Little Beans Preschool is a child daycare & preschools daycare located at 2117 Acton Street, Berkeley, California CA. Find contact info, location details, and similar daycares nearby.
My son attended from age 2-5 and we had a wonderful experience! It's a warm environment, with wonderful, loving teachers and just the right mix of open-ended play time and structure, that helps kids get used to being in a structured environment. My son started TK this year based on his age, but he absolutely could have gone straight to kindergarten after his year in the "String Beans" class, which is their version of TK. The school also offers monthly "date nights" where the kids basically have a pizza party/movie night after school and parents can go on a Date Night. Both parents and kids adore these nights - they are such a huge bonus to the high quality childcare that you already get at Little Beans. The parent community is also pretty close-knit, and parents often organize meet-ups and extracurricular activities for the kids to continue their budding friendships outside of school. It's a great place for kids and parents, and I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for care in the East Bay!
My kids 2nd home from ages two through five. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Little Beans. My little ones came from a larger chain daycare system that was way more expensive but highly disorganized, and not in a "free play encouraged" kind of way but more like a Lord Of The Flies kind of way. Lots of turnover and chaos. My daughter HATED going every day. We moved her to Little Beans and it was like night and day. The owners, Kathleen and Heather, are super careful about hiring and would rather be under-enrolled than hire someone who won't be the right fit or who will leave after six months. My kids love every teacher here. We started my son the month he turned two and his experience has been just as good. The staff has even been instrumental in potty training for both of them. The only heads up I would give is make sure you are aware of their holiday closures. If you can manage those weeks, Little Beans might be the place you've been looking for!
We adore this school and community. It's managed well, staffed by caring people who love the children, and I can't say enough about how much my child has grown and developed during her time here. I wholeheartedly recommend Little Beans Preschool!