ELC is Ann Arbor's best kept preschool secret. The teachers have hearts of gold and really love…read morethe kids. They create such a great environment for socializing and learning for the kids and do a great job caring for safety as well. I was nervous about taking my kids to preschool at first, but this program has become dearly loved by my children and I. We have also had a number of different teachers there and all have been incredible, speaking to an excellent leadership and administrative culture in the school.

We are in love with this place!! The teachers are amazing and do a great job with the kids. They…read moreare endlessly patient. I love picking my child up and hearing a little bit about what has happened during the day. They are dedicated to spending time outside. Something really important to me, that ELC does really well, is the way they model language in the class. My daughter wears hearing aids and her speech has improved while there due to them, speech therapy, etc. Every week they send out the theme of their activities and songs they're singing, which is also very helpful.

Green Apple is a gentle, progressive, and amazing daycare experience. The kids are treating as…read morethinking, authentic, and individual human beings instead of a collective. Care is individualized for each child and each child is given a chance to grow and learn in a respectful environment. The kids spend a good portion of the day outside so if you visit and the space seems small it is because they don't spend all day in the building. If it is over 10 degrees they are outside playing. Kids come home exhausted, happy, satiated, and wonderfully dirty. They are fed organic, healthy snacks, and they actually eat them. I almost choked on my coffee when I read the email that my son had asked for extra kale at snack time. Are you serious? It wasn't in chicken nugget form and he ate it? The administrators are working with kids and teachers all day so sometimes it can take a few calls to get questions answered. Don't get discouraged by this. It is worth the effort to get a hold of them and take a tour. As a foster parent I've experienced a lot of daycares and preschools in the area. There is no place in the county that compares to Green Apple.

My daughter is in Kindergarten at Ann Arbor Learning Community and attends the afterschool program…read morethrough Green Apple Garden. Jill and Eric are absolutely amazing people and always treat my daughter as an equal and not a "child". They refer to eachother as "friends" and take a very gentle and realistic approach to how they construct their afternoons. Jill and Eric plan activities that involve mostly items found in nature and encourage the children to utilize their imagination to create fun and educational activities. I'm super excited that Green Apple is offering Spanish Immersion at AALC and will definitely be enrolling my daughter in this awesome opportunity. Thank you Green Apple for providing such wonderful care to my precious girl.

I just wanna say Ann Arbor Kindercare has shown great office and staff communication through the…read morecenter, Great Quality, Children are engaged in activity's as well as teachers keeping supervision key. Thank you Keyonte Jones and Faith Griffey for doing a great job for the center each and every day! They provide breakfast,Lunch, snack that gives kids the ability to feel comfortable healthy and never hungry at this center. They have outdoor playground Time and safety is taken well were they watch the temperatures and make sure the child is dressed to the weather and never missing out on learning. What is best at Ann Arbor's Center is there Monthly curriculums. Seeing the children's art work Is amazing and watching them grow Making friends and learning. My daughter Madelyn, has attended Ann Arbor's Kindercare since she was 6 weeks old. I knew coming into KinderCare my child would learn to go from an infant to a toddler in no time. She was in infants and learned to roll talk and walk. Going into toddler A and B she learned to walk so well she started potty training in toddler b on the potty and now in discovery preschool she's officially 3 and she's fully potty trained. The teachers really show how much this job means to them and what it takes to have a child improve. I'm super happy with how much She's grown as a toddler and learning to speak fluent sentences. Most of all what makes me the happiest is they have us bring family photos to stick up on the classroom walls and the child can be at eye level and know I'm in a safe place because my family is right beside me in my classroom As I move to each class as I grow. If Your ever wanting to enroll in a child care center that is learning based Ann Arbor Kindercare, its CLEAN! Teachers are very welcoming and friendly and the management takes high Pride in what they do for work! Thank you again for everything ! I will keep watching my child grow around the center.

Kindercare has been so fantastic for our family. We have to kids attend and both experiences have…read morebeen amazing. They are compassionate, caring, fun, and flexible. We were nervous to go back after all day cares were shut down due to Covid. Ms. Crystal took the time to talk with us on the phone and answer all our questions and made us feel very informed. Now that we have a been back for a few weeks we feel so well taken care of and safe at the center. Our daughter didn't want to go back after being home with us for weeks and now she wants to stay longer every day!

I can't speak to the quality of this center now, but I was someone that used to go to gretchen's…read morehouse after school as a child. Granted its been more than 20 years since then, but I am still dealing with the trauma of being at this daycare. Even back then this place was very expensive, and my immigrant parents worked hard to be able to send me here. Despite the fact that it was the "best" it was one of the most racially intolerant places I have ever experienced. The staff treated me like I was untouchable. They constantly isolated me from all the white kids, blamed me for things I didn't do, refused to feed me, and allowed other kids to discriminate against me. If this kind of treatment were going on today this place would be cancelled so fast. Will my parents ever get the money back from this place, no. And I continue to have to deal with the racial trauma I received as a little brown girl. Hope things have changed at this place and other people of color haven't had to experience this.

