My youngest daughter started attending TLC when she was just two years old. The staff has always had my daughter's best interest at heart and treated us like family since the day she started. Their facility has always been very clean and well kept. TLC also provides extra safety measures like having cameras inside each classroom that parents can access on demand, as well as a keypad lock on the front door. My daughter started kinder this year so she is no longer attending TLC, but she still talks about her teachers and friends that she made there all the time. Usha from TLC has always shown so much love and concern for my daughter and our family. It really helped me feel at ease knowing that there were people there that really loved and genuinely cared about her. All around we had an amazing experience with TLC, and I would highly recommend them for your child care needs. read more

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I actually went to TLC myself when I was younger, and the experience was so positive that when it came time for my daughter to start, I knew I could trust them completely. The staff are incredibly kind, loving, and patient--they treat the kids like family. It meant a lot to me to have my daughter in a place where I knew she would be safe, cared for, and supported, just like I was. That trust and consistency is rare, and it's the reason I chose TLC again for the next generation. The staff are incredibly kind, patient, and truly loving with the kids. They create such a supportive environment that it stays with you even after you leave. I still keep in touch and am best friends with people I met there, which says a lot about the type of community they build. It's not just a place for learning--it's a place where kids (and parents) feel cared for and connected. Highly recommend TLC for anyone looking for a nurturing, family-like environment. Highly recommend to any parent looking for a nurturing environment where kids can truly thrive. read more

We feel so lucky to have found this neighborhood daycare for our two children, who attended for the past two years. From the very beginning, the teachers stood out as incredibly kind, gentle, patient, and deeply experienced with young children. Many of them have been there for decades, which really gave us peace of mind. From our experiences with other daycares prior to TLC, it is rare to find that kind of consistency and understanding in early childhood education. What impressed me most was the atmosphere every time I visited, even when I stopped by unannounced. The classrooms were calm, cheerful, and full of engaged children who listened well and (mostly) got along with one another. Of course, challenges come up at this age, but I always saw staff handle situations with professionalism, empathy, and skill. They truly have a special way of connecting with kids. My children absolutely adored their teachers and classmates, and they still talk about them often. If we weren't moving into public school now, we'd still be there without a doubt. My son also had the chance to receive almost private 1:2 Kindergarten instruction from Shirley, which gave him such a strong foundation. He entered public school this year feeling confident and ready to learn in a larger class setting. This daycare is more than just a place for children to spend the day. It's a nurturing, supportive community that feels like family. We'll always be grateful for the care, guidance, and love our children received here. Thank you Shirley, Usha, Suzanne, and Jennifer. read more

We've had a wonderful experience at Tender learning care. The teachers are kind, patient, and truly care about each child's growth. The classrooms are bright and welcoming, with a great balance of learning, creativity, and play. Our child has grown in confidence, independence, social skills and love for learning. We are so grateful for the nurturing environment and highly recommend TLC to any family looking for a loving preschool and Daycare. read more

I had my both sons at TLC until Kindergarten and it was so hard to leave. The teachers took care of the boys so well, taught them good manor and behavior. Taught them ACB, counting, shapes, colors etc. Always did a lot of​ artwork. Can't say how blessed I am to have found this daycare with amazing teachers. We couldn't have asked for more and better teachers for my kids. We still stay in touch as of today and kids talkes about the fun time they had and miss going there. Thank you for everything and we are forever grateful for what you did for us and our kids, Christopher and Julian. All work, teaching and care for not just our boys but for all the kids are very special. With my whole hear, thank you. /Anna & Eric read more

Both my girls graduated from TLC recently. It was a bittersweet moment. The staff is like family to the girls. The teachers were always so patient, kind, and loving. They helped my girls develop important skills, such as potty training, eye-hand coordination, and problem-solving. My children always felt comfortable and supported here, which put my mind at ease while at work and made all the difference in their early learning. Thank you so much for all the great things you do. read more

