Both of our kids went here from 1-3 ish, they were great. We love that there is a playground outside with fullheight privacy fence around it so our kids got to play outside most days and would come home tired! They also make food for meals, post lots of pictures, and we noticed our son's silverware (fork / spoon) skill increased, less spillage at home. read more

Wonderful daycare with great teachers, a fun view into the daily lives of the babies and toddlers, and a great value compared to other options. read more

My daughter went to little stars from 8 months-4 years old. I can not express my gratitude enough to the women who work there. They cook nutritious meals (no sugar snacks) my daughter still talks about how much she loved the chicken soup. They take pictures of the kids playing so you can have pic/video updates which was always the highlight of my day at work. They are so incredibly clean and spend time every morning and evening cleaning all the surfaces. Academically speaking, they teach kindergarten level curriculum and start the kids young they taught my daughter to write her name at 3 y/o. I wish I could give more stars they go above and beyond everyday for these children. I always knew she was safe and well taken care of... as all parents know that feeling is priceless. read more

We love Little Stars! The teachers are amazing and super responsive! My daughter started going to Little Stars this week! She absolute loves it! read more

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We absolutely love Little Stars! Their staff are engaging, kind, smart and are a big part of our son's life. He is almost 2 and has been there since he was 4 months old. He is learning so much and growing up so well, and we believe Little Stars is a major factor. He looks forward to going in every day, and knows the kids' and teachers' names by heart and calls them out enthusiastically when we arrive. We get picture updates throughout the day, as well as food, nap and bathroom reports at the end of the day, so we are on top of how he is doing. I'm sorry to read other old reviews that were so negative. Our experience had been nothing but positive and we can't give a more glowing review of Little Stars. We highly recommend it! read more

Our child went to Little Stars Preschool between the ages of about two and a half and three and a half. We were not happy with this school. It's very strong on academics, in a way which often seemed inappropriate for children of this age. For example, they said ''we really PUSH the children to read.'' There was a strong emphasis on performance whether the children were drawing, coloring, or copying letters. Some teachers were very firm, even strict. Other teachers and staff were total pushovers. The net effect of this was that in the morning, the children were given almost no real boundaries, and in the afternoon everything suddenly changed and they were expected to behave, to go to the bathroom when they were told, etc. This was very confusing for our child, and led to a lot of acting-out among all the kids. The bathroom issue was especially problematic. For example, we would send him to school in underwear and he would return in pull-ups. When I asked why this was happening, the head teacher said that he wasn't ready for potty-training (even though he had been potty-trained at home for some time) because he did not go to the bathroom upon command. Adding to the problem was that he became afraid to ask the teachers for permission to go. And the toilets were in one long, exposed row in one room, right next to the teacher changing the babies. The more we talked to our child about school, the worse the discipline problem turned out to be. At first, he talked about his teachers yelling at him and slapping his arm and the arms of other children. When I asked the head teacher about this, she didn't say that it wasn't true, but she said that it was against their rules and illegal to hit the kids. When I kept pursuing it, she finally said that the only time they would "stage a physical intervention" would be if that was "the only thing" that kid would listen to. The scenarios she gave were situations like a kid taking another's toy. We also observed our son - who loved the PowerPuff Girls and had a PPG backpack - getting verbally harassed by groups of other children for ''liking girl things.'' It turned out that this kind of gay-bashing was a regular occurrence, which the teachers had known about for a long time. To their credit, when we brought it up with them, the head teacher waited until a day when the whole school was present and then had a talk with them about it; however, it made no difference and was absolutely too little too late. And to this day he is terrified of being seen to wear glitter or anything else that someone might think is ''girly.'' Our child was physically bullied too and was being blamed for being hit, because (as the teachers told us) ''they must have had some reason to hit him.'' There was very little supervision, especially on the playground; if children came to them for help in solving a conflict or to say that someone had hit them, the standard teacher/staff response was to say ''Well, I didn't see it, so I don't know which of you is telling the truth" and often put both kids in time out. The supervision was another thing that turned out to be a bigger problem the more we learned. It turned out that for a while, after we dropped him off, he had been walking back out to the unsupervised lobby/front playroom, trying to get out, then hiding and crying. The teachers initially did not even tell us about this, then told us as an example of a horrible thing our child was doing. It turned out that the teacher-student ratio was so far off that they didn't even know he was there. Even when we made sure to flag a teacher down, they didn't notice afterwards when he snuck out. At no point did they ask why he was crying: to them he was simply misbehaving by leaving without permission. As time wore on, I started noticing other children sitting alone in the front room on days when he came to school late or left early. They always told me that they were in time out. The teachers and staff were sending them to sit alone in a separate room, without an adult, where they could easily have run out the front door when I or other parents came in. But the crowning glory came when he was home sick one day and we were talking about how we did time outs. I asked him if he remembered how I did them, and he said that we sit down and talk about it. Then I asked how his teacher did them, and he said, ''She grabs my ear.'' It turned out that he had left time out and one of the teachers had grabbed him by the ear and pulled him back to the time out area. We pulled him out of the school immediately. I think some of these problems affect all the kids; others happened because they labeled our kid a "troublemaker" because he wouldn't go to the bathroom on command and was being picked on. While the kids they like have a better time, no preschool should be able to say "well, the kids we LIKE have a better time here." I would never recommend this preschool to anyone, ever. read more

