The Learning Tree Day School Takes the Cake

When our daughter started day care about a year ago we were clueless as to what we wanted from our child care center. The first school we enrolled her in had a lot of fancy perks including coded door entry, electronic punch in/out and a 'fish bowl' layout for the classrooms. It took us about a month to realize that all of the show and lights masked the lacking structure of the facility. Becoming more disappointed with the day care center each day we decided to move on, but the second facility proved to be an utterly dangerous and incapable place to keep our little girl. The third day care center seemed wonderful, it took pride in its large classrooms and updated facility. We had high hopes for the third day school, but the rude and impersonal staff was too much for us to handle every day. Alas, we finally got into the school we had been on a waiting list for nearly a year for, The Learning Tree Day School in Surfside Beach, SC.

When I called into The Learning Tree Day School to check on the status of our wait-list position one day I was elated to hear that we got the spot! After watching the website for ten months my husband and I were convinced that this was the school for us. Aside from the structured daily activities, I was pleased with many other factors of the school that mirrored how we function at home. Some of my favorite things about the school are:

No "time-outs" - I particularly like this point that the school makes not to use time outs as punishment. Instead they use a practical approach, explaining to the children that what they've done is unacceptable and letting them talk it out like normal human beings...imagine that.

BYO lunch - finally no more hamburgers and french fries for lunch! I was very happy that for the first time in our day care history I could actually control what my child ate for lunch. This meant I knew what she was eating and that I no longer had to cringe over her vienna sausage entrees. Even better, whatever the child doesn't eat, the school sends back home so the parent is aware of how well their children are eating.

A small, family-friendly facility - with PTA meetings and scheduled holiday events, the school really tries hard to incorporate the parents into their child's school activities. Also, with a smaller facility I know each teacher and they all know me, just how it should be.

A 'real' school environment - the classrooms are set up just like a kindergarten classroom, with each child having their own little desk. I like that my daughter is getting used to having her own work space as opposed to sitting in one large area, intermingled with all the other children's work. The classrooms also have hands-on activity centers, teaching the kids coordination and problem solving. Also, I find it very cute that each room has a class pet to take care of!

Easy to get in touch with the (super friendly) director - whether it's by e-mail or phone, my messages are always sure to get a quick response...even silly questions that I'm sure are utterly annoying - she is just that wonderful. It's a very comforting thing to know that I can get in touch with just the person I need, when I need him/her.

Even though this school doesn't boast high-tech monitoring devices or its own separate cafeteria it is a perfect hometown day school that I would gladly wait another year to get my daughter into.

Great reads if you'd like to learn more about The Learning Tree:

The Learning Tree's web page for info and wait list form
greatschools.net to compare local schools