When we first started looking for a daycare in Alameda in December 2022, we realized we had waited…read moretoo long to start looking for a daycare given how many kids are in Alameda and how few daycares there are. When we met Julie for the first time to see the facility (on a Friday night), our Daughter smiled at her and we could tell right away that they would go along. So much so, that we went back on a Sunday to officially sign up with Julie. It has now been several months since we've been going to Julie and we are extremely fortunate and lucky to have Julie care for our Daughter. On a daily basis, we show up to Julie and our Daughter is super excited and happy to see Julie (she even waves to her). When we leave, our Daughter is then super sad and unhappy to leave since she is having a great time at Daycare. This is a great feeling as a parent. On a final note, Julie goes out of her way to teach our Daughter things like clapping and waving as well. She now even understands some words in Mandarin/Cantonese as Julie is fluent which is an added bonus. Long story short, we could not recommend Julie any more and are super grateful for the care that she provides our Daughter. I'd go out there and say this is the best daycare in Alameda!

I can't believe how lucky we are to have found Julie's daycare! Before Julie, we struggled for…read moremonths to find the right caregiver for our son. Julie and her husband are both incredibly patient, composed and confident caregivers. They've created a safe, clean space for the kids to explore and develop. For an active kid like our son, we appreciate there's also a spacious private outdoor play area. Finally, we love that Julie prepares healthy snacks and home-cooked lunches each day for the kids. Our son is always happy and excited for daycare, and that's a testament to the quality of care Julie and her husband provide. We can't recommend Julie's daycare enough.

My son's has been attending Sara's daycare for the last 7…read moremonths. It's a very good family daycare which provides healthy homemade meals. We are very happy with how well Sara's been taking care of our little one.

After negative experiences at previous daycares, we were anxious about trying a new place--but…read moreSara's daycare far exceeded all our expectations. The children in her care are served delicious, healthy homemade meals every day, spend long stretches of time at the park (weather permitting), and thrive in an environment where they are truly loved, as if it were a second home. Our little one spent almost two years at Sara's, and while we know he's ready for new adventures, our whole family will miss her dearly. We can't recommend her enough!

ViVi Family Day Care is one of the best things to happen to our family…read more Prior to our first child being born, we visited and vetted what seemed like countless day care centers, both large and small.  We ultimately felt more comfortable with the family-run model, and above all the most comfortable with Ms. Van.  When meeting her we could sense her caring and nurturing nature, and when meeting her children it was clear that she raised three intelligent, gracious daughters of her own. Of course we were still nervous that first day dropping off our first baby.  That nervousness quickly went away.  Ms. Van offers the love and guidance that a parent themselves would provide.  Over time Ms. Van's daughters became like older sisters to our kids, helping them gain confidence and grow socially and emotionally.  Our kids graduated from ViVi Family Day Care healthy, happy, and well prepared for Kindergarten.  We are forever grateful to Ms. Van and her family; they will always hold a special place in our hearts.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Mrs. Van and Vivi Family Day Care!…read more Mrs. Van is one of those people you dream of finding when you have children and are looking for care for them. We have worked with her and known her for 2 1/2 years. WIth my 2 young boys, I want them to feel loved, cared for, safe, and respected. I want them to be taught kindness and the joys of play and laughter. I also want them to be fed nutritious home-cooked meals, to be supported in getting rest/naps during the day, get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and to become potty-trained when they are ready. On top of that, I want to know what they experienced during the day and to be able to communicate openly with their caregivers. Well, Mrs. Van does all of this and MORE! You would be fortunate to have Mrs. Van in your children's' lives, just as we are. She's one-in-a million.

Flora's has been an absolute gem of a daycare. I started my daughter there when she was 6 months…read moreold. I was nervous as a first time mom, but Flora's has become a second home for her. Flora loves each kid as if they're her own. Everyday, Flora provides healthy meals and snacks that my daughter loves to eat. Flora was with my daughter at every milestone, from starting solids to eating by herself with a spoon. She helped work with me to potty train her too! My daughter always comes home singing new songs and reciting numbers and ABCs. I love that she has plenty of outdoors time and brings home new art projects from daycare. All the kids I've met at her daycare are respectful and polite. My daughter learned about taking turns at daycare and plays well with the other kids. She constantly talks about her daycare friends. I highly recommend Flora's if you're looking for a loving, stable, and fun environment for the kids!

my son enjoys the time spent with the kids at Bay Farm Flora. The care taker provides a clean & fun…read moreenvironment for the kids to roam around. She discipline the kids like one of her owns, the kids are well behave, and well groomed. Thank you very much for spending time with the kids.

Our son started at Little Blue Dolphins at eight months old and just recently, at age four, left to…read morego on to preschool. During that time, the DeCassias became like a second family to him. This is a warm, stable, affectionate environment and I would absolutely recommend them to anyone. Rita has decades of experience with infants as well as older children. She quickly had our son sleeping and eating better than he had either at home or at his previous daycare. As months and years passed we knew we'd made a good decision placing him there--absolutely one of the best parenting decisions we've made. Rita brings in art and music teachers several times a week and provides scrapbooks of the kids' art. There's an expansive indoor playroom and a kid-safe outdoor play area as well. The kids go on regular outings to parks and the farmer's market. Overall this was a very enriching environment for our son and we are so grateful to Rita and family for their excellent level of care.