Little Stars is fantastic. Every day we pick up our baby he always looks so happy, and the staff is incredibly sweet. We really love getting the daily photo updates via app, it's a little burst of joy during work. read more

My daughter has been going to Little Stars for a year and a half ( since she was 6 months old). I was slightly hesitant due to some very old, negative reviews. But I got a great recommendation from a neighbor so I decided to give them a try. I'm so glad I made this decision because my daughter absolutely loves being there and excitedly runs in the room almost every day I drop her off. The staff are super sweet and fun and it's obvious they really care about the kids. They do lots of activities and send home cute crafts at every holiday. The center has a large outdoor playground area for the kids to run around in. They also provide all of the kid's food and make it on site (mostly from scratch). I love that they are exposing my kid to so many different types of food. The staff have been flexible about pickup/ drop off times when I am in a bind- which is a huge help because I am a single mom. The tuition is very reasonable in comparison to the exorbitant prices at other daycares and unlike many other providers that close for a week at Christmas and two weeks over summer, they are only closed about 10 days a year. I can't say enough great things about Little Stars and highly recommend you check them out! read more

We enrolled our son starting at 3.5 months and he's been under their care for about a month now. So far, we've been very satisfied. The caretakers had the arduous task of bottle training him, since he refused to take a bottle. (They syringe fed him until he was able to do it.) And after a few weeks, they've been able to get him on a consistent nap schedule. He naps better there than he does at home! We receive a daily report of when he napped, ate, and had diaper changes through an app, and they send cute photos of him through the day. They've been very accommodating and flexible when it comes to pickup and drop off times. The tuition is way more reasonable than other daycare centers I have seen in the area. The staff is made up of primarily Chinese women, so I like that my son gets exposure to Cantonese and Mandarin. The kids there come from all sorts of backgrounds, truly reflective of Oakland. The facility is perhaps more humble than other centers-- building is a bit small and old, but the infant room is cozy, clean, and inviting, and Ms. Kim and her staff are clearly experienced and attentive. I would recommend Little Stars. read more

The staff who work at Little Stars are very sympathetic. In fact, my daughter tells me that she misses her teachers (without any prompting from me). Kids do lots of art projects and there is a large play yard outside. In addition, the schedule of 7:30 am to 7pm is as good as one can find for a pre-school. My daughter has been going for about 9 months and seems happy here. Management is very prompt to address any issues as needed and hands-on. For me the only minus is there can be some creepy people hanging out in front of the McDonalds next door, but I can look past that as it's very close to where I live. read more

