We have been at La Casita for a little over a year now and truly could not be happier! The teachers…read moreare highly experienced and clearly enjoy working together and with all of us. Their experience, kindness, creativity, and patience contribute to a school that is warm, welcoming, and runs incredibly smoothly. (Running a preschool isn't easy, but somehow they make it look like it is!) They are one of the only Montessori schools in the Bay Area that are accredited by the American Montessori Society, and they use a Montessori curriculum that guides the children to learn about themselves and the world around them in a really beautiful way. This, coupled with a thoughtful environment, wonderful outdoor space, and everything bilingual in Spanish and English, creates such an enriching experience for the children there. Thank you, La Casita, for being such a special place!

The teachers here do excellent work! Our daughter has been coming here for the last year and has…read morenoticeably matured, made great friends, and loves her artwork. The staff have been flexible with our requests, helped our daughter work through various problems, and have always been professional & friendly.

My 3 year old really likes it thus far. We just started at the beginning of this year so I will…read morecontinue to monitor his progress. My concern is that this location seems to be getting more crowded by the week. I want to ensure my 3 year old is getting enough one-on-one with an instructor. Two kids to one instructor seems fair and manageable but more than that doesn't seem effective. I hope Greta will manage the ratio of kids/instructors available because I'm growing more concerned about it. Tuition isn't cheap, especially in this climate, so I'd like to know that I'm paying for more than just those booklets. As I stated earlier, my son seems to be really enjoying it so I will continue to monitor progress and hope to give this place 5 stars after we've spent more time here. Also, the parking situation is definitely a headache.

My son has been attending Kumon for both Math and Reading programs for over 7 months now, the…read moreresults are surprisingly good! Academically, he is very comfortable with math problems now, and loves to read on his own. With Kumon work, he's math and reading levels are above other classmates'. In terms of self discipline, he is used to doing the homework everyday on his own and tries his best to avoid any unintentional mistake. I am a proud mom! The Kumon el cerrito and Pinole instructor Greta has been so patient and kind to all the children and the parents. She knows everyone's name and level, and is very involved in the progress of every student. Hats off! and what a kindhearted person to be around. To those who are still thinking about joining, I would say, Kumon (like any other program) is not a promise to the success. However it is a great opportunity for the kids to create the healthy habit of studying and to boost their self esteem, and a reliable way for the parents to help our kids to make the most of their potentials. Your effort will be paid off!

Maca is brilliant, a gifted natural teacher. She is able to engage my 2 wild boys in 45min lessons…read moretwice a week, and they love her! She makes Spanish fun and rewarding, AND she holds them to high standards of grammatical correctness, pronunciation, and expanding vocabulary. I'm forever grateful and in admiration of Maca's skill.

Maca has greatly improved our 10 year olds Spanish. We were in Mexico recently and our daughter was…read moreable to speak and understand Spanish so much better than before we found Maca. I highly recommend her!

My 8yr old has been in Mandarin Immersion since she was 2yrs old. She's been taking once a week…read moreZOOM lessons with Mei since February 2024 and it has been super helpful! My husband and I don't speak or read Mandarin and it's nice to have a little bit of help outside of school. My daughter loves Mei and scheduling has been super easy! She just started 3rd grade and told me that she feels her Mandarin has improved and that she's feeling super confident. I highly recommend. Mei and KaiXin Language School!

KiaXin Language School has been a really interesting and fun way to learn the basics of Chinese. I…read morehave participated in the first two levels of Mandarin taught by KiaXin's Jennifer Bai. Jennifer is extremely kind and patient. I strongly recommend her and think she is a very effective teacher.

I highly recommend Teresa Garza as an instructor. I am a Spanish teacher myself trained by her. She…read morecouched me using her methodology, and she is a true master; she has so many "flight hours" in the trenches. She really knows the field and you would greatly benefit from her expertise. The courses I took with her allowed me to further expand my previous knowledge having gained a Single Subject Credential in Spanish. I wanted to challenge myself, enrich my Spanish vocabulary and gain overall a better understanding for teaching Spanish as a second language . Teresa has been my saving grace on all my evaluations, both my principal and the school district. I am respected among my colleagues and I am viewed at work as a strong, professional teacher. When teachers at the Spanish department ask me, after seeing me study in the teacher's lounge sometimes, where I study at, I always say "Spanish 4 All". Teresa is also priceless as an editor. She corrected and embellished my book in such an elegant way. Just finding not only the right words and expressions, but the perfect ones.

Learning a foreign language is a strange project, particularly as an adult. It takes lots of time…read moreand effort and you need patience. So learning to somehow enjoy the ride is one of the most important tricks to learn. But how do you learn to enjoy the ride? For me, this is where Teresa shines. Teresa is not only interested in the Spanish language, but also in how students learn languages, any language, and how to move them forward and keep them interested. Indeed, I have made a lot progress with Teresa. Now if I have a thought I can make it come out in some kind of Spanish. When I get it wrong, a lot or a little, Teresa is there to make the corrections and get me back on track. And it is almost always fun, even subjunctives and pronominal verbs. I don't need to search Yelp for a Spanish language teacher because I already found Teresa. But remember, I already have a lock on Wednesdays just after lunch. You will need to schedule your class for another time.

