Educational Playcare

My son's teachers at Educational Playcare are absolutely amazing! He is now three and they taught him how to use the potty almost overnight. He had been very, very stubborn with me but as soon as he started there it seemed like he was potty-trained overnight. I can see a big difference in him when it comes to listening and learning. His attention span is a lot better and he sits "criss-cross applesauce" on the carpet. He is an only child, so the whole sharing thing had been an issue. Now, he's like a new kid- sharing his toys, showing them off- I couldn't believe it. My son talks about his teacher all the time; he loves her. Sometimes he is crying when he has to leave because he doesn't want to go. I just love their curriculum and I rave about Educational Playcare all the time. As a parent, you get nervous about who you are leaving your kid with, but every time I leave Educational Playcare I have a smile on my face. When we first went in for a tour we immediately felt at home. It is such a positive, happy environment and they really engage with the kids. You leave with a sense of comfort every time. They have an open-door policy and I love how engaged they are with parents. We are very, very happy with Educational Playcare. more

From infancy Educational Playcare incorporates sign language every day, which we found really nice. They have an arts and crafts activities that pertains to the theme of the week and the themes tie into everyday life, weather it be lunch or holidays etc. They have a lot of reach out programs for families to get involved as well. The main thing I think I like about it is that it feels like an educational atmosphere, not just a day care. We are really happy with them for a lot of those reasons. We have a 3 year old and have been very happy with development of skills she has received from Educational Playcare. more

My son has been at Educational Playcare for about a year and a half, and the the experience is wonderful. The teachers are very caring and responsive, as is Michele. It is just a warm and comfortable environment--and what makes it that way is what appears to be the general overall flow of how everything goes. It seems the teachers are good and the curriculum is very good. I feel very comfortable when I leave my son there; he is in the preschool program for three- and four-year olds. more

My experience with Educational Playcare has been a very positive one. It makes me feel good to trust them with my daughter's care. She is four years old and a Canary. I like the communication with all the teachers and Michele. I also like the Tadpoles app. more

I just went back to work starting in January, and now I drop off my daughter at Educational Playcare at 7 a.m. and pick her up just before 5 p.m. I'm very pleased at how well she has adjusted. She's five years old and in the Canary group, and her teachers are great. I'm very pleased because they do a lot of science and activities in other areas. My daughter is happy and they keep her very busy. She cried early on when missing us, and she told us that Mr. E comforted her when she cried and missed her family. She was attending part-time preschool before and I was quite concerned with her adjustment, because she was used to being with her mother most of the day. She's very picky, and they have food she doesn't like--she always complains about that. Michele on their staff is good and has always been very responsive, very helpful and professional, including the few times I've sent an e-mail. The staff communicates every day, giving us reports on what she did and how long she slept. And, they report illnesses right away so we know. more

All of Educational Playcare's teachers are great, and they really try to make your child feel comfortable if transitions are hard or whatever the case may be. Michele and her team are very flexible and had worked with me on adding days not on the normal schedule; they were very accommodating and helped me tremendously. I started with them when my son was 9 weeks old, and now he is 2 years old and so happy to be there. I absolutely love how they send pictures throughout the day. He is part-time and just moved up from a Parrot to a Flamingo. When he moved into the room for two year olds, he was having a hard time because the room was so big and there were so many kids. All the teachers have given him hugs and welcomed him in. It really makes my day when I see he is really having fun with projects and activities. I also love that they feed the children, because it helps them to learn how to eat food they might not eat at home. more

I've been using Educational Playcare for a year and a half. I've already recommended them to other parents. The teachers are great. more

I've been using Educational Playcare for 3 years. They're very accommodating and very professional. I feel very good about leaving my child there. I feel like he's learning there instead of just being babysat. He praises the food. more

My daughter went to Educational Playcare for five years and my son currently attends their school and has been going there for two years. The teachers do a phenomenal job with everything that they provide. My son loves going to Educational Playcare and is learning a lot. I love that they're a very hands on school and day care and they provide a plethora of wonderful activities, like going to museums and for the younger children, they bring in zoo animals for the children to interact with. My children have the right balance of structure to learn a lot, but also a lot of leisure time to play and be themselves and I feel it has helped them become socially adept people and they're able to connect with their peers and make a lot of friends. Every single teacher has been great and my kids love them. Educational Playcare is a very focused program and it's well worth sending your kids to. more

I think that the whole process at Educational Playcare and the way the have the classroom laid out is very nice- it's almost like a school. I think they work really well with the children. They offer a lot of things that normal daycares don't, like sanitation. If one child gets sick, they notify all the parents by email, and then they sanitize everything in the classroom that the children might have touched. They also provide an app that allows interaction between teachers and parents, and they send pictures throughout the day of the children playing. The only gripe I have is that the app constantly shuts down on me. When I open it up, sometimes it won't let me load anything and then it shuts down. The prices are a bit high; I think they could be a bit lower. However, I pay the price because I like the quality of the care they give to the kids and to me, it justifies the price. You pay for what you get- I have been to daycares that were half the price, and you don't get nearly as much. I think it is worth it because the teachers are all certified, and the people there are excellent. Everybody is really nice and pleasant to talk to. They always greet you at the door, and they offer coffee in the mornings. It's the little perks like that that I have never seen a normal daycare do. They even have people come in once in a while and do haircuts for the kids- it's a full-service daycare. I also like the fact that they take the kids outside and they don't use a TV. I have seen daycares with TVs, and the kids are just sitting in front of the TV the entire time. At Educational Playcare, they have the kids outside actually playing and interacting. I also like that they have a lot of learning toys. However- and I don't know if this is just because my son is in the 2-year-old section- but I would like to see a little more of the alphabet and numbers. I would like if they would do a little more reading to try to get them more familiarized. But I do think they are good at accommodating different learning paces for different kids. My son's teacher, Abby, is fantastic. I really like her; she is very sweet, and she really interacts with the kids. They love her- my son runs to her whenever he sees her, and he talks about her all weekend. I really like his teacher, she's great. The director is also very pleasant, and any time I have questions, she is there to answer them for me. It is definitely worth the money, because I have seen my son grow so much in the last season he has been there. more

