We've had a wonderful experience at Lingua Natal in Encinitas with our 4-year-old daughter. The teachers are incredibly warm, patient, and intentional, and it's clear they truly care about each child's growth and confidence. The dual language immersion environment has been such a special experience for our family and our daughter comes home excited to share what she's learning, and we've seen her communication skills and independence grow so much. We recommend Lingua Natal if dual immersion education is something your family is considering. read more

We love Lingua Natal! We attended their Saturday class for our toddler and they were more than happy to accommodate our whole family to come along as well. The class is structured with the first half more education based with songs and demonstrations and then second half consists of snack time and playing outside. While we only signed up for one session so far, it was a great experience for our little one to continue her Spanish exposure. read more

I can't say enough good things about this wonderful school. My little girl started here when she was just 2 years old, and we've watched her thrive and grow in many ways, including learning virtues, developing independence, and taking on responsibility. She spent her most precious early years here -- from those first days in diapers, crying at drop-off, to now speaking and understanding Spanish -- and didn't want to leave school at the end of each day. The principal, facilitators, and assistants have been so loving, kind, and patient with her every step of the way. The families of this school are also truly global, kin,d and mindful people. It's truly an incredible community. We will truly miss this school, but we leave with so many fond memories of her early childhood here. read more

We love Lingua Natal! The teachers are so caring, patient and have built a wonderful bond with my little girl. In just a few months, her Spanish has improved so much (so cool to see) and she looks forward to going to school. Lingua Natal is more than a school, it's a community where kids are loved, supported, and inspired to grow. We are so grateful for the positive impact it's had on our daughter! read more

We really cannot say enough good things about this preschool. The teachers are amazing--incredibly creative, patient and dedicated. We love that the school is a fusion of best practices--Montessori learning with a focus on the Virtues Project, coupled with linguistic theory based language immersion in Spanish, Mandarin and French. Lingua focuses on rich, textured development: from a legit art history program covering Picasso and Yayoi Kusama--to music theory covering the scales and Beethoven, from life cycle studies of insects to hands-on gardening. Our sons have been so fortunate to begin their school experience here. They love their teachers, peers, the variety of activities, and the gifts of independence, self determination and responsibility. And their language skills are incredible--not only are they wonderful with Spanish but they can converse in Mandarin and French. My eldest graduated preschool during the pandemic and the principal and teachers drove to each of our homes to ensure our children were properly recognized for their effort and accomplishment. I cannot convey how much heart this little school has! The families of this school are also incredible because the school attracts global, mindful people. It's truly an incredible community. If you want help raising an independent, virtues centered child, Lingua Natal is an exceptional choice. read more

My daughter has been attending this school for two years and my son just started -- we highly recommend this school -- the teachers are wonderful and communicative, and the kids learn and develop in so many areas, while also learning fluency in a new language. Both kids absolutely love going to school. I have also been very impressed with the way in which the school has handled COVID and the communication and safety precautions they have implemented throughout. read more

My two kids have been going here for three years now and they absolutely love it. The teachers are nurturing and excellent at what they do. The kids learn so much and have a lot of fun, while also becoming fluent in a new language. They learn about culture, music and art as well. This school is also great at teaching the kids independence and confidence. We are very thankful to have found this gem of a school. read more

Words can't express what an incredible school this is and how sad we will be to leave it once my kiddo moves on to kinder next year. The staff is incredible and so loving. My kids didn't ever cry a single tear going to school and only leaped with excitement when I told them it was a school day! I absolutely love that it is spanish immersion and also has some French and mandarin components. My son in particular has really progressed with his spanish and both of my kids are fluent. I picked up my kids every day with smiles on their faces and often art work in their hands of all different mediums. The way the program is run is phenomenal with an excellent mix of academics and play. I couldn't recommend Lingua Natal more fully! Thank you to all the wonderful teachers and staff! read more

This is a great pre school option if you want your child to be bilingual or even trilingual. They offer spanish, french and mandarin in a fun environment for kids. Our daughter attends Lingua Natal and we are exited that she will be fluent in a second language one day. Don't believe the negative yelpers, one never even attended the preschool and is looking to vent against someone/anyone and the other stopped by on a bad day and didn't get the red carpet treatment. Neither review says anything about the actual teaching at Lingua Natal which is excellent. And the owner gave a personal reply to each review, what more could you want?! read more

My son attended preschool here when they were located in Solana Beach. We both loved it very much. The teachers are warm, patient, and made my very anxious toddler feel right at home. In addition, his Spanish comprehension after 2 years was incredible! It's very important to me that my kids speak and understand Spanish because I have family that doesn't speak any English. I'm looking forward to January when I will be enrolling my second child. read more

My Daughter has gone to this school since she was 2 1/2 - she met her first bully and discovered how to handle herself (the school helped), she met wonderful friends, celebrated holidays in many different cultures and now she is about to go into 1st grade. She tested to get into the dual language program in Encinitas and passed with exceptional scores thanks to Lingua Natal. Her words to me - "Mommy -I was glad that exam was in Spanish, I would have gotten some wrong in French, and only the numbers in Mandarin." My daughter only did 3 days per week until this past year where she is 5 days: 2 days French, 3 days Spanish and one hour a day in Mandarin. She loves all her teachers and looks forward to school. This is a great gift for my daughters future. read more

