My daughter went to LEA for 1.5 months, here is our take: Pros: * Morning play time in the backyard * science experiments that kids like * Bright-wheel subscription to get pictures of kids throughout the day Cons: * Less experienced teachers * Lack of warmth, my daughter didn't adjust to daycare even after 1.5 months and every morning would ask if she has to go to school and cried a lot saying she doesn't like it there * when we asked for pictures/ everyday menu of food we were sent a huge message about trust, condescending and undermining comments * Our kid was told crying is bad and not to cry in the facility. Ms K was friendly and nice until we requested / asked more details of our daughter's day. Now our daughter started elsewhere and transitioned in just a week and loves it there and we find it a lot more comfortable with transparency. Update: Ms Kuntal, yes our primary reason for leaving was need for care on Friday, nowhere in my review I mentioned otherwise, we had issues with interaction and transparency which also added a reason to move. I would have given 1 star if I felt the care was that bad. I did thank for the service but didn't "praise" anywhere, it's my responsibility to thank for the service. WE DID NOT ask for minute to minute update. All we asked for was everyday menu and not sample menu, and picture of food if it's hard to type the food menu. Initially nap times were accurate though we mostly expected amount of sleep but eventually update were only scheduled hours. read more

Where do I begin! I'm Ms. Elizabeth, I've been the lead Preschool teacher at LEA since December of 2020. I completed my bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies while teaching here and I am now moving on to Elementary. Little Explorers Academy is not just a daycare, but it is a family. Students, their parents, and their teachers collaborate in the most caring way, and we hold each other to the highest standards. LEA is not a corporate daycare that sees a child as a number. Every child is a part of the family, and their teachers care for them in this manner. Staff turnover rates are extremely low at this daycare, as administration promotes the structure of a work-life balance. Students here grow in a Montessori- like- cohort from ages 0-5, and many establish life-long friendships. The infant teacher, preschool teacher, and Ms. K provide students with the best quality education, routine, and meals. LEA has won the best food program award in the Folsom area for the last 5 years in a row, thanks to Ms.K's spectacular cooking, and attention to nutritional value. Students become extremely well-rounded as a result of LEA's program. Graduates from Little Explorers Academy have no problem moving on to kindergarten, as we promote manners, politeness, provide adequate education, and give students a sense of security and trust in their teachers. I am so sad to move on from LEA, as the students here have become my family. However, I have openly planned since my hire date in 2020 to make my way to Elementary after graduating with my BA. Oncoming staff are chosen with such diligence. Our new preschool teacher has a heart of gold, and I have been helping her grow accustomed to our routine over the last 3 weeks. I wouldn't want to leave the kiddos with anyone else! All in all, if you are new to LEA, trust that your child is in the best hands possible Sincerely, Ms. Elizabeth read more

We love Ms K and her amazing school. Her home based daycare and preschool is warm and inviting with many colors and interactive toys. Our daughter started at age 1 and loves to attend. She is happy every day she is there and gets incredible attention. The food is healthy, they spend lots of time outside, interactive games, songs, lessons about culture, food, nature, science, yoga too! The amazing staff take pictures and post updates throughout the day. Ms K is especially brilliant! She gets to know each child, their temperament, likes and dislikes, talents, strengths, and challenges. She provides valuable feedback on their growth and development. Our parenting skills are enriched by her program and we are so lucky to have this little community for our daughter. Ms K has also been very generous with her time, answering my questions as a first time mom, and provides a lot of information about expectations, typical schedules, safety precautions with Covid (and recently also smoke) and shes very responsive to my messages and questions. There are times when our daughter is sick or fussy, that we have had to pick up early, but I have felt it reasonable given their small staff and need to protect other children from infection. It had been an adjustment to keep her on schedule with the other children, naps and food schedule, but this hasn't been a deterrent, I think its important to have a healthy structure. This daycare might not be for everyone, but this has been a perfect fit for our family. read more

This review is only for LEA's infant program. My baby was 3 months when he started. I'm a FTM so this was all brand new to me. There were several things I felt were red flags... I interviewed with Ms K early in my 2nd trimester and it sounded great so I registered for M-W because that was their only availability until early 2020. One red flag was Ms K emailing me less than a month before starting to say I'm registered for Tuesday and Friday, even though the month before she had confirmed it was M-W and how much I would be paying for 3 days a week. This happened right before she notified parents she let an employee go because she was subpar and brought in 2 new employees to replace her and another employee going on maternity leave. Coincidence? Next red flag was I asked if I could stop by to nurse him and she said due to licensing requirements parents are only allowed to come in during their designated drop off and pick up times. It's her choice if she didn't want me to nurse him there; the red flag was the reason she gave. Next red flag was her concern about my baby needing to be held a lot and not being independent enough. I learned this is completely normal until they feel safe, which can take time. Thus this is not an "issue" specific to my baby. Next red flag was when my son was only 2 months old Ms K wanted me to start transitioning him to a specific sleeping and feeding schedule (he eats and sleeps on demand). She said they would transition him to the schedule gently. By the second week (5 daycare days) he was already on the schedule, so they were waiting to feed him and keeping him awake. Then the last 2 days they asked me to pick him up early because he was very fussy (no sick symptoms, just crying) and not taking long naps. When I took him home I saw he was overtired. The thing about depriving babies of sleep is it causes their body to release chemicals giving them a second wind. If you're a parent I'm sure you've seen what happens when a baby gets overtired! When I told them he was fussy because of the schedule, Ms K said she would give him another week to transition but a nanny may be a better fit. She said most infants are awake for 2 hours and sleep for 2 hours (I must say I'm super jealous of the parents whose babies do this!), and it's normal for her 3-month-olds to be on her schedule within a week or so. Previously Ms K said babies are on this schedule after a month or so, another time she said by the fifth month. At that point I decided I was done. In my scramble to find a better daycare I reached out to another one and told them what was happening. They were totally horrified and they wanted to take my son immediately. They felt LEA's expectations of 3-month-olds are wrong and parents should be able to come by unannounced whenever. At the end of the day this was a blessing in disguise because my new daycare is amazing, but man what a nightmare. There were more red flags but this review is already quite long! read more

