I cannot say enough good things about the staff at Mini Steps! As a former employee (director qualified) of five years at KinderCare and an early education major, I held Mini Steps to high standards going in. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I could drop my children off at a "non-chain" daycare and receive exceptional care at an affordable price. My youngest son started attending Mini Steps when he was only 10 weeks old. As a single mom, nothing was harder for me than leaving my newborn at daycare while I went to work every day. The quality of loving care and nurturing that he received on a daily basis from Ms. Marie and Ms. Jan was beyond any of my expectations. I quickly felt at ease leaving my newborn at Mini Steps in the loving and capable hands of the staff there. As my newborn grew and moved up to the toddler room, the transition was so easy and natural because he was already so comfortable and attached to Ms. Jan. From the toddler room he moved on to the 2s room with Ms. Sarah and again, I have nothing but amazing things to say. Ms. Sarah loved my son as she loved her own, and I knew that he was in the best hands possible. In the 3s room with Ms. Robbin and the 4s room with Ms. Barbara my son grew into the adorable, stubborn, hard-headed, sweet, hilarious, and smart child that he is today. He loved going to school and playing with his friends, and I loved how much he was learning through play and not even realizing it! My oldest son was a schoolager when he started Mini Steps in first grade. We both love Ms. Kay and cannot say enough wonderful things about her! She is a teacher and friend to her students, which can sometimes be a hard combination, but it comes as second nature to Ms. Kay. Not only is she caring and compassionate, she is strict when she needs to be. I recently purchased a new home in a new school district and had no other choice but to remove my children from Mini Steps. I cried on their last day. How do you say "Thank You" to the amazing teachers who helped you raise your children for 5 years?? Words just don't seem like enough. Tracie and Moe, thank you for giving me peace of mind every single day for 5 years while I was away from my boys. Thank you to the entire staff of Mini Steps for loving my boys the way I do. I will forever be grateful. xoxo read more

Great staff, my daughter (2yr) and son (infant) both attended full time and we were very pleased with the quality of care they received. Daughter was always very excited to go, and if we hadn't moved I'm sure they would be attending for years to come! read more

Coming from a career within education, I can honestly say that the staff and curriculum at Mini Steps is superb and above average. Staff is extremely polite, the school is always clean and the tuition is very reasonable. Would definitely recommend to every family. read more

Mini Steps is a Great & Very Clean facility for children. My 2 boys attended this daycare for several years and they loved it! The staff is very friendly, kind and attentive to the kids and their needs. The hours of operation are truly ideal for any working parent. read more

My daughter has attended Mini Steps for 6 years and has been well cared for and very happy. She did go to another summer program a couple of years ago and did not like it, it was staffed by high school students who did not manage the children at all so it is a blessing to be back at Mini Steps with adults who do care. I am a single Mom and work full time. Mo and his staff have been flexiable to help ensure my daughter could particpate in an after school science class and other events. She has never reported anythhing other than the usual kids learning to get along issues at daycare. The staff have always known which class room she is in -no matter what time I have stopped by to pick her up. I would and have recommend Mini Steps to others! read more

Both my son and I love this daycare. I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive at 1st as it isn't near the greatest neighborhood, but I figured I can't judge the daycare itself because of it's surroundings, and i'm glad that I didn't! He started in the baby room at 1.5 and the teachers always do a great job at making him feel welcome even when he'd be having his crying episodes, now going on 3, he has no problem waving goodbye to mommy or daddy as we drop him off. It says a lot when your child looks forward to going to school. He comes home and tells me stories about him playing and singing with his friends. I just recenlty had a bad experience and accidently locked my son in the car after picking him up from here, and one of the teachers (Ms. K) did an awesome job assisting us. Here is a tid bit of the email I sent the owner, Moe. "Ms. Kay quickly came out to start assisting me with not only providing me with info, but she also called the police dept., (my phone was inside car) and she even ran to the bldg. center next door where the police is usually at right around that time to bring him over! Once the police arrived, I told her I'm OK at that point and I would work with them as I know she had to finish up inside. After signing out and finishing her day, she came back outside and still continued to assist us in trying to help the police open the car, calling different locksmith, helped my son stay calm and even provided us with personal tools she had that I think is what really ended up helping best in finally getting the door open for us. She stayed with us until everything was said and done which was well past 6!" And last but not least.... I've been to the "high end, expenseive" day cares, definitely not worth it to me as I constantly saw rotating younger "teachers." - Here, it's much more affordable and I've seen the same teachers now for 2 yrs! So your children get to form that trusting relationship with them, which to me, is important. Good luck in your search for a daycare! read more