I think it goes without saying that learning a second (or third, etc!) language at an early age has benefits that go far beyond simply being able to speak and interact with other peoples and cultures on a different level. So for us, it wasn't a matter of 'whether' we would have our son attend a school to learn another language(s), but more about picking the right one. We did a lot of research, and really dove into the curriculum and teaching styles of the various schools in San Diego. I truly believe we found the very best in Lingua Natal. And after three years of our son attending Lingua Natal, we continue to be thrilled by his development and love of his classes. Lingua Natal has a very unique and natural way of helping the children become fluent in a language (vs. having them memorize bunch of flashcards or vocab words). A lot of schools are out to show "how much the child has learned" using these methods, but rote memorization shortchanges the actual learning and fluency of a language. Lastly, we're glad to have taken advantage of the "golden window" of language acquisition (ages 1-8). Many schools don't start introducing another language, in a meaningful way, until the tail end of that period, and sometimes even later. This is a shame, because at an early age, kids can acquire multiple languages with such ease. Our son, at age 4, has far surpassed our knowledge/fluency of Spanish and has prompted us to look for adult classes. No doubt the learning will be much harder for us. read more

My daughter is finishing up her second year at Lingua Natal and I am completely blown away by how well she speaks and understands Spanish. We can speak in either language and she doesn't miss a beat. When she started LN she would get mad at me when I spoke Spanish and always answered in English. Not anymore! The teachers at this school care so deeply about the children and the classes are small and well-structured. I've heard complaints that the school is not well-organized or that the administrators don't communicate well. I have not had this experience at all and I feel like my daughter is in wonderful, caring hands each and every day. We had the option of putting our daughter in public TK this year and while we would have loved to save the tuition, decided to go a second year and it has been a truly fantastic decision. Her language skills in this second year totally blow my mind. read more

The director was rude over the phone when I was inquiring about their summer camp. I took it as maybe she was having a bad day and was really busy. Then I stopped at the school and could see the preschool kids playing outside with one young adult. She did not hear the cowbell ring as she was by herself with several kids. I was surprised by the ratio. The director came out finally. Ordered my daughter and I not to cross a red line. Said she would be back. Several minutes later came back and told us it is not a good day and I could get information on the website. Parents and children only take tours if they are going to enroll in the preschool. I found it odd that the kids are outside yet she couldn't show me the classroom. There is no way I would enroll my children into a place where you could only view the inside from the website. read more

My son has attended preschool here for 6 months and we really appreciate and love his experience so far. We were drawn to Lingua Natal because we really wanted our kids to be introduced to different languages but that's just a small part of what they do here. They really create a sense of community among the children and teach in a very thoughtful and playful way. read more

We enrolled our son at lingua natal this past fall based on a recommendation from a friend who had both of her children attend this school and my wife and I couldn't be happier with the decision. Most importantly our son loves the school as he is learning Spanish and a great deal more in a fun and loving environment. read more

Lingua Natal teaches in various schools in the Encinitas school district. El Camino Creek is one of them, and that where my son attends Kindergarten. My son attended Spanish class with Lingua Natal at the school at the beginning of the school year and really enjoyed it, but since then, they have never had enough enrollment to continue. I tried to enroll him in every subsequent session, but the classes were always cancelled. The first time they were cancelled, I was only notified the day before and I was told that my check had been destroyed. Later, I found out that it had cleared my bank. I complained and was told that I would be receiving a refund check, but several weeks later it still had not arrived. After much badgering and many unanswered e-mails, I finally got a refund check months later. I don't know why I signed my son up again after that experience, but he wanted to learn Spanish so I decided to give them one more try. This time, it was worse. This time, I enrolled my son in the class (they only do online enrollment) about three weeks early, but after what happened before, I didn't want to send in my check until I knew class was going forward. I repeatedly e-mailed them asking if the class was going forward leading up to the day of the first class and I never got a response. Finally I got something from El Camino Creek indicating that it was going forward with their other after school classes, so I sent in my check about 4 days before class was to start. Since I mailed it locally, it most likely arrived one or two days later, so definitely before the start of class. My son was really excited it was finally going again after not having Spanish since the beginning of the year. On the first day of class, his teacher took him to the lunch tables to wait for his teacher. A half an hour later, he was still waiting. Finally he went to the office where they called home to tell us that nobody ever showed up to teach the class and nobody had notified the school that class was cancelled. I immediately called Lingua Natal to find out what happened and I was told that my son wasn't enrolled and had never paid. I explained that I knew he was enrolled since their online system sent me a response thanking me for my enrollment. They asked what day I enrolled him, and when I told them, they were like,,,,,,oh yeah, I guess you did. Nobody noticed his enrollment. Then they accused me of not paying. I explained that payment was sent in 4 days ago and it should have been received. Then I was told that, actually, they didn't know if he had been received because they had not checked their mail in at least 2 days. Then, when they realized this was all their fault, they apologized and said they would check their mail and retrieve my check and destroy it and then send me an e-mail letting me know. This was 5 days ago and I still haven't heard from them. So I still don't know if they have destroyed my check. Of course I will have to check with my bank to see if it has cleared like last time. I don't know how the preschool or Spanish classes at their physical location are run, but the way they are running their program at least at El Camino Creek is completely unacceptable. Now my son doesn't want to take Spanish anymore as he associates it with being abandoned and with a class that is always promised but never actually occurs. This is a real tragedy. I would not recommend this business for language classes, at least not through the school system. read more

My daughter attended Lingua Natal for preschool and had a tremendous experience. She not only loved going to school everyday, but she became an excellent Spanish speaker - so much so that she tested in to Encinitas' Dual Language Immersion program as a native Spanish speaker. She loved her language experience at Lingua Natal so much that she also begged to take Mandarin and French, which she did in the afternoons. She also made great friends that she still keeps in touch with today - both those who are in kindergarten with her and those who went to different elementary schools. Overall, Lingua Natal provided my daughter an extraordinary preschool and immersion experience. Highly recommend. read more