Our boys are so happy at school at TenderHearts. All of the teachers are amazing. Our oldest is in the 4k program and has learned so much! He is sad on the days that they don't have 4k. He also adores his wrap around teacher in the blue room, Maricela. Our youngest loves reading books with the teachers and all of the art projects. He loves showing them to me posted on the wall around his room. He also has a food allergy and the entire staff has been amazing helping us navigate that world and keeping him safe at school. We can't say enough wonderful things about the school and the teachers, just ask my boys :-) Thank you Jacki, Jenn, Candace, Jody, Maricela, Zach, Karla, Sadie, Heather and Jacki (4K).... too many awesome people to name! read more

If you are considering Tender Hearts Day Learning Center (Daycare) for your child, please read this entire first. In the beginning of October, we switched our two children from Tiny Town to Tender Hearts. We were looking for something a little cheaper, but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. The tour of the facility and its values are good in theory. The building is nice and the layout is spacious. We liked the set up of the play area and the separate eating area. So we made the switch. When we began drop-offs we noticed the three-year-old room was very chaotic, often the teachers seemed overwhelmed and unmotivated. I walked in once and there was a pair of adult non-safety scissors sitting on the children's table, unattended. Often during pickups, you could hear the teacher's yelling at the children, lacking some patience and kindness. During one of our pick-ups, the teacher in my one-year-old son's room stopped him from crawling out of an open door by putting her foot in his face. She did not have other children in her arms, she was just standing there, but she was too lazy to bend down and pick him up. We reported this to the facility manager, Jean, and they said they addressed it. We also brought up the number of pee accidents that our three year old was having, but they seem to brush it off. Our three year old has been potty trained for approximately a year, he wakes up at night to use the toilet, and besides his time at Tender Hearts, has had less than ten accidents since his training began. By the end of the first week, our three-year-old son had two pee accidents, which we just attributed to the stress of changing environments. The next week he had two more, and same the next week. He is normally a very easygoing child, but drop-offs at Tender Hearts became very distressing for him, he'd plead to go with us, and hold on to my husband's leg. (Now that we have returned to Tiny Town, he is happy to "go to school" again. In fact, he runs to his classroom.) This cumulating event, which forced us to remove our children from the facility, was the beginning of November. My husband returned to pick our boys up, and my three-year-old was in the cafeteria area. When he walked in he noticed that our son was sitting alone at a table. Our son got up to greet my husband and that is when my husband noticed he had again had a pee accident in his pants. When my husband mentioned it to the teacher, she stated she knew. She was the only teach there with a lot of children, which may suggest understaffing issues. We are not sure if our son was being punished for having another accident or if they just did not have enough teachers available for the number of children, who were present, but both would be neglectful (Definition of neglect: to give little attention or respect to). When I brought up the issue to the woman who sits at the front desk, she just shook her head and stated she knew. She did not respond that either scenario was unacceptable. I emailed the owner Jean multiple times, with no response, and further, I called her multiple times, again with no response. Finally, when I did get through to someone, I was given reason's excusing the teacher's behavior and allowing my son to sit in his soiled pants. I was not offered an apology or any understanding of my concerns. They just said they had already talked to their licensing agent, who agreed with them, to whom I will also be in contact with. Their only suggestion was that I get one on one care for my three-year-old, who is a completely able-bodied child, who meets all their milestones, in a healthy environment, basically blaming the child for their shortcomings. I am by no means a mother who believes their child can do no wrong, but in this case, he did not. Shaming a young child for accidents can have a damaging and lasting effect. Please, if you have a choice, consider our experience before making a decision on who protects your children, while they are out of your care. read more

