Our family couldn't be happier with the daycare experience that Tinker Cole Valley provided to our daughter. Though we lived quite far from this location, and had nearby daycares that offered more convenience, we were more than happy to make the extra long journey to Tinker. This is because Tinker offers an experience that few other daycares have, which is daily connection to nature at Golden Gate Park. In addition to making friends and learning Mandarin, we wanted our daughter to be imbued with an appreciation for and curiosity about the natural world. That is exactly the type of child she has blossomed into, thanks to her being able to spend each day in a real park as her natural playground. Wherever we go, she loves to dig up the ground beneath her, and inspect every flower and tree. We were also incredibly fond of the Tinker Cole Valley teachers and staff. They demonstrated a great understanding of our daughter's needs, and made great effort to help her feel welcomed each day. The PTA is also very active and involved, which makes for a great young family community. Would recommend Tinker Cole Valley to anyone, no matter where in SF you live! read more

We have been with Tinker Cole Valley since it opened. Both of my children attended. One from age 3 to 5. And my youngest since she was 13 months. She is now 5. I am so incredibly happy we chose to attend Tinker. We are not a Mandarin speaking family and immersion was not necessarily something we were looking for in childcare. I am so glad we did though as both children became fluent while attending! In fact, we still continue lessons. The teachers and staff at Tinker are truly special people. I trust them all 100% with my children. They are the nicest, most caring and loving teachers. You can tell and know they care about each child. The daycare is very much a school. Focused on learning with fun and lots of outside time. They go outside every day rain or shine. It is the primary reason I went with this school. The staff take the time to build a curriculum and share it with the families. They have field trips and explore all over the city. My children love and adore the school and it's staff so much. They come home talking about what they did or ate (they both loved the food and snacks that they provide)! My youngest is in her last month and my oldest still talks about how much she loves Tinker. Tinker will forever hold a special place in my family's hearts. I can't thank the staff enough for all the care and love over the many years. A truly special special environment! read more

Tinker has been wonderful experience for my daughter. She's been there since she was 18 months old and is just now starting kindergarten at 5 yrs old. Originally I found Tinker because I was looking for a mandarin immersion program. Another aspect that I liked about the Tinker is that the kids spend every morning in the park. If you're drawn to programs that are nature based this is a great option. The location is just a block from Golden Gate Park which makes it ideal for an outdoor program that also offers full day care. This is a real gem because most nature based programs are part day. On a daily basis the kids come in and start their daily routine, then they go to the park or other nearby adventures and play for the day, come back for lunch which is prepared by the school and then have a nap and more play time. The location also has a backyard for additional outdoor time. I love that my daughter has learned that anything and everything can be a toy. She'll be walking down the street and just start collecting things to play with. Another amazing perk to being a Tinker family is the PTA. The parents at Tinker are truly special. It's this community that makes Tinker unlike any other program in SF. The PTA organizes some epic activities for the kids. To name a few, my daughter recently had field trips to Bay Area Discover Museum, Lemos Farm where she got to ride ponies, the beach for earth day and more. The PTA also organizes other unique experiences for the kids like small musical performances and regular monthly STEM activities. I often think about how lucky my kids are to have such a unique and enriching learning environment. read more

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This is the easiest 5 star review I have ever written here on Yelp. My daughter started at Tinker within the 1st year or so of it opening, back in 2019. She was 18 months old. She is now 5 1/2 and just about to move onto Kindergarten. In that time period, which includes covid, my daughter has blossomed into an engaging, thoughtful, and curious little person with excellent social skills. She also speaks mandarin as well if not better than she speaks English, and there is not a shred of Mandarin spoken in our home. Tinker has played an outsized role in her development, and I am gutted that she must move onto the next phase in her life. I have no idea if Tinker's brilliance starts primarily at the top or with the community - but I can say that the school is run extremely well. The administrators, teachers and staff are all wonderful. Some of them have become friends I hope will last beyond our time at the school. The families that find themselves at Tinker have been a revelation to me - I have experienced so much kindness and warmth from the community and it is completely reflected in my daughter, her friends at school, and the way in which the children learn. While every child will have their own experience with Tinker and its Mandarin Immersion model, it cannot be understated that children who attend Tinker will spend most of their school days conversing and learning in Mandarin. My daughter took to it and absolutely loves her mandarin side. She speaks it with friends outside of school, sings songs in Mandarin, tells me stories in Mandarin, and wants to continue her bilingual path. What a gift. All of this does not mask that the school is a terrific preschool, with or without Mandarin. The kids go outside every day, take long walks and even hikes, and seem to just enjoy every day they spend learning with their friends. If you are considering a preschool for your children, Tinker is worth more than a look. I am a person with a critical eye, and I don't have any constructive criticism to offer to tinker. It was a completely home run of an experience. read more

