If Taji likes them so do I. From what I learned flying can make you feel nauseous. Would not…read morerecommend eating Indian food the night before.

Worth watching the vice video. Things have changed since the last reviews. I would definitely trust…read moreinstructor Pedro with teaching me.

I'm not convinced Aquaventures is worth what they charge (4x the cost of community pools' lessons)…read more After many years of lessons at the community pools, my kid was just not getting the hang of crawl with proper breathing. Her school classmates' parents recommended Aquaventures or Atlantis, as they are much more hands-on, so we sucked up the cost and signed her up for Aquaventures. We have liked that the instructors actually touch and manipulate the kids' arms and legs to help them learn -- there's more focus on proper technique. (The community centre approach at her age is to have them jump in and struggle through it -- the instructor often isn't even in the pool with them.) The teachers for the two sets we've done have also seemed good, and my kid has improved, although not in leaps and bounds. Otherwise I don't feel we're getting our money's worth. The pool and facilities are cramped and old (though this may change with a new facility they're building). It's a small pool, and with 5 or 6 classes for all ages going on at once, it's pandemonium. There's no way for the kids to build endurance or swim for more than 5-10 m at a stretch. They also have to close the pool fairly often, on a moment's notice, for issues with filtration, etc. (This has happened twice now, in 13 weeks of classes. You get a refund but your kid loses the instruction / consistency.) The dressing rooms and seating area are all dumpy and crowded. There are not enough chairs for all the parents and grandparents that turn up. There is free parking but the parking lot is generally full. And for all the extra money, the kids don't get any more time with the instructor that at the community centres. Lessons are only 2/3 the length of those at the community centres (30 min, instead of 45) and there are still 4 kids in each class (vs 6). That works out to 7.5 minutes of instructor attention per kid at both. Honestly the only difference is that the attention at Aquaventures is more hands-on. (For babies, there is no difference whatsoever in what you get at the community centres and Aquaventures. And many of the community pools have warm toddler pools. The only difference is the cost.) Registration is not great, but it is better than the community centres. At least those currently in lessons get priority and their servers don't get slammed at 9:00:01 on registration day. Overall: Good, hands-on teaching with a focus on technique. But overpriced.

I barely have time to shower in my life but I felt compelled to take a moment to write this review…read more My son who is 4 just did his first aquaventures class series. 5 days each week for 2 weeks. I want to say that his instructor Sandra was FANTASTIC. She is just so great with kids- gently brushing their hair out of their eyes when they come up from getting their faces wet, adjusting their little goggles, and taking the time to praise them each time they completed a game. My son needs a little bit of encouragement out of his comfort zone in the water, and I feel like she was the first person to achieve that with him. Even on his off days, she somehow got him in the pool! I should also say she was incredibly patient with the kids too when they had trouble listening. My kid went from not being able to get his face wet, to jumping from a platform into the water in 2 weeks!! He is constantly talking about swimming. The registration process was a bit confusing to navigate at first but we figured it out. Facilities were a bit run down but it didn't bother us and they have a new location opening up next year! Hands down, I would recommend this program and Sandra in particular. I feel like my son has developed in leaps and bounds and we have signed up for fall classes even though they are soooo expensive. I pay what it takes because to me, learning to swim is life and death so it's worth the money to have these people teach your kid to swim. 5 stars for sure.

Excellent adult ballet classes, with gorgeous studios. The temperature tends to be a little too…read morehot in the summer months. There is no air conditioning in the building on Main Street. There are a few tower fans. Good news is, your chance of getting cold in class is almost zero, and the heat makes me feel more flexible. The classes, Intro and Level 1, are challenging, but with continued regular attendance, classes become easier. There's a fair amount of memory involved in ballet, with the terminology and choreography. No live music for the adult classes, however, the teachers do well using their own music. Teachers are friendly and helpful to all students. Highly recommend!

My daughter developed her passion of dance from Goh Ballet Academy. All the teachers are friendly,…read morecaring, experienced, and encouraging. They offer not only the RAD exam curriculum, but also opportunities such as the annual Nutcracker performance at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, local and international competitions, year-end dance recitals, and more. Not to mention the beautiful heritage building and live piano music during class. I've also done some adults ballet and other classes myself. It was awesome fun and a great way to exercise!

