Our family has had such a happy experience with this co-op preschool, which my granddaughter has…read moreattended for 2 years. She looks forward to going to school every afternoon! It is spacious yet cozy and welcoming, with many interesting free play activity centres (sand, water, paint, cut & glue etc.) set up around the room that encourage the children to explore and interact. Circle time include storytelling and songs, usually connected to the current theme. The 2 ECE teachers, along with parent helpers and support workers, are always friendly, cheerful, affectionate and attentive. We especially love the imaginative themes they use as a basis for the children's learning, enriched by regular field trips visiting places such as a pumpkin patch, sugar bush, the ROM's dinosaur galleries. Parent involvement is welcome and the co-op aspect is efficiently run. Safety and cleanliness are emphasized. Posters, schedules, notices, meetings, special parties and events keep parents fully informed. A bonus is the beautiful playground and Brookmede Park that borders the school.

We love Discovering Minds (and so does our daughter). They created a supportive, loving, family…read moreatmosphere, while also focusing seriously on the Montessori philosophy. Our child flourished under their care and her practical learning exceeded all of my expectations. We were so sad to leave (we moved). I cannot recommend Discovering Minds enough. We still keep in touch with the staff.

My sons have been attending Discovering Minds for 3 1/2 years. This little school has become an…read moreextension of our family. It is a family run, traditional Montessori school, and so the atmosphere here is unique, and I would even say special. The classes are small so nobody gets lost in the shuffle. There is a strong focus on community, and teaching the children how to navigate the world in an independent and responsible, respectful, conscious way. I really can't say enough good things about this school, honestly. I sometimes wonder what I would do without them :) I highly recommend anyone who is thinking of going in the Montessori direction, to definitely check out Discovering Minds.

I had gone and seen a few of the locations of this school and was lucky enough to get my son into…read morethe River Grove branch of this school. The teachers at this location are really sweet and have been so good at getting my son adjusted to being away from Momma. He is one of the youngest students and didn't express himself very well verbally before he joined. In just two months he is talking in larger sentences, cleaning up his toys (sort of) and putting on his own jacket! The teachers have been helping him potty train at school...seriously, thats the nicest thing! Its not a super fancy school by any means but its comfortable and the children are always happy. I am really lucky that I got him into this Montessori :)

My then 3 year old son was in the first batch when there was a change of teachers in 2009. The…read moreMontessori taught him to be responsible for himself (eating on his own, wearing shoes/jackets, etc) and his toys/books and nurtured his love of learning and reading. Since he was a bright child, they let him explore and taught him things at his pace, that other 3 year old's were not exposed to. Their way of teaching, especially phonetics and spelling is simply amazing and even today my son can spell and pronounce any unknown word almost correctly, 9 out of 10 times. Ms Ursula and Ms. Arifa and the rest of teachers at that time did a wonderful job with my son and all of the students there. My son was always happy and excited to go to school and simply loved being there all day.

Someone stole my $30 water bottle at this location in the change room, and the staff won't do…read moreanything to ask anyone who took my bottle and call out the behavior that this is a crime, the staff keep saying its misplaced, but where is the one thats exactly the same, and why will this person take home a bottle when he didnt bring one in the first place. This place is so dumb and full of excuse and wont admit theft when as mentioned in other review dozens thef has already happened here this year and they should put posters with counts of theft reported to warn people never bring anything that has any value. And they tried to shut me up to tell people what happened to me. So disgusting. never again. Please be aware that people steal your stuff at YMCA. Just imagine how disgusting it is that you are in the same room with thieves. Worst waste of money and headach instead of having fun. Also please be aware that some people's locker got cut in the change room. They do nothing to prevent that from happening. I would suggest to go someplace with better security measures. Don't think it won't happen to you. By the way, the staff were lying to me, at first they said they will contact me if they found my stuff. But later when I confronted them about camera footage, they said I need to file a report to the police about theft. And they were making fun of me reporting 30 dollar, as if that's not a lot of money to lose and I really like the bottle and this is the second time i lost a bottle there. Ymca should fire those staff. Apparently there are a lot of fake reviews added by the management. They've also blocked me for telling the truth in their social media, which violated my freedom of speach. Hope they go bankrupt soon! If you want to get your valuables stolen, feel free to go at your own risk

