Years later Teddy Bear Daycare continues to provide our children the most amazing care. We are now…read moresending our third child to Ms Luz and Mr Chris! We have had such a wonderful experience with this daycare. The staff is incredibly kind, patient, and truly caring with the children. My kids are excited to go each day, and we've seen so much growth socially and developmentally since starting here. The communication is excellent and the teachers genuinely make each child feel special and safe. We're so grateful for the love and attention they show every day. Highly recommend this daycare to any family looking for a nurturing, reliable, and positive environment!

Teddy Bears daycare has been wonderful for our child! We started several months ago around 9 months…read moreold. They are caring, family centered, kind and our child loves going there each day. She comes home happy, (healthy) tired and is learning from all the kids and teachers there. They provide meals, milk and snacks daily for her which is a huge relief for me as a mom! They teach in a bilingual (Spanish/English) environment which is great for our little one too. Highly recommend Chris, Miss Luz and the teddy bears team!!

Children have been going to Casa Esme for 2 years. Couldn't be happier.read more

My infant child briefly attended this daycare in the Spring of 2008 until the EEC shut her down for…read moreseveral days for keeping many many children in excess of their license. The EEC was alerted to a potential problem by a neighbor who found a child under 2 wandering outside Esme's house. It was later learned, from the EEC, that Esme had an unlicensed room on the second floor of her home where infants were being held during the day. The parents never saw this room as it was not part of the daycare portion of the home. I thought my child was being kept with the rest of the children but he was held in a room I had never even been in--and that the licensor hadn't been in either since it was never disclosed as part of the daycare. The EEC briefly shut her down until she came back into compliance with her license. I believe at the time she was licensed to keep ten children at a time, with only a small number of those being infants. The EEC ultimately allowed her to reopen when she proved compliance but our family never returned. If there had been a fire in the home, infants could have died because they were on an unlicensed floor of the home with not enough providers to carry them to safety if something had happened. This was a traumatic realization for our family. I thought I had checked references properly-consulting the Arlington Parents List and calling many parent references. We learned, subsequently, from the EEC to ALWAYS phone the licensing agent in your town to find out what violations have been brought against a daycare provider. That said, the EEC I believe will only tell you violations from the past five years. I hope parents will read this comment. I would never in a million years trust my child or yours w/ Esme. I was horrified that she would put the lives of babies at risk for her own financial gain. At the time, our family was horrified that she blamed families in need of infant care on her decision to operate outside the bounds of her license. Please phone the EEC if you are considering this provider and find out if other violations have been brought against her. If you call the main office, you can ask to speak to the licensing agent in Arlington. And please consider other providers. I know how tough it is to find full time childcare but sometimes if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

First I should mention that we call Playhood Child Care "Casa Vicky." It really feels as if we are…read moretaking our daughter over to a friend's house. It's just that our friend (I'm talking about Vicky now) has two master's degrees in education and is also teaching early childhood education at U Mass Boston. Vicky's son also attends the school with the other kids and he's really sweet and hilarious. Our daughter loves him. The other teacher at the school, Laura, lives a couple of doors down the street and she has her own children who attended the school. Unfortunately they have since aged out. She has a degree in clinical psych and experience working with children and teenagers. Laura is extremely warm and loving. To me, Laura is more focused on emotional development and she strikes me as being very intuitive. Vicky is more academic and theoretical. She ensures that the curriculum is meeting the kids' and the parents' needs. I think that they make a very balanced and complimentary team. Vicky's husband is a musician and he comes to teach music sometimes and fills in if they need extra help. The school is in Vicky's house which they have modified to meet the needs of a six-toddler/pre-schooler school. There is a great enclosed backyard with toys, a sandbox, a little house with a slide and lots of small trees around the perimeter. The families that attend the school helped to plant those trees at a wonderful brunch last Spring. One of the things that I like the most about the school is that they use recycled materials to make collages and their own toys. Plastic bottles filled with puff balls, glitter and colored water make great kaleidoscopes. They can do more with a plastic tube than you can possibly imagine! I like that the value of re-use are part of the learning experience. "What ELSE can we use this for?" So...the Spanish thing. I am not a Spanish speaker. My wife is a native speaker and our daughter really is completely bilingual. She is almost 3 and she can talk your ears clean off in English or Spanish. She has been going to Playhood for around 18 months. I am completely jealous of how easily she has learned both languages because I have struggled for YEARS with Spanish. The only way to teach a kid a language is to immerse them in it. (I think of it as Spanish Submersion...glub....glub...glub). I have actually learned more Spanish since my daughter started talking than I have in years of study and linguistic abuse at the hands of my in-laws. Fortunately, both Vicky and Laura speak English as well, so I never have any problem communicating, getting reports or figuring out what is going on. Right now there are kids that mostly speak Spanish at home, mostly speak English at home, speak Spanish and Italian at home, and our house which is all Spanish for my wife and all English for me. We have gotten to meet all of the other parents at brunches at Casa Vicky or during drop offs and pickups. I feel like my daughter is completely safe and completely stimulated when she is at Casa Vicky. We were very lucky to have found them!