Gretchen's House is a fantastic day care. We had our first son there for two years. They do…read morestimulating play beginning even with very young infants (including finger painting with feet, playing with sand, and, when older, playing with edible art materials. Also, the individualized care is striking. Each day, your infant or toddler comes home with a personalized note about his or her strengths, funny things he or she did or said, and an emphasis on his or her individual personality, not just about what the group did. The drawback to Gretchen's House is that it is very expensive. Unfortunately, too, the next step down in daycare in Ann Arbor is severe. Now that we have two children, we've had to enroll them elsewhere and the quality is impressively worse. If Gretchen's House weren't so completely unaffordable for us, we'd be back in a heartbeat.

AAHCDC has earned 5 stars! This school has a wonderful program and thoughtful amazing teachers…read more Children learn and play as well as garden. They have wonderful music, art and Spanish programs for the children. I will be sending my second child soon. So happy here!

Our daughter has attended AAHCDC for two years now. It is a wonderful place with wonderful staff…read moreand we are very fortunate to have a school like this in our community. Every day AAHCDC creates a caring, nurturing, thoughtful, educational, creative, safe and fun environment for the children it serves. It understands what children are feeling and going through, and works with them and their families in wise and thoughtful and caring ways. Music, Spanish, art, reading, play, sensory table, outdoor activities, friendships and support. We couldn't imagine a better place.

Daycroft is a school unlike any other…read more The Montessori philosophy is the foundation of what makes Daycroft so amazing. The kids that attend Daycroft are genuinely some of the nicest kids I've ever met. There is a huge emphasis placed on the "culture of kindness" and it shows every day. Children are treated with respect, and therefore respect one another. When behavior issues arise, children are counseled through it by their teachers, not simply punished. There is an emphasis on understanding and empathy rather than control. A HUGE reason this is possible is the faculty to student ratio. Every grade-level classroom has two full-time, certified teachers. The class sizes are nearly always 20 kids or less, so that's a 10-to-1 ratio max most of the time. When they go to specials (music, art, gym, Spanish, library, and technology), each class is split in half (half go to music and half to art, for example, then they switch) to preserve that ratio- unless the class makes more sense to have more kids (such as gym or orchestra). Daycroft is a school where everyone knows everyone by name- students know and are friends with other students at other grade levels, teachers know students' names in grades other than just the ones they teach, and specials teachers get to teach the same kids for up to nine years. The bond that is created with such a close-knit community is special. Daycroft is a family.

Our family has been at Daycroft Montessori for four years and are starting our fifth year. We…read morehighly recommend the school. We annually renew our decision to enroll at Daycroft due to the following: 1. The Montessori philosophy: mixed-age classrooms, children work uninterrupted on learning activities that they freely choose from a teacher-created set of options, children primarily learn by working hands-on with a myriad of subject-appropriate materials rather than verbal instructions from an instructor, and work plans designed for each individual child to the point that, depending upon the needs of the child, work plans can range from daily to weekly in duration. 2. Two teachers in each Daycroft classroom. This translates into a ratio of approximately one teacher for every 10 students. 3. The extraordinary religious, racial, and ethnic diversity of the children enrolled at Daycroft. For those of you reading this review who are new to the Montessori philosophy, let me explain that Montessori means disciplined choice. There is zero chaos in a Daycroft Montessori classroom. There may be a quiet hum, or happy chatter, but no chaos. From their workplan, children choose which item to address when. They are taught how to effectively focus and not interrupt other children's work. Because workplans are individualized to best fit their learning style, the children become deeply engaged. Before they move on to a new activity, the children must clean up their current activity. So, classrooms are tidy, calm, and, at the end of the day, everything is back in its place. We particularly love the diversity of the Daycroft families. Because it's so diverse, children learn experientially about the many skin tones, religions, & ethnicities. The teachers invite families in to share their rituals, foods, and experiences. Parents have the opportunity to become as involved as desired. I've volunteered in the classroom and my husband has volunteered in after-school. (There are quite a number of after-school activities for the children.) Daycroft has two locations. The Zeeb campus is K-6. Our family's experience has been at the Zeeb campus, which is where I will focus my review. The building is in excellent condition; bright, clean, and well-designed. It includes the K-6 classrooms, a robust library, media center, well-appointed art room, music room with risers and instruments, multi-purpose room (used for lunch, spanish, and after-care), kitchen, gym/auditorium, science room, sickroom, and administrative offices. All classrooms have smartboards and other types of technology (computers, etc). All children at Daycroft have Spanish twice a week and upper grades learn additional languages, and the etymology of language. Musical instruments are introduced at an early age, and increasingly sophisticated instruments are added as the children progress through the grades. There is an orchestra, choir, and band, and the children perform a concert semi-annually. Annually, in the spring, there is an all-school musical that is amazing. Every child is involved - creating the sets, singing in the chorus, and/or being on-stage. At Daycroft, children have choices appropriate to their age and abilities. All subjects are taught extensively and deeply throughout the children's time at Daycroft. For example, geometry and algebra are introduced in pre-school; each year, a child's learning of such subjects advances in sophistication. Because the children have individual workplans and uninterrupted worktime, they progress at their pace (with the teacher's encouragement and guidance, of course). What the children learn at Daycroft is far advanced from what my husband and I were taught at the same ages in our own school experiences. The administrative and teaching staff are always available to the parents. Two years ago, our daughter hit a personal "bump in the road". We spent time with her teachers and the head of school to work through this and found the experience to be very gratifying. All of us worked collaboratively to help our daughter traverse the situation successfully. From a distance, I've noted this scenario repeated successfully with other children at Daycroft. All children, at some point, will need some extra attention and the Daycroft staff has the time and commitment to provide it. From a physical perspective, children have gym three or four times per week. Plus, of course, recess. At the Zeeb campus, there are two playgrounds with age-appropriate equipment - one for lower elementary and a second for upper elementary. Zeeb has a garden, pond, and wetlands for the children to use in their curriculum. Some classrooms also include yoga daily for the children which has been a wonderful thing. Check out Daycroft Montessori - you'll be glad you did.