Our family loves Little Stars: When we went to check out pre-schools for our kids, we looked at a bunch of places. What we were looking for was a school with a decent sized play area, an ethnically diverse group of kids, teachers of color/diverse culture and a "philosophy" that allowed the kids the room to explore and do their thing and just to be kids without some kooky child psychology emphasis on what someone thinks MUST be taught. When i got to Little Stars, the vibe instantly felt right. The play area out back was the largest of any area I'd seen. Their hours were 7am-7pm, which is realistic for a working family that may be commuting to the city, the costs was on the lower end and there was a group of teachers that had been there a long time, enjoyed being around ids and worked together as a team. i.e., not a bunch of folks standing around texting, talking about their personal lives and zoning out. The make up of the class was about 30% af-am, 30% chinese and 30% latino with the rest white and other races. it was a pretty good reflection of Oakland. Not only do the teachers teach your kids some academics, they have nap time every day. lunch is included (or you can bring it), they take the kids on field trips, and they have a holiday/christmas pageant where the kids perform on the stage. it's a great production and amazing to see. IF you want some very specific thing for your child, then you need to get off your duff, and off of yelp and go out and physically visit the day cares. Our kids have been out of little stars for 3 years and they always want to go back when their school is on vacation or in the summer. I'm a social worker, my wife is a social worker, we both work/worked with kids. both our mother's are teachers and we have about 5 friends between us that are teachers, or headstart instructors. this place is exactly what we wanted and it will always be a home for the boys. read more

My daughter has been here for eight months now and we both love Little Stars. The staff members are so sympathetic and they bound with the kids so well. My 2-year old mentioned her teacher all the time. They have good art and education programs. My kid can sing so many songs and speak so many phrases now, even though we speak a different language at home. An app tracks the kid's photos and daily activities very well. I wish I knew this place earlier, so my other kid did not need to go to another school. I highly recommended Little Stars! read more

I really like the people here. There program is really good for kids. I really like the fact that there multi cultural. They have a great music and arts program. It was really fun to see my Niece speak little bits of Chinese. Then the other time she says something in Spanish. She really likes Ms Lee. The hours are great, my sister pics her up a lot but when she cant I can. I get off kinda late so there hours are perfect. I feel really confident with the people here at little stars. I would totally recommend them! read more

Little Stars is an amazing, affordable childcare center for working parents. Our daughter started when she was 2, and our son started a few years later at just 8 weeks. All of the teachers from the baby room up are loving and responsive, and I completely trust them with the care of our children. We love the baby room teachers SO MUCH, and the pre-K teacher is totally getting our daughter kindergarten ready! Little Stars has great hours and they provide provide breakfast, lunch, and snacks, as well as formula, milk, and baby food for babies. Did I mention that they provide all meals? And that they have great hours? And that the teachers are awesome and trustworthy? All parents should have access to awesome child care like this. This school is a rock for our family. We couldn't do it without them! read more

my son went to little stars for about 3 months. i was very unhappy with this facility. after a month or so, my son started saying "im a bad boy" a lot. this is not something he hears at home. so we asked the director, miss lee. she talked to the teachers and reported that that is what the children were being asked as to weather or not they had used their diapers! my son was not quite 2 at the time. i also saw teachers bullying students. there was one morning when i was dropping my son off, and there was a little boy (maybe 4 yrs old) sitting on the bench crying. his "teacher" was standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest, and glaring at him. i stayed for a couple of minutes. nothing happened. i asked the boy if he had some cereal, and maybe he'd feel better if he did. the teacher responded to me that "he wont wash his hands!) like its a power trip. come on lady-help him wash up. that is your job. i had yet to see any of the promised information that their booklet tells you of. inc. meals, interests, calendar of events. not so much as a paper my son colored. again, i went to miss lee. she took me in the classroom, and started to look for something he had been working on. she was unable to produce anything, and seemed not to know what the kids did for most of the day. the real clencher was when i looked around the classroom. there was a large piece of paper on the wall with 1 child's name that did not know their shaps. (notice the spelling) no list of the kids that do know them. just this one child being singled out for not knowing her shapes-when the person who is supposed to be helping them to learn can't even spell the word. i never went back. read more

Both of my kids are enrolled at the school. The older one is not 4.5 and has been at Little Stars since he was 5 months old. The younger one is now 21 months and has been there since 6 months old. The place is not fancy but teachers truly care about the kids and their development. The infant room is clean and comfortable. My older child is learning to read - sight words and word families - and count - 0 - to 100, in 2s, 5s, 10s which is an amazing preparation for the kindergarten. I love their hours 7am-7pm for kids older than 2 and Little Stars has the largest playground I've seen at a pre-school in the area with real grass! read more

Our 3-year old attends Little Stars. Ms. Lee, the Director of the Pre-School knows her stuff. Our little guy can sing songs in Chinese and Spanish, thanks to the multi-cultural staff! They helped us through the potty training process - knew when he was ready and supported us and him during the transition. Caring teachers, kids from all parts of Oakland, convienient hours, healthy breakfast, lunch, and snack, plus an awesome yard, including a lawn of green grass right in downtown Oakland! read more

