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Nook Daycare
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At a glance
- Mon-Fri 7:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M
- Full-time care, part-time care
- Infants and Toddlers
Description
The Nook Daycare is a place where children, parents, and teachers come together to instill a love of learning in each child. It’s an individualized learning experience in a clean, inviting, eco-friendly environment.
The staff and administrators at the Nook Daycare Center believe early childhood is a time for exploring, discovering, and creating oneself. It’s a time to meet the world through hands-on experience. Most importantly, it’s a time for being cherished as a unique individual. With our low student-teacher ratios, the programs at Nook can be very individualized.
The Nook Daycare Center is committed to the belief that every child can achieve, and that the first five years of life is the time to learn how to learn. Nook has crafted the perfect place for your child to grow and blossom. The carefully selected staff work together to give your child whatever is developmentally appropriate, helping them to achieve their fullest potential.
Play is the way very young children learn. At Nook, the children refine not only their gross-motor and fine-motor skills, but also their cognitive, social, emotional, and language skills. There are plenty of toys, materials, and play equipment for enriching activities both indoor and outdoor. Every child is free to explore at their own pace.
The Nook uses a combination of The Reggio Emilia Approach and The Creative Curriculum, combining these two Early Childhood theories to the benefit of your child.
The Reggio Emilia approach focuses on individualism, based on the current needs and interests of the child. Lessons are planned around the child’s interests to increase their knowledge of a subject. For example, if the entire class, a small group, or a single child expresses an interest in horses, the teacher will plan lessons around that. The children could make a horse out of play-dough, talk about who rides horses, or even go on a field trip to visit real, live horses.
While the children are encouraged to work together, they are acknowledged for their individual thoughts and ideas. Teachers are not givers of knowledge but rather guides and mediators for the children. The Reggio approach gives children the opportunity to learn through hands-on experience, permitting them to draw their own conclusions.
The Creative Curriculum perfectly fits with the Reggio Approach. With infants and toddlers, the Creative Curriculum places attention on the individual child. With infants and toddlers, the three main focuses are physical development, social-emotional development, and language development. This is crucial in the first 3 years of life.
Nook serves the children a wholesome, delicious, and organic breakfast, lunch, and snack. Because the food here is so enticing, children will enjoy eating their vegetables as well as fresh fruit. Everything is prepared on-site by professional, licensed chefs, with the finest quality organic ingredients.
We can also provide infants with our organic home-made baby food and bottles filled with organic house-formula. Nook also accommodates breast milk, as well as any other food or formulas a parent brings from home.
Finally, Nook provides parents with their Brightwheel app for daily updates on their child. Through the app, parents can see weekly lesson plans as well as pictures and videos of the kid’s daily activities. They’ll also receive important announcements and reminders. In addition to monitoring their child’s daily activities, parents are updated on diaper and potty training, daily meal consumption, and nap times.
Pros:
- Several locations around the city
- Provides a clean, healthy, eco-friendy environment
- Delicious, homemade organic meals
- Program designed to inspire a child’s curiosity and passion for learning
- Well trained, loving and caring teachers
- The administrator and staff work to accommodate a parent’s needs
- Parents rave about the Brightwheel app
Cons:
- Expensive
- Limited spaces and long waiting lists
Reviews
Christine Koszewski
17:34 26 Jul 22
Nook has absolutely been such a wonderful place to send our children. Our daughter attended from 4 months old to… recently graduating preschool. Some of the key things that we have loved about our experience:• All of the teachers care for the children deeply and the kiddos form such great bonds with them. This is also helped by the long tenure of the care takers. While there are different teachers assigned to each classroom, many were there the entire time my daughter was enrolled and helped her grow and learn along the way. Transitions are difficult enough in the early years, it was wonderful to have such a consistent presence with the teachers.• Philosophy of learning and exploring – so many interactive experiences! Spanish, music, yoga, clay language, sports – on top of all the other enrichment activities that are planned on a daily basis. Each week has a thoughtfully curated theme to explore.• Close-knit parent community – the Nook has played an instrumental role in helping form such a strong bond between parents as well. It takes a village!• Nook 2 is equally as great – both our kiddos had stints there as infants while we waited for spots in Nook 1. Closer proximity and a personal preference on classroom layout really won out for us as the main deciding factor on why we chose 1 over 2. Both directors made these transitions as easy and seamless as possible though!read more
Marshira Henderson
17:24 29 Jun 22
I have been employed with The Nook for approximately 3 years and my experience has definitely been rewarding. Love,… learn and collaborate is there mission and I have witnessed and experience just that. At the Nook, it’s not just a business, it’s an environment that cultivates growth from the children and staff. The teachers are patient and always kind to the students. We all dote on the children as if they were family because essentially that’s what they are to us. The Nook is a company that always has the child’s best interest at heart, from the healthy meals to the educational projects and activities. I would definitely recommend anyone to work for The Nook or even to enroll their children.read more
Janette Soriano
20:06 31 Mar 22
I have been working at the Nook for four 4 years and a half. I would recommend the Nook to others because we work… together as a team and we have great communication with each other. Working at the Nook is a great experience for me because I am always ready to come to work everyday! The families I work with are amazing and it is a joy to be able to work with their child!read more
Goda Olin
16:24 04 Mar 22
