I worked as a teacher in Little Tots Manor for just over 12 months. I was lucky enough to experience working at both locations. In my time there I did experience the negative management that previous reviews have mentioned but in July 2023, new management took over and brought the most incredible positive change to the business. I felt and saw a change in the atmosphere, in the other staff and the children too. I felt more comfortable talking to management, more supported in my programming and teaching and just generally I was much happier at work. I recently just moved country hence why I no longer work in Little Tots but was so sad to have to leave. read more

I have been employed at Little Tots' Manor for approximately 3 years. Little Tots' Manor provides a welcoming environment with an academically enriched curriculum for children 6 weeks to 5 years! Our programs and approach are tailored to ensure each child receives the highest quality educational opportunities at this crucial stage in their growth. There are 3 parent-teacher interviews September - June to discuss your child's individual development. During COVID-19 the parent-teacher interviews are being conducted virtually over the Zoom app. Our qualified and dedicated staff focus on every aspect of who they are - preparing them not only for school but for life. All our teachers have cleared vulnerable sector checks, first aid, and CPR as well as the required schooling or experience to be an early childhood educator or early childhood assistant. We strive to create a home away from home for children to explore 'learning through play' and develop to their best potential. Little Tots' Manor has minimal closures and no screen time for children. Each class is equipped with a computer and tablet to communicate with parents and/or caregivers through the HiMama app. The preschool classes have Smart Boards installed for children to have hands-on interaction with technology that is educational. Little Tots' Manor has an in house chef who preps and cooks all meals on-site and a Joint Health and Safety Committee. The Founder, Director, Supervisor, Assitant Supervisor, and Assistant to Director are available to support the staff or answer any question the parents may have. Little Tots' Manor has a board of directors and each class has a family class representative. The family class representatives are veteran families of Little Tots' Manor. The management committee conducts annual staff reviews, staff qualifies for benefits after 3 months, and all staff participates in a professional development day hosted by Little Tots' Manor. I am honored to be apart of the Little Tots' Manor team! read more

Between my two children, we have been at Little Tot's for over three years and have had nothing but a positive experience. The staff are excellent, qualified and caring, the centre is bright, clean and welcoming and the curriculum is outstanding. In the last 3+ years we haven't experienced any problems with turnover. The management team is outstanding, providing clear direction on policies and ensuring the centre is safe and runs smoothly. The strength of management was exemplified through their response to COVID, which required the implementation of strict new protocols on tight timelines. I would highly recommend Little Tot's Manor to anyone. read more

My nephew is in the infant room, I believe they refer it as teddy bear picnic room. I picked him up the other day, every single teacher accept for one teacher (Kimberley) was paying attention to all 9 children in the room. There was 5 teachers in the room. It's upsetting to me as a parent and a uncle to see such a thing. With that many teachers in the room. I expected at least 3 teachers being attentive to the children not 1. Kimberley was singing and playing with all the children. I applaud her. It's how an ECE should be. read more

A lot of this reviews are old and very different to our current experience so I wanted to post something. Our 4 year old is currently in the JK program on Balliol street. We only decided to look for private during the summer when we were concerned about the public school he was due to attend. They called us to let us know a space was available, and we decided to call in the same day ( we were due to go on vacation). Despite no notice, they were incredibly welcoming and gave us a tour/ info on the program. We liked the feel of the house and the staff and accepted the place. The two main teacher ( Karen and Alex) are amazing, as all all the staff including the manager Peter. They all know the kids well and clearly are enthusiastic about their role. There are approx 8 in the JK class, and they have full program everyday. Their energy never seems to run out! One thing I've noticed I really like is that even when we collect late ( hours are 730-630) and we are the last, there is always one staff member playing with him one to one. We've used other daycares over the years and often late in the day at pick up, children are playing alone while staff clear up etc, and while I understand that, I'm so happy seeing this instead. They are very easy going with families calling in without notice, another good sign. The house is locked and each family has their own key number. They have a garden outside where they spend I think 2 hours a day, and they play lost of varied games each time. They use the Himama which is updated at least 5/6 times a day with videos and photos. Our son also had some speech and sensory issues, and they have been so open to working with us with this. I'll update later in the year but overall I couldn't recommend them higher here read more