Educational Playcare is great. I've recommended them to other parents. My child loves it, and I love the teachers. I have absolutely no complaints. more

The teachers at Educational Playcare are very fair and good with the children. We choose to send my son there even though I stay at home with my baby. They've really helped him with his speech and maturity. The environment has really wiped out any problems and has improved our family as a whole. He calls it "school" and loves it. more

They're absolutely wonderful. I love the teachers, they're personable and have the same kind of style that I do parenting. For example, they want her to use manners, like saying please and thank you and waiting turns. We share the same values and they don't give in to temper tantrums. She had Miss Jackie first when she was in Blue Bird, and I adored her. Then my daughter bounced around, which I wasn't too crazy about but I spoke with Michelle and explained why I didn't want her to be bounced around. She worked with me and got her settled and stuff. It was a tough transition at first, she came from a Montessori school and there were lots of changes in her life. Everyone did a great job at being compassionate and understanding. more

The staff is really friendly. I trust them a lot with my child. I've been using them since May or June and I'm really happy with them. more

I've been using them for about a year and a half. They're very professional. They're very welcoming. They take really great care of my child. They are very organized. It's a great place. It's been a wonderful, welcoming experience. It makes me feel secure and safe sending my child there. I've been very pleased. Educational Playcare is awesome. more

We used to be with them with my son before they were Educational Playcare. They still have the same staff, even though it was a different organization before, but the care provided is even better now that Educational Playcare took over. My daughter's current teachers are fantastic, and the teachers in the room before that were also great. I have had nothing but good interactions with them- they are very forthcoming and honest. If I have any questions about my daughter's day they will be able to tell me exactly what is going on- and it's not always easy to do that when there are five other people picking up their children at the same time. The individual comments they give us at that time would be great to receive in an email. The one thing the could improve would be to give me individualized comments on my child. We get "Tadpoles" every day, which tell us the curriculum the class went through that day along with a couple of pictures. You can tell it's for the whole class, and it's not specifically about what my daughter did that day. I have to speak with her teacher to find out what she did that day that was amazing or what she had trouble with. My husband doesn't get that information because when he's at work and I'm the one picking up the kids, he doesn't get the chance to talk to the teacher. We would appreciate some more individual feedback about the kids on a weekly basis. Their prices are competitive for the level of care. It is a lot more expensive than the last center, but they offer a lot more now. Educational Playcare has food included, whereas the last center didn't include food at all- just snacks. I wouldn't compare Educational Playcare to the last center because it's just not on the same plane. Roseanne Wilde and Ms. Jackie, my daughter's teacher in the Bluebird group, are great teachers. I have also known the current director, Michelle Sinatra, for years- she was the assistant director at the center before it was Educational Playcare. They all know my kids very well. Rose knows my son from when he used to go there, and they all just take an interest in my kids. They are very loving. The level of security they have is really great. You feel safe dropping your kids off. You have the peace of mind when you're running to work that you don't have to worry if your kids will be in trouble. You know they will be okay, and that is the most important thing. more

The teachers at Educational Playcare just went above and beyond. Our situation was a little different than most, and they just exceeded our expectations. For the past three years, we couldn't be happier. We had some behavioral challenges when our son was around three years old- hair pulling, biting, kicking- they just didn't give up. They were awesome with him and they got through every day. He is six now, and about three or four months ago he wanted to go down to his old classroom and apologize to the teachers. It was not premeditated; it was something he came up with on his own. I think he was grateful that they hung in there with him. They are just great all around. There were a lot of challenges and they worked through them all. They were cooperative and they partnered with us on both the behavioral front and educational front. The teachers are caring, professional, and cooperative. The prices are reasonable for what you get. In three years, we have not been disappointed once- not one day. If you are looking for daycare, I would definitely give them a chance! more

Our daughter's transition to the Junior Parrot Room was a breeze and my husband and I love the ongoing communication between home and school. My husband and I couldn't be happier with our decision to enroll our daughter at EPC. I cannot get over the quality of the staff and programming at the center! My daughter is happier than I've ever seen her and my husband and I love getting the photos of her each day. The hot lunch that's included in the tuition has also been a lifesaver! I love not having to plan and pack a healthy lunch in the mornings. I can't say enough about Educational Playcare in Wallingford. I would highly recommend the center to anyone looking for a quality early childhood program for their little one. more

My son has been going to Educational Playcare for about four months now, since June, and I am just amazed. I like them so much because I feel like my son is learning from them every day and I feel safe leading my baby with them. The teachers are incredible; they're easy to talk to and provide great communication. I see such progress and growth with my little boy. If a parent is considering enrolling their child to Educational Playcare, I'd tell them that they are 100% worth the tuition and are just amazing. more

My son has been at Educational Playcare for the last six months or so. We previously had him at another daycare and we were very unhappy with their service. We looked into lots of places and this one was by far the best. The price is a little higher than average but you get what you pay for. The staff is very attentive and communicative. They document every scratch and call me for any injury. Most importantly, my son always comes home happy. I recommend Educational Playcare to every parent. more