Little Sprouts/Learning Jungle Mission Valley - San Diego, California

Nikita Patel

I wish I could say I had a better experience but unfortunately, I’m left feeling betrayed, disrespected, & horrified by how my 2yo son was treated during his 5.5 months there.

Looking back, this place is a profit-driven machine, focused on packing classrooms beyond what their teachers can capably manage, moving kids around to maximize their ratios. The teachers—mostly young, early-career staff with little experience—were overwhelmed & ill-prepared to handle anything less than picture-perfect behavior. If your child falls into the “robotic” category, where they never challenge authority or push boundaries, maybe this place is for you.

My son transitioned through 3 classrooms and 8 teachers in just 5 months. This kind of inconsistency is a nightmare for toddlers, who need routine and stability. Unfortunately, the staff here seemed indifferent to continuity, making each transition abrupt & poorly planned. I was never informed of these changes in advance, and when I expressed concerns, I was given lip service from the director, who seemed more focused on covering their own back through corporate-speak emails than actually supporting my child. At one point, even apologizing for their email tone, claiming they “have to.” Red flag #2.

Communication is not a strength. Despite sending numerous emails with escalating concerns in view of TWO regional directors, neither ever replied with any guidance, help, or even a simple acknowledgement or compassion for what we were going through as worried parents trying to help our child acclimate to group care. A meeting was scheduled but canceled last-minute due to an emergency, then rescheduled only to be canceled again due to another emergency—we never rescheduled. Their idea of “support” was to start sending my son home early for any and all including the most minor of behaviors, all while threatening to terminate him after three incidents, though they repeatedly claimed they didn’t want to do that. Red flag #3.

The list of incidents is too long to cover, but here are some of the more absurd things they wrote up my 2yo for:

- Refusing to have his diaper changed (a normal 2-year-old autonomy issue)
- Spilling milk and laughing (again, typical toddler behavior)
- Not staying on his nap mat (normal 2yo struggling with impulse control)
- Climbing on top of a sleeping child and “holding them down,” later reframed as normal toddler behavior (which they didn’t mention until I pressed for clarity out of concern)
- Alleged choking of another child (but no footage after I requested it for both children’s safety)
- Throwing paper on the floor and not wanting to pick it up when asked (the horror!)
- Personal favorite: Pushing a teacher (who was at least 90 lbs heavier than him)

The worst part was their lack of transparency. I felt consistently lied to. Once, their admin told me they couldn’t take my son because I dropped him off 10 minutes past 9 a.m. and they were “legally at capacity” due to staffing shortages. I later found out his classroom wasn’t even impacted—information I had to get from the director after complaining.

They also refused to provide video footage of the supposedly more severe and aggressive incidents which made me question legitimacy. I was never told that an admin was shadowing my son to prevent such behaviors (not to guide, help, or teach- just observe and write reports). He soon started telling me he didn’t want to go to school & became more sad & uncomfortable at drop offs. After seeking advice from child experts (including his pediatrician), who were horrified at how the daycare was handling him, I knew I couldn’t trust them anymore and had to pull him out.

If you care about your child’s well-being and they don’t fit a clean, neat “rule following” I suggest you look elsewhere. LJ is not a place where children come first—it’s a for-profit business that lacks both the capacity and the will to care for your child in any meaningful way. Save yourself the heartache and frustration. You’ll thank me later.

Jocelyne Wright-McLemore

My daughter attended Learning Jungle for almost a year, and loved going every day. She loved all of her teachers and they're all so wonderful and patient. She was introduced to a variety of foods, which we loved, and enjoyed the activities they did. All the staff were great, and really appreciated how responsive Liz, the director was. The only reason we're leaving is we moved. 😭

Paula Joachin

This review is based exclusively on my experience with trying to reach someone at Learning Jungle. Calls go unanswered (as do voicemails), sent them an email on 3/28, received a response on 4/10. I asked a follow up question on fee scheduled that day and still no response 3 days later. You’d think that as they’ve grown (were taken over by some bigger corporation) they’d invest resources on responding to potential new clients (they’re a for-profit business after all) in a more reasonable time frame.

Stav Anafi

I scheduled a tour and came especially after updating them and pushed the appointment in 15 min and got their approval, and they just didn’t let us in because they had a miscommunication between them. She just shoots the door in our faces. Not a place I can trust or want them to take care of my kid. You should be ashamed of yourself!

Isaac

We’ve been on a waiting list for 2 years. When we got on it, they said 3 months. 6 months later they pushed it back another 3 months. The cycle has continued since. Horrible communication. This place really strung us along and screwed us over. Don’t waste your time.

Atakan Esen

Melissa Gonzalez

Rebecca