Dropped in to check on class schedule, lots of parents waiting in the front area. Couldn't see any…read moreof the classes so can't comment on the instructions. Easy to get to, plenty of street parking. Classes are quite reasonable.

I took a year's worth of tap dance classes from September to June at the Tap Dance Society and it…read morewas great! The class was a mix of people from early 20's to late 40's and everyone who signed up had so much fun with it. And yes, there were guys in the class too, men who can embrace their dancing skills are true men. At the Tap Society you have the option of renting your shoes for the year, but I decided to buy my own. But this is a good option for people who want to save a little money. I just wanted to tap dance at home on my hardwood floors to give payback to the boys who live below me that play their shitty music really loud. Unfortunately my plan didn't work and they thought it was "so cute" that I was tap dancing in my room. Jerks. The only reason I have not continued with tap, well one of the reasons, is that this place is way the heck up by the PNE and for me it was hard to schedule the end of my workday in time to catch the two busses I needed to get out to the location. The other reason, and I am sure it will come as no surprise, oooh right, I'm broke. So perhaps in the future I will take tap again at the next level and try the Harbour Dance Centre since it is so close to my workplace.

Though this school is popular and has many students, all students and families are known by the…read moreteachers and are part of a (very large) family. This school is good for beginners and senior dancers. My daughter came to this school as a teenager after we moved. She has improved greatly and would not be as good as she is now without the help of her teachers. Highly recommended.

This review is for Oakridge Montessori School. My child went through most of the Junior…read moreKindergarten year. Unlike teacher communication at OMS, this review was written 100% without the use of AI. OMS, if you would like to respond, please consider not using AI. Prospective parent: Unless you are ultra-wealthy and have at least one caregiver who does not need to work, stay away! (You might also like to own a Tesla). You will need all of the above to shuttle your child back and forth to many field trips and special events (not on the school calendar) that last ~2-3 hours in lieu of actual school, plus you will need to pay extra for every single one of them (plus up to $10k more for auctions...as the principal said, "It's Report Card Season!"). Essentially this is an (aspirational) feeder school for elite private schools in the area, and tries to behave like one. Oh, and you should also read/write Mandarin and have the WeChat app in order to participate in the parent group. This school has absolutely nailed their target demographic. I don't think the school needs to change, because it works well for said population. I'm writing this review so that those who don't fall within this particular demographic can go in with eyes wide open. We didn't, clearly - because who can really be that choosey about childcare in Vancouver? - but I think a heads up might have helped. OMS is a self-proclaimed "organic Montessori" school. They do screen time, and they seem a bit light on some other parts of Montessori (my kid reports that they don't really clean their environment, for e.g., though I take their report with a grain of salt). What concerned us early on was the use of reward/points systems to motivate behavior in the classroom through their ClassDojo App (which, btw, suits the school well - always asking for money - and which we hate with a passion). To the school's credit, when I raised this issue with the teacher, the school principal(?)/"Director of Education" called me and addressed it, claiming it was a communication error and that the points were not to be used with this age group, only Grade 1 & up. They did seem to stop using it after this. (Though are points really appropriate for Grade 1 & up in a Montessori school?) Continuing to give credit where it is due: Teachers and staff have taken the time to answer our concerns, and have called us during what I am guessing are their lunch breaks. While the AI responses really rub me the wrong way - because these are the people teaching my child to read and write - I acknowledge that being in charge of 16 4ish-year-olds is really no mean feat. I do believe that the staff and teachers care about the students. Moreover, my child did learn to read and write quite willingly during their time at OMS. IN SUM: Our family is an outlier at OMS - we don't own a car, we aren't trying to send our kids to elite private schools, and having to pay $55 per adult to attend my child's "Spring Tea" concert (which is 1.5 hours long with no regular school) is a bit painful. And so attending this school has been a bit awkward and logistically burdensome for us. You might say there was a mismatch in values, but of course no daycare or school is going to mesh with our family's culture completely. No irreparable damage was done, we did our best to make a few friends among the parents, my child has been mostly happy......but we will not be continuing our "OMS journey".

Expensive! 2.5 hours a day! 3 programs running a day. No wonder the teacher turnover is high. It…read morefeels like a prep school for private schools with charges for every extra detail. Fees are going up $5000 next year, insane.