My daughter joined WCA as soon as she turned 2.5 years old. It's in our old neighborhood and we…read morealways wanted to send her to WCA as soon as she become of age because we saw how nicely the kids were playing in the outdoor play area and how the teachers kept a close eye on them. After I did the tour wd Ms. Amanda, we were all in. My daughter loves Ms. Rajani, Ms. Amanda, Ms. Elma and she still talks about them even though she's attending TK now at a public school. My daughter not only learnt her letters and numbers but also how to be kind and respectful, how to help around the house as well as a little Spanish and Mandarin. We have built life long friendships with other parents(and teachers) and I can't wait to send my twin girls as soon as they are old enough to join the school.

We are so happy with this school for our kids…read more Our son was treated so well that we did not hesitate to send his younger sister there. If you are looking for a preschool where the teachers care and they all feel like family, this place is it! The location is excellent and they have a wonderful outdoor play area so our children get exposed to the outdoors and are not sitting inside all day. It's also easy to get to since it is near the 23 freeway and sunset hills. It's easy to get back on the freeway to/from work. We are so glad this place exists and feel so lucky to send our daughter here. I strongly recommend this place for preschool!! It is the best in the area.

A hidden gem! NDLC does a wonderful job of creating a play-based, child-led learning environment…read morethat balances structure with play and fosters curiosity, social-emotional learning, and care for God's creation. Our family especially loves the focus on nature/outdoor time (nature walks, gardening, mud kitchen, huge fenced in play yard, animals in the classroom, bringing nature items indoors, etc.) and the school's approach to teaching about God through nature and the spirit rather than dogma. Children learn to thank God through prays at mealtime, learn about God through creation, and celebrate Christian holidays. The school follows a play-based curriculum and classrooms offer various stations, including dramatic play, drawing/writing, painting, circle time, books, blocks, etc. Teachers put a lot of intentionality into the classroom space and curriculum for a wholistic play-filled learning experience. However, if you are looking for a more academic-based curriculum (worksheets, formal structure similar to elementary schools), this will not fit your needs. All skills are taught but are approached through play. The school is small, with only two classrooms (2-3s & 4-5s) and appx. 15 children (give or take) per class with a teacher and assistant teacher, plus other floating staff who are always engaged. This allows for a lot of one-on-one time. The school is a little less techy than other schools, which may be a plus or minus depending on family needs. The school does not use a comprehensive preschool app for sign in, notifications, payments, etc. like many other schools do. Instead, photos are shared through an photo app and all other things like sign in, payments, and events are shared on paper. Lastly, pricing is on the lower end for the area compared to other preschools and extended hours are available for parents trying to balance full-time work and parenting.

We are grateful to have both of our children growing up with God at NDLC. Our first year with our…read moreoldest we had a variety of social and speech interaction issues with our older child. Now, he has friends and can write and speak in full sentences. We loved NDLC so much that our daughter was excited to start this past Fall. The teachers care about each child's development and have regular meetings with parents to talk about concerns. They are allies in your child's early developmental process and the Sisters are so fun and supportive in modeling good behavior. 5 Stars!! We would recommend this preschool to anyone with a young family in the area. - The Hagel Family

We love Roots and Wings Preschool! From the moment we…read moreenrolled our daughter, we've been so happy with the care the staff puts into the kids everyday. The teachers and director don't just watch over the kids--they truly love and nurture them. You can see it in the little moments: the gentle way they comfort a child who's having a tough day, the thoughtful questions they ask to spark curiosity, and how they always make time to connect with each little personality. Their curriculum is outstanding--it's thoughtfully designed to foster learning, empathy, and kindness in such a natural, play-based way. Every activity feels purposeful, whether it's building social skills through group play, exploring emotions during circle time, or diving into hands-on projects that get those little minds buzzing. My daughter comes home excited to tell us what she learned or who she helped that day, and it's clear the environment is helping her grow into a compassionate, confident kid. She's made some wonderful little friends here, and looks forward to attending school.

We have had a wonderful experience at Roots and Wings. The environment is calm, creative, and very…read morechild-centered. Instead of a rigid curriculum, the teachers build lessons around the children's interests, encouraging curiosity, problem-solving, and collaboration. It's been amazing to see how much confidence and independence my kiddo has developed through hands-on exploration, art, nature, and open-ended play. Class sizes are small and all the teachers know each child well. They take the time to understand your child's personality, strengths, and needs, and they communicate regularly with parents about what the children are working on and discovering. If you're looking for a preschool that values creativity, emotional development, and genuine curiosity about the world, this school is a special place. The sense of community among families and teachers makes it feel warm and supportive, and we've been so grateful for the experience.

This school is a real gem! They make you feel very warm and welcome while taking excellent care of…read moreyour little ones. We had the best experience here. Highly recommend!