Our child has been at Playhood for over a year and we could not be more happy…read more Teachers: The teachers are creative, caring, thoughtful, and have a deep understanding of early childhood development. Because it is a small group of children with two teachers, they get a ton of individualized attention. The teachers send home a report with photos every day and touch base about any developmental issues. They helped us potty train, too! Our daughter is happy, growing, and learning Curriculum: The curriculum is structured but leaves plenty of room for the children to explore things they are interested in. The teachers modify their lesson plans when a child shows a specific interest in something. They do some form of art and/or music every day, they have free/guided play time every day. They often have sensory play or participate in preparing lunch. Space: It is in the home of one of the teachers. It is always very clean and perfectly set up for this age. There is a reading and greeting area upstairs, a playroom downstairs, space for sensory play, art and lunch near the kitchen upstairs, and a beautiful yard with plenty of things to explore. Food: Playhood provides a nutritious lunch and the kids love it. (Don't ask me how they do this, but the kids eat all their veggies!) Spanish immersion: If a child is coming in without knowing Spanish, they will help him or her out in English until the child can feel comfortable. For children with a base knowledge, you will see their Spanish blossom because they are getting it both from their teachers and from their peers. Philosophy: Most important to us was to find a place that was welcoming, kind and gentle, loving, responsible, creative, and stimulating for our child. We got lucky with Playhood! Cost: Very reasonable, especially when you consider the quality of education, the included lunch, and the comparison to other places in the area. I am happy to talk to any families thinking about Playhood. Feel free to contact me.

We've had multiple kids at Fidelity House for the afterschool program over the years and most…read morerecently we had our youngest in the pre-k program. There are lots of activities in both programs for the kids. The kids certainly don't suffer from boredom here. The staff is one of this reason this place really shines. The best way to describe the staff is professional, courteous, and caring. Just an amazing bunch of people. If you're looking for an after school program or childcare you can't go wrong with Fidelity House.

My kid got bullied there and numerous other parents I know state their kids were hit as well by…read moreparticular kids that would terrorize others in the after school program. We tried to discuss and work it out with staff , but the staff was only interested in denying it was and issue and stating "well that's the way kids can be sometimes" My kids been out of there for a couple years now and I heard they did a house cleaning of some staff but I believe some of the leadership that failed to help us are still there.

Recently became a parent at GNS via the Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP)…read more I had many reasons to be nervous about my kiddo starting preschool - pretty big aversion to playing with other children, having essentially no daycare/nanny experience, loud "no school!" when the idea was brought up periodically in attempts to make it less foreign, being a picky eater, etc. True story - when we did a classroom visit, where families can come and see the school, be in the classrooms, and meet the teachers, my kiddo said "why do I like school?" 5 minutes into it and the rest is history (currently in the making). The thought "oh, I can leave my kiddo here" came to me pretty unexpectedly and clearly during that visit, and I legit got pretty emotional. The other reviews ring true. If GNS interests you even a little bit, I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself.

Our daughter is in her second year at Garden Nursery School and it has been such a wonderful and…read moresupportive first school experience for her. We love that it is play-based and emphasizes socio-emotional learning, and the community that is created through the cooperative structure. It is such a welcoming environment with teachers and a director that truly appreciate the uniqueness of each child. Being new to the area, we have appreciated the chance to get to know the other families beyond a hello at dropoff. Our daughter has so much fun with all the art projects, and being able to run around with her friends in the garden, and as parents, it has been the perfect opportunity to have a part in sharing the experience with her. We love GNS!

