Little Tree Education Madbury Dover Durham NH - Madbury, New Hampshire

Kelly L.

We could not be happier with the experience our family has had with Little Tree over the last 3 years. My daughter started there at 4 months old and has been there for 3 yeas. She has been in the infant, twos and Primary 1 classrooms. We also have a teenager and had experienced four different child care providers when she was an infant through preschool. I would put Little Tree at the top of all of all the providers we have had a chance to be a part of. My three year old speaks lovingly of her teachers and all of her great friends she has made there. The biggest priorities I have for her care are, safety and fun. I have always felt as though she was extremely safe and cared for at Little Tree and she absolutely has fun there! She adores Miss Marissa, the owner of the Sonatina Center in Dover, who comes to her classroom once a week for music enrichment. She has so much confidence and is extremely independent and I believe we have Little Tree to thank for that. I would recommend this child care facility, to my closest friends and family.

Erin H.

Our daughter has loved her time at Little Tree. The preschool teacher is warm, kind, patient and respectful and the classroom bright, spacious and well-prepared with size and age-appropriate materials. There is a balance of both community and individual activities and a thoughtful integration of the Montessori philosophy, including building skills for independence and "practical life". Since my daughter attends half-days (Little Tree's schedule allows for a lot of flexibility!) I've had the opportunity to share lunchtime with the children and teacher and am continually impressed by the way the simple ritual of the communal meal becomes an opportunity to learn grace, generosity, and responsibility. Children and adults eat together at a size-appropriate table, and children are expected to dispose of compostable food waste and rinse their dishes at a child-sized sink. We've been very happy with our experience thus far, including our interactions with the helpful and responsive administrative staff. We highly recommend the school to other families.

Brie D.

Our son has attended Little Tree Education in Madbury for a year and a half and we have had nothing but a super positive and joyful experience. The teachers and administration are all amazing people. They are all so loving, kind, and supportive. Ben has thrived and grown in so many ways! The Montessori philosophy and approach embodies so many of our values that we truly feel at home at Little Tree.

Brett G.

Our sons are thriving at Little Tree! The teachers and staff are wonderful, caring, patient, understanding, and so kind. I am so happy that we decided to send our sons to Little Tree. Our oldest needed more to challenge him and he's getting that, along with patience and love. Thank you Little Tree!

Richael C.

My son has been attending Little Tree since 2013. He entered into the Preschool program when he was a few months shy of being 4, and at the time LTE only had a handful of children in the preschool as they had just opened their doors a few months prior. My son came from an in-home daycare where he received tons of one-on-one attention and I was nervous about him attending a preschool as I was uncertain how the transition would be from being the center of attention to one of many, so I was pleased that the program was small when we enrolled. With that said, as Little Tree's enrollment grew to maximum capacity (as expected- its an amazing place!) I found no waiver in attention or communication when it came to my son and his teachers. They take such great care to check in when needed, keep a journal that comes home with stories, anecdotes, pictures of what he's been up to- and I have the chance to journal back and discuss what we've been up to as well. This form of communication is so perfect as pick-up and drop-off are not always the appropriate time to steal the teacher's attention away from the other children they are caring for. The journal is a lovely memento that I'll have forever to remember his preschool years (and we all know moms need something to help us remember things!) In addition to the journal, the lesson plan for the week is posted on the door, and a bulletin board outside the classroom describes what the children have been experiencing in the class room daily. I find the Montessori based program so delightful for small children. There are so many hands on activities that involve motor skills, imagination, and critical thinking, that go well beyond the scope of an ordinary preschool program. They enrich their classes with other events such as having the fire department come, the seacoast science center, and violinist, they do yoga, the list goes on and on. I'm constantly impressed with the knowledge my son comes home with. He's always saying things like: (pointing to a tree) "That's a deciduous tree because its leaves fall off!" or "Momma did you know chickens are oviparous?!?" (I had to Google what oviparous meant!) They also have a lovely play yard that they get to enjoy at all times of the year, they even play out in the snow when weather permits and have special water play days in the summer. I'm completely devastated that we have to enroll in Kindergarten in the fall- I wish we could stay at LTE longer. I'm so pleased with his level of education entering Kindergarten- he can count well past 100, knows simple addition and subtraction, knows some Spanish, and all kinds of science and life knowledge, can write his whole name.. plus so much more. I've found all the teachers to be intelligent, gentle, and fun. I've also enjoyed being a part of the LTE community, being invited to preschool events, summer kick-off parties, and connecting with other parents on the LTE parent Facebook page the school created. Little Tree is committed excelling beyond the status-quot- having more teachers on staff than required by state, and constantly evolving and enriching the classrooms as enrollment expands. I cannot sing their praises enough! I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to send my son here before there was a waiting list!

Jennifer C.

Our child went to Little Tree from 9 months through 14 months. We had some scheduling issues that postponed her start date, but figured we would wait for her spot to open up as we thought this was the best fit for her. I should have gone with my gut from the moment we went to the orientation they set up for us, as it did not feel warm or welcoming there.

