Learn & Play

My son started Learn and Play when he was 2 and was there through Pre-​K in 2010 — 2012. He was a difficult boy but the staff did a great job working with his personality and keeping us informed about ways to help him cope with stress and disobedience. He is now a bright and well mannered 2^nd grader in public school.
No sooner did my son graduate from L&P did my daughter started there. She started at 4 months old in 2013. She was in the most amazing, clean, a cared for newborn room. I never felt worried about leaving her in that facility while I commuted to NYC for work. My Daughter, now 3, has a genuine love for the teachers/​staff, she’s forming lasting friendships, and most of all she is learning SO MUCH. I regret not sending my son there sooner.
Like any daycare you will have over protective parents who blame the daycare for every bump and scrape but lets face it these are kids! They play hard and they get hurt.
They serve basic foods that the kids actually enjoy eating. My son still talks about Ms. Carmens Black bean tacos and cheese sandwiches. My daughter will only eat vegetables if they are served by Ms. Carmen. Yes they eat a lot treats because parents bring in cupcakes and munchkins so if you have an issue with your kid eating those things you might not be too happy but I say lighten up and let your kid be a kid!

My two year old twins have been going to learn and play for almost a year and I am amazed at how much they learn there. They have learned to socialize, follow directions, table manners, potty train and even communicate better to express their needs. Our pediatricians office even said how well behaved they are for their age. I highly recommend learn and play!

This is the worst day care I have met.
My kid was hit on the face (so close to the eye) by another boy. Grandma didn’t notice it during the pick up. I found out and went back about 15 minutes later. Teacher denied it and she said that kid pushed my kid without any injury. Incident report was filed after our back, stating bruise wasn’t noticed at school. That’s it. They promised to separate my kid from that kid but they are still in the same class. A few days later, my kid still told me that kid hit him on the face. I SAW THAT KID HIT ANOTHER KID BY USING A TOY IN THAT DAY CARE. I concerned every kid’s safety in that room. They are rude except one teacher. Director told me that IT IS NORMAL behavior for that kid and there are two kids biting in another class. They take no responsibility for anything going wrong even they knew it was wrong. Director refused to transfer my kid to another class and recommend us to transfer to a new day care.
Please don’t send your children to this day care. There is no safety, no fair, no respect and no responsibility. The philosophy is ignore and money.
They charged extra money during the summer for outdoor play, for par-​service.

Learn and Play was the start for two of my kids and I regret not going with my gut instinct not to go there. Like most places, there are some wonderful people who are there because they love children and then there are people who are there because they have to be to make money. Unfortunately it is a business and they will do anything to cut costs.
They shuffle teachers around constantly so they don’t have to pay someone to watch only a few children, so your child never has the stability of someone who knows the level your child is at and the attention they need.
If your child has allergies or restrictions, they only take precaution if it’s the usual peanuts/​tree nuts. One of my children was given something they were not supposed to eat several times because the person watching over them wasn’t the usual teacher for the class (or they were shuffling teachers to cut costs). Because the teachers move around so much, if your child has someone watching them that didn’t start the day with them, the next person has no idea what your child ate or did (they could read the daily sheets but none of them card to do that), and they take no responsibility for anything going wrong before they showed up.
Lastly, the director Madhu is polite when you first meet her to attract business and rude and obnoxious as soon as you have enrolled. Most of the staff do not have any kids of their own and as parents– we know what we were like handling children before our own came along, and how much our view and life changes afterwards.
Take your business elsewhere.

My older son just graduated from L&P this past summer, and he was there since April 2010. Our town only has a 2 hour program for pre-​school so luckily I took advice from a previous teacher who lives near us (who worked part time at L&P so she can work and take care of her kids too) and kept him there till Kindergarten started. We just had our first parent/​teacher conference at the elementary school and we were told that he is ahead of the game, a leader, everyone wants to do what he does, and an amazing helper for class projects! I give all the credit to Learn & Play’s teachers and admin since our kids are fortunate enough to be with them almost 10 hours a day. One of our most memorable moments is him explaining the yoga poses that Ms. Madhu does with the class… he still does them every so often!
Now our younger son has been there since he was 3 months old which was back in May of 2012. Time sure flies! The amount of stuff that he learns there still amazes me… from their table manners to their please and thank yous, reading, singing, going on the potty, and the list goes on. I wish i can attach a camera to him sometimes just to see his every day activities. All thanks to ALL the wonderful teachers there.
I know most parents complain that kids at daycare get sick more often. Yes this might be true but once their little bodies goes through all this (which seems like you’re at the doctors office all the time) they end up fighting off germs better when they get older. Knock on wood our older son hardly gets sick. I know the turn around might seem often there too but have you tried taking care of 4 to 5 kids at a time? It’s not easy…

Learn and Play was the first home to my 7 week old infant. The front reception and director were very friendly and very welcoming with a tour of the facilities. The area is large and very bright. Although the staff is young, they were very attentive to my son. The front desk calls often to check on the number of babies in the room to make sure they have adequate staff to tend to the needs of the babies. The staff gets to know your kid and also the family that picks them up and they are really friendly.