Elements has a serious management problem. It's not what it used to be. We had our child enrolled…read morein the 1s group and summer school in 2025, and the past few months were a rollercoaster of weekly staff changes and poor organization. It ended with the Department of Health shutting the school down after an unannounced inspection--literally from one day to the next. Do yourself a favor: check the inspection reports and violations on the NYC Health website. They speak for themselves. We still love the concept and the outdoor space, and we hope management can turn this sinking ship back into what it once was.

Elements has been a wonderful gift for my son who started a pre-K program there this year. It was…read morethe first time he separated, and their gentle, child-led approach made the process not only smooth but so enjoyable. The nature-learning philosophy is truly unique allowing children to understand themselves, their bodies, and the world in the context of our natural environment. If only all schools followed this simple, practical and beautiful pathway to learning. The teachers are excellent (in particular Liz Swift, one of the most talented and compassionate educators I've encountered), experts in their fields, and the school is a nurturing community - this place is truly a gem. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you for this gift of an experience.

Options for College helps students get into and get the most out of college!read more

From the owner: College preparation, college admissions, college applications, university admissions, SAT tutoring,…read moreACT tutoring, tutoring

Play garden is truly a gem! My older daughter went to the summer camp and now my younger goes to…read morethe Playgarden Prep nursery school 5 days a week. We explored many options in the neighborhood and I'm convinced that Playgarden is the most nurturing, caring and stimulating environment for little ones. She's learned so much and loves her teachers. It has a strong literary focus and the kids get exposed to music, movement, science, nutrition and letters every week. The teachers work so hard and always impress me with the lessons for children. You can also tell that teachers love their students and their job. From experience, I can say that that is not always the case. We also love getting to take advantage of the indoor playground, especially in bad weather. Can't recommend enough!

Immaculate. Friendly staff. All equipment in great shape (no broken toys). Took a free trial class…read moreand it was VERY fun - my 14 month old LOVED it. We spent a lot of time in the playground and he would have stayed longer (we were there for almost 3 hours) but he was WAY too tired and fell asleep in his stroller 2 blocks away from the place.

A colorful and welcoming website that offers so much learning for little ones! The content is…read moreeasily accessible and the kids love to learn along with the teachers!

Absolutely love this program for my littles. they had non stop learning and loved it! so many…read morelessons from letters, to science experiments, to story telling, so much fun! my kids loved all the interactive classes and the teachers with the other kids. a great tool for parents to have!!

During my recent maternity leave, I embarked on a plan to make life better for LIC parents by…read moretouring and reviewing all of the childcare centers in the neighborhood on Yelp. My maternity leave ended a couple months ago, and after writing this review I'm declaring success. Yes, new mamas, it is possible to write up to 10 paragraphs after having a baby, as long as you're realistic and give yourself several months to accomplish the task!! I toured Little Ones, both the original facility on 48th Avenue and the new-in-2013 Pre-K facility on 5th Street, during my maternity leave, and I was impressed. Both facilities are outstanding. I spoke with three teachers and the owner, Karen, over the course of my tour, and all impressed me as being accomplished educators and good communicators. Little Ones offers full-day care for children ages 2 to Pre-K. The original facility has 3 loosely-defined classroom areas and a gym, all with natural light. The whole space is open to the children during open play periods, so instead of a bunch of little classrooms each with a little blocks area (or art area etc.), each area is BIG and has a lot of space and materials. For circle time in the original facility, kids are split into 3 multi-age classes of 15 kids each, each with a head teacher and two assistant teachers. The new Pre-K space, serving a class of 24 kids with 3 teachers, is even cooler, since it has its own private outdoor space with a climbing area, and a two-storey / two-classroom building behind the outdoor space. At Little Ones, kids bring their lunch every day, and parents take care of snacks for the school one week a year. The cost is somewhat higher than other options at about $12/hour of care, and there's no Pre-K discount. Tuition is due far in advance on a "school year" basis, and refunds for unused time if you move are not guaranteed. Someone once warned me that Karen is wonderful with kids, but can sometimes come off as a little high-handed with adults: "it was like she was interviewing me, not the other way around." I do think that Karen is interested in the "fit" of families in her school. She asked me a few questions about my family and why we might be interested in Little Ones, which I thought was perfectly appropriate. My girls currently attend Lolly's/Brighter Babies and we've found our community there. That said, the parents I know who send their kids here are really happy. It is great to have this wonderful option in the neighborhood. Good luck finding the right school for your family!!

Quality of program is very good. However, not technically a…read more"pre-school" but market and price themselves as one. Extremely expensive for Queens. Have an arrogant / monopolistic attitude since they were the first/bigges provider in the area. Although now there is LIC Kids, Carolyn's Playhouse, and now Lolly's has just opened up as competition, it will take a while until this has an affect. Be a well informed parent/consumer and shop around and negotiate. Good Luck!.

