Kama’aina Kids

If there were zero stars, that would be more appropriate. After only a month and a half, we pulled our 4yr old son out of the Lahaina preschool when he came home and told us he’d been hit by a teacher. When we asked him if this had happened with any other teachers he said not to him but he had witnessed another child being struck by a different teacher. We filed a formal complaint and even though they flew a representative over from Oahu to do an «observation/​interview», they neglected to talk with any of the children. As far as we know, those teachers are still there and they continue to be in business. I have a colleague who also had a very negative experience with her son at the Kihei location. Think twice before enrolling your child at one of these franchises.

My fiancé (now husband) and I have two little girls, ages 2 and 10 months. We planned early last year to take a trip to Maui for our wedding in December. We planned to be there for an extended winter vacation/​honeymoon, 4 weeks. We knew that with 2 young kids, and only limited family on vacation with us for the earlier portion of the trip, we wouldn’t be able to do very many activities or have alone time without hiring a sitter or finding a daycare. I almost gave up looking after seeing the prices of some of the nanny companies and finding out our kids were too young for the daycare provided by our resort and pre-​schools; they needed to be 3! I did find a plethora of in-​home daycares, but not being a local, we didn’t completely trust that idea.
I finally came across Kama’aina Kids’ website and loved everything I saw. Not to mention, the prices were affordable, and their meals are included!!! I called and spoke to a nice girl that told me they always have openings and are always taking new kids. They told us to look at their website for requirements and to feel free to drop in to take a look at the place when we arrived. So our second day on the island, we called to let them know we may be stopping in. The only issue we had was that we didn’t realize that the kids 2+ have to have Tuberculosis testing done. That put us a couple days behind on getting them enrolled. They do the testing pretty much at any urgent care for around 20 bucks.
Once that was done and our 2 yo tested negative, the girls started in the nursery. The nice thing was that our girls were in the same room because of their closeness in age. We had three AmAzInG teachers; Diane, Desiree and Denita. My girls were so sad to see us leave everyday, but the team ensured us that the girls were always fine right after we left. Diane even called us a couple times to let us know how they were adjusting.
They have a great setup with gated play areas. They feed the kids all their meals and snacks for the day. Formula is even included if your baby takes it. You just have to bring your own diapers and wipes and a few changes of clothes and blankets. It was great!
I definitely would recommend Kama’aina kids if you want a trusted facility to take your kids to. The child to adult ratio is small. The hours are from 7 – 5:30 and you can drop in anytime you want. They give you detailed reports at the end of the day for feeding, changes, and nap times. Even if you are only there for a shorter vacation, they are open to new enrollment and are totally flexible. They let us pick our schedule each week, and drop off and pick up anytime we wanted.
It was nice to get to know the teachers — we certainly will miss them and so will our girls.
See you in the winter, ladies!