The lack of compassion and communication bewildered me. One of the first days I asked how my child napped and was directly told, “that information is all documented on her daily sheet.” Comments like this left me feeling so upset and confused. I never felt like I could receive any anecdotes or silly stories from the head teacher about my child. That is all I wanted from the head teacher and director. I was often treated with disrespect and as if I was being a nuisance for wanting a bit more substance for how she was doing day in and day out. Not only that, I wanted to feel as if she was being treated with love and compassion. The only reason we kept our daughter enrolled for so long (4 months) was because a few of the teachers in the infant room were great with her, and understood how to communicate with parents. But in the end it didn’t make up for their shortcomings.

The owner’s demeanor was always that we were lucky to be there, not that they were happy to have our business. Once we had a meeting scheduled with her to try and figure out when our daughter could attend on Wednesdays and the owner emailed to cancel it the day of with no intention of rescheduling. In the email she accused us of mistreating the teachers, but refused to give us a single example of anything we did. We were shocked and offended. We had always been nice and warm to all the teachers. I felt bullied and I did not feel comfortable with my child in their care. I had never felt more helpless since becoming a mother. All I wanted was a safe, fun and loving place for my daughter to go to each day. We started looking for a new daycare immediately.

While in the search of new childcare for our daughter I was awkwardly asked at pick up one day how much my daughter weighed. I told them my estimation to hear in return that she is one pound too heavy for 2 out of the 3 infant teachers to hold due to lifting restrictions they have. Keeping in mind my child was in the infant room where they nap in cribs and are changed on a changing table and most importantly needed to be cared for in the event of an emergency. I contacted the director about this and was simply told they are working as hard as possible to work on schedule so that there will not be the two teachers with lifting restrictions in the classroom alone. In my opinion “working as hard as possible” was not acceptable. I needed confirmation that my daughter, who was too heavy for her teachers to hold, would be cared for in the case of emergency. About a week later when this was not settled I could not bare the pit in my stomach each day I left her there. We picked her up one Thursday and never returned.

Micaela D.

UPDATE:
our child left little tree about a year ago and now that some time has passed, i want to update my review with some additional thoughts. we continue to be thankful for and impressed with miss caitlin's excellent leadership in the classroom. she always made us feel confident that she truly cared about our son and wanted to fill her classroom with stimulating, creative experiences for the kids. our son, in turn, absolutely adored her. she is clearly a bright spot in the LTE family.

we left LTE because our schedule changed with the addition of a new baby, and we couldn't justify the high cost of care. our son was the very first enrolled preschooler, but by the time we left, the classroom was full and there were several new assistant teachers whose names we mostly did not know and who mostly didn't interact with us. the weekly journal entries decreased significantly to only once every 3-5 weeks (i actually went back to check!), signs that their increased enrollment was marked by a decrease in the frequency of communication.

on that note, i really wish LTE would offer parent conferences and developmental assessments. i know i am not the only parent who has specifically requested them, but for some reason management just does not place a high value on these typical education practices in the name of adhering to the "Montessori method". this hands-off approach has noticeably spilled over into their policies (or lack thereof) when they see evidence of concerning behaviors in students. the protocol for referring children for outside resources is haphazard and inconsistent, and it seems they wait until the very last minute before bringing a matter to the parent's attention. the agency they work with (PTAN) primarily assists children with behavioral issues, so it never made sense to me that they would be the only resource consulted for developmental or social concerns about a child. i got the impression management saw PTAN as a one-stop-fix-it-all resource that would serve as an adequate substitute for the individualized child assessments and referrals to proper agencies that should have been happening all along.

our referral to PTAN yielded basically no helpful information, which just left me feeling paranoid and frustrated. i wished i had just been told outright that there were social concerns. instead, i feel like the issue was tiptoed around, which only served to delay our ability to get the guidance and services we needed.

in summation, this school is truly beautiful and there are a LOT of wonderful resources and staff to give kids a fun and stimulating environment during the day. i don't regret our time there at all, and we have fond memories of our son's first school experience. i think management would do well to prioritize honest and frequent communication about the child's skills and interactions, even when it might mean a hard conversation needs to occur. LTE missed the mark in this area, even though it excelled in many other ways.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
we are so happy to be a part of the little tree family! our preschooler LOVES going to school and has so much fun playing with friends, exploring new projects, and learning under the careful and loving guidance of miss caitlin. the facility is clean, bright, new, and very well laid out. the toys are engaging and open-ended (no battery operated junk, thank goodness!!!) and the kids are taught responsibility and accountability from an early age. we have seen our kiddo blossom and mature during these past 4 months. the staff is energetic and patient, and the curriculum is stimulating. we love reading his weekly teacher journal to get a personalized window into our son's favorite activities, new discovered, silly quotes and art projects. the journal entries by his teacher are thoughtful, lengthy and so valuable to us as parents! little tree was about the 6th stop on our tour of potential schools, and as soon as we set foot in the door we were sold.

Christie W.

Our daughter loves it here! Friendly and communicative staff. Great curriculum for life long skills and emotional intelligence. Very happy to be part of the Little Tree family.