I am in my early 30s and have a fear of water. Though I know it is possible I just could not bring…read moremy legs to come up and move around in the pool. I was encouraged by my husband to learn how to swim again after a bad experience from swimming lessons when I was a child. I contacted Lori and one statement she said stuck to me, "You will not be afraid, if you have an exit strategy." She put me in touch with Craig and when we met up for my first lesson, he just said: "As long as you trust me and trust yourself, I can probably get you to float during your first lesson." I honestly thought that he was quite ambitious. I had a two hour lesson and Craig spent the first part of the lesson getting me comfortable in the water and explaining to me theoretically how the water can work to your favor. I told Craig that my biggest fear was the front float as I was extremely uncomfortable with my face in the water. He explained to me that when I take my makeup off and wash my face in the shower at night, I had to hold my breath. He told me to treat it as it was the same routine. I held my breath and dunked my face in the water knowing that he was right there. Then, he proceeded to hold my hand and told me to try again and this time lifting my legs up. Lastly, he said, "When you first saw me, you gave me a hug...I assumed you liked me enough, that's why you leaned forward to give me a hug." "Why don't you try again, come towards me...trust me I won't let anything happen to you." And I guess, that was it...I looked at him, held my breath, and leaned in towards him and there it was I floated...just like that. I had a total of 4 (2 hour long) lessons with Craig. Currently, I am able to partially do the breast stroke, free-style, and float on my front and back. I've still got lots to work on and plan to continue my swimming journey with Craig, but I never knew I was able to do it until Lori and Craig encouraged me that I can. If you are an adult with a fear of water, but is eager to learn how to swim, please consider Aqua Skills. If you trust Craig/Lori and yourself, you can definitely do it.

I learned enough here to enjoy some shallow pool swimming, which I'm truly grateful for,…read moreconsidering how I wouldn't even set foot in a pool before taking these classes. However, for the price, I could've probably learned much more elsewhere. Most of the instructors here are great; patient, friendly, and professional. But I'm sorry to have to join in the chorus with others and agree that the owner, Lori, is a terror. She sets a hostile environment, constantly screaming at her boyfriend, Craig, and interrupting lessons. The way that she communicates with her staff is simply weird and disrespectful. I've heard her disparage the instructors to students. Other times, I'll hear her TALK TO HERSELF out loud and say things like, "I''ve been doing this for 15 years, I know what I'm talking about, no need to make a big deal about this" - - the look on her employees' faces after these bizarre statements is one of resignation and confusion, because they must be used to her passive aggressive style, yet bewildered by her snide remarks. I'm not describing constructive criticism expressed harshly, I'm describing a woman who gossips and complains about her employees to students. So everyone is minding their own business, teaching and learning, and then out of nowhere she'll just scream at Craig, or say something snarky to/about her instructors for no apparent reason. One time, Craig, who was really kind to me, mentioned that I should come in ten minutes earlier just to warm up. I thought that was nice, so I did. I'm in the pool, and I see Lori get out and go to Craig and loudly complain to him how it's not okay to allow students to start early. It was passive aggressive and rude. I arrived 10 minutes early only once, and only because Craig offered. But even if he was mistaken, it would have been fine if she simply just told me that they couldn't accommodate. The pool can be busy. I get it; too many people in the pool would be disruptive to students who paid for their sessions. Instead, she chose the childish tantrum route and talked about me in front of me. This made me so uncomfortable that I wanted to quit immediately. I stayed because I was determined to learn. You will see from her response below that she's not one for healthy conflict resolution or professional propriety. It is disturbing how she lies as a defense. It means a lot to customers when they see that an owner cannot own up to a mistake. See photo of screenshot I posted: Lori edited her comments to my review 21 times. Each iteration more bizarre and divorced from reality than before. Obsessing over her response is not only creepy but the end result becomes contrived. Does it take 21+ attempts to make herself appear right? It became almost humorous so I took screenshots of her versions of alternate realities. She kept erasing her comments after I called out each lie. Thanks to all former students who messaged me to support my review. It's true that Lori is her own worst enemy. I would have left my review at 3 stars had she not been so relentlessly vindictive. Those who are ambivalent about this place can find many more testimonials on the TimeOut New York site: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/sport-fitness/aqua-skills#tab_panel_4

We've had a very bad and stressful experience with the owner of 232 Playschool. After she canceled…read moreour daughter's enrollment by email a week before her start date, she called us back to offer her the spot, to finally kick her out again after 3 days of transition, by SMS. When we asked for a refund, she made up a number of irrelevant arguments, pretending that our 10 m.o had severe anxiety and would be unable to attend a group care setting, or that we would had forced her to enroll our daughter, to name only some of the very serious insinuations she made to cut short to any conversation. We suspect she had another reason she would not disclose to treat us that way. I would recommend to avoid that place although it looks bright, with shiny toys and Montessori blabla. The caretakers are unprofessional, bad communicators, and clearly do not know how to transition a young child and make him/her feel safe. Our daughter who cried nonstop the few hours she spent at 232 Playschool, transitioned very smoothly somewhere else the following week.