Sunshine Daydreams

We love Sunshine Daydreams. Our daughter (5) went there and now our son (3) attends as well. The school provides a truly loving and nurturing environment for children to grow both emotionally and intellectually. They cater their care to the needs of the individual child, helping them through difficult transitions, with potty training, and in developing emotional and social awareness. There is regular communication with parents as they work to improve on weaknesses while accentuating areas of academic strength.
Our son loves playing outdoors with his friends and all the various activities. There are motorcycles to ride, structures to climb, a sand box to dig in, a vegetable garden, science experiments, and daily arts and craft activities. The children get weekly yoga classes to improve physical skills.
Our daughter left Sunshine this year to begin kindergarten. She was lucky enough to be joined by one of her Sunshine friends. The two of them were the first two students of the month in their new kindergarten class. We remain close with other alum parents and we hear regularly about their children’s successes.
I think what sets Sunshine Daydreams apart from other preschools are the teachers. They show so much love and dedication to our children. Now that our daughter has moved on to kindergarten I have more and more appreciation for the special place that is Sunshine Daydreams.

We have two (very different) daughters and they have both thrived at Sunshine Daydreams.
I love that there are several different ages (2 – 5 years old) mixed together. The younger kids look up to and learn from the older kids and the older kids often care for and look out for the younger ones. They all play together very well.
There are always several different activities going on — from arts and crafts, to texture-​based activities, to running around in the yard, playing in the sandbox or writing music. I love the guided freedom that the kids have to explore what interests them most.
Dave, Jackie, Amy, Nicole, Cristina and Krystal are all wonderful with the kids. My younger daughter sometimes has a hard time saying goodbye in the morning and they are so patient and really good at gently helping her separate. Her social and emotional skills have increased greatly since she has been there. And they help potty train! Their consistency and patience in that area has been a major help as my younger daughter is transitioning out of diapers.
My older daughter who is now in Kindergarten often says she wishes she could go to Sunshine Daydreams for all her grades.
We moved to Culver City three years ago and made friends quickly with the other parents at the school because everyone is very warm and open.
I highly recommend Sunshine Daydreams to anyone who is interested in a pre-​school with a play-​based approach and a skilled, kind and loving staff.

Both our daughters (ages 4 and 2) currently attend Sunshine Daydreams, and they love it there as much as we do. Great facilities, great activities, a ton of structured playtime and, most importantly, a wonderful staff — we’re so glad we found it.
One note, it’s named after a Grateful Dead song. But remember — nobody is perfect.

Our daughter attended Sunshine Daydreams, and we found it to be fantastic environment for her to grow and get excited about how the world works. The teachers are warm and caring; there’s a terrific outdoor play space; and the directors of the school (David and Jackie) were always very responsive, helpful, and down-​to-​earth. The school also helps foster relationships between families at the school — the other parents were welcoming and friendly, and there are opportunities to help and get involved. One of our favorite aspects of the school was that they collect everything your child has created and put it together in an annotated binder… it’s a wonderful keepsake and reminder of his or her time there. Our daughter also loved the extra focus on music and the yoga classes! We would certainly recommend this school to other parents.

I have so many good things to say about Sunshine Daydreams I don’t even know where to start. I enrolled my daughter there a year ago when she was 2 and a half after we had just moved to LA from NYC. I didn’t know anyone in LA so much of my research was online and I discovered this school on Unilocal.
I toured several schools in the area and I must say that in addition to the great Unilocal reviews I mainly picked it because when I came for the tour my gut feeling was that it was just «right» for our family. I immediately felt comfortable with the director Dave, he seemed not only very knowledgeable and passionate about kids and his school, but he is also a very likable guy and my instincts turned out to be correct, he is all of these and much more. Aside from that, the environment was just so inviting. The inside is perfectly set up with a nice open area and sections for reading, eating, playing, activities, and the kids’ cubbies and honestly it’s just so cute and a setting where I love for my daughter to go every day. But for me, having just moving from the east coast and looking forward to year round great weather, the outside area was so important and it really has a wow factor and my daughter loves all of the time she spends there outdoors.
Most importantly I can’t say enough about how much my daughter and I both love the teachers. Because of them she has made amazing progress both skills-​wise (letters, numbers, songs, vocabulary have all blossomed) and socially over the last year. The teachers are all very observant and caring and bring any issues to me right away.
One other random thing I love about the school is that it is very easy communicate with them about any little matter (questions, or just to say I’m picking up early etc) over email. Every time I email I hear back practically within minutes. This makes such a difference to me. Of course they are always available in person and on the phone too.
Last but not least my daughter loves her new friends she has made there, I really like all the parents I have met at the school, and my daughter begs to go to school every day even on weekends. It is a great community and 100% one of the very best decisions I have ever made. So lucky to have found this school!

Sunshine Daydreams is run by creative, caring, fair, and loving teachers and adminstrators, a small and tight knit group that makes the place feel like a family setting. Our kids come home more aware of how to conduct themselves, more stimulated to learn, and more creatively excited than before.
I highly recommend this school, especially to those who appreciate a friendly, quite international set of parents and a sweet group of preschoolers!

We checked out many preschools in the area. We enrolled our son in one that he hated going to. It just didn’t feel right. We then switched him to Sunshine Daydreams and he loves the place. The teachers are kind and caring. They keep the activities diverse and inclusive. There’s also plenty of books on the shelves.

Great school with homey feel. My kids love it here, and teachers are very warm.

My daughter is attending Sunshine Daydreams for 1 month ½ now. She literally runs to the door to get her shoes on if I tell her we go to school…
Do I need to add more? Just a big thank you to all the staff and Pepper for all the love they share with the kids!