My son has attended Tenderheart Learning Center since he was 18 months old. He's now in Kindergarten and receives before/after school care at the TLC school-age center. I've read two prior negative reviews, and while I can't speak about what others may have experienced, it has definitely not been MY experience. Here are some of the wonderful aspects of TLC: - lovely facilities that are well maintained, clean, and bright; - an education-focused curriculum at each stage of development; - an onsite 4K program affiliated with the Howard Suamico School district; - an amazing team of teachers that are caring, intelligent, and kind. I cannot speak highly enough of the teachers and will name a few that I've interacted with directly and on many occasions: Maricela, Karla, Jackie, Zach, Vicki, Sadie, Sadie (yes - there are two teachers named Sadie). I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting right now. As one reviewer mentioned, TLC's costs are lower than some (but definitely higher than others in the area - I've checked), and I think it's a great value for the cost. That's nice, but what do I care about cost when my son's happiness and well-being (which are my first priorities) are at stake? All I care about is whether or not the care they provide when I'm NOT watching is as good as what I see when I drop off/pick up! Sometimes, particularly when he was still nonverbal, my son would have a bad morning at drop off and I'd ask myself if maybe there was something wrong with TLC, that maybe he didn't want to be there because they were horrible... Was I leaving the most important person in my whole world with a bunch of monsters?! Maybe I'm a little crazy with my mom-worries, but I think all parents have a similar (if perhaps less dramatic) concern about their daycare providers - what's happening when we're not there? So, how did I address my over the top worries? Since TLC is open parents/relatives to visit (pretty much whenever we want/need to, you get a code or fingerprint), I asked my mother to "drop in" to pick up my son early a few times...okay, it was A LOT of times at first (often once a week at random). I asked her to observe quietly for a minute or two before announcing herself in the classroom, and she never had anything negative to report. Ultimately, what really convinced me that TLC lives up to its appearance was how happy my son was (and still is) to be there. Nearly every day, when it came time to pick him up, he'd ask to stay at the center a bit longer to play or do activities with the friends he'd made or his favorite teachers (Ms. Karla, Ms. Maricela, or Mr. Zach). These days, I have to tear him away from Ms. Vicki and Ms. Sadie as they've taught him several card games and appear to have limitless patience for playing them with a hyper 5-year-old. Also, since he's been old enough to form coherent sentences, he's regaled me with stories about this teacher or that teacher, what they did, who he likes best, etc., so I also have my son's own words to confirm for me that TLC is wonderful. Earlier, I listed the positives, so it seems only fair that I list any negatives. Since I can't think of a truly negative factor, I'd rather focus on a suggestion to improve the level of communication between the center staff and parents/guardians. In previous years, I often felt a bit out of touch with things I needed to do, deadlines, understanding what was needed, etc. since most communication was written on teachers' boards outside the classrooms, or written messages in the parent pockets. My husband is definitely not good with relaying this type of information, so if I didn't pick up our son, I didn't get the message. (Please note that I was always able to ask the TLC team, and received prompt answers, so I did not suffer from a lack of communication.) My comment would be that I'd like to see more proactive communication - reaching out more often by email or in some other way to communicate on various topics prior to due dates, requirements, upcoming events, etc. On the bright side, I feel like the channels of communication are much smoother than when my son began attending, so there's definitely been an improvement over time. So if you've made it this far in my "War and Peace" version of a review, I thank you. I didn't write this review lightly (because I dislike writing reviews), but I wanted to ensure that those parents or guardians looking at TLC don't see only the two negative reviews and decide to move on. Ultimately, after four years of providing consistent, kind, and excellent care to my son, I can wholeheartedly recommend TLC to any of my loved ones, friends, acquaintances, or random moms/dads in the grocery store who are searching for a daycare provider. read more

We have been with Tenderheart Learning Center for a year now, we love it. The Christian based mentality is WONDERFUL! I love the fact that they pray at meal time and are not afraid to do a little teaching about Christianity. In that it is a "School", and we all know that ANY use of religion in public schools is a No No, we appreciate it. Maricella, our child's teacher, is active, caring, energetic and VERY PATIENT with the 4/5 yr olds! She is bi-lingual and helps to teach the kids bits of spanish; just another awesome learning experience. They are always working on projects and she teaches them about music and dance. Tenderhearts offer the 4K program in the center so we do not have to worry about transporting to another school. Snow days... just another day at the center, no worries of finding another place to go. Thank you Tenderhearts for all you do!! Kelly read more