Creative Beginnings West

My son has been attending Creative Beginnings West for over a year and a half and my wife and I couldn't be more pleased with the care and education he has received. The center is divided into different classrooms based on the child's age. There are five main rooms: infant, wobbler, toddler, tike and preschool. They also have an art room and a small gym. The staff is extremely professional. It's a great mix of teachers with degrees in early childhood education and Central Michigan University students working toward earning similar degrees. It's really the best of both worlds. You have the teachers that have vast childcare experience from years of doing it mixed in with students that have been taught the latest knowledge and trends in childcare so there is a depth and a breadth of childcare knowledge. I really feel like my son has learned a lot from attending, and as an only child, has learned a lot of social skills that he otherwise wouldn't have. He loves his friends there and loves the teachers as well. The teachers really treat the kids like little adults and foster a sense of independence. The teachers have a great routine and schedule for the students, but are also very flexible when it comes to life's little challenges. When our son was 12 months old he had a really bad chest cold he had to take nebulizer treatments twice a day. For us, getting him to take the treatments was always a challenge. For the Creative Beginnings teachers and staff it was no big deal. Now that he is two and a half, we've started potty training and the teachers and staff have been very helpful throughout this transition as well. The communication between teachers, staff, and parents has always been excellent. Every day they send a little sheet home with our son that lets us know what he had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, how many times he used the potty, and how long of a nap he took. When he was an infant, the sheet also kept a schedule of feedings. As a parent, this type of information really puts my mind at ease, especially when he was younger. At first my wife and I were nervous about having him start daycare (passing your little one along to strangers is always tough) but I sincerely feel like choosing Creative Beginnings has been one of the best parenting decisions we've made. Highly recommended.

My daughter attended Creative Beginnings and progressed almost through all of the areas (toddler, tyke, now preschool). Unfortunately I did not think this was a good option when I had my son solely based upon the fact that it is more expensive than other daycares in the area. Man, was I a fool! I should have started and sticked with Creative Beginning years ago! As a single parent, you need a reliable daycare. I had tried in home daycares and they are awful if you need reliability. How can they be when there is only one caregiver and they, too, get sick at times? Also, there are other, larger daycares in the area but they are too large- with rotating staff. And this can scare a child because the staff = strangers. Not at Creative Beginnings! The staff are mixed (I agree with another reviewer) between those who have worked longer term and CMU Students who are lucky to be mentored by them. They all have so much energy and you can tell they really adore the children. There is also a strong sense of professionalism in the daycare. Michelle is reliable and knows the laws and regulations and adheres to them. You will be surprised by how much assessment they do of the children! Chrissy is a class act; she is business-savvy and to the point while also being very approachable. One thing I haven't seen other reviewers mention is the diversity of the staff. Mt. Pleasant is a predominantly white and rural community. I came here after growing up near Chicago and wanted to make sure my children were exposed to different cultures. Michelle makes a conscious effort to instill this in the daycare. There are male teachers, teachers who are from other countries (like Mrs. Niraja, who, if I could clone and take with me as we move up in the school system, I would), and activities the children do that teach them about places way beyond Mt. Pleasant. Professor moving to the area- get you kids on the waiting list immediately. The choices are limited in Mt. Pleasant and don't go thru what I did with ultimately learning Creative Beginnings is the ONLY place your dearest children should go too. Oh... and a big shoutout to Ms. Leslie, the cook. She goes through so much to make sure the children eat delicious snacks and healthy meals. When my son comes home from grammar school and tells me he ate a hot dog or hamburger from the school cafeteria, I am so thankful that my daughter (at Creative Beginnings) is not being forced to eat the same.

The rates here are on the higher end for the area but the staff do so much to make it worth while. I get a written report at the end of every day telling me everything my child did (eating, diapers, sleep, medicine, etc.). In a short time it was very obvious to me the caregivers knew my child and her routine and were able to report anything about her out of the norm. They don't hesitate to reach out to me during the day if they have questions and I get to see pictures of all the things she's doing during the day. I very quickly became comfortable here and highly recommend it to anyone looking for child care. I was on the waiting list for 4 months so plan ahead when possible.