Great school, teachers and leadership are exceptional…read more Excelente curriculum with great independence and emotional development for the kids.

The benefit of Montessori is that it fosters a love of learning for a lifetime, and Doughty is the…read morebest! It's hard to find a Montessori that is true to the philosophy of Maria Montessori, and this space is perfect. The staff is very caring and professional. They love what they do and they love the children they work with.

Attention Resident Physicians: We love ChildTime on Plymouth Rd! This daycare is outstanding. The…read morestaff make you feel so welcomed and I can tell they genuinely care for our son. They are always open even when there is inclement weather. I cannot tell you how many times my colleagues had to call out of work because their daycare had closed and this one just a few miles away was still open! So reliable! If you're a physician or resident physician where you don't always have a lot of control over your schedule this is exactly the type of daycare you want! On top of that, all meals, snacks, diapers, and wipes are provided by the daycare center so you save a ton of money and time. They do super cute crafts and take amazing photos all day. So much so I bought a special digital photo frame to display all of them! He is truly thriving here and we are sad we have to leave such a great care center!

Childtime is a great daycare/preschool! My son has been going here for a little over 3 years and he…read morehas learned so much in that time. The staff is friendly and attentive to your child's needs. My child was having a hard time writing and spelling his name. I informed them of my concern and they worked on it more with him. Since the pandemic started, they have ramped up safety measures. All employees and children have their temperatures taken before entering the building. They make sure to keep us informed about Covid safety and how these safety measures will affect the kids at daycare. This year to help parents with virtual classes, they opened a school age class room. The teacher, Ms. Alexis, is amazing. My son is always telling me that he needs to remember this or that to tell Ms. Alexis

Our family sadly only stayed in Ann Arbor for 3 months but my son settled into the discovery centre…read moreextremely well with the most fantastic staff support. We were worried, as we have moved around a lot that my son was suffering because of it, but the teachers in orange room made such an effort to give him time and attention that he loved it from day one! The rooms are self contained, as in restrooms, playgrounds etc and very well equipped and clean. They also have access to more toys/ equipment that they rotate weekly so your little one will never get bored. There is also a great room that they use for more physical fun if the weather is so bad that they can't get outside. I was so gutted when we learned we had to move again as I really hoped I'd found a preschool for the next 4 years for both my sons.

My child goes here and we couldn't be happier. I highly recommend this pre school for your kid. The…read morestaff is knowledgable and friendly. Lots of cool activities for the kids.

Having moved to Ann Arbor from out of state last year, we faced the normal challenges of finding…read moredaycare availability. After a couple of mediocre months at a very corporate daycare, finally a spot became available for our then 18 month old at Uno Dos Tres, and the experience has been consistently and exceptionally high. From Tanara (the Director's) professionalism, to the energy and enthusiasm of all the teachers, our daughter has adored every day at Uno Dos Tres. A very safe, caring environment, where I only ever see smiles from the kids and teachers alike. Unfortunately we are now relocating out of state, and the biggest challenge for us will be trying to find a daycare anywhere near as perfect as Uno Dos Tres...

From the owner: We are a unique Spanish immersion preschool for children ages 18 months to 5 years old. No prior…read moreexperience in Spanish of any kind is necessary.