My son was overall pretty happy there. There are some great staff but unfortunately I agree that there were a lot of turnovers as well. He was a little sad when he had to change rooms which they do all the time to make room in the younger age brackets for new clients. There were lots of stimulating and interesting activities for the kids. They were free to be themselves and I didn't find the teachers overly "controlling" which I liked. I can't really comment on the quality of the food since I was never there at meal times. Great communication with the staff and I liked that a note was sent home every day about my child's day. I read some complaints about the cleanliness in another review, this surprised me as I found it VERY clean and a lovely environment. The fees though were CRAZY! read more

I have had 3 kids attend Little Tots Manor over the past 5 years. Each of them started between 5-6 months old - my eldest finished senior kindergarten at Little Tots and my youngest is still in the baby class. I've been enjoying it so much, I volunteered this year as parent class rep and board member. What has amazed us over the years is the consistent quality and caliber of the staff. From caring for them like their own through to preparing them for grade school. The peace of mind it has given me as a working parent is irreplaceable. Also, knowing the kids get a rich offering of activities (and I don't have to supplement with extras on weeknights or weekends) is so helpful. The in-house cooks make sure the kids are fed so well and clothes get laundered on site too. We chose daycare over nanny because it gives us even more freedom from managing someone in our home and setting up schedules. Little Tots Manor has given us more than a daycare service - they treat us and every family as extended family. read more

DO NOT PUT YOURSELF ON THE WAITING LIST HERE!!!! I went in the spring of 2013 and put myself on the waiting list despite that fact that there is a $75 deposit. I was told I should be able to get in latest July 2014. Fast forward to 2014 and now I've been told that the earliest I can get in is September and even that is unlikely. The person I dealt with has left in the last 6 months. I explained that if I had known that I would not have bothered with registration. The owner did not care and ｒｅｆｕｓｅｓto return my deposit. read more

whether you live in the area or not, don't get fooled by the white fences, the tours that you get from the management. The high expensive 1700-2200$ fees you're paying is not worth it. The owner of this centre has no experience with running a business. She thinks that were walking banks and all she cares about is her money. She also has her favourites of staff and children as well. Don't get fooled! I have seen times when the owner would talk to the staff in a very rudely manner. Very unacceptable and shows no heart. She would make the staff clean and leave children including mine to another teacher. With all the money she gets, this is far too ridiculous! Staff turnover is just awful. every year that i had my child here in LTM, there is always one or two staff that goes. Just as when I thought the centre is doing better with staff changes, I was wrong, about 4-5 staff are gone recently. These changes affected the children especially mine when my child kept asking me where they are. I've heard how the owner gets rid of the teachers without notice. I also read the staff bio that they have posted in the classroom, some staff are not qualified and they don't have the credentials yet the owner and management hires them. I strongly suggest to not enroll your child to LTM!! you will regret paying that much money and coming to your child's classroom seeing new teachers out of nowhere. Go somewhere else!!! read more

Amazing Daycare. Our daughter is extremely happy at school and is developing very fast. It is a pleasure to see a curriculum with such foresight and design to involve all of a child's senses, and not just "free play". The food is healthy, cooked on sight, and changes. They even take on toilet training. While it may cost a little more than other alternatives, you pay for what you get, and there is a reason there is an extensive waiting list. I HIGHLY recommend Little Tots Manor. read more

Both of our 2 children "grew up" at Little Tots' Manor. I have enjoyed our experience for our children, and appreciated the many things we've learned from teachers and management about parenting, that I volunteered to become a parent rep and then served on the Board of Directors. I learned a lot about the complex management of the daycare business through this involvement, and felt even more strongly about the great opportunities that our children have been provided. Our eldest started at Little Tots' Manor in September 2008. We had toured many local daycares, and knew, the moment that we walked through the door at Little Tots' Manor that this was the best spot for our kids. Since that time, we have seen the Daycare through many changes, and been impressed by Management's thoughtful plan for improvements over the years. Our children have had the pleasure of learning from highly qualified, ECE teachers. The teachers are compassionate and loving, and have the right high expectations for our kids. Our children enjoyed the curriculum, and learned so much before starting in the regular school program. We appreciated the socialization, teeth brushing and potty training that went on at school and set up the kids for success. And the kids benefited greatly from the outstanding co-curricular programming (dance, gym, science, French, visits to the local retirement residence and more). Our children are happy, confident, and well prepared kids, thanks to Little Tots' Manor! read more

