Blocks Infant Toddler Child Care Center

While the teachers at this location are great, the upper management is deplorable. It is all about smoke and mirrors with them when it comes to how they are paid and the application of your security deposit. In their handbook, it states multiple places that their rate is monthly, yet on months with 5 Mondays, they suddenly switch to a weekly rate to try and milk parents for every cent. Then, when you withdraw your child and have not only a positive payment history but no remaining balance, they try to keep almost half of your deposit (despite having it in writing that you are owed your FULL deposit) Trust me, the dishonest management is not worth the headache. Go somewhere who is true to their word and respectful of their clients.

We were happy to leave our child in Blocks’ care for nearly a year, but unfortunately we felt that the school changed. The teacher turn-​over rate skyrocketed, there was a health code violation, and we found that our child spent too much of her day playing alone in her crib or sitting in a chair. It made us very uncomfortable that the corporate management was unwilling to meet with us in person to discuss our concerns. We decided that relocating her was the best decision for our family, and are much more comfortable elsewhere now.

Blocks was a TERRIFIC place for the first year that my child went there. However, aggressive levels of teacher turnover (there was only one teacher left that was there when we started) and the lack of communication with the corporate office was a complete FAIL. After pulling our child due to what we deemed were safety concerns, we had a very hard time getting a straight answer about refunding our tuition and the management in the Oak Park location REFUSED to meet with parents. Unfortunately this was a business that was AWESOME that just took a turn for the worse. You get what you pay for.

Blocks is a wonderful place! We sent our son there from 4 months old to 21 months. We would have kept him in longer, but we moved and needed to find a new daycare. While he was «aging» out a bit (i believe they only go up to 2 — 2.5 yrs old), it was very sad to leave! Our son loved it there — the staff is friendly and wonderful with infants and toddlers. It’s not overly fancy but clean and efficiently run. I highly recommend Blocks!

Our son is 15 months old and currently at Blocks. There are good things and bad things, but overall I think it has been a good experience.
Here’s the bad first. Parking is a pain in the butt. There’s no designated area to park on this busy street and sometimes I worry we’re going to get run down just trying to park. I wish they had a parking spot or two blocked off in front of Blocks for the children getting dropped off. I also think that the rules are a little weird, like the vacation rule — you can take 1 week vacation a year, have to tell them several weeks in advance, has to be a full week, they are just very strict on that. And some of the providers can be a little over-​zealous in their advice of what to do with your child, though it is all well intentioned. Finally, in some ways it is good that they don’t take kids over the age of 2, but it also stinks that we have to find another daycare/​preschool for our son in a year.
But overall, the experience has been very good. I like that it is a small facility (they have max 20 kids all under the age of 2.5) and it’s not like my son is in a baby factory, which is what some of the bigger daycare facilities seem like. The facility seems happy and bright — they have a huge window and lots of natural light. They go outside when the weather permits. It seems clean. The providers are very nice and it seems like they really like our son and taking care of kids. Every time we see them in the facility with the kids, they are playing with them and it looks like they are having fun. I think the price is reasonable for the Chicago area (averages around $ 1675 a month). Most of all, during the day I don’t worry about my son, I feel like he’s being well taken care of. This for me is the most important factor.

We were there for less than a year with our 2-​year-​old. It was a small space and there was limited enrichment. They didn’t get the kids outside everyday like we were promised. Most of the workers were kind and you could tell they enjoyed the kids, but the administrators we’re not exactly friendly. I really can’t endorse them at all. One star for location – easy access to downtown work for our family.

Maybe the reviewer who did the tour had a bad experience. BUT I had my daughter there for almost 3 years and it is amazing. I am pregnant with my second and we will be going back for #2…I think that says alot!

If I could, I would give 6 stars! The daycare deserve all the stars possible! The teachers are like family to us and we will forever be grateful to them for treating our daughter so well!
We had our daughter over at Blocks when she was only 6 months old. The place is clean –super super clean! Hygiene is very important to the daycare so they are very careful with everything they do. They even clean the baby bottles after feeding –how awesome is that!
During the whole winter months, my daughter had not had single cold/​flu just maybe little sniffles here and there but went away really fast — I did not miss any day at work!
Our daughter was on cloth diaper and the daycare was able to accept cloth diapers –they are now pro at cloth diapering! My daughter had no diaper rash during her days at Blocks –the staff are really good at keeping her dry and diaper changes are very frequent.
Yes the space at Blocks is smaller than other daycare but for a daycare with kids from 0 – 3 yr old, I don’t see the need for extra large space as long as the teachers take them out to parks and stroll them around the city (and yes, the teachers take the kids out on every nice weather occasion). The location is store front so the kids see outdoors daily through the window
Our daughter is a ‘happy go lucky’ child and having her spent the first 6 months at Blocks with great happy staff and nicely decorated walls is such a blessing for us.
Like all working moms, I can’t wait to finish work and go pick up my daughter. I rushed to get her because i love her and want to spend time with her and not because I was uncomfortable leaving her at the daycare. I know she is in good hands and was enjoying fun times with her teachers and friends while i was at work.
It was a hard & emotional experience to end her stay at Blocks as we decided to move to the burbs. I will definitively go back to visit the teachers and take my child to visit her friends and teachers.
I know for a fact that my girl will always have a home at Blocks!

Blocks has pros and cons. We sent our child to Blocks for 2.3 years.
The pros: Location is convenient to Loop and the teachers were excellent, caring and consistent. Lunch food was great — organic options from Gourmet Gorilla. For a daycare, the teacher turnover rate is low and ratio is good. Our child made good friends and enjoyed going to school.
The cons: The space is small and as the kids get older, lack of immediate access to outdoor is a concern (although they do go for walks to the park when possible). Price is very high — about $ 1700/​month and for months with 5 weeks, they charge extra. Unfortunately, the Director and the Administration are unreasonable and, frankly, odd and secretive. Nearly 6 months after leaving, we are still in a dispute over the return of my $ 850+ deposit due to alleged short notice, even though they had plenty of actual notice our child was leaving at age 3 (as required by Blocks rules). We missed the notice date due to a family emergency, which Blocks knew about as well. I understand they have a business to run and — trying to be fair — suggested prorating to make them whole for the few short days. Instead, they opted to keep the entire $ 850 amount and have bounced me around for months.
Overall, our child was happy at Blocks. Yet, I just can’t recommend a place that treats families like this. Now, we have other options in the South Loop and will be going that route if there is a baby #2.