Honey Bear Preschool & Child Care Center

Love this place!!! We have been with HB for almost 4 years now and we have no intentions of changing at all! We started bringing our 1^st child here in 2012, and now have our 2^nd in part time as well. All of the teachers are friendly, funny and very loving with all of the kids.
Amy, the director knows everyone’s names, she is so nice and easy to work with.
The school/​daycare is large and spacious, its well organized and has awesome toys and crafts everywhere. They make gardens, play in the sand, bubbles, water play, dancing, all of it. They teach important skills, washing up, brushing teeth, cleaning toys, sharing and taking turns. And the kids are on a dedicated nap schedule which is so awesome! It helps because I can keep them on the same schedule on the weekends as well. I can’t say enough good things about this place. I really feel like I have made a good decision in choosing this daycare.

We’ve been with Honey Bear for over 1.5 years. She started when she was 3 months. The daily logs, the pictures throughout the day, and the recaps at pick-​up are all so appreciated. I’ve recommended this daycare to many parents. We truly lucked out finding this gem of a daycare!

We have had our daughter at Honey Bear since she was 3 months old (she’s almost 2 now). It has been a great experience (even though tough as first time parents), and we are so sad to have to leave. We are moving and the commute will be too far for us.
Our daughter loves all her teachers at Honey Bear, and we do too! They are all so attentive to her and give her big hugs every time they see her. They make leaving her so much easier. Amanda and Miesha from Baby Bear A (infant room) were so sweet with her and helpful to me as a new parent. And always big hugs from her teachers Jessica and Krista, even when she isn’t in the same classroom as them! They are amazing, hard-​working women! All of them deserve the best and have taken such great care of my daughter during our time at Honey Bear. They have made a significant impact in our lives and I am so thankful they loved our daughter the way we do.

We enrolled both are daughters here at age 4 and 1 year old a few years ago. My older daughter was only there for a year until she started kindergarten but had a great experience. She loved her teachers, and made friends that she still sees and talks to even though she is now almost 9. My youngest was here for 4 years was in every class except the infants room. We have nothing but great things to say about our experience. Amy the director was amazing, always easy to talk to. From the sweetest nurturing teachers, to the «no nonsense» «boundary holding teachers we were always completely comfortable and happy. They were helpful during the potty training phase, and always communicated with is regarding anything and everything parents need and want to know. The staff really does love the kids and took amazing care of our sweet girls when we were at work! I couldn’t ask for a better place and people to be with my girls when I couldn’t be.

Our daughter has been attending Honey Bear for the past 3 months (she is now 7 months) on a part-​time basis. I also have family members who have been attending HB for the past 2+ years. I absolutely love Honey Bear. It’s one of the few places that allows you to send your child part-​time, the teachers are awesome and really care about the kids, they are super flexible on scheduling, and their rates are 100% reasonable.
When you first visit, you may look around and think that some parts of the outside of the place look a little run down, but honestly, you can’t find a better daycare, in my opinion. They are very thorough with hygiene in the baby room.
Added bonus: you get pictures of your child throughout the day sent to your email and a daily report at the end of the day regarding the number of times your child went to the bathroom, what he/​she ate and when, etc. It really helps a mom who works on keeping up with breastmilk supply.
The Director Amy is also really sweet. We are so happy to have found this place.

My infant started at Honey Bear 2 months ago. She has really blossomed! Their classroom is so huge with so many fun toys! The kids play outside daily in their very own play area (no big kids allowed). I really love this place. The teachers allowed me to store frozen breastmilk there, which makes it easy. When my daughter gets bigger, she’ll eat the free lunch. My only complaint: they could do more art projects. Can’t have enough hand and footprints of my growing girl!

Tonight my husband and I were asking my two-​year-​old, Jesse, how his day was at school. He doesn’t talk much, but he pointed to his shirt and it seemed like he was trying to say «tie dye.» My husband said, «Did Ms. Alberta teach you that? She said she liked your tie dye!» and I said, «Do you love Ms. Alberta?» and all he said was «hug! hug!» when he heard her name. That is just a testament to how many hugs and kisses he gets every day at Honey Bear! If I can’t be with him all day, how could I ask for better peace of mind than that?

Doesn’t get any better!
I have two children who attended honey bear for nearly a year and I have nothing but positive things to say. My toddler blossomed here and he was always excited to go to «school».
Unlike other daycare centers this one has much more of a home feel to it as each classroom is in its own little building with plenty of outdoor space between to play.
I never thought the classes were too large or my child didn’t get enough attention. They also handle slight illnesses well and don’t call you for every little thing.
Overall we were very happy with Honey Bear for infant and toddler full-​day care!

We can not say enough good things about Honey Bear. we put our daughter in at 6 months and kept her here until she went off to elementary school. she loved it, we loved it.
the teachers are great!!! the small school setting is wonderful (almost like each age group has their own «house»).
we were very luck to have found this gem (recommended by a friend), it wasn’t the most convienient location for us, but the extra few minutes drive was well worth it.
We miss our Honey Bear family, and will always be grateful to them.