Mini Steps isn't just a child care center, it's a second home for my family and me. 2 years ago I had to return back into the working world and I had to trust others to care for my child. When I walked into Mini Steps I was afraid, uncertain, heartbroken. But after talking to the director and getting that reassurance I needed, I walked out knowing I had made a great choice for my son! I am so thankful for the staff here, my son is happy, healthy, and always learning something new! It feels good to be able to tell me friends about my son's school with pride! The teachers love what they do, and you see it! I'm such a happy mother just being able to do my son off and go to work worth a piece of mind is more than a mother can ask for. Once again thank you Mini Steps for not only giving child care services, but for being a huge part of our family! I'm definitely one happy mom! read more

My daughter been attending this daycare for about a year now. She really love coming to this daycare, and this is the only daycare I feel safe with my child compare to others... They help my daughter with homework and a lot of other educational tools. I also, have a niece and nephew attend and they love this daycare as well. My nephew is 4 now, but start when he was 3 and never said, to many words. Now, that he attend this daycare, his vocabulary has expanded a lot along with him opening up more, now to others.... The staff is great and very friendly! You would not regret having your child attend this daycare. read more

parents beware this is what happens when i leave my 12 month old son in the care of mini steps daycare 5600 arlington drive in hanover park il. when i first enrolled my kids about 2 years ago i thought that it was a safe place. i was also sold on the fact they had video cameras in all the classrooms. after excusing several incident reports from my kids being attacked by other kids, my kids being left at school by the daycare because they forgot to pick her up to my son getting a black eye because another infant hit him with a toy. today, shows me that those were warning signs leading up to the ultimate negligence that my son has to suffer for due to mini steps negligence. " partial traumatic transphalangeal amputation of finger" " that's what the doctors diagnosed my son with. as u can see from the picture my son lost part of his damn finger while in the care of mini steps. i know u all want to know how this happened i wish i had the answer. mini steps cant seem to offer any explanation nor can they produce the missing part of his finger. i was first alerted at 8:45am at the time the incident was down played saying his finger was pinched and asked if i wanted them to seek medical attention. which i cant determine because i was not present. also due to the fact of the situation being down played and them saying several times they are not sure of his nail came off. i had them his dad pick him up around 11:15am. as you can see below it was more than a pinch and his finger nail had come off. his father arrived at the daycare and knew immediately he needed medical attention. after taking him to the er and being diagnosed i called the owner and was told he was gone for the day. so i left work and drove to mini steps to get answers. when i arrived at mini steps the owner was there although i was told about 45 mins prior to me arriving he was gone. i talked to him and the fill in director who then tried to switch up the information she called and told me over the phone. i advised them of my sons condition and informed him his finger was partially amputated and his finger nail will never grow back because the bedding of his finger nail was ripped off. the showed no sympathy. not to mention the accident report was conflicting from what i was told over the phone. after leaving the daycare and talking to a few family members i went back yo mini steps to demand seeing the video footage of the classroom to see what happened to my baby. the owner refused and asked me to leave. i called the police. the police came and heard both sides of the story and advised the owner that he was going about things the wrong way and he should have set us down and showed us the video tape. its impossible for me to capture my feeling today and everything that transpired in this paragraph your reading. of all of the things that has been said and that took place today i'm still left withe question why, and how did this happen. its funny how the owner likes to communicate regarding tuition late fees and ect. but when a serious accident occurred and i wanted to communicate with him i was asked to leave his facility read more

Mini Steps Childcare - MINI STEPS NEGLIGENCE. " PARTIAL TRAUMATIC TRANSPHALANGEAL AMPUTATION OF FINGER OF A 12 MONTH OLD. - Preschools Near Me - Hanover Park, Illinois