Our 2.5 year old daughter has been here for about 9 months and we could not be more happy with our…read morechoice to put her there. We just moved out of state and leaving behind Little Blue Dolphins was SO hard. You won't find a more loving and nurturing environment for your little one.

It is a great feeling as a parent to be able to work each day and leave your precious child with…read moresomeone you can trust to take the best care of your child. Our child, now nearly 2.5 years old, loves going to Yanyi Daycare & Preschool. The preschool has fantastic solid daily routine: healthy home cooked meals, nap time, circle time and time outdoors.

I am so grateful for this wonderful preschool! My daughter has been there for almost two years and…read moreshe has thrived in this loving and fun environment. Thank you, Yan Yi, for always ensuring that my daughter is safe, happy, well fed, and having fun with you every day.

(A bit delayed of a review but definitely worth the rave.)…read more Our second child attended Lin's daycare for half a year during her first year of life; we only moved her because a spot opened in our other child's school and we took the opportunity to have one drop off/pick up. There are separate sleeping rooms for infants in cribs vs. older children on sleeping mats in a separate bedroom (quality sleep was such an important factor for us in that first year!). There is a crawling area for the tinies, and a larger learning/play area for the bigger kids. Plus a big community style table where the kids all ate together and, in a Montessori-like way, they had to return all their dishes and none of the toys were electronic. There is a small, shaded area in the backyard with a play structure and small scooters for the children. Lin was amazing: she would prepare food for the children each day and write up a note about what my child ate and when she slept that day. Lin also did the linen washing for the crib and mat sheets. The hours included were very long, like 7:30am-6:30pm, if you needed it so you don't have to parse out early or after care costs. She would also send occasional photo updates. There were only a few holiday closures throughout the year, which Lin would post at the start of each school year with plenty of notice. She has a full-time assistant, and never had to close due to teacher illness or absence. I always felt happy and secure bringing my tiny human to Lin's, and I was so thankful to find her!

Lin and her team (husband Joe and caregiver Yiyi) have been taking care of my son for the past 1.5…read moreyears, starting when he was 9 months old. I have nothing but positive feedback about Lin's daycare, it is a small, family-run business where the caregivers give the kids love and attention in an environment that supports their growth. Initially my son had a hard time with separation anxiety when we started daycare but the caregivers have a lot of experience and made the transition successful. Since that time my son loves going to school and is having appropriate social, emotional, and physical learning experiences with Cantonese language exposure as a bonus. The facility is clean, with appealing indoor and outdoor play spaces. The logistics have also been very helpful for our family: Lin will make formula bottles and/or provides home-cooked, nutritious food and has helped a lot with developmental steps like potty training. Highly recommend if you can get a spot!

Our experience at this center included multiple incidents involving biting (some resulting in…read morebruising/visible injuries) and hair pulling. While I understand these behaviors can happen in group care, the frequency of incidents raised concerns for us about supervision. We previously attended another childcare center prior to relocating, and the number of incidents we experienced here within the first three months exceeded what both of our children experienced over four years at our prior center combined. I also noted that the state childcare licensing website lists multiple incidents and investigations for this center, some of which appear similar to our experience. I encourage parents to review the inspection reports and complaint history for additional context: https://www.ccld.dss.ca.gov/carefacilitysearch/FacDetail/013412625

Ever since my two kids changed schools, they no longer get hurt (e.g. no more bites or…read morebruises/bumps from falls). The worst was when our son was bitten by the same kid (3 years old) 5-6 times and had his face scratched and bloody and KC did nothing even though that child had 30+ other incidents in a span of 8 months! Total bullshit. Also, I don't recommend this place if your child has allergies. Several parents have pulled their children out after realizing they are horrible with tracking allergies since they always have new or part-time teachers so there's no consistency. Also, they feign ignorance when the child moves up to the next class at the same center and puts it on the parent to tell the new class teachers about the allergy. When they are short teachers, they've asked for volunteers to not bring their kids to school while charging full tuition or take the first 4 infants because they only have one teacher available. Most recently, 7 (!) teachers called in sick and the center had to close at 3pm. What a total nightmare for parents who have to go back into work! You certainly don't get what you pay for here (e.g. dilapidated yards, lawns, playground, equipment and dirty rugs - the photos on Yelp are not of the actual center). The one thing that we enjoyed was the app and the photos and videos everyday. But it was at the cost of premium tuition pricing, inconsistent teachers and injuries to our kids. Not worth it - there are plenty of other daycares, especially in-home ones that are much more affordable and smaller ratios that cater to the development of your child. My son did enjoy Ms. Shirrell in the discovery preschool classroom who potty trained him. He still mentions her from time to time. Ms. Lakea in the infant room was also a favorite. The lack of updates on the part time, temp, student or sub teachers (i.e. warm body they could find) and failure to retain good teachers is not because of COVID or the general shortage of educators - it's because this place and regional manager (Jen) sucks. Most of the good and long time teachers were chased out by a former director in 2021 (Jen's horrible hire) and most of the good families left shortly thereafter. Ms. Patti, the director, does what she can to turn water into wine, but one person can only do so much on their own with limited resources and help.