Tinker is a truly special place. My son has been there for 2.5 years. The most unique aspect is that the children take 2+ hour outings each morning. They walk to the Botanical Garden, Stow Lake, De Young Museum, Buena Vista Park, the library, and more. Being in San Francisco the kids should be enjoying all our city has to offer, and I love that they get so much fresh air, nature education and exercise. What other schools consider a field trip our kids are doing every day! The student-teacher ratio is very low as each class has 8-12 kids and 2-3 teachers. They do art projects most afternoons and determine the curriculum themes based on what the kids are interested in and the questions they ask. For example, my son is obsessed with clocks and time, and another kid loves skeletons, and I see them doing activities around these topics. The teachers, staff, and families are all amazing. Very COVID safe and we haven't had any cases in the school. We receive photos and descriptions of what the class did every day, and the school provides a hot lunch! read more

I absolutely love love love Tinker! My daughter has been going there for the past year and I feel so lucky and grateful that I found Tinker! This is their Cole Valley location which is Mandarin Immesion, and they are right next to Golden Gate Park. This means everyday they go out and explore...not just limited to GGP but also neighborhood playgrounds, grocery store, the library, etc. Annie the director also organizes fun field trips every few months, like Lemos Farm and Hiller Aviation Museum, has special visitors come to school like SF Zoo, orchestra, the tooth fairy, and celebrates cultural holidays! The PTA also organizes fun activities like Pancakes and PJ day, arts and crafts, etc. The program is so rich and fun. The teachers are so sweet, caring, attentive. Oh they also provide healthy lunch and snacks. What a time saver for parents! I highly recommend you check out Tinker Cole Valley. It's a fantastic preschool with a great director and teachers. read more

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This was the first place I've sent my son for care outside the home and I couldn't be more pleased. Our son loves going to school here. His mandarin has improved greatly. He now counts in mandarin and answer my questions back in mandarin. We are looking forward to attending full time and our daughter to join him in a few months. The teachers care so much about the children here. We get photo updates and general updates on how they are doing. My son always comes back hungry and exhausted so that is a good thing! He looks forward to his school days in read more

This daycare keeps us in San Francisco. Our daughter has been attending Tinker since she was 18 months old. We had moved her from a different Mandarin immersion daycare, and we are so glad we did. Here's all the things that I feel make Tinker stand out (and are important to my husband and I): THE TEACHERS & STAFF: Without a doubt the teachers and staff at Tinker make it what it is. They are caring, loving, and attentive. I've never had to guess what's going on there. They supply daily emails on what the kids got up to and upload photos to a private photo stream. Whenever they've had a question (or concern) regarding my daughter they have reached out and have been very professional. I have been happy with the communication. The Site Supervisor (Wendy) is very involved with the children and often also gives me reports when I pick up my daughter. During the 'COVID Times' I've been impressed with how they've run - clear communication from the Director (Annie) and detailed distance learning plans. Annie is great at what she does and leaves nothing to chance. ACTIVITIES: The kids spend the majority of the morning out on a daily adventure - GGP, a local playground, the library. They walk A LOT and go out rain or shine. You do need to be prepared for your kid to sometimes come home with worn out shoes and a little muddy; it's so worth it. Admittedly I did have to get over my own discomfort of my daughter going on adventures in the city without me - but I'm so glad I did, we have both grown so much from it. The lesson plans are child lead; if the kids start to show interest in something specific they will cater the next month's learnings around it. They do fun art projects and come home with cool things to hang on the wall. There are also field trips; Exploratorium, pumpkin patches, Hillman Aviation museum, the beach.... LEARNING MANDARIN: We are not a Mandarin speaking household; we wanted our daughter to take the opportunity to learn a second language when she was young. While we can't personally gauge her fluency her teachers have told us that she 'gets it' and her vocabulary is growing (she's only 2.5 now). Even though my husband and I do not speak Mandarin we can clearly communicate with all the teachers and staff; this is a big difference from the last daycare we went to where we felt we weren't 'in the know' because we didn't know the language. I love that my daughter is immersed in learning about another culture (my daughter still talks about Chinese New Year). They celebrated Holi this year too. FOOD: Tinker provides healthy snacks and meals for the kids. I like that the menu fluctuates (it's not the same thing all the time), and that she is exposed to different flavors than what she would have at home. THE OTHER FAMILIES: The other kids are rad. The other parents are rad. There is a yearly camping trip that everyone is invited to. I've found the parent community to be super supportive; and generally just a really nice group of people. Choosing a daycare is super-stressful. I loved Tinker from the moment we met Annie and did the open house and really wanted my daughter to go there. While moving her to a new daycare was anxiety inducing - I'm so glad that we made the leap. Tinker has been a great fit for our family. read more