David is an awesome drum instructor! I took a week long class from him at Jazz Camp West this year…read more I was a novice and he had me playing in no time. I got home and showed my drummer friend what I learned and he asked "How many hours were you playing?" I told him 6 hrs. He shook his head and said "That's not possible in 6 hrs, you are doing a lot of things at once!" I attribute it to Dave! Plus he's super passionate and seems to really enjoy teaching. 5 stars!

From the owner: First-call Bay Area drummer David Flores' musical journey began at the ripe old age of 3, when he…read morefirst crawled his way onto a drum throne. Steeped in music from birth, thanks to his accomplished bass-playing dad and drummer uncle, Flores' rich and broad musicality has DNA-level depth. Since those nascent days, Flores has developed a 25+ year career as an educator, performer, and above all, tireless student of his instrument. David's singular quality may lie in his versatility. From Afro-Carribean to funk to straight-ahead jazz to coaching drumlines, if it's rhythmically oriented, Flores is among the best. His performance and studio career include tours, gigs, and recordings with: Donna Summer, Lauryn Hill, Paquito De Rivera, Zakir Hussain, Chester 'CT' Thompson, Larry Rosenthal, Jerry Gonzales, Larry Harlow, Steve Turre, Charlie Musselwhite, Barbra Dane, Armando Peraza, Orestes Vilato, Pete Escovedo, Bobbi Céspedes, Ellen Toscano, Greg Landau, Mary Wilson, Rebecca Mauleon Santana,

When I say that finding Fernanda is the best thing to have happened to me this year, I mean it!! At…read morethe time that we started lessons, I was dating a Uruguayan, so I wanted to learn the language to be able to communicate with his family. We are no longer dating, but I now work with Fernanda twice a week -- which is just a testament to the love I have for her and her classes. She has such incredible knowledge of language, and also such a kind and engaging spirit. I plan to continue classes for many years to come. Love you, Fernanda!!

Fernanda is an extraordinarily gifted teacher. She is always impeccably prepared, flexible, and…read moresupportive. I've been doing classes with her for a couple of years and I can now read easily and negotiate conversations. Study with Fernanda!

I took both, private lessons and groups coaching with Claude and in both I found that I could be…read morepresent with the subject we were exploring. I've got to learn the words that are really part of my natural vocabulary and so I was able to better express my thoughts and feelings. I loved that in group we could all approached subject differently, it captivating and inspiring. Claude knows how to follow the flow of the students and lead the subjects into deeper and meaningful conversations. I also love her use of psychosynthesis guided imagery to open me to my inner wisdom and inspire me until the next class or even longer. And what a surprise it was to find out that Claude comes from my very favorite part of Switzerland, the Jura. The Swiss way of speaking French is a little different and slower than in France, and I love it. Claude exceeds all expectation that I ever had about a French class, her classes are an enriching experience at every level. She is also a poet, an artist, and an inspiration to me.

I've had the pleasure of studying French one-on-one for the past several years with Claude Convers…read moreand I can't recommend her highly enough! Claude is an exceptional tutor -- patient, knowledgeable and a born teacher. She is skilled at combining language basics with cultural insights that make the learning experience both effective and enjoyable. She adapts her teaching style to my individual needs and wishes each week and always creates a supportive and encouraging environment. Sometimes a whole hour of conversation on a whole range of subjects, other times a bit of help with complicated grammar or with learning new vocabulary words and practicing writing them in sentences. Thanks to Claude's flexible and low-key approach, I feel I've made real progress in my French skills. Claude is the perfect choice if you're looking for a tutor who genuinely cares about your success and making learning enjoyable!

Diana came over and provided one on one serger lesson for me. She was really patient and showed me…read morethe very basics of getting going with my serger - how to thread, some interesting tools and tricks specific to my machine - things I need to know to even begin to play around with this complicated AF machine. Full confession: this is a second review, the first one was immediately after taking a class and I was extremely disappointed - I felt like the class wasn't organized or efficient with time and I left not knowing anything more than when I started. But Diana reached out to me directly and came to my house and provided 1.5hr personal lesson, which I tremendously appreciated. After talking with her, it sounds like that class was really challenging for many reasons and I respect that there are situations out of your control, like the class dynamic and when people show up with weird machines you're not familiar with. I greatly appreciated her reaching out to me - I'm so used to getting burnt by things like that, that it didn't even occur to me to reach out about the negative experience! At the end of the day, all I wanted was to be able to load the d*mn machine and to serge a corner. That being said, I realized that moving forward, spending the extra $$ for a one on one might be a better choice for me in the future - with a baby, a full-time job and often very specific needs/questions re: sewing/serging, this hour+ together was way more helpful and manageable than a class. Ultimately, I found Diana to be very approachable, easy to work with, and very patient.

Took the 3 hour Intro to the Machine class and it was awesome. I was nervous & knew basically…read morenothing about seeing. Diana was so patient, warm & her teaching style is very accessible. I learned all about my machine and don't feel intimidated by it anymore. Highly recommend her classes!

We had a positive experience with Local driving school. My son's instructor Kirt was great! He was…read moreon time for the lesson each time we booked and gave great positive feedback on things he should work on before the next lesson. We decided to book the extra lesson for the DMV test. Kirt showed up on time and my son said he was able to get a great practice run in right before the test and he passed the first time. Highly recommend Kirt and Local driving school.

Huge thanks to my instructor Kirt. He is nice and patient and willing to take me to Vallejo DMV to…read morepractice. I passed the road test with full points after 3 lessons.