read morewith the children that would put you at ease when they are placed with them. They have lots of games and activities to keep the children busy and entertain at all times I highly recommend them to everyone!!!

Marquita is a genuinely good person and it shows in her actions. She went above and beyond and…read morepaired us with a nanny who has absolutely amazing. She has only been here for a month, but she has made a positive impact on me and my family. I know that my kids are safe and well taken care of with her. It is an amazing feeling to not have to worry about my kids. Thank you Marquita!

Our time has come to an end here at this beautiful and caring preschool. It's such a bittersweet…read moremoment but my daughter is more than ready to take on kindergarten with great help and guidance from her teachers the last 2 years. She wakes up everyday ready for school because here their philosophy is learning through play. Kids at this age needs that and to be grounded to nature and the outdoors. She has brought back daily random facts and things I've never learned before. During the "school year" they do seat work and she has learned to write the alphabet in upper and lower case, count to 100+, and even phonetically sound out words to help her start reading. During "camp weeks" they have themed programs that make the weeks exciting like horsemanship week, or kids in the kitchen, or life on the farm. We are so grateful we got a spot here and we hope to have our son back in here in the future! If you are looking for a preschool to put your child in, you came to the right place.

Our son has attended Village Learning for a while now and I have never experienced a place more…read morespecial. The instructors are so kind and patient. It has been so obvious how much they truly care for every kid. The state of the property can only be described as "magical". The children have the opportunity to play and learn outside, gardening, taking care of animals, and learning real-life skills through play. Our son has grown academically, learning to read and write...as well as just as a person - learning patience, sharing, regulating his emotions, etc. They also focus on healthy foods and habits and teaching a good foundation for how to take of your body and the earth. Something that matters a lot to me in addition to all the other things is cleanliness. The property inside and out is extremely well cared for and safe. All kids wash their hands on arrival and many times throughout the day - and they always keep parents in the loop if something is "going around". I would recommend Village Learning to anyone who wants a magical upbringing for their kids...a true home away from home for them.

I am so so so amazed at how much they do! I was skeptical at first because, well, hello, this is my…read morefirst time being a mom and I unfortunately do not have family who can help and husband had to go back to work and I'm getting zero sleep so we had no choice but to put our little one to daycare at 3 months. It's very hard for working parents as I'm also returning to work soon But holy moly I am beyond impressed! Ms. Nikki is AMAZING! So is Ms, Ashley and Ms. Brenda! Everyone is so nice and has so much experience! They do so many activities such as sensory activities (playing with jello), painting with hands and feet, looking at mirrors, reading books together, looking at lights and different shapes and lines, tummy time, etc! My little one is only three months old and he's already done all of these activities! And at three months he's already flipping! Not sure if all these activities triggered his early milestone or if it's because he's a pandemic baby and they're built different but he's flipping everywhere from left to right at three months and is already trying to crawl! Highly recommend this place. All staff wear masks and they sanitize the whole area everyday and wash blankets weekly. Of course swaddling is not allowed due to SID and also it goes against their licensing but my baby went from 10-30 min naps to 1 hour naps and got on a schedule which made my life a lot easier!

Our family has had both of our boys at the Giving Tree for the last several years. Today is our…read morelast day as our day as our eldest is starting kindergarten and our little one will be starting at a Montessori school. We have nothing but great things to say about GTLC. The caregivers here are some of the nicest and most caring people we have ever met. Our kids became very close with the staff and other kids here and we are really sad to be moving on. It's a safe, positive and caring environment. If you are considering a daycare/preschool, you will be well served at GTLC. I feel our kids are better off socially and emotionally after attending here. This place does a great job in developing kids for the future. Thanks to all of the teachers and to Ms. Stacy, the owner. We wish you all the best!

Both of our boys went to daycare at Babies and Tots and they loved it! Mayra and Johnny always…read moretreated our kids like family and we were so happy with the attention they got. The daycare is clean, the kids were always happy and we loved that they were taught Spanish at such a young age as well! I'd recommend Babies and Tots to any West Seattle family looking for a good in-home daycare.

Babies and Tots is the best! I am so thankful I found Mayra and John. I remember the first morning…read moreI dropped off my son when he was 6 months old and had suddenly developed a bottle aversion. Mayra calmly reassured me everything would be OK, and it was! My son drank all his milk and came home a happy and full baby. Fast forward 3 years and my son is thriving! He loves going to Daycare, is learning pre-K education, actively practices Spanish, is singing so many fun songs, and is learning how to socialize with his peers. Thank you Babies and Tots for creating such a compassionate, safe, fun, and educational environment!

My 4 year old comes by for backup care and has a great experience every time. She enjoys her…read moreteachers and the activities. Front staff is excellent and knowledgeable.

Wonderful school. Sometimes has a wait list so be prepared…read more Cost is moderate. Face it any day care is sticker shock. Easy parking. Great location. Kids looked happy when we toured. Friends kids go there and love it