Our daughter joined Little Tots in Sept 2015 and we are so happy with the choice. We actually removed her from another daycare, and walking into Little Tots was a breath of fresh air. The admin staff were so understanding and helpful in making this transition - and were extra accommodating given our negative experience at the other daycare. She's happy there every day and we love the parent-teacher nights and other daycare events. The staff are always friendly and supportive - and they threw her a super cute birthday party too! It's great! read more

Our eldest daughter started at Little Tots Manor when I went back to work in the fall of 2011. Leaving your first child to be cared for by others and heading back to work is daunting, to say the least, and feeling comfortable with your childcare provider is a must. We selected Little Tots primarily because we liked the "homey" environment and the high staff to child ratio in the infant room and we've never regretted our decision. From the programming (very structured and lots of extras during the year, a more "camp-like" schedule in the summer with fun field trips), to the friendly staff (who look amazingly put together and have seemingly endless patience), to the in-house kitchen (that makes sure your child gets at least two balanced meals a day - especially great when your child won't touch vegetables at home), Little Tots has helped our kids thrive. Sure there are some frustrations with staff turnover at times, but we have come to the realization that hiring and retaining great staff in this industry can be hard. That said, there are still many staff who haven't changed in the 4.5 years we have been there. Our third child will be starting in the infant room this summer and two of his teachers will be the same ones his sisters had when they were in Teddy Bears' Picnic. We haven't had many other major issues throughout our time, but when they do come up we've found the teachers and the supervisors approachable and open to discussion. We recently moved to a new neighbourhood and visited other daycares as we were considering childcare alternatives closer to home. These tours made us realize how lucky our family is to be at Little Tots and despite other places being more convenient, we aren't willing to compromise on the care and education our children receive at Little Tots. Finally, in addition to all the reasons why we like Little Tots, our kids truly love it - their friends, their teachers and their days at school - which is really what is most important to us when we aren't with them. read more

Our 3 year old daughter has been at Little Tots Manor for close to two years. Every day she wakes up excited to go to 'school.' She is happy, confident, is learning in leaps and bounds, has made great little friends, loves her teachers and talks incessantly about her day and the fun she has had - whether it be in gym class, learning new little songs and dance moves, learning french, visiting her 'friends' at the local retirement home, making volcanoes or her latest art project. The pace of learning fascinates me. I know she is in great and caring hands. Her happiness makes me happy. Little Tots Manor was the best decision we ever made. Hands down. read more

Excellent daycare. Our daughter is extremely happy there. They have a higher staff to child ratio then most other daycares, which I think is very important in the younger ages. Food is all made on site and healthy generally. Excellent program. We have dropped by at lots of different times and very happy. Staff are amazing and manager is very professional, helpful and good with kids. We will place our other child there as well. read more

