Little Scholars Preschool

My daughter has been attending little scholars for the last two years and will be leaving when it’s time for her to start kindergarten. it has been the best experience for her, she loves all the activities including field trips she gets to go on. We are so greatful To have found this school when we moved to the area. Would highly recommend!

I toured many preschools in the area and Little Scholars won my heart. This school is a hidden gem in the East bay area.  I have been in the child development field for 5 years before I had kiddos. So once it was my turn to look for a preschool for my children I clearly knew what I was looking for in a preschool and Little Scholars met all of my lists.  ( Low ratio, Philosophy, relationship with between educators/children and parents, and communication). my oldest child attended Little Scholars in 2019-2020 and he really enjoyed it. He loved all the songs he was learning and knew all his letters and sounds. Now my 2nd child is attending here and I feel safe and happy knowing he is in good hands. The director (Ms.Linda) and educators (Ms.Kat, and Ms.Kristin) are very professional, loving, compassionate, accessible, and responsible. I can tell they are experienced educators who truly love educating children to learn and grow to their full potential. Every time when I walk in, educators and children always greet me with big smiles and are always welcoming. The children look happy and busy doing activities and interacting with others. Their program is fabulous and hands-on. I like the low ratio of 1:6.  The curriculum is well organized and it is STEM-focused. My son loves talking about his artwork from school and is super proud of it.  I love that they get to go on nature walks on sunny/rainy days and during summer, it is filled with fun activities/field trips. We get monthly newsletters and daily reports, and I enjoy reading the daily report to find out how much my child ate, and slept and discuss what they learned at school during dinner time. The best part for me is getting the picture/video update. :) When I show the picture to my son, he loves talking about what he learned at school and he seems genuinely excited to go to school.

Our 4 year old daughter attends Little Scholars and she loves Miss Linda and Miss Kat. As with most children her age, the pandemic set back her social skill development, but the home-like environment and play based approach at Little Scholars has helped her become more confident socially and using her voice more as well. For context, our daughter previously attended a small Montessori school of 5 children. It was also a great school as it helped her develop her individual confidence and life skills (things like putting on shoes/clothes, getting water, using different tools), but after we moved, we wanted to find a slightly larger school to help her catch up with her social skills before kindergarten.

The kids range from ages 3 to 5 with 10-12 kids so they get a good mix of ages to interact with. The school does some light academic lessons (also helps to practice things like raising their hands and listening), public speaking practice, piano music time from Miss Kat, and weather permitting, plenty of outdoor play (I'm slightly taking the word of my 4 yo old here for what they do). Some fun things they did this year were a pumpkin patch trip, halloween parade, christmas show, and miss kat brought in some spiders for a show and tell. Miss Linda has a small, very relaxed dog that mostly stays in its own room, and in the backyard behind a fence/coop there are chickens, so lot of great optional exposure to animals that kids are bound to be curious about and can learn a general respect for.

Some administrative things, Little Scholars offers wide set of options for dropoff and pickup times, as well as daily app updates with pictures of different activities. Kids bring their own lunch which can also be microwaved by the teachers after which they have naptime.

Overall, everyone seems friendly and respectful to each other (I haven't heard of any fighting with the kids from my daughter). I have heard that sometimes kids need to have "thinking time" if they don't realize the effects of their actions on their friends, but from the sound of things from my daughter, the teachers are very patient and are focused on using that time as teaching moments. From what I've seen of other children and talked to other parents, the kids all seem comfortable talking to the teachers and genuinely like them both.

Very happy overall with the experience both of our kids have had at Little Scholars. Our daughter attended for nearly two years, and our son will wrap up his third year there this spring. We've appreciated the broad variety of topics that Ms Linda & Ms Kat expose the kiddos to, and the little extras that they do to make learning a fun experience, e.g. taking the kids on rainy walks when it's wet outside, seasonal field trips, bringing in outside guests and speakers to talk about different topics, etc.

Our daughter is excelling in kindergarten this year, no doubt in large part due to the foundation that was built during her time at Little Scholars. Would highly recommend!

We love Ms. Linda! Great place for our kiddos to learn and grow, would highly recommend if you're looking for a preschool.