The center is a home-day care, and more seemed as a hostel for my kids. Unfortunately my kids could not adjust to the facility overall. After we pulled out from LEA, my kids got into another care center, where they really enjoyed & were cared so much. read more

LEA is an amazing daycare facility/home and my family is so grateful to have been able to secure a spot with Ms. K. I chose to enroll my 9mo old (whom is now 2) with LEA because her home was so warm and welcoming. My daughter has thrived at LEA and all the staff have become an extension to our family. As first time parents, my husband and I have struggled with some of the 'normal' yet difficult transitions of a baby/toddler, and Ms. K has always given us the support necessary to ensure we are all consistent with our daughter's care. We chose LEA vs. Kindercare or other similar facilities because of the attention and care we could see she would get and the relationship and friendships she would make. Both my husband and I experienced care within a home at young ages and wanted the same for our daughter. Ms. K is an exceptional care taker and is very honest and transparent. She has a very important role to care for others' children and i trust her whole heartedly. I am aware my child is not perfect and have always appreciated Ms. K's approach to dealing and managing her imperfections. Ms. K has always been respectful of my wants for my daughter and I've always been respectful of her recommendations as well. We made the best decision for our daughter to be a part of LEA. Parents and children would be very fortunate to secure future spots with Ms. K/LEA. read more

I do not recommend this daycare. If you are the type of parent who has a lot of questions and feedback for the people taking care of your kids, like I did, this daycare is not for you. I had a LOT of concerns regarding covid, smoky air, and a few other small things. Many times I was met with resistance and defensiveness. I can admit to being a picky parent, but LEA and I did not mesh well. They also specialize in well-behaved kids, so if your toddler has some terrible 2's or 3's, things may not go well for you. In the end, it's disappointing that we could not come to an agreement. We attended for three years, so I hoped that would have given us some relationship and rapport. However, we were terminated this week, on a Wednesday evening around 6:30pm, with no notice and no reason. Ms. K has the rights, according to the contract, to terminate any family with no notice or no reason, and she is taking full advantage of her contract. Even a day or two notice would have helped immensely in finding new care. She could have communicated with us that we can mutually agree things are not working out, but she chose to simply email us a termination notice. We have had countless communication issues and miscommunications over the years, but have also had resistance when requesting phone calls or meetings to clear things up. We finally met just two weeks ago and we were reassured that "we're all family" and our kids will attend for years until they're ready for kindergarten, so you can imagine our surprise to hear that we are now terminated. We have attempted to communicate with Ms. K via text and email, and in person, to apologize and find out the reason we were terminated. She has not responded. Each step of the way during our expulsion this week, I have tried to take the high road and remain respectful, and LEA has chosen the low road. The worst part is how confused and hurt our three year old is. He is asking why he can't say hi to his teachers again and if his friends will be at his new daycare. I wish LEA had considered my child's mental health and ended things with us as mature adults, but they chose the hurtful route this week. read more

I can't say enough good things about LEA. We moved to the area in the summer and I was so sad to leave my daughters daycare in our old town because she had been there for two years and thrived. I interviewed with Ms. K and I was comforted by her views on raising children and her pride in her program and facility. I was however dreading our first drop off and how it was going to go; Would she cry? Would she be scared of the new place? Nope! Since my little girl had met Ms. K and toured the facility with me before she started she was really excited to go play and I am not even sure if she said goodbye before she took off. Best feeling in the world when your child is happy and excited at drop off and that tells me so much about how LEA is taking care of my girl when I can't during the day. I love all the photos and updates we receive throughout the day too; much appreciated. So grateful for Ms. K and Ms. Sita and the rest of the staff. LEA is truly an awesome daycare and I am so happy we were able to secure a spot for our girl. Love this place! read more

We moved to Folsom in the summer of this year and were delighted with all the high quality childcare options available. After careful consideration we chose Little Explorers due to the excellent teacher to child ratio, smaller class size and good mix of freedom and structure in the curriculum. In the 7 months since we're reminded every day that we made the right choice. Ms. K. puts great care into hiring the best teachers and only the best make the cut. She is also laser focused on cleaning and sanitation which is a huge relief during the current COVID times. Our daughter loves going to school at Little Explorers and will even want to play school at home on the weekends. While there are a lot of quality choices for childcare in the Folsom area, Ms. K. has put together an exceptional program and we've been delighted with the quality care and education she's provided our daughter. read more

Ms. K and her team were lifesavers for my family. At the beginning of this year we had a 3 year old foster daughter placed with us. The loving, structured environment at LEA allowed for our girl to settle in and feel comfortable almost immediately. Ms. K provided constant communication and was flexible with our sometimes unpredictable schedule that the foster care system requires. Our girl had been a victim of severe neglect and exposure to drugs prior to being placed with us. She had never been in a daycare or preschool environment and had never socialized outside of her siblings. Ms. K was extra patient and provided tons of support with potty training, with napping, and with speech. Our girl ended up reunifying with her family, but she left us as a happy, vocal, confident little girl, largely due to the love and support she received with Ms. K. We are incredibly grateful to have found Ms. K and our girl adored her. read more