The Learning Experience reviews

The curriculum is a mess and developmentally inappropriate. Just because preschoolers are hounded with workbooks doesn’t make the program more educational. They had me teaching sight words to 3 year olds who haven’t even mastered letter recognition yet… truly bizarre. The schedule offered far too many transitions. The children need time for open ended play and exploration… but wait there aren’t enough materials and centers were pathetic. Environmentally, the centers were atrocious and not clearly defined for children so they would just run around the room instead of sitting and playing in their chosen center. It invited chaos. Have the people who designed these classrooms ever even tried maybe just googling what a classroom looks like? A tiny single Lakeshore stove and a shelf with a bag of dress up clothes was the most pathetic excuse for a dramatic play center I have ever seen. Bubbles and friends are creepy. Couldn’t do anything meaningful on the Smartboard except YouTube videos of weirdo Bubbles. Couldn’t play Jack Hartman, Laurie Berkner, or Blazer Fresh for music and movement breaks. Couldn’t even put on a story read aloud that was relevant to the curriculum (because we didn’t have the book). Never really felt like I was able to properly teach anything because I never knew when I’d go on my break (or if it was a 15, 30, or 60 minute break) and the floater would just throw my lesson plans out the window and do nothing I planned for in the time I was gone. Even then, I spent more time chasing around behavioral and special needs students who certainly needed one on one support than tending to or teaching other children in my room because I was always alone. Nevermind the endless cleaning I would have to do on top of it. Parents sent their kids here for an education but surely they were getting ripped off because I never had time to implement my lesson plans between dealing with behaviors from students who were a danger to themselves and others, playing paraprofessional for the severely disabled students, and being the custodian all at the same time. Not to mention, I never got to use the bathroom when I needed despite being heavily pregnant. I was often dehydrated because I’d limit my water intake. I am convinced this is why my pregnancy became high risk and I developed complications that put mine and my daughters lives at risk. The whole place was a joke. I was relieved to begin working in a public school where the pay is better, benefits are better, and I get the support and staff I need to take my lunch on time, planning hours, and the behavior tech and para support to help me manage challenging behaviors and special needs. I gave that iPad and app more attention than the kids because the pressure to constantly take and upload pictures and updates for every little thing. Absolutely absurd. I always went home late because they insist on staffing at the bare minimum while enrolling more and more students that we simply don’t have the staff for. Where is the logic in that? What a joke of a company.

Bad sick day policy. Every time I called out, management asks if I can take “medication” and come in. Pay more, have a better sick day policy, & hire more workers to cushion sick employees. It’s inappropriate to ask ailing employees to come in when they’re sick and struggling! Some of the teachers treat the kids poorly based on their appearance. Veteran teachers have made fun of the babies' and kids' "heaviness". One of the "rockstar" teachers told a distressed child she "no longer wanted to see her tears"; she's been employee of the year multiple times! There's a lot of [sad] office politics with some of the older teachers who threw out my behavior reports & would openly deride me to parents and kids. Hourly pay is not sustainable. I was allowed ZERO input for lesson planning and arts/crafts activities. Seniority and favoritism wins? Many of the teachers let the babies cry and won't comfort them even if they're not busy doing something with another child! Some of the teachers were constantly on their cell phones despite a no-phone-policy. Hand-washing protocol is sad and not followed with the kids (or some of the teachers). Work at another preschool/daycare that cares about its kiddos AND teachers!