There are not enough stars to reflect my opinion of the top-notch professional and caring environment that Shirley and the TLC team provided to numerous children entrusted to me from 2015-2024. They have a very, very low staff turnover too, kind of rare these days that the staff love the kids and their jobs, it's Ita family environment of care. They work together to communicate between shifts and with the various drop off /pick up parents or guardians. I know 100% they endeavor to do everything "by the book" as I witnessed with how they handled things like COVID, sicknesses, fevers and such, as well as our kids having therapists and social workers who had notification and provide identification. In all our various interactions, TLC tried to find a way to make it work for us, but also occasionally had to make hard decisions to comply with regulations and what was in the best interest of the child. They can draw the line and stipulate a situation is not safe... such as our adhd 4yo who was overly disruptive and intent on eloping. Shirley tried to make it work, but after a couple weeks conceded our daughter needed a higher level of care and although inconvenient to me, she was absolutely right. ( thankfully found the right care for her needs) My own child attended as a 3yo and preschool there, followed by approximately 6 other of my foster kids, including 2 kindergarten kids who were WAY ADVANCED readers when they joined DJUSD as 1st graders, due to Shirley's reading techniques and small focused class size. I read of the recent criticism and it just doesn't ring true. Maybe something's were said in emotionally charged discourse, as a custodial parent - custody situation might naturally invoke, but none of the allegations I read of could be true as any kind of normal business day. In 10 years of childcare with them, I never witnessed ants or rodents on any of my kids stuff. They all did come home with a quarter pound of playground gravel in their shoes each day, a testament to being out in the fresh air and playing hard to the nth degree's. End of day at pick up did kind of stink there, and this was a very consistent scent of a garbage can of end-of-day dirty diapers mixed with bleach-like cleaning chemicals, that is the only yelp criticism I could recognize as true, but at end of day it was being addressed, not left as unattended. I did personally witness the night cleaning crew without fail around 6pm each night... a stable couple with a very set routine ( invested people, not a high turnover of different folks). Each morning there was no such smell from the day previous-it appeared quite clean each morning. I was so grateful to have TLC for my kids. The staff was extremely patient and kind with my kids who brought a higher level of chaos from the instability of their lack of parental consistency. Sincerely Minda Cavill read more

1 star review for this is awfully generous. PLEASE READ FOR CAUTION OF YOUR CHILD: My fiance and I enrolled my step daughter in this daycare. Upon enrollment the staff received copies of 2 court orders. One providing clear documentation that my fiance has full sole legal and physical custody. We ran into multiple situations where the court orders were not followed and deliberately disobeyed by the school staff, more importantly, the owners Shirley and Jon. The staff allowed the non custodial parent to make decisions about attendance without contacting my fiance. As well, they provided copies and access of all the enrollment paperwork my fiance provided (one of the court orders is a restraining order my fiance has against the noncustodial parent- keep in mind). Upon investigating how the noncustodial parent obtained that, it was found they were harassing the school for the paperwork for up to two weeks. The staff never informed my fiance of this happening for my fiance to handle it with his legal team. Ontop of this, there are multiple other safety concerns surrounding this facility. There are rat feces covering the inside of cabinets, the school has a distinct awful smell when you walk in as if it's never been cleaned, there are ants EVERYWHERE that coated my step daughters backpack, the staff seems it's appropriate that when the front door lock doesn't work they just put tape on the door lock so anyone from the public can have access into the building let alone a child just walk out. Once we finally got the approval we needed, we immediately removed my step daughter from this facility. Upon conversation with Shirley, the owner, about the concerns we had and why we were removing our daughter, she acted in a VERY unprofessional, unethical, and disgusting manner that does not present a safe and nurturing environment for children to be around. She made defamatory remarks about myself and my fiance and decided to involve herself in personal court matters by making unsupported statements about the custody arrangements and environment our daughter is in. She refused to provide a refund for the tuition that was paid for the month our daughter would not be attending and then asked for another 30 days of payment. When CDSS was referenced, Shirley went even further to involve herself into court matters and sent very inappropriate and inaccurate statements to what she thought was the judge. After filing a complaint with CDSS, it was found that our concerns were SUBSTANTIATED by CDSS for two Type A violations and a Type B violation that reflects immediate safety and health concerns for the child. My fiance has still not received an apology nor a refund. Shirley and Jon went even further to provide the private conversations between my fiance and them, to the noncustodial parent. I have worked in child cares, preschools and have taken child focuses courses myself. I am absolutely appalled at the behavior shown and the practices of this school and ownership. DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILD HERE FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY!! Please be cautious to read about them and their previous violations on the CDSS website. read more