This is a place where people are supposed to feel a sense of community and safe, especially…read morechildren. This location absolutely does not live up to those standards. My 13 year old daughter was using the gym there when a grown male began harassing her. Here are the facts to what happened and what the management's response was. I dropped my daughter off to do her work out at this location. Unfortunately, my wife and I were both in the middle of a project so was not able to stay with her but we were not worried as we felt that she was SAFE there. Near the end of her work out, she was approached by an adult male who asked her how long she was going to be. During her work out, she took a snap of herself to send to a friend as children do these days. She may have inadvertently got this male in the background. He became angry and asked her if she was taking pictures of him. When she tried to explain, he wasn't listening to her. He took his phone out and started recording her. It is unclear if it was at this point or later on when other members got involved the he called her fat and said she has a fat stomach. When he started recording her she Very Loudly told him Stop recording her and asked him WHY he was recording her. Her being loud is what drew the attention of the other members. 2 male members came to her aid as well as a female member. He became very belligerent towards the other member, tell them .... off. I was actually on the phone with my daughter at this point because she called me and I can hear this in the background. When I get there, she was already in the office with the female adult which aided her and some staff members. Shortly after I arrived, a Sergeant from Peel Region Police arrived to investigate. The Sergeant spoke with myself, the Female witness, at lease one of the male witnesses and the staff as well as the Adult male in question (once they were able to find him). No charges were able to be laid as there was not physical contact made. That is what we were told . I was told by the staff that there would be an incident noted on his file. That was not acceptable to me and I demanded that he be banned from the YMCA. I wanted him banned because not only did my daughter NOT feel safe and was afraid to go back because she might run into him again but I didn't want any other young people to possibly have a similar experience . They told me that only the program director or general manager would be able to do that. I sent the general manager an email that day (Saturday). Monday morning I called the center to speak with the Program Director who was not in. I left my information for him to call me back when he was to get in in the afternoon. After waiting and not getting any type contact by the management team, I called him back and was told that he was in a meeting. I was then informed that the General Manager would be dealing with this. I received an email later from her asking that we afford her some time to speak to her staff and investigate. I told her I appreciated her taking this matter seriously and told her about the 2 men and 1 lady who intervened on my 13 year old daughters behalf. I also told her that they spoke to her staff and that her staff on duty that day should have their information and that I would await her review. To recap the timeline, this incident happened on Saturday, I sent an email Saturday. Monday I had to contact the center instead of them contacting me. The General Manager asked me for a few day to review on Monday. Thursday afternoon just before 3pm, I had still not heard back from anyone so I sent another email to ask about the status. Just before 7pm she finally responded to me by tell me that she could call me "tomorrow" and to reply to her directly with a good time to call. I'm not sure as to why she had to say directly as my communication was directly to her unless she didn't want me to continue to tag the CEO of YMCA in the emails as well. She calls me the next day and tells me that my daughter won't have to worry about running into him "in the near future". I asked her what that means. I tell her that I assumed that means that he is suspended and not banned outright. She told me that she reviewed the footage and spoke with 2 witnesses and she said that they didn't hear anything prior to to my daughter very loudly saying "Why are you recording me? Stop recording me!" That is when they stepped in. She didn't speak to the lady as she deemed that she wouldn't have any information because she wasn't standing directly next to them. I pointed out the fact that that just because she wasn't STANDING right next to them doesn't mean that she didn't hear anything or wasn't observing from a distance. She then tells me that there are procedures that they have to follow. She tells me that in the footage, he wasn't any closer that 5 feet from her, like that is supposed to make any difference. Basically, they aren't going to do anything.

Mini-Skool had been my daughters day care off and on for years. She is now 9 years old and still…read morehas many friends there. There has never been a problem with their care or their activities. They are a little costly, but they do provide lunches and snacks. I have been very pleased with the care my daughter receives at Mini-Skool.

Great place, great teachers, amazing and nutritious food and snacks, awesome school and summer…read moreprograms!! and Sue, the director is an AMAZING, kind person!! That is why my older daugther went there and now my 5 year old is been going there for 2 years going on to 3!!

Our 11 year old loved the upper elementary program. The Montessori curriculum helped our child…read morethrive in this environment. He excelled academically but also physically. Exercising their bodies was was at the forefront of everything they did from bike riding everyday to specialized gym programming in addition to the academically rigorous yet fun curriculum.

My son transitioned from another wonderful Montessori school to this one for his elementary years…read more He has adapted quite well and loves it here. They have weekly outings to programs like the High Park Nature Centre, rock climbing, martial arts, etc. They will also have the opportunity to go on a camping trip at the end of the year and be part of the Model UN in New York. The teachers are caring and engaged and encourage a collaborate environment with gentle conflict resolution. They also have a lovely nature-inspired playground. We recommend!

Tender Years Co-operative School is an amazing school! The teachers are warm and caring. They…read morelove their jobs. They take the time to find out what the needs are for each child, and help them to reach their greatest potential. Such an amazing school!