We love this place. Our daughter started in infants and is now in toddlers. We tried to find a…read morecheaper option at one point but ended up deciding it's clear you get what you pay for. We couldn't leave and give up all the benefits now knowing how good things could be. The management and teachers at BH Mass Ave are superb. (They also bring in a professional musician/puppeteer for their music enrichment sessions.) We are alerted when even small minor incidents happen. There is an app which sends pictures and updates throughout the day. Our daughter loves her teachers which is so heart warming. We were referred to this location by our pediatrician who highly recommended the management (Daniella). After attending over a year, we would make the same recommendation. The only negative is the price. That said, they seem to have higher grade staff than some of the other places we have visited, which makes me happy if they are getting paid more. They definitely also have higher grade programming and classroom resources than other locations we saw. The facility is always clean etc. Highly recommended.

If we could this place a zero star, we would. Extremely poorly managed. So glad our son does not go…read morethere anymore! Would not recommend!

Best school ever!!! Having shopped around at almost all the preschools in camberville, we are so…read more thrilled to have found this Haven! emphasis on social and emotional development, yoga, and music, lots of outdoor time, community engagement with tufts and the town. Just wish they took toddlers too!

I got a little behind with work on the Teacher Appreciation Month (May) and wasn't able to leave a…read morerequested feedback on their website, so I am going to the Yelp masses. I cannot say enough of great things about this location of BH! My 3 year old daughter absolutely thrived in this school! The teachers are very well trained and educated in their jobs, and give a lot of individual attention to kids. Mine is sometimes a dare-devil, sometimes is defiant and stubborn, sometimes sweet and energetic, and they find the way and approach to deal with all her moods. Yoshanna (preschool lead teacher) is especially good at her job. Not only that she fosters good habits and behaviors in kids, she knows how to channel their (otherwise annoying) personality traits into a productive and useful actions and uses those for a healthy kids development. For example, my kid loves to talk and sort of argue why she should or shouldn't do something, like nap. I find it frustrating that she won't nap, but Yoshanna is very patient and while she still works towards the goal of having my kid to nap, she appreciates my kid's brain working ability to "reason" in her own way. Ally is another wonderful and patient teacher. Kids just gravitate to her. She is young, but very knowledgeable and experienced care giver and very, very good with kids. When my kid has a hard time, Ally comes to the rescue. Other teachers come and go, and there are a lot of shared staff between the groups. But I have learned to trust the directors, because they seem very dedicated and experienced. Betty, Stacy and Jane, these ladies know what they are doing! They are always available for any concerns or advice, or just a chat, and it is very comforting to see that they will stop whatever they are doing to hear you out. It has been very re-assuring support for me as a parent. I highly recommend this school, and I know a lot of parents who feel like this center is a big extended family, myself included!

We've had such a positive experience with Rogers-Pierce Childcare Center! Our family started in the…read morepreschool room with our oldest child, and now our second is thriving in the toddler room. The teachers are warm, attentive, and truly invested in each child's growth and happiness. The transition from home daycare to the center was seamless - the teachers answered questions at our play visit and were so welcoming. Communication is excellent through an app and each classroom has a cell phone for communications, too. The curriculum balances learning with play in a way that feels natural and engaging, and the kids are active in the Arlington community through different field trips and everyday adventures to the local parks and libraries. The center's values are rooted in equity, social justice, and community-building, and that shines through in all of their lessons and activities, as well as through the staff and the experience they bring to the classroom. RPCC has created a welcoming community for both kids and parents, and we feel confident every day that our children are safe, loved, and learning. We couldn't recommend Rogers-Pierce more highly!

My children have attended Rogers-Pierce since 2004. It is a warm, caring school with fantastic…read moreteachers. Recently (summer 2011) there have been some issues with teacher turnover, but a new Board of Directors is in place and is getting RPCC back on track. My daughter will start Pre-K in a few weeks and we could not be happier with the center.