My child went to Hummingbird for 3 years and love every minute. The one thing that stood out to me…read morewas how the teachers cared for the students. There were a few mornings, like all kids, where drop off was not easy. The teacher would help us ease her into the day and comfort her in those mornings. Miss Shauna was great with this our child and could not thank her enough for it.

The absolute best experience for our 2 year old. Our daughter is thriving and comes home so happy…read moreevery day. Jenn and Anne are excellent communicators, which is lovely as a parent. But even more importantly, they are immensely patient, joyful, and kind with the children. I love their daily updates, how much time they spend outside, and the adorable community of little explorers they are growing. My daughter moved to Nature's Explorers after being at a larger childcare center in TO and I have noticed major, positive improvements to her mood, patience, and social skills. I attribute that fully to Nature's Explorers and feel so confident that this is the best place for our gal.

Pros: Nature's Explorer does a good job in enforcing outdoor activities in playing with animals and…read moreopen outdoor play. They also do a good job in taking pictures and sending activity updates. Cons: My situation could be circumstantial, however, our child enrolled here at the 12 month mark through 18 months. My child enrolled as the youngest child in the group, and eventually was one of 2 infants in a program of 9. Approximately 2 months in, we were informed our child developed biting habits (never exhibited at home). We were told this was triggered over the competitiveness of toys and that a next step would be a parent/teacher conference (if warranted) to develop an action plan if the situation got worse. We checked in periodically to track progress and were provided positive/optimistic feedback in that our child was improving (with updates over random biting). To our surprise (without holding the parent/teacher conference), our child was given an immediate 2-week notice to leave and was told that our child had "no hope" and was "frustrated and ready to go off at anytime". This came to us as a shock as we were told "your child is getting better," and next thing we know, our child is kicked out. As many parents may know, finding day care in a 2 week snap of a finger is just about impossible and forces parents in a scatter... as Nature's Explorer's really should know, there are LOOONG daunting wait lists for daycares. Advice to Management: If a next step is a parent/teacher conference, as detailed in your policy/handbook, do follow through and have that Be honest and transparent and inform parents of the real progress of what is happening, false hope with providing limited facts doesn't help Combined with transparency, give a heads up to parents if something like this is coming, give parents the proper ettiquette. You may feel 2 weeks is sufficient, but there are LOOONG daunting wait lists for child daycare Discuss through preventive/corrective plans taken as some parents may not agree with the approach taken

Heaven! This is the only place in the world I would ever…read moresend my boys. Ms.Emily is a treasure sent from heaven. She is the most dedicated and devoted teacher. The environment is absolutely perfect for children to be in nature. My son is doing Kindergarten there. He is not chained to a desk 5 hrs a day instead he gets to choose what he would like to learn about everyday. She loves the kids like they are her own. My 2 year old also attends and he is tough. She is the baby whisperer. She can talk him out of a fit it seconds. Not only are they learning to be wonderful humans but I am learning how to be a better parent. She is so hands-on with the parents it's incredible. She helped me turn my five-year-old from controlling and demanding into A kind loving sharing passionate patient young boy. I read the bad reviews on here and they make me want to cry because they are so incredibly off-base and offputting. None of those words are true! None! All you have to do is come see for yourself. Take a tour. Visit with your children. Just talking to her will show you how wrong and awful those reviews were. Out of the five preschools I talked to and toured before hers she is the only one that asked me about my son's cochlear implant's. Every other principal just said OK and continued on like it was nothing. She asked me to talk about it and what I needed and what he needed. She cares! I feel so Fortunate to have found blue house and Emily. Thank you!