This review is long overdue as both my kids attended Tinker over the last 6 years. My youngest just graduated and is headed off to K this Fall. We are excited for new opportunities but extremely sad that this means her leaving Tinker as the school is such a magical and special place. I have consistently found the teachers and staff to be attentive, patient and incredibly loving with the kids. The teachers are able to engage them in a way that I would never be able to and organically creates these amazing and fun learning opportunities of learning about science, nature, and math. They come home daily with fun arts and crafts they had made that day. In addition , the environment is supportive for working parents with provided lunches and snacks and a daily photo stream documenting the day's adventures. In addition, there is a daily email that goes out to detail the adventures of the day as well. And per my daughter, the food is really good :) The PTA has creates plenty of opportunities for the parents to choose the level of engagement with field trips, monthly mystery readers and holiday celebration etc. We absolutely love Tinker and don't hesitate to highly recommend. read more

Our experience at Tinker has been exceptional. They have truly provided an empathetic and enriching curriculum for my child. The level of attention and care has been a great part of the success of our child, and our family. read more

Tinker has been a godsend for us and our son. We looked at a number of preschools including other Mandarin immersion but found Tinker to be the most flexible, accommodating (needed to start part time, ramping to full time), and best-aligned with our parenting philosophies. The curriculum is child-led and a lot of the learning is outdoor. There are excursions everyday: Golden Gate (and other) Park, library, Ocean Beach. Some of the preschools we looked at had a similar distance to walk to the park but said they only went out "once a term". If you value outside play, Tinker is fantastic. Our son joined Tinker with virtually no Mandarin. After 12 months he is conversant and recognizes characters. My parents who are Chinese but have lived in western countries the last 50 years joke that his mandarin is better than theirs! We as parents are kept very well informed on daily activities and events, changes and curriculum. An English and mandarin daily report is emailed with photos and during the COVID crises and shutdown, distance learning weekly lesson plans with video conference capabilities have been set up. The teachers are lovely and as mentioned, adhere to a child-led learning philosophy. Both Annie (overall coordinator) and Wendy (Cole Valley center coordinator) are easily accessible, knowledgeable and importantly for those of us that don't speak mandarin, English-speaking. Further, teacher/child ratios are very good. I couldn't recommend Tinker more highly and we look forward to our new baby joining Tinker in 18 months! read more

My son (3.5yrsold) loves Tinker. He started Tinker a year ago and the teachers were so wonderful in making him feel comfortable and welcome. I HIGHLY recommend Tinker for five reasons in no particular order. 1. High quality teachers and admin that not only care about the students but go out of their way to teach the kids as if they were their own. Even when I was trying to potty train my son, the teachers accommodated to our home practices to make sure my son adjusted and was successfully potty trained 2 Chinese speaking - if you're looking for STEAM based learning, this is the school but in addition, the teachers are dedicated to teaching Chinese even if your child is not a native Chinese speaker. They make the environment not intimidating to learn. 3. Community minded - Especially during a time like Covid, the school continues to be thoughtful for the greater good of all the students and parents for a positive environment and community 4. Adaptable- Again with Covid, Tinker was one of the first schools to proactively come up with a remote learning curriculum and continue to adapt to the needs of the students and parents 5. Clean and safe- they just are! But more importantly when the kids go on long walks to GGP every day, which I love, the student/ teacher ratio is great and you know the kids are well taken care of. read more

Our son has been at Tinker for two years now and we all love the school! That's the teachers, the owners and the school community. Neither my wife or I speak Chinese but our son now speaks Mandarin! Love the gross motor skill development from being in the park everyday. Looking forward to our youngest enrolling soon read more

I can't speak more highly of this school, in terms of the academic experience, the people who work there, the other families it attracts, and the leadership. First, the academic experience. My kids have gone two days a week for almost four years (are about to graduate). With just that exposure and no Mandarin language support at home, my son was able to pass the SFUSD Mandarin competency test, and my daughter was very close. I think the small classroom size and the invested, kind, and astute teachers contribute to these results. In addition, they explore San Francisco every day; one of the key tenets of Tinker is that they go outside rain or shine. I always feel badly when I drive past a preschool that has a cute little play space for their students, because the children at Tinker get on buses, walk entire city blocks, and explore Golden Gate park all while being well supervised. For my city kids, this exposure also reinforces my parenting on important safety aspects of walking on sidewalks, riding buses, and crossing streets. Both my kids and our family have developed rich friendships from the community at Tinker, including the teachers. Finally, the leadership is skilled and passed the stress test that was COVID with flying colors. They shut down the school for a few months, as everyone did, but then they re-opened with rigorous safety procedures and initially some limited hours, but it was a Godsend for working parents. Tinker was back to full time within a year of the initial pandemic. Their communication during this time was also excellent. I know the school is expensive, but we could not imagine a better experience for our kids, and would choose it again in a heartbeat. read more