My daughter has been going to Sunshine Daydreams for over a year now, and we love it so much. The teachers and staff are so warm and friendly, and the activities they do with the children are really great, from yoga to arts and crafts to gardening and book reading etc. The caring and nurturing vibe of this preschool is really the best we have ever seen. And our daughter has progressed so much mentally, physically and emotionally, we believe that she will be more than ready for Kindergarten next year. She is already drawing, beginning to read and write, and has learned great socialization skills from the staff.
We love Sunshine Daydreams and would recommend it to any parent.

I love this place. The converted house is so welcoming, and has many activities for the kids to draw from. When you open the door, the door to the outside play areas is so inviting, it’s just calming to see a place with such a nice layout. I like that they have inside and outside activities structured, and they clean up to get ready for the next set of activities. It’s also nice that circle time is a casual time to see what is happening for the day. And at the end of the day there’s a summary of activities and music on the whiteboard so you know what is going on.
I like the diversity of the kids that are there; my own child has had some issues with being overwhelmed with stimuli, but Dave and his team has made his transition amazingly easy.
While it would be nice if they had longer hours, I like knowing that the staff is present, and able to focus (instead of being overworked and overwhelmed). The staff seems to have been there for a while, and they work well together and enjoy being with the kids. This place is a gem of a preschool in Culver City.

Sunshine Daydreams for me was love at first tour. They took a house and converted it into a preschool. The staff is the main reason I love this place. It is family run. Dave the director is gifted at dealing with «conflict resolution». He is always giving me pointers on how to handle different situations I face with my 3 year old twins. He communicates with me as much or little as I need via email or phone. He is very patient, understanding and genuinely loves the kids. He started the preschool with his mom Jackie and his sister is a teacher as well. The other teachers are fabulous.
It has a huge yard with a big tree and wooden jungle gym. There is an large area for bikes that has different riding toys for all levels of physical abilities. They focus on teaching the children to be environmentally safe. It is a program that is based on exploring through play. They don’t force the kids to do things they aren’t interested in. They do set up activities and encourage the kids to try different things. My son and daughter both go there and have very different personalities. They are both always engaged from trains and dinos to arts and crafts and princess dresses. There is something for everyone.

a truly great school. From the moment I stepped in I felt right at home. I really love how they combine not just Reggio but also play, and emergent curriculum. David runs the school like a true teacher, meaning that although he is the director, he also is seen teaching and being hands on. not just stuck behind a desk. I also enjoyed learning how they document the children’s development, and introduce so many different elements such as REAL music (ozomotli, Mountain, etc.) :D
Also as a male early childhood major myself, its so awesome to see fellow males in the field working with children hands on.

Both of our children attended Sunshine Daydreams, and we were extremely happy with their preschool experience. From the moment I first walked in the door for a tour, I loved the casual, warm, and loving environment. It felt like a place where it’s okay to make a mess, then help clean it up — and I mean that in the most positive way! The school values a wide variety of activities ranging from music to art to yoga to cooking to gardening. They have an excellent mix of indoor and outdoor activities. Children get plenty of time to run and play and be active, coupled with more low-​key activities such as circle time or art that require more quiet and focus.
Sunshine Daydreams staff and teachers are extremely caring, and they do a great job teaching the children to play cooperatively yet develop a strong sense of independence and responsibility. The kids each had one teacher who oversaw their parent-​teacher conferences and created a binder of their work, and other teachers who led age-​divided activities like circle time, but they still felt connected to and extremely comfortable with every teacher and staff member at the school.
The learning style is play-​based, which I loved, but I wondered whether it would make the transition to elementary school difficult. However, both of my kids emerged from Sunshine completely ready for kindergarten and a more rigorous academic environment. They learned to be confident, to solve problems, and to ask for help when they need it, and those are great building block social skills!
Maybe most importantly, we loved the sense of community fostered at Sunshine Daydreams. The kids made wonderful friends, and my husband and I were fortunate to make friends with their friends’ parents. Having previously attended a preschool where we didn’t feel connected to any other families, we came to value this connection quickly and to see it as a real hallmark of the school. Sunshine Daydreams was a great home for our family for four years and we feel lucky to have been part of this experience!

We were incredibly lucky to be a part of the Sunshine Daydreams community for four years. The teachers connect with the kids in thoughtful ways that are meaningful to kids at this age, like noticing new haircuts, commenting when two kids wear similar colors, or just helping a child get engaged and started with their day. The environment is very nurturing, yet also designed to help kids develop their social skills and confidence in preparation for kindergarten. Their daily schedule offers a balance of structured activities and lots of creative play that lets them be kids! Both of our daughters thrived during their years SD!

I credit Sunshine Daydreams for helping my daughter learn that school can be a fun and safe place. The entire staff is loved by my child and that’s saying a lot. She had serious separation anxiety when starting the program and now literally skips to school. They are so patient and supportive when it comes to helping your child adapt to change.
At this age I feel that the most important skills a child can learn are learning to play and socialize with children, respect for others, respect for the environment, and independence. Our daughter has learned all of these things and so much more at Sunshine Daydreams.

we are so happy at sunshine daydreams! It is a loving, creative and fun place for children… and they even sneak in learning– When I ask my son what he did at school it is always” we played and we had fun” and then all of a sudden he is telling me the days of the week, counting in French, saying goodbye in Japanese or singing a Beatles song.

My daughter loves her school and the staff is so kind and «real» with the kids. The emphasis on a waste free (as much as it can be) is a great lesson for little ones.
One of my favorite things is Dave’s proactive e-​mails about updates in education trends/​news (like when LAUSD moved up their deadline for kindergarten) and local kid’s events.