We were one of the first families at Kiddie Academy of Grayslake when they opened in 2021. We…read moreeventually enrolled both of our young children and for a decent amount of time were happy with the care and enriching educational environment provided by Kiddie Academy. However, all of that changed after a DCFS incident which involved our youngest son and one of the teachers. The entire situation was incredibly upsetting, but we felt as though Kiddie Academy at the time took appropriate action. The teacher was fired immediately and Academy wide training took place. We hoped that it was simply a "bad apple." We made the decision to pull our kids from the care of Kiddie Academy about a year and a half after that first incident when our older son also had a DCFS incident with another teacher. The directors response to that incident after reviewing the footage was so passive that we no longer felt that the safety and care of our children was a top priority. It felt more as though there was a protection of the teacher and the institution happening. Additionally, with this now being the second incident that our family was involved in there seem to be a more widespread problem. It has taken six months for our son to recover from the emotional damage that incident caused. We feel as though Kiddie Academy of Grayslake failed our children in not providing the most basic care and safety to them and we were extremely sad to be leaving under these circumstances.  I have really wrestled with whether or not to post this review, but upon hearing that a coworker of mine had considered this care provider without knowledge of our experience, I am finally making the decision to put our story out there.

Putting your children in someone else's hands takes a lot of trust and I truly couldn't think of a…read morebetter place than Kiddie Academy Grayslake. My daughter went there for about a year before we got relocated for work. Everyone there is absolutely so so kind. They LOVE each and every kid. They were such sweet people and I wish we could've have kept her there. Love them! Don't look anywhere else because you're not going to find a better daycare center.

Can't say enough good things about Poko Loko! Both my kids have attended since they were about 4…read moremonths old and have always had high quality teachers! I love being able to know at drop off each day that they will have a great time, and come home happy after a day of play and learning!

Its a great daycare. We loved our experience here. My 1 year old had great teachers who took good…read morecare of her. The place was sparkling clean and well maintained. The staff at the front desk were very welcoming and helpful. I wish we had kept her longer but we had to switch as we moved to different part of town.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a good experience here. The teachers were not friendly or warm or…read morenurturing at all in my daughter's 3 year old class. My daughter complained that the teachers were mean but I kind of just brushed it off. But then I would pick her up from school early and observed what she was talking about. The teachers were sassy and rude to the children - it wasn't behavior that I wanted exemplified for my child. On top of this, the activity log that they shared with the parents was just wrong. They would include activities on it that they didn't do and my husband and I would see the kids doing activities in the classroom that weren't listed on the log. They also mixed our child's profile up with someone else's and we would get reports saying things like "she napped for 45 minutes" or "she ate all of her lunch" when in reality we had picked her up from school before lunch and nap time. We brought this to the attention of the teachers and staff and they temporarily corrected it, but it always went back to being inaccurate. The final straw for me was that there was no sense of community. I joined the parent group hoping that my perspective would change but it turned out that the main focus of the parent group was to fundraise because the Goddard school had no budget for the family/community activities. I found this to be pretty disappointing considering how expensive the school was. We switched to a different preschool and have had a much better experience. I'm only sharing this because choosing a school for our kids can be such a hard decision. I wish all parents and kiddos the best and hope that the Goddard school will take this review into consideration to make some important improvements.

I wanted to post an update for parents who wonder about how children that go here progress... My…read moreoldest daughter has been at Goddard since she was 18 months old - she is now 5 1/2 years old, and my youngest also joined at 18 months and is now 3 1/2 years old. At 3-1/2, the youngest daughter can READ sight words, knows colors, numbers, and weather in English and Spanish (Spanish is not a language we speak at home, so this is all the school). While some reading is due to us working with her, and some in part because of her sister's advancement, a big part (and thank you) is owed to the school for working so diligently with her. At 5-1/2, the oldest daughter has blossomed into an amazing and bright little girl. She is reading at a 4th Grade level, doing math at a 2nd grade level, and the teachers are making sure to encourage her and help her grow, even though it requires them to take "special" time out for her to do so, since she's above the average lesson plans. They have worked very closely with me to make sure she stays engaged and challenged, and as a result she's a happy, healthy, very bright kid who LOVES her school. I read the previous review from someone in April, and while I feel horribly for the situation in theory, I can't imagine it being accurate. There is no mention, for example, of the specific room the child was in, and I can tell you from years of personal experience there's NO WAY the Dave I know at our school would refuse to help a parent who was uncomfortable, or force a child backward and not forward. While I won' t say it outright isn't true (I wasn't there), I can say that the parents who have children here know everything, see everything, and an event like what was described would have been talked about heavily, yet I never heard a peep.... Bottom line, if you are looking for child care, there is hands down no where better in the area - they've won the "Best Childcare in Lake County" award for like 7 years running. If you are unsure, call them and ask to take a tour to see for yourself... you'll be so glad you did.

I have my son enrolled at this facility and he loves it, he always has something to tell me about…read morehis day which differs from many of the other facility's he's been at. Nice place!!

I am writing this review so other families can be aware of what happened to us…read more My family began planning our move several months ago, and in August, we contacted Children's Land to secure a January start date for our daughter. We toured the center, submitted all required paperwork, and followed every step exactly as instructed. The previous director personally reassured us that our daughter would definitely have a spot in January, even after she transitioned to another location. Because of this reassurance, we planned our relocation, work schedules, and childcare arrangements around this enrollment. However, in mid-December, just weeks before the planned start date, after we brough our kid to touch base this place, we received an unexpected email from the new director stating that there was no availability for the Two-Year-Old program -- with no explanation, no acknowledgment of prior communication, and no alternative options offered. When I asked for clarification, her response was simply that she was "not aware of previous conversations," and that "typically enrollment begins with a tour." What was even more shocking is that she considered our brief visit last Friday -- which was meant to be a transition visit for our daughter -- as a "tour" that supposedly starts the enrollment process. If this is the case, it implies that after a director change, families must restart the entire enrollment process from the beginning, regardless of months of prior communication, paperwork, or commitments. This is not only ridiculous, but extremely unprofessional and unfair to families who plan responsibly and rely on the center's guidance. The new director's position seems to be that all prior communication "does not count" unless it went through her, essentially erasing months of work, promises, and planning. The tone was dismissive and lacked basic empathy for the situation that her own center created. I understand that childcare availability can be limited, but what was most disappointing was the lack of transparency, poor internal communication, and the absence of courtesy in how this was handled. No family should be told "you have no spot" at the last minute after being reassured for months. I sincerely hope Children's Land will improve their internal processes, director handoffs, and communication with families so that others do not experience the same disruption and frustration. We started from August, and now ended up with no spot. Thank you for letting me your dark side as this is trult not professional.

I feel lucky to have both my kids enrolled in Children's Land at Lincolnshire…read more Irina, the Director, has everything well organized. The staff there really take good care of your children and my kids love them. The daily routine is well mixed with various activities and learning. Another great thing is that they serve breakfast until 9AM!

I am so pleased with the work my grand daughter has done. She loves this daycare so much that she…read morecries on Sat.& Sun. when she can't go to school as she calls it. Keep up the good work the kids love you.

From the owner: Accredited and DCFS Licensed Home daycare, Specializing in infant and toddler careread more