My son had only been at this daycare for one day. His prior daycare closed, so we had to find a new one for him. Prior to his first day, we spoke with staff and addressed his behavioral difficulties, which include striking or throwing when he is upset, and how his previous daycare and we have been handling the issue. We were assured that it would not be a problem, and that they would try to work with the children before phoning parents to pick them up for behavioral issues, especially because they were adapting to a new daycare. That was all bs, because we received word four hours into his first day that they would not be keeping him and that we would need to find a new daycare due to him hitting. read more

We moved to Davis nearly two years ago from Santa Monica, where we had been spoiled by our amazing daycare. We tried two different preschools here: one for a week, and one for about six months. Both were sub-par...like, unfriendly, badgering me for money, not talking to me or even remembering my kids' names! Our kids weren't happy, so we found TLC, and have been here ever since. Shirley is just one of the most amazing humans; you can instantly tell she has spent her life doing exactly what she was meant to do. The vibe here is loving and wholesome, and my kids are so much happier. It is telling that most of the teachers have worked here for more than 15 years. We will be sad to have to move on! read more

I moved from another city where my daughters daycare employees hardly ever changed. Employees had been there for 10 to 20+ years and it was like family. Well moving to Davis, we had another daycare facility not be very family friendly to us and coming to Tender Learning Center, we found that same family welcoming feeling again. The teachers here are so nice and welcoming. Also, very understanding! You can tell they love their jobs and the children. Huge play areas and big rooms. Enough for children to have their own space and play also. Love this place, I'm sad I didn't find it sooner. read more

​Most of the teachers at TLC are fantastic and the owner is absolutely​ wonderful. My child attended TLC for a few years and I am overall pleased with the outcome. Shirley, Jennifer, Usha, ​and Rebecca are gems and under their care, your children will flourish. Every day​, I would ask my child how their day was, and every day they would rave about these women. There is a teacher who my daughter would tell me about who wasn't as kind as the others and would do subtle things that made her "sad." For example, the teacher would pass out candy and cookies to select children, but not include all the children. Hearing my child say, " I tried so hard to be perfect today to get candy, but I guess I wasn't good enough because I didn't get any," was hard. Using candy as a ​reward is probably not the best method to use with preschoolers. This is one example, there are others, but thankfully my child received nurturing​ from Shirley, Jennifer, Usha, ​and Rebecca. She still speaks highly of these wonderful women almost daily. If you are looking for an environment where your child will flourish socially​ and will be nurtured check TLC out! read more

