Family Tree Playschool

If I could give Ms. Julie more than 5 stars I would. Our son went through two different preschools before we discovered Family Tree. Earlier my toddler would spend the 8 hours at daycare not talking to the teachers. Day 1 at Ms. Julie’s house he walks in and starts talking about the Thomas train on his shirt and then never stopped talking. It took the TLC at Family Tree to get my son to move on from shy to talking to interacting with random people at the store. A great combination of play and learn they made sure every day was a fun learning experience for him. We only wished we had learnt about them earlier but also realize we appreciate how good Ms. Julie, Rachel and Chelsea are because of our many mis-​steps prior in selecting a child care option for our son. We were very sad to leave Ms. Julie’s care as my son was starting ‘big boy school’. Now even 6 months later he asks about Ms. Julie’s house and when he can go there next.

Our 2 ½ year old daughter has been at Family Tree Playschool for about a year now. We love it, here’s why:
1. Our daughter is loved and cared for, engaged with the teachers and fellow students.
2. Structure and routine that encourages creativity, allows for free play and independence, yet has the right amount of guidelines. Lots of opportunity to explore their world in a safe, fun manner.
3. The teachers really understand what is developmentally appropriate behavior for the kids and set reasonable expectations.
4. Another reviewer said it — the teachers really want to be partners with the parents. When my daughter was going through a rough patch, the teachers had compassion, understanding, patience, and ideas on how we could help my daughter move forward.
5. Clean, high quality supplies, and tons of fun ideas. Every day my daughter arrives they have an activity set out on the table, and it’s always something different!
6. Around holidays they have get togethers to build community among the parents.
This place really works for our family. They are highly skilled child care professionals, and we are so happy to have them as part of the «village» that is raising our daughter.

Talk about lucky! Our Family Tree Playschool was the very first place we found when looking for a loving, safe, creative and clean home-​like environment for my granddaughter who started there when she was 20 months old. My daughter and her husband and I all felt YES! the moment we visited and met the wonderful teachers.
We could tell by the care in which the warm and inviting play/​learning space was arranged and the quality of the toys (and especially the books!) that this was going to be an enriching and comfortable «home away from home». We came to really value the learning and socializing that was taking place. Everyday was planned in such a way as to creatively meet the developmental needs and interests of the children without being «institutional» or rote. The children all bonded easily and were happy to be together, forming friendships that carried over to «play dates» outside of play school. I believe that was a reflection of how bonded and secure they felt being there.
The investment in art materials and activities was very apparent and brought special delight to our child. The parent message board was filled with the highlights of each day so we always felt connected to what the children were learning and doing. When she was passing through a particularly challenging phase, we were able to find support and compassion from the teachers who had great insight and patience. When it was time to send her sister to playschool, we had the wonderful assurance that she would also be treated with loving kindness and sensitivity. There are not enough words of praise that I can offer for the security and peace that we felt in having our girls in the care of the «Family Tree». Unfortunately, my daughter changed jobs and we have recently moved out of the area, but just a few weeks later, we received the most wonderful birthday card a gift from the teachers for my grandaughter’s third birthday and we were once again reminded of the genuine love and caring that we always felt from Julie, Rachel and Chelsea the whole time we were part of their wonderful, nurturing Family Tree!
P. s. I love to take the credit for having been the one to «find» them :-)

Family Tree Playschool has literally become a part of our family! Our two-​year-​old son has been attending for six months now and he loves it– and as parents, we love it too! Our son is our first and only child, and it was very tough deciding to go back to work and look for child care. The first place we sent him to was wonderful, but definitely more of a daycare. Family Tree Playschool is more of a preschool, where its structured and has a routine; and the teachers love and nurture your child as you would! When I drop my son off in the morning, I know without a doubt that he’ll be cared for AS WELL as he would be with me!!! From the moment my husband and I interviewed with the teachers at Family Tree, we could tell that they truly love and connect with the children they care for. And, you can see right away that the kids love being there. They have so much fun throughout the day (which means they’ll have NO problem getting to sleep later that night)!
Aside from the loving aspect– which would have sold me by itself– the learning aspect of Family Tree Playschool is phenomenal! Every day, our son says something at home that we didn’t teach him!!! The first week that he started at Family Tree, (he was 21 months, by the way) it rained on the way to and from school. As I was driving home after pick-​up, my little guy pointed to the sky and said «clouds» and «rain!» Neither my husband nor I had taught him that and we were astounded that he’d learned about the weather in a week! The next day, we asked one of the teachers about it and she confirmed that, yes, they had learned about rain and the weather that week and that our son had really gotten excited about it!
Since then, our son has learned so much from Family Tree. We notice it every day. From combining words, to saying «please» and «thank-​you,» to sharing and mastering a paintbrush, our 2-​yr-​old has grown and loved every minute of his time at this playschool!
I cannot recommend Family Tree Playschool enough! As a mom, I am 100% sure that this is the best place for my child, and my only contention is that someday, he’ll outgrow it and we’ll have to leave for kindergarten– but until then, we are so fortunate to have Family Tree in our lives!!!

Before January of this year my 2 year old son had always been in the care of my sister. When she told me that they were going to be moving out of the area, I didn’t know what I was going to do for child care. I asked friends for recommendations and scoured craigslist for daycare that was close to my home and had the kind of atmosphere that my son was used to. I toured and interviewed six places and Family Tree Playschool was by far the best! One of the things that I really liked about Family Tree is that they don’t take care of infants. This way they can focus their curriculum and activities to the specific needs of toddlers.
My son has made many friends in the past three months. He LOVES the art projects they do and is so excited to show everyone when he gets home. I also love that they have lots of outdoor time. They have a great patio in the backyard with ride in cars and trikes. They send out periodic emails with updates on new children along with reminders like remember to bring a hat in the winter time. The staff is wonderful and so nice. My son even asks if he can go there on the weekends. I would highly recommend Family Tree Playschool for your child!

We have been lucky to have family care for our son who is now 2 ½ he has been in a very loving environment however, has lacked the needed skills to be able to attend preschool next year.
We started looking for part time care so that he can learn those fundamental skills of sharing and communicating with other children and it was just so overwhelming I had almost given up. Then we found Family Tree Playschool. The moment we walked in I felt at ease. The staff is so friendly and helpful and have given me some great advise to make the transition smoother. Although our son has had some challenges with separation anxiety the teachers at Family Tree Playschool have given me the most valuable advise and he has improved leaps and bounds from when we started. He tells me all about his new friends and and so excited when he has new artwork to share. We are beyond thrilled with our decision to start his care here!