I wouldn’t recommend this preschool for children 3+. My son was behind in his speech and didn’t really have a lot of social interaction with children his age before I enrolled him here. Don’t get me wrong – the two teachers he had were pretty sweet with my son and the rest of the children from what I saw, but I thought he was unfairly treated. My husband and I had to pull him out AFTER 2 ½ MONTHS because the office kept calling us saying that they were refusing to «deal» with him anymore and that he acted out too much with the other children (this time of our lives was very stressful!!). My son was well-​behaved up until he started going to this preschool but started acting out a LOT.
Overall, I wouldn’t say that this is a good location for a child who is brand-​new to a preschool. It was very over-​whelming for my son to interact with so many children all around (there were about 20 children in his classroom!) so please choose wisely. I did the mistake of thinking that, because the curriculum described is very good, it was the perfect fit for my son. I did like that they had a lot of different activities for the children, but they could have done a much better job at being more patient with my son. My son is now enrolled in a different preschool that is MUCH better suited for him and has a much smaller class size (2 teachers and 10 children total, including my son). He initially acted out a little with the children at the new preschool, but the teachers here were much more sympathetic and were very willing to work with him (and no phone calls!!). I’m happy to say that he is enjoying his new preschool!

This Review is well over due.
Last October of 2010 I had to put my 2 year old daughter into daycare so I could go back to work, which I was SERIOUSLY dreading. I lived across the street from a different preschool which I toured and was sorely dissapointed by. I called around to every place in the area to only hear about their waiting lists.
And then I called Honey Bear… no waiting list… hmm there must be something wrong with it I’m not going to like it… I told myself.
But I came for the tour anyway and I was blown away! All of the kids were SO well managed and there were 3 teachers in the 2 year old room plus additional helpers in and our during the day! All of the kids were happy and engaged in their activities and listening to their teachers. The place is so cute and they have so many fun indoor and outdoor toys.
I signed up my darling daughter and was shocked at how much she loved it. Every single day she would run in and push me out the door, never once was there any separation anxiety.
They have really fun themes each week and make the cutest crafts and they take pictures of your kids and put them up on the wall so you can see them having fun with their friends.
The teachers are AMAZING! They really care about your children and love them and I would always stay for a long time when I came to pick her up to chat with them, they became dear friends. Hillary, Alberta, and Maggie are the 2 year old teachers. I just can’t say enough about them.
I knew what a great place this was, but didn’t realize how rare it was until now.
2 months ago we moved to carlsbad and I enrolled Chloe into an upscale fancy preschool thats accredited… blah, blah, blah… ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! It made me realize how incredibly rare Honey Bear was. The kids at Honey Bear are SOOOO nice and well taught and managed. This other place the kids were horrible, mean, bullies and the teacher did NOTHING to stop them. And I never once saw them engaged in an activity.
And my daughter would cling to me and cry and not want to be there, and was scared to death of the other kids.
Just terrible
Back to Honeybear… I know this is a long review but choosing a preschool is so crucial…
My daughter was behind on her speech and not fully potty trained when she started. Within one week she was fully potty trained thanks to their persistent help.
And my daughters speak has drastically improved, and she knows all her colors, ABC’s, she can count to 10, ect ect. She actually learned there!
HoneyBear was SUCH a great experience that I am considering moving back to point loma so she can return there… ugh moving… but your childs best interest in first priority.
If you have the privilege to send your child there, please do.
Any further questions please message me.
Good luck!
Kristina

I had my child here for about 1.5 years. The biggest reason we pulled him is because of the turnover. There was a never-​ending flow of caregivers. I couldn’t keep up with them all and I was tired of trying. I believe that consistency is important to children — Honey Bear seems to feel otherwise. TIP: If you are considering this place, please ask how long the caregiver has been in the room. Not how long she has been with the facility (although that is also important, but in the room).
There was a LOT of kids in various rooms. It seemed like they never turned a family away, they kept adding kids. At one point I counted 23 kids with 4 or 5 adults, all in one room. Chaos, particularly for 1 year olds. There was no «learning» going on anytime I came in, it was more like cat herding.
Additionally, in the infant room the caregivers place blankets over the kids as they sleep in the chairs. I didn’t love this.
I moved my son to place with a lot less kids, consistent caregivers, structured days, and a lower price tag.

My child has been attending Honey Bear since she was 3 months old. We could not be any happier with the program, the facilities, and the staff!

I am so happy my child goes to Honey Bear. The teachers are so sweet and friendly with the children, and do a lot of activities with them. If u are looking for a great day care or pre school, look no further! Honey Bear is the place for your child! I love it

So far, so good! I met with the director and the owner to discuss enrolling my 18 month old daughter. They were both very friendly, open and informed about child safety, child development and their school. I also spoke to two parents, who were passing by, who had great things to say about the preschool (my daughter will be in the toddler room, which they noted was the worst of all classrooms, but still good). Fingers crossed! They are converting to non-​toxic cleaning supplies and «safe» plastic eating/​drinking utensils. They’re also working to replace broken windows and other items requiring attention in the very old building. We discussed moving towards organic foods as well, and they were all over it. I’m impressed so far! Update: after many months there, great school, caring teachers and staff! Love it! They even do yoga! :)