Big Tree Little Preschool

Most Recent Comments

• August 2023 by Ashley Atkins
  The best place to send your littles. Structured and unstructured play/learning with staff who care. I love that my daughter was able to be outside more than inside. I love that she had storytime and nature walks. I love this school.
• March 2023 by Laura Spurzem
  Can’t recommend this nature, play-based preschool enough
• September 2022 by Dan P.
  My son attended the TK program with Ms. Carol and we could not recommend it more. He learned so much and was thoroughly prepared for Kinder. It is a wonderful small school and all the other staff knew who he was and seemed very caring. Great outdoor school that had lots of activities that kept him busy and learning and interacting. Would highly recommend!
• September 2022 by Callie F.
  We love this school and the teachers! My son attended Big Tree Little Preschool's TK program and I couldn't be more impressed. Miss Carol, the TK/K teacher, is knowledgeable, experienced and caring. She lovingly prepared my son for Kindergarten beyond what I thought was possible. She knew exactly what he needed to know and how to help him get to that point. The instruction was student centered and included real life application as they spent a lot of their time exploring the world around them in their amazing outdoor space. Everyday I was excited to hear him tell me new things he learned. We both work full time and it was nice having our son attend TK at BTLP because even when it wasn't TK hours, he was cared for by the other amazing educators at this school. They spend a lot of time outside which was great for my son. I always felt comfortable bringing my son to this school because I knew he was in the hands of individuals that cared for him and looked out for his best interests. I highly recommend this program to anyone that asks. Your child will leave knowing all they need to know making the transition to elementary school seamless.
• August 2022 by Stefanie J.
  Our twins went to Big Tree for the 2021-2022 academic year, and we had a great experience overall!They were nearly 4.5 years old when they started, so they started in the general preschool program. It was outside and play-based. Both kids really enjoyed the preschool. They quickly formed connections with the teachers and other kids. The teachers were very kind and friendly, and our kids made good friends there. For the activities, in particular, our kids enjoyed the arts & crafts and nature hikes. Our twins attended half days, Monday through Fridays. We were very happy about the connections and fun they had, especially since they had been out of preschool for over 1.5 years because of COVID and our move. After winter break, they were able to join the TK/K class with Ms. Carol, and it was a wonderful experience. They learned so much from her, and each day, they came home with amazing activities and work. One of my favorite pieces was the ABC notebook they made, which they brought home at the end of the year! I loved hearing about their days and was impressed by their learning. We were also so appreciative of Ms. Carol's class in particular since it offered a bit more structure and practice for when they went off to kindergarten, which they started this year. The school was very good at communicating with parents. If we ever had a question or concern, either the director (when our kids were in the preschool program) or Ms. Carol would respond promptly. I appreciated the daily photos and updates from the direct and teachers in the private parents' group online. I also really appreciated the events they had for the kids and families, like the fundraising bike-a-thon in the fall (my kids really loved it!) and the Art Fair in the spring. Then there was a sweet TK promotion ceremony in June, and it was very special. Finally, in terms of health and safety, I appreciate the precautions the school took during COVID and with general cold/bugs. I think the fact that the school is outside helps with that. I remember when our kids were first in preschool (a couple years prior in San Diego when we lived there) that they were sick nearly every month, so I appreciate the health aspect. Overall, I highly recommend Big Tree, especially the TK/K class. We enjoyed our year there. We miss it, and we are grateful for the good experience and memories!
• August 2022 by Sonja Z.
  We have an independent, well rounded, kind and curious kid thanks to the care our daughter received at Big Tree and would definitely recommend this school to parents that are looking for a smaller setting where kids are not just another headcount. Our daughter just graduated from Big Tree and while we were very sad to have to say good bye, we could not be happier with how well Big Tree prepared her for starting Kindergarten. Miss Carol is a wonderful and experienced teacher who has been with the school for 10 years and our daughter was excited every morning to go to her TK class. She made great friends there and all the other teachers were very kind and respectful with the kids as well (most of them also very long time teachers there). I really appreciate the play based and child-led learning approach and that most of the time was spend outdoors (the playground is large and has a big tree to spend shade), exploring critters, learning about sustainability (no screen time necessary) and building important social skills. The school is also diligent in putting the health and safety of the kids first and they are making sure there are plenty of activities to chose from, be it for imaginative play, art, fostering curiosity and basic scientific thinking or supporting conflict resolution. In my experience the school has been very accommodating and the only disadvantage I can think of were the occasional bug bite from being outdoors and loads of laundry but the messier the kid, the more fun they probably had :)).If you are looking for a very structured traditional care where kids are getting entertained instead of motivated to think for themselves and take initiative and explore, this is probably not the school for you. I don't think that this justifies a one star review though.
• February 2022 by alexandra h.
  Long story short not the preschool for us. They only had negative things to say about my child. We eventually opted to take them out and put them in a more structured school with full time teachers who have been at the same school for over 10 years. No more negative remarks about my child from this new school and he is thriving. We've encountered other big tree little preschool parents with similar experience to us. This may be a great school for some kids but it wasn't for ours.
• June 2021 by Rickey B.