My child started mini steps August 27th 2018, and I ended her enrollment December 7th 2018. Prior to the old director Ms. Kay leaving everything as far as administration was handled accurate and professionally. Before I continue, I never had an issue with my daughter attending. All the teachers were professional. When enrolling my child I had to pay $100 weekly until my co-payment from child care assistance was determined. I was perfectly fine with paying , because I knew once my childcare was factored in I would end up with a credit balance. I initially paid $150.00 cash the enrollment fee was waived and I was charged 35.00 for a cot cover. That left me with $115.00 which was applied to the 1st week of her attending, then on September 7th I provided Ms. Kay a picture of my debit card via email and she processed a payment for $100, and I did the same thing for September 14th. Therefore I had paid $315.00 and September 17th is when they received notice from childcare my monthly responsibility would be $190 monthly. Ms. Kay took my September copayment and deducted it from the $315.00. Also I was charged a $15.00 for her being in daycare more than 8hrs, then her copayment for August 27th through August 31st was $47.50. I was left with a credit of $62.50 with September copayment being paid already. For the month of October I made 2 check payment for a total of $215.00, mind you I already got a credit of $62.50 and my copayment is $190. I paid extra just in case she stayed over 8hrs. Fast forward some joker name Moe whom I've never met tried to tell me I owe $600, he didn't take the time to listen he over talked me, and he doesn't know anything. He thought he could tell me the sky was purple when I clearly know it's blue. He made me very uncomfortable with paying so for my November copayment of 200.00 I stopped payment on the check, because Moe was trying to tell me even with my November payment I still owe $441.00. I became frustrated with Moe and decided I'm not taking my child back. It's not a good feeling when your paying people and no one knows what's going on or who discussed something prior to them jumping in the mix with their confusion. Ministeps like most modern childcare facilities need to setup online payment accounts. That way you can see the ledger of chargers and payments that are posted. Moe and Barbara kept saying they didn't see my credit. That's not my problem, because I forwarded Moe the email Ms.Kay sent me explaining the credit and he still ignored it. I will pay the copayment for the month of November, and whatever prorated fee for Dec 1st through Dec 7th. read more

I became the legal guardian of my neice a couple of years ago, she had been through so much in her short 4years of living! I was really worried about her academically and also her social abilities but THANKS to Ministeps and their wonderful staff, Ms. Kay, Ms.Barbara and Mrs.Tracy just to name a few, has helped her and been so patient with her! I love them for that! Ive talked to the owner,Mr.Moe, he is very nice, respectfully and understanding also! If u have children in the area, i would recommend this school/daycare! read more

The staff and management at Mini Steps is great! Everyone is polite and willing to help. My son is 2 and a bad eater, the teachers at Mini Steps have been very helpful in trying to get him to eat, even if they had to feed him. A lot of places don't do that as they expect the toddlers to be independent and eat on their own. Mini Steps is also affordable and flexible. i would recommend Mini Steps to other families. read more

Our son has been going to Mini-Steps for the last several years and our experience has been excellent from day one! My wife's work schedule varies greatly (she is often on call) and the extraordinary understanding and flexibility by Tracy and Moe with our scheduling arrangements can not be overstated. They have been such a pleasure to work with and we are so appreciative of this. Additionally, our experience with the rest of the staff at Mini-Steps has also been very positive. The teachers at each age level have been very professional and keep us well informed on the development of our child even though he only attends part time. In short, I highly recommend Mini-Steps to anyone who is looking for a professional child care facility with a personal touch! read more

I absolutely love this daycare.. The teachers are great and I can honestly say that they truly care about each individual child. My baby loves it here and I recommend this facility to everyone with children of all ages!!! read more

My daughter was 6 months when I enrolled her in to Mini Steps. It actually took me a couple of weeks to feel comfortable with the idea of taking my baby to a daycare. After visiting several near by facilities I decided to go with Mini Steps, the staff made me feel comfortable and I felt that they were genuine and caring. They have a curriculum based system which is an added bonus. I have seen so much improvement not only in her social skills but also in her cognitive skills. I love and appreciate the staff at mini steps. read more

Classes are chronically over-ratio and under investigation by DCFS. In the past 6 months, at least 2 children have been rushed to the E.R. for stitches. During their summer camp, one child nearly drown. They have been investigated by DCFS for safety violations. They are a full-inclusion center but the staff has not been trained to handle children with challenges. This has lead to many, many accidents that were preventable. If you are looking for cheap, you have found the right place. If you are concerned about your children's safety, run don't walk any place but here. Teachers routinely shame children and scream at them. Children are constantly being shifted around to try and find a teacher that can handle them. Continuing education is a joke. One teacher will take a class and the others read her notes....then they all get credit. When my child got bit, no one did anything. When my child bit a staff members child, he got expelled. Discipline is not uniformly enforced. Both management and staff play favorites. Getting expelled was the best thing that ever happened to my child. He is happy and doing well at his new center and shows none of the behaviors MiniSteps claimed he exhibited in their center. read more