Do you have a sensitive little soul at home you're anxious to find the perfect preschool fit for?…read moreLet me tell you about our experience with a truly special place. My kiddo was not quite 2 and I wanted to find him a preschool where he felt really comfortable before I gave birth to his younger brother, so that he wouldn't feel the weight of TWO huge life changes all at the same time. He was also still in diapers and was basically not speaking yet (he was in speech therapy through Tri-Counties) so I wanted to find a place that could work with all of that. Last but certainly not least, he was NOT used to being away from his caregivers (parents or grandma) when we found Blue House. As soon as we set foot on the Blue House campus I knew it was the right place. It's a home-based preschool with a huge outdoor space (even including a nature trail) and lovely indoor space with tons of Montessori work and other things for the kids to work on, and the fact that it's not a huge, overwhelming number of kids (and a great teacher-to-student ratio) made my little one immediately feel comfortable there. The all-ages environment was also a huge draw; seeing kids ages 2 to 6 playing together was so appealing. All the kids were so gentle and kind, I thought to myself, I wouldn't mind ONE BIT if my kiddo learns from them! The director, Emily, has her doctorate in educational psychology from USC and YEARS of experience with both teaching and parenting. She immediately made us feel comfortable with her wisdom and knowledge and the way we saw her working with the students. We loved the other teachers as well! Emily is supportive of lots of regular visits until a child feels comfortable there before their first drop-off, which was HUGE for us. By the time we got to the last visit, which was the first time my mom left my kiddo there for an hour instead of staying with him for their visit, he LOVED it there. He did cry a little, but was quickly comforted by Emily and the other teachers and had a great rest of his visit that day. Since then - he has NOT ONCE, including on his very first day of full school, when he was barely over 2 years old, cried or been upset about going there. He LOVES Blue House and is always excited about getting there. My kiddo started with just 2 days a week going from 9-12. As he got more comfortable, older, and dropped his nap eventually, he now, at age 4, goes 4 days a week for the full day, which is 9-2 (during the regular school year there is a 15-minute "grace period" on either end). It was a very gradual, easy, comfortable transition to ramp up to this point and Emily was fine with us doing it at the pace that was right for us. (There is also a summer program which is incredibly helpful if you want your kiddo occupied the whole year, but to still maintain consistency with their routine the whole time.) I truly believe being at school with kids of varied ages and his supportive teachers, who always made sure to make him feel understood and feel he was able to successfully communicate with them, helped just as much as speech therapy did. He's now my little conversationalist and a huge talker! (It also helped with some food issues he was having and also getting therapy for.) It was a HUGE help that he did not need to be using the toilet when he started there. He went his full first year in diapers and the teachers were all great with changing him when necessary. When we did stop using diapers, at age 3 when he started his second year there, they were SO helpful and basically finished the process of toilet learning for me after I started it over a 3-day weekend. I attribute a huge part of our toilet success with this school! Over the years, as my kiddo has faced challenges, Emily has always been there to talk with me about what's going on at home and at school and how to address things. She has helped us get over some of the typical rough patches of childhood as smoothly as possible. We are so happy our kiddo has one more year here. He has made such great friends and he is excited to attend every day. His current favorite thing to do there is "write" books! We were not particularly worried about "academics" when looking for a preschool, but you should know that everything my 4-year-old knows about letters, writing, and simple math he learned here - because HE wanted to, not because he was pressured to learn in any way. They are truly a child-led place, but also HUGELY supportive of the more academic side of things if your kiddo is into that. There are of course a ton of play opportunities too, and I love that they spend so much time outdoors. They also learn songs for 2 fun events per year that the parents attend :) I really cannot say enough good things about this amazing place. Feel free to ask any questions if you're interested, or just call Emily for a visit! We knew on our very first visit that this was the place for us and I truly believe anyone else who checks it out will feel the same.

Our family has been at Carden Conejo for the last 5 years with our two kids having attended grades…read morepreschool through 4th grade so far. It is academically rigorous in all subjects, being one of the best in our area. Our specialists are also excellent: our kids have been able to do PE almost daily, the specialist classes (art, science, music, French, computers) all at least once or twice a week. Starting in kindergarten, the kids move with their classmates from their homeroom to the different dedicated specialist classes multiple times a day, which I think is a very mature thing to be able to do in kindergarten. They do public speaking at their weekly school assemblies multiple times a month, which I think is very special about this school. Best of all, they emphasize manners and morals which encourage human virtues, but also things like looking an adult in the eyes when saying good morning or when being spoken to, and holding the door open for an adult so that he/she can pass through first. Things that I feel our kids in the recent digital world do not really learn anymore, but will help them be successful in their workplaces (and families) in the future. Compared to other private schools in the area, tuition is more affordable, and yet the teachers offer academic support after school for kids to need it for free (although I think they should be paid extra for it). Although academically rigorous, our kids also have so much fun at school. Holidays are so fun. They have a huge fall festival at Halloween with carnival games, food trucks, trunk or treat. They also have a big festive winter holiday show, egg hunts for Easter, class parties, and a big family picnic on campus at the end of the year. They have tons of after school enrichment classes and Funtastic Friday nights where the kids can come and play in the evenings while parents get a night out. Summer camps are also very thoughtful and engaging. A favorite week is themed after the book Roxaboxen where they create their own shops and barter goods with "gems" as currency. We have loved every teacher we have had through the years. Everyone knows your child's name and each teacher invests in their students. One of my children had a little embarrassing accident at school and her 1st grade teacher handled it with such respect and tact - she treated her like she would want her own daughter treated. I think it would be hard to find a school with teachers and staff who are this invested in their students.