  I would like to address the response from big tree to my wife's review below, and the many inaccuracies of Rebecca's response. I also provide screenshots to provide proof of our side of the story. Additionally these are our feelings and facts, and if the situation as a whole would have had more appropriate communication and been handled better, there wouldn't be such issues. This is an honest review of the school and our situation. I would encourage anyone with questions about their environment to reach out to me here for more information. First of all, we were not talking about any emergency exit doors that are required to be unlocked. According to Director Liz, there were other doors that our son was supposedly able to open - but then again, how exactly should we know because Liz would not have a meeting with us as clearly requested in our email. The seemingly "issue" came out of the blue with no opportunity to discuss and figure out a course of action to mitigate supposed issues.One of the doors talked about by Liz was an interior door (see email screenshot). Interior doors going inward are not require to be left unsecured and could at least have a child safety handle cover on. I feel this is something every parent should be concerned about. We assume proper securement is not given, because how else can a 2.5 year old open doors? I won't even go into the discussion about the flimsy, unsecured fence separating the age groups. With regards to the nature walks, (permission slip example provided), it states "ONSITE FIELD TRIPS". To me - and any regular person knows - that does not mean outside of their secured and fenced in area. Per this slip, permission was not given to take our child outside of their fence line placing all the children in danger of not only getting separated from the group, but providing someone an opportunity to abduct a child. Even as Rebecca said in her response, the permission is for just on their campus, and nothing about going outside of the fence line. Furthermore, if you take children this young off the premises and clearly expect them to stick with the group and not roam around, we seriously question your understanding of a typical 2-year old's behavior. Moreover, if you apparently have more teachers than necessary, it's another reason to wonder why a child exploring is causing such an issue with your school. Those are all our concerns and obviously neither the director Liz nor her staff properly conveyed to us any issues, because they never offered to have any kind of meeting to explain anything or figure out a way forward. If that had been the case, maybe we wouldn't have these concerns.Also, if the Director did a better job of communication, we wouldn't be in such an unfortunate situation. You mention that everyone can contact Big Tree with questions - if only someone would actually be available to talk or reply to emails. We recommended Big Tree to a couple of friends looking for a preschool; they then tried to contact the school a few times but never heard back from them. So they moved on. You can also read other reviews here of their poor communication. Lastly, as we have spoken to multiple parents since we were basically pushed to take our son out, we found out that there have been numerous similar situations that are unexplained with a number of children. Interestingly enough, all of these parents point to the fact that, since Liz took over as the Director, the school has had these kinds of issues with kids.Maybe the facility needs to take a closer look at the current Director and the fact that many children have been kicked out of their school or taken out since Elizabeth took over. Our son attended Big Tree for 6 months; please explain how after 6 months all of a sudden such issues arose without previous communication or a proper meeting. I'd expect that as an educator a situation as such would have been handled very differently.
• May 2021 by Julia B.
  I will begin by saying that we thought this was the ideal childcare facility to start our just-turned-two year old son -- six months ago. Kids play outside the whole time as long as it's not pouring. Play-based; no strict curriculum.However, we had to learn that this is not the right place for very active/energetic two and three year olds that are eager to explore, because this preschool does not put the proper safety measures into place. Doors are not secured and any child can apparently just go through if not watched. A real concern! We were told in an email, out of the blue, that our son was opening doors and gates (beware, it's just a flimsy plastic fence not childproofed that's separating pre-K/K and the younger children) and that this would pull away a teacher from the rest of the group. He would also not stick with the group and roam around when they are being taken off the premises (they call it a nature walk). While this is a nice idea, we paid the preschool to provide a safe environment for our little one. We never necessarily authorized them to take our son off the fenced-in property -- but since they were going on their walks, we expected it to be their responsibility to keep him safe. And they need to understand that a two and a half year old can be a runner and not yet be able to walk with a group. Obviously, too much for them to handle. But why even take the children off the premises? Of course two and a half year olds are more energetic and likely to explore. There is nothing wrong with that; they just need to be in a safe environment.It is not our fault that the school is not equipped to handle such a situation and apparently only has two and three year olds that walk in a straight line.This was in addition to him apparently trying to open doors. They labeled it as "attempts to escape". Any parent of an energetic and curious two year old would call this "curiosity".We never had a face-to-face meeting to discuss, a "warning", nothing. We were told that they "recommend that [they] want him exit the program". This statement in itself does absolutely not make any sense. Do they officially kick him out? Or is this just a recommendation? Clearly though, this shows the director Elizabeth (goes by Liz) had to write it this way because technically she had no valid reason to kick our son out. For what: exploring? We even have child-locks on our doors at home. But because of their inability to appropriately secure doors / gates that our son curiously opened he is being portrayed as a child that's misbehaving.We understand that learning to not go certain places is important but that does not change the fact that, one way or another, all possible outlets in a childcare facility need to be appropriately secured. Because if that was the case, then his trying to open doors would not be an issue at all. Let him try to go through a door/gate; he'd soon learn that he won't get anywhere and lose interest.So, us having to take him out because of this seemingly "issue" is beyond our understanding and absolutely frustrating. But it only goes to show that this place is not necessarily caring about their kids, nor willing to put in the slightest bit of work. (We also learned that very day that apparently just recently our neighbors' kid's good friend who attended this preschool was kicked out because "he wasn't a good fit".)Our response to that email and request to be shown the areas of concern and to have a meeting to discuss and work together to find common ground, a solution, were completely ignored. It was handled so very unprofessionally. We never once got an update on our son's "situation" so we could have prepared etc.; it was apparently over the course of only four school days that we eventually got to this point and received that particular email. Everything happened absolutely unexpectedly.Funnily enough, we were even getting ready to send our son four half days the following week, as encouraged by th
• December 2017 by Katia Hansen
  Caring, professional staff. Darling campus
• December 2016 by Lisa Clark
  My daughter attended Big Tree Little Preschool for almost 3 years. The staff and the owner, Rebecca are wonderful, loving people. The Preschool is located in a safe neighborhood and shared with a church. It is completely gated with a large and beautiful outdoor play area full of all types of toys, slides, and play houses. Just a few of the fun activities include nature walks, yoga, story time, making play dough, arts and crafts, teddy bear picnics and too many more to list! My daughter absolutely loved going and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a safe and fun learning environment.