My daughter was at the Nook from 6 mo to just over 2 years old. We had a fantastic experience from day one to the very… last day.The teachers are amazing. They truly get to know your kid and really care. They understand milestones and transitions and help all they can with every step along the way. They were very helpful with some of the little transitions that, for a first time mom, can be a head scratcher. For example the transition to a sippy cup and sleeping in a cot, were just magically done for me. Phew! Also, on days full of anxiety (like the first first day, or first day back after international trips with jet lag babies) they were extra hands-on and communicated more than usual to help report back how the day was going.Just want to add a note here that on the very first day, they (aka Maria) were amazing. Truly. I think they sent me a pic every 20 minutes which helped me stop crying as I sat at the Starbucks a block away freaking out for no reason. They very much understand that day one is so hard, and they did everything they could to help mama feel better. (because obviously the baby was fine and having a blast!)The place itself is great as well. The location is smaller than other daycares so there are less kids per room so it just all feels a lot more intimate and less commercial. They have an in-house chef who cooks meals that make me jealous! My daughter is a picky/light eater at home, but with the meals given at daycare, I’m happy knowing she gets full healthy balanced meals there to offset her nighty 2 bites of noodles.My whole experience at The Nook was during Covid, so lots of the social activities were cancelled so can’t comment on those, but I will say that Jasmin and everyone went out of their way to decorate and incorporate as much social fun stuff for families as possible. There were treats and a balloon artist once! So props to them for making the most of the hard times.In general, leaving this daycare is so hard and I’m so sad. I only hope our future daycares are as good as this one. Jasmin, the director, is a gem. She runs the place very well and therefore has really happy dedicated teachers. Every single one of the teachers cares so much and the whole Nook feels like a second home. Send your kid here with a happy heart knowing they will have the best experience from day one to the last day when you say bye bye.read more
Patricia Gleason
20:15 06 Nov 20
My son has been going to Nook for over a year. We are very happy with Nook. Everyday he spends plenty of time outside,… does art, circle time and has music and/or Spanish class. He loves going to daycare and the communication between school and parents via the Brightwheel app is easy and plentiful. We started at Nook West Town, than moved to Nook 1 and both have been wonderful.read more
Julie Hall
00:14 03 Oct 20
Our son has gone here for about 18 months. He loves it and we love having him there! He gets to experience Spanish… class, music class, do crafts with his classmates, and go on May walks around the neighborhood. The staff is so loving and really made us feel like we are part of the Nook family from day1. I would HIGHLY recommend sending your daughter / son here. You will not regret it!read more
Noah K
02:13 04 Feb 20
I worked here for about 2.5 years as a teacher’s assistant in the Tikes room, which was a room with 9 two-year-olds. I… used to work at a large (200 kids) Montessori daycare / preschool in downtown Minneapolis, so much of what I think of The Nook is in relation to that experience. Also – I am writing about the Nook 1, on Leavitt, not Nook 2 on Hoyne. Whereas the Montessori school in Minneapolis was around since the 1970s, The Nook is fairly new, only 5 years old now, so it is still “working on ironing out some wrinkles,” if you will. Thankfully, their owner / lead manager Shalom is fairly involved. Only once or twice (in two years) did I see the owner of the huge Montessori school – but at The Nook, the owner Sholom comes in at least once a month with donuts, a smile and a super chill attitude. I loved that. And probably even more important is the new Director Jazmin who is super amazing – perhaps the best boss I’ve ever had. She’s an excellent communicator, she’s super supportive, always makes time to chat, checks in on everyone, and more. If I were a parent, I’d want my kid in her care. I also like that The Nook isn’t super philisophically rigid, unlike the way a Montessori school can be. Technically it’s “Regio-Emilia inspired” – you’d have to look it up – but it’s basically an artsy, outdoorsy school. The fact that there isn’t really a playground means that the kids sometimes get sort of “cooped up,” but it also means the school focuses more on education than other daycares, especially the pre-school. The preschool teachers have done an amazing job at making a really rigorous curriculum and turning those kids into little braniacs. The Nook’s kids DO get outside a lot, even though there isn’t a playground. We frequently took our class of two-year-olds on 1-1.5 mile long “interactive” walks, and went to the nearby parks as much as we could. The parents are sort of “in charge” which can stink for the staff, but I’m guessing it;s great for parents, especially the… “more involved,” pickier parents. The best thing about The Nook is definitely the staff. My closest coworkers were the best. The daycare portion isn’t top notch in my opinion, but with Jazmin as the manager, it’s getting there – she has put a lot of effort into making it feel super cozy and updating the toys, materials, break room, kitchen and the whole space in general. bye. Oh, and if you’re a prospective, interested parents, just keep in mind, although the staff at whatever school you choose may not have Masters Degrees and PHDs, they have spent more time with infants-6 year old than you likely ever will. Like, way more time. I should have a Masters Degree in tantrums and wiping butts. I dealt with hundreds of tantrums, and not just from 1 or 2 kids (which will likely be your experience as a parents), but with dozens of children with wildly different personalities. I personally know that I did around 30 diapers a day, so about 150 per work-week. OK, maybe more like 100. But there are 50 work-weeks in a year, so 500 diapers a year. So 1,500 diapers just in the time I was at The Nook 1, not including my old job that I had for 2 years. My point is, be nice to the staff, be forgiving, grateful and trusting!!! OK I’m outread more
Brittni Taylor
14:55 21 Jan 20
The Nook on Archer is the best daycare ever. They have wonderful enrichment programs and they actually care about your… whole family. I have been to 8 daycares and my children have complained that someone hurt them or mistreated them. At this daycare my son actually wants to go there. I can focus on my work in peace, knowing my son is happy and safe.read more
McKenzie Collier
21:13 15 Nov 18
We love The Nook! We started off using drop-in care and that worked well to have flexibility. We really liked the… staff and our daughter enjoyed going so we enrolled full time. They do fun activities and the teachers are fun, honest, and caring. We are very happy with our decision!read more
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