Don't bring your child here. It's in a busy location, parking is horrible. Although I appreciate the safety, you have to ring a doorbell, they check cameras and buzz you in. Staff also doesn't feel warm. The place feels like a business more than a preschool. My son didn't stay long, only a few weeks before I took him out. On one of the days I came to pick up my then 3 year old, I found him crying on a picnic bench outside while other children and staff were letting him sit there alone. The staff told me he was crying because he wanted me to come pick him up. When a child is at a new place and feels scared and alone, they should be comforted, not left to sit by themselves. The only thing I did appreciate was the flexibility in a refund on a deposit due to a death in the family, but even that felt like I was in court having to argue my case with the director. He made me feel horrible and kept reminding me they normally don't allow refunds, I would expect a little more compassion after having lost my father unexpectedly. The place lacks compassion all around. read more

Oh yah, and did I mention the adorable report cards they give out so you see how your child is developing? And check this: My mother was counting crayons with the 2 year old, and joking said "Uno, Dos..." Out of no where the little one counts to ten in spanish. No joke. I had NO clue she could do this. Yah, I'm good with this place. If they have the capacity to learn it, give them all they can handle! read more

I thought this preschool was pretty great but the downside is: there is a waiting list for this school so if you plan to enroll, it might take a month or two. This school provides nutritional meals for the children. I thought they did a great job in teaching the kids. I saw a few of the teachers in the classrooms and they really help the students learn. Outside of the classroom the children have fun as any other child their age would. Little Stars Preschool has a large playground for the kids which I thought that was great because they provide them a safe, fun environment to play and make friends in. To say the least this is a great school to send your kids to. (But keep in mind, as I have said before, this school has a waiting list, so if you do not mind waitng a month or two this would be the school for you.) read more

I myself have attended this preschool. I absolutely hated it. The teachers there were nice and kind when you didn't make them mad. They push academics really hard. It is true that they lack supervision of the children. When I was younger, I was blamed for hitting another kid when I wasn't even on the playground. The teachers would yell and scream at you if you make a simple mistake. They would then take the advantage of the children not having a voice and would tell the parents the complete opposite of what happened that day. If you were completely nice and kind, they would tell your parents that you were bad and mean. I was a victim of this when I was younger. When I was picked on by the other kids, the teachers wouldn't care. They would scold the child once, then go on about their day socializing with the other staff. The staff speak chinese to each other. I understood chinese and I only remember them criticizing the kids and their parents on the way they dressed. They would call kids "special" if their learning abilities weren't the best. I once witnessed a staff scolding a baby for moving during a diaper change. She jerked the baby's hand and legs to keep him from moving. This place was living hell to me. I would NEVER recommend someone bringing their child here. BY THE WAY! May I add that I learned A LOT of cuss words from here. The big kids (they also provide afterschool care) would go around swearing their heads off. The director and teachers wouldn't care at all. The director swears as well. I used to take piano lessons with the other director and I learned a lot of nasty secrets about the school. The director should not be even qualified to run a school for children if she can't even take care of herself! The food here isn't half bad, just normal frozen food they get at safeway. I was lactose intolerant and they "forgot" and they gave me milk one time. I was so sick when I got home after. Other than that, I do recommend your children taking music lessons from the other director. NOT MS.LEE. Miss Sharon Siao, she's amazing with children and teaching. read more

I couldn't agreed more. I won't really get into much details since it has been so long ago. I think I took my boys there around 2004-2005. My boys were 6 months old and 2 years old. My baby was in his car seat all day. The teacher was extremely strict and yelled at my son saying he should act like a 3 years old when he was only 2. The menus posted are totally different from what they are really eating. The kids eat breakfast outside in the playground as early as 7am eating cereal. No warm breakfast as posted. I came early one day to pick up my son and found out he was eating donuts for lunch. I was young and stupid. I wish I would have complained. I didn't complained about my 6 months old being in the car seat all day since drop off. They barely changed his diapers and always came home in rashes. My other son was always cold eating cereal for breakfast outside. I feel so bad that I didn't think to fight for my kids. Until this day, I get so mad at myself for not speaking out for my boys. I'm surprised this preschool still exist. Maybe they changed the rules and treats kids better now? read more