Our family decided to enroll our 2.5-year-old in Tender Learning Care based on a recommendation from a colleague. Unfortunately, TLC was not a good fit for our son. He was asked to leave a month after enrolling because the school thought he was a liability. It was his first time in daycare, and so he was adjusting to very new routines while also experiencing/processing the normal social and emotional ups and downs of toddlerhood. This manifested in some instances of hitting other children and even once hitting a child on the head with a toy. We certainly do not condone these expressions of frustration, and we responded to Teacher Usha's reports by working with him at home on finding other ways of expressing frustration. As the weeks progressed, the teachers told us he had days when he was fine and others when he would act out (one day he hit a girl on the head with a toy and made a bruise; my husband and I were appalled, of course, and we redoubled efforts to work with our son on ways to self-regulate and calm down). Overall, we thought he was improving, as we saw some improvements at home, and the teachers did not indicate that there was anything dire. We were upset when we would hear he hit or not sit down as requested, but we also know that this was normal (albeit challenging) toddler behavior that we all had to work through.  You can imagine the surprise we felt when we got an abrupt phone call from Shirley, the owner of TLC, one morning to "immediately remove [our] son because he's a danger to other children." We found it strange and, indeed, problematic that this was the way the situation was handled. Usha would report when he would hit other kids, but that certainly wasn't the report everyday. Further, we did not have a meeting or conversation about unsatisfactory progress with the director of the school prior to abrupt dismissal. When we came to pick up our son, Usha told me not once but twice that she thought my son was "missing something" because he apparently would repeat "no hitting" and yet still hit. She said she had never seen this behavior in all her 18 years of working with children. Again, I am not condoning my son's behavior.  However, the deficit-oriented language she used for a learning and developing two-year-old made me realize that taking our son from TLC was the best thing for him. Two-year-olds can parrot things adults say but are still learning how to manage impulses; early childhood development experts know that this is a normal part of processing and developing understandings of right and wrong behavior. My husband and I found it strange that a teacher of young children would frame a toddler's behavior in such a manner. Usha also claimed that our son would hit children "for no reason, out of nowhere." This also suggested to me that TLC as an institution was not committed to working in partnership with us to support our son's emotional and social growth, because no child at this age hits or otherwise acts out without a reason.  Truly, I am not trying to say that our son is the easiest little charge: he's energetic, strong-willed, and when he doesn't want to do something, it can be quite a challenge. In short, he is a toddler. I understand why he may have frustrated the teachers at TLC -- he can be a handful for sure! And I absolutely understand the worry about hitting and the importance of helping our son learn appropriate social behaviors. At the end of the day, though, TLC wasn't willing to be a partner in this journey and their approach was disappointing. I'm sure TLC is a good place for some children. My colleague who originally recommended it to me felt it worked well for her child. However, it was not a good fit for us, and I wonder if it might not be for toddlers who are like my son (strong-willed, learning social/emotional processing and new to daycare routines). I don't write a lot of Yelp reviews, but I'm writing this review for parents who might have questions about approaches and styles as they look for daycares for their children. I think TLC director's, Shirley, means well, and I think the teachers are generally well-intentioned. I'd also like to note that Shirley refunded us all but the 4.5 days that he was in school that month and arranged that promptly. We have since enrolled our son in a wonderful Montessori school, where the teacher to student ratio is low, the teachers are committed to understanding individual children's developmental needs, and where teachers and parents work in partnership to help children thrive. It's the right philosophy for our kid and family. Also, a happy ending: he doesn't hit anymore! read more

My daughter attended TLC from about two and a half to a little over three years old when we had to take her out because we were moving at the end of 2010. I cannot say enough about how great this center is. The staff was always friendly and helpful and teacher Usha was the best. She offers the perfect combination of affection and firm but gentle discipline and truly cares for the children's comfort and well-being. My daughter spoke little when she started but became so much more articulate at TLC. They She was a picky eater too and would only eat fruit and juice but not the main course in her lunch so teacher Usha would pay special attention to her at lunch time and encourage her to try all her lunch. She was always happy to go to TLC and truly enjoyed her time there. The center has a separate fenced in playground for the toddlers (they have another one for the preschoolers) and also has video cameras that allow you to check in on your child during the day (although sometimes they used to be stuck). This is the perfect place for toddlers as they transition to preschool. read more

My son has attended TLC for the past year. I cannot recommend it enough. He has really flourished at this school. He is learning reading, science, history in a fun, positive learning environment. He always happy when we arrive and full of smiles when I pick him up. read more

All the teachers and the owner are extremely nice. When we moved back to Davis in 2016, we were so happy to find this place that is just 5 minutes away in walking distance from where we live and is on the same Lake Blvd. Aria learned and grew there. It is sad that we eventually moved back to Orange County in Summer 2017. Aria still asks me: where is Usha and Jennifer? read more