I attended Carden Conejo about 30 years ago and always assumed it would one day be the right place…read morefor my daughters. We recently moved back to the area after losing our home in the Palisades fire, and as we begin rebuilding our lives, finding the right schools for our children has been a top priority. Unfortunately, our recent visit to Carden was deeply disappointing -- and, frankly, a bit heartbreaking. We toured the TK classroom and were shocked to see 4- and 5-year-olds sitting in individual desks, facing forward like high schoolers. We were told they sit through 45-minute to one-hour lectures before getting a short play break, and then return for more lecture. The head of school cheerfully described the philosophy as "work hard, play hard" -- but to us, it felt like a fundamental misunderstanding of early childhood development. These are babies. They should be learning through play, exploration, movement, and connection -- not being treated like mini-adults. Even more unsettling was the demeanor of the TK teacher we observed. We walked in during a lesson and were struck by how cold and disengaged she seemed. There was no warmth, no joy -- just a rigid, joyless atmosphere that felt completely out of sync with what 4- and 5-year-olds need. The first-grade classroom didn't offer much reassurance. It felt similarly cold and overly academic, with little room for the individual child behind the academic expectations. We believe deeply in strong academics -- but not at the expense of age-appropriate, heart-centered, joyful learning. Our children deserve both. We've toured some of the best schools in LA, and we know what exceptional education looks and feels like. Ascension Lutheran, where our younger children now attend, and Oaks Christian, where our older daughter is enrolled, are both phenomenal. They blend academic excellence with warmth, empathy, and a deep understanding of child development. I know some families love Carden Conejo, and perhaps their experience has been different. But ours was disturbing enough that we couldn't get out of there fast enough. I share this not out of bitterness, but out of deep concern and care for other families searching for the right fit. If you're looking for a nurturing, academically strong environment that respects the emotional and developmental needs of your child, I'd encourage you to visit Ascension or Oaks -- they've been a true blessing in our journey.

I'm hoping this doesn't get too long but here goes nothing…read more.. Our family has been part of the Kindercare community for several years now and the experience has been nothing short of wonderful and in many ways, life-changing. Our daughter "graduated" from Kindercare last year after spending nearly 2 years there, and she is now at our local public school and thriving in TK! The structure, curriculum and most importantly, the kindness and care from the teachers and staff truly prepared her for success. I still remember when she first started there, she was hesitant, unsure and struggling with confidence, especially when holding a pencil. She would melt to the ground ha! I had a great conversation with Ms Linda about my concerns, and she along with Ms Priscilla, poured their hearts into building my daughter up. Fast forward to "graduation", my daughter left the class READING. Their focus on phonics, patience and love for teaching made all the difference. Today, she is as confident as they come and genuinely LOVES going to school. For that, I am beyond grateful!! Because of this incredible experience, our youngest son now attends Kindercare as well. He's been there since the "baby class" and has grown so much. In fact, even though he is technically eligible for TK in the fall, my husband and I have chosen to keep him at Kindercare for another year because of how much we value their program. That decision says everything about the trust and confidence we have in this school. As a busy family with two working parents, Kindercare makes it easy. Providing the meals is a game-changer. We love following the pictures and schedule updates in the Kindercare app. The pic attached is one of the many photos we get of the kids at play. They have fun family engagement activities on holidays which can be fun! We love the Halloween event! I have met so many "mom friends" here and even though their children have left Kindercare, we still make a point to get together to hangout, have a happy hour or playdate at the park with or without our Kinderkids. When you have kids excited to go to school, nothing feels better. And every time we walk through the doors, we feel like part of the family. We are thankful we found a second HOME at Kindercare.

Our son has been at the Thousand Oaks KinderCare infants program for over 6 months now and it's…read morebeen a great experience so far. We love their focus on complying with safety regulations and documenting important details of the day's events through photos, videos, and notes in the KinderCare app. Our son enjoys time with all of his wonderful teachers like Ashley, Alyssa, Maria, Amy, Grace, and his BFF Kim. Although it can get a bit hectic, as expected with all the energetic kids, it seems like the teachers have genuine support from management, Nikki and Lisa, and that everyone strives to do their best for the kids. The teachers' impressive memory of our son's activities, especially in the chaos of many kids doing many things, is really useful reference for how to continue our childcare at home in the evening. It's impossible to know every single detail and metric of the center's operations, and moreover, the long-term strategy and potential incentive shifts of KinderCare as a large corporation that recently became publicly traded. One really positive and reassuring sign for this center specifically is the long average tenure of the teachers. This center's leadership is certainly doing something well to retain its staff, some of whom have been there for decades. In our experience, the staff seem supported and everyone has been so helpful and responsive whenever we've had any concerns or questions, including consistently picking up the phone on the rare times that we call. Childcare can be thankless work that goes underappreciated and some days must be overwhelming, so we truly appreciate these hardworking teachers for taking care of our little one!