Hi, we experienced Little Tots Manor (LTM) for over a year. Although they charge a lot (approx $2,000 monthly for infants), thought we didn't have any other choice for private daycare in the Davisville/Leaside area, all had wating lists. We were attracted to LTM by the facilities and ability to bypass the waiting list by paying extra (see below). We convinced ourselves for a while to just live with the many issues, as new parents we just figured most places probably weren't much better. But a year ago we moved to another private daycare in the area and are VERY happy. LTM issues seem to come down to a few areas: poor quality of care, high staff turnover, and poor management. Many issues we experienced personally, some we heard from other parents. Lots of "LTM refugees" like us in the area, just ask around! Quality of Care - Toddlers watching TV on the computer while eating lunch (kids programming, but still seemed far too often); witnessed multiple times when we had to pick up early for doctors' appointments, etc. Would be OK at a home daycare, not good enough given LTM fees! - Major health and safety concerns with unsupervised toileting of toddlers. We had seen toddlers going to the washroom for 5-10 minutes, coming back to carpet to play, staff asked no questions. Many parents we knew complained of toileting hygiene issues. - Our kids constantly sick with infections; we've since heard from former staff about the scary lack of regular cleaning, and with the lack of toileting supervision (above) it now make sense - Outside play was often missed, we heard many excuses from staff - it was too cold, backyard was too wet, too icy, too muddy, too much snow (apparently management cut back on snow clearing costs); owner told us the governm't says can't take kids out colder than 10C; we called the gov't and were told us this was untrue (and the very nice man told us they are a little tired of getting SO MANY calls about this daycare) - Schedule always variable; we would often pick a child up early, supposedly after 20-30 min of outdoor time as scheduled, but constantly find the classroom behind, our kids missed outdoor/activity time - Nutrition is non-existent; in-house "chef" uses lots of low quality 'no-name' foods (we saw the yellow packaging in kitchen every morning), lots of deli meats, no name chicken nuggets, etc. Also often not enough food, esp snacks. Staffing - High turnover, lots of firings and very young new hires, never knew who would be caring for our children one week to the next, or even from morning until pickup. We counted 13 different staff in our child's room over a six month period. At one point, the owner's young son (home from university, no formal child care training) and the in-house "chef" were our child's care providers. - Apparently no cleaners hired, we saw staff emptying garbage, covering in the office, cleaning classrooms; which meant less class time with our kids - Diaper changes infrequent at best; wet diapers often left unchanged. One parent actually put a marker on their child's diaper to monitor whether changed - found the same diaper on when she picked up! - Like many parents, we initially had individual staff we loved. But one by one, they were all fired or choose to leave. - Staff mixed up clothes so often, we lost many of our children's favourite items. Once right in front of me, staff checked label on my child's jacket with someone else's name, then put it on my child! Management - Closed far too often over holidays, etc. around two weeks at Christmas, very incovenient for working parents (esp given the cost!) - Constant policy changes, mostly ridiculous; e.g. children must stay home if have had any Tylenol/Tempra etc. for ANY reason during the last 24 hours - even for teething or some other non-contagious issue - Waiting list is a sham. When we enrolled, the owner actually offered (and we accepted, naively) to have us pay a lump sum of two month's extra fees to bypass other parents on the waiting list; have since heard this was common practice at LTM. - Owner has no formal childcare or social work training. Saw many instances of questionable decisions about care, but we just didn't clue in at first. So much more to say, some even more concerning, but just ask around. So happy we moved, our only regret is wondering what we didn't know! read more

During our first encounter with Little Tots back in 2011, it was a less than steller experience on the administration side of thing. After paying a non-refundable over $100 wait list fee, we discovered their management of the wait list is less than ethical. One of our friends who registered their daughter on the wait list after we did got a call for a spot before we did. Both kids are exactly the same age (i.e. 2 weeks apart). When we confronted the the owner Delene Spragge, she gave us an excuse that she was distracted by parents/kids and changed the order by accident. I have this in writing from her. She offered nothing to rectify the situation. No spot. No refund of the wait list fee. This is definitely not how to run a business. Poor management period. Good luck with your child if you plan to send them there. read more

I have had my two children go through Little Tots starting at the age of 1. The programs that the daycare offers are gold standard. Not only are they learning the foundations of reading, writing and math they are doing fun science experiments, learning about nutrition and cooking in the kitchen and doing lots physical activity (dance, gym, yoga, soccer, etc). The teachers are highly qualified ECE teachers that took the time to set my kids up for a successful entry into grade school. The staff are highly involved (and patient) when it comes time to toilet training, proper hygiene and creating good habits for years to come. Very positive experience for our family at Little Tots Manor. read more

Little Tots' Manor is a wonderful daycare and I am so glad that this is where my children spent/spend their days. My eldest started at 7 months old and stayed until junior kindergarten. My youngest is there now and is thriving. The staff are all wonderful and caring, the facilities are amazing and the fact that all the food is made on site daily is a bonus. (Plus they do laundry so you children never come home with dirty clothes). My children have benefited so much from going to school here and I recommend it 100%. read more

We enrolled both of our children at LTM after being referred by two family friends, and couldn't say enough about the loving care they received and excellent education provided. Our daughter just "graduated" from JK last year after being there since she was 13 months old. The friendships she made and relationships we developed with other families make it a truly special place to be. We continue to gather with our Little Tots alumni on a regular basis. Our younger son is now attending and is in the Senior Preschool class and loving every minute of it. We love the environment, the resources available there and the incredible care provided. It's so nice to be welcomed in every morning with warm hugs and by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen (they eat better there than they do at home). We feel comfortable and confident dropping our kids off there everyday, knowing they have their own routines and friends, and looking forward to them surprising us with everything they've learned throughout the day. Highly recommended!!! read more