Little Munchkins Academy

Reading the reviews this academy has received reminds me just how permissive this country has become with countenance and etiquette. We have all grown accustomed to rudeness in this country whether its someone shouting on their cell phone on a public train, or someone slouched in their seat dropping food and litter everywhere. The english language has been disregarded and is now spoken incorrectly and at a very facile level in America. Furthermore we see more and more people defying discipline and structure. I don’t want my daughter growing up being a bully or loud on the phone or not saying thank you when someone opens the door for her — or disregarding a line at the coffee shop. I don’t want my daughter going to some school where the parents are afraid of discipline, etiquette and structure.
I don’t look at pick up and drop off as tense. Its just not a hey come in be happy, join in on the craziness and throw the coat over there type of place. I look at this as an academy not just a school. An academy where you learn not only reading writing and arithmetic, but etiquette, manners, and empathy and concern for others. The manners the kids have at this academy is exemplary. Everyone sits up straight, has good table manners and does not holler out and carry on in inconsiderate fashion.
Our daughter is growing up a very capable, confident, and well mannered child and I attribute it to this academy in large part. I am on the intellectual side, read voraciously, and have a graduate degree. I have very high standards. My standards are not hey i’ll drop you off have fun and I like the place because everyone is just doing their own thing. My standards are organization, etiquette, and intelligence. I want a school with a leader that educates a child’s mind but also imparts confidence, discipline, and consideration for others.
Now if that all sounds stuffy, I must elaborate further by saying that my daughter is very happy. She has a ton of fun at little munchkins. The artwork she is bringing home at age 3 just blows me away. She sings and dances at home, she shows me the yoga she has learned. She is putting together 100 piece puzzles. The academy is all about a love for books as well. My daughter loves books — that right there is a huge victory! She plays with the wide selection of toys there, has tons of time for make believe, imagination, and creativity. I walked in the backyard one day and there were three kids at painting easels. I was so proud when I saw my child standing and painting at an easel !
I recommend this academy. I understand Ms. Sarah; she is not a day caretaker, she is an educator. Yes she has high standards on behavior, but this is what I want, and its what more children growing up in this country need. My daughter is learning, growing, and she is happy. Thank you Little Munchkins

My child was in Little Munchkins «Academy» for 3 years. In retrospect, we should have never enrolled there and should have left much earlier. I think my post-​baby hormonal imbalance compromised my normally sound decision making skills. The proprietor is a good marketer & ferociously dedicated to making ends meet as a single parent to her three lovely daughters. That’s about it for the positives.
On the not so positive side, the proprietor is incredibly manipulative, unscrupulous, inflexible and unreasonable. Her adult interpersonal skills and basic business skills are woefully lacking. She is suspicious of and incredibly awkward with men. Pick up and drop off were always tension-​filled. «Academy» is quite an overstatement. Academies typically dont feaure tons of tv watching. The Tuition payment in cash requirement was ridiculous. We used to pay tuition earlier than it was due and then one month paid it on time. She charged us an egregious late fee for «not paying as early as we normally did». What?! She’d often levy high penalty fees onto families for things like carpet cleaning after a potty training accident. Parents who stood up to her often showed up for pick up to be notified that that effective immediately they would have to find other child care arrangements. Talk about life disruption! Few families left in a normal and happy fashion. If you’re looking for a nurturing and steady environment for your child run by a reasonable person who will work with you, keep looking.
And I look forward to the inevitable and harsh rebuttal from Mrs. Kazmi which should be quite telling for future prospects. *****As for the below comment that this is a fictitious review, it is not. The proprietor wishes to hide behind this bogus claim. The reviews have too many concrete details that paint a consistent trend of care. The name under which I post is my nickname which the proprietor would not have heard. If I bothered to look, I bet I’d find a picture of my child still posted on the LMA website. *****

As a follow up, the owner has withheld my FSA form which has prevented me from receiving compensation for the past number of weeks. I would be very wary of dealing with her and her unscrupulous ways. After paying thousands of dollars to her, I think that putting a signature on a form and returning it is not too much to ask.
As far as the coughing comment– he was not coughing that morning when he was dropped off, nor when he was picked up from school…
and yes, we had already given her notice, and told our son that if she tries to touch him, he needs to tell her not to. He is verbal and intelligent, so I figured that for the 15 days he would continue in her care, that we would be hyper-​viligant.

Our son has had the privilege of attending Little Munchkins Academy. The first time we visited Little Munchkins we knew we wanted our son to attend the academy. The thing that got us was the wall of photos. There were several photos of young adults coming to visit Miss Sarah. There seemed to be a priceless bond between Miss Sarah and some of her previous students. I still have a relationship with my preschool teacher and hoped our son would experience the same bond with his preschool teachers. And the academy is fairly small, which for me was a plus. It was important to make sure the staff developed a personal relationship with our son and learned his personality and we saw evidence of personal relationships during our first visit.
We love how structured the program is, but the children still have room to explore and grow into themselves. When he started he was only 18 months old and knew a few animals and when to say thank you. He now identifies well over 30 animals, counts to 20, says please, thank you, excuse me and you’re welcome, sings over 10 songs, knows several signs, identifies a few colors, sings the alphabet, counts backwards from 10 and has begun working on 24 piece puzzles! He is only 2 ½ years old! And that’s just the things I can remember right now! He is exposed to so much. We visited close to a dozen preschools and child care centers and nothing compared to what Little Munchkins offers.
We are so pleased with Little Munchkins Academy. We would love to move our family closer to San Francisco but we have decided to postpone our move until our son has graduated from Little Munchkins Academy. Miss Sarah and her staff have been a tremendous asset to our son’s early development and we would be making a huge mistake by removing him from the academy! There is no way to properly thank Miss Sarah for the incredible gift she is given our family!
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RESPONSE TO OTHER REVIEWS:
Pleas understand, my child is a student at Little Munchkins and has been for over 1 Year…
If a child is coughing, it is only appropriate that they are sent home. Coughing is generally the first sign of illness. And if the child is not sent home then he/​she may get the other children sick. If my child’s food has been opened, It is not sanitary to place it back in the bag and send it home… Bacteria can grow so fast in that time frame! And, if I were a child care provider and CPS was contacted due to something a child said, I would terminate that child’s contract immediately also. IF YOU THINK YOUR CHILD IS BEING PINCHED, THEN YOU PROBABLY DON’T WANT TO SEND THEM BACK!!! My child talks A LOT and if he or any other children were being pinched, I would know about it.
Review 2: She does not claim to be accredited by the NAEYC. It specifically says she is a member of the NAEYC… Secondly, there was only one BBB complaint and that was 23 days prior to Bianca’s review… I’m pretty sure that Bianca was the complaint. The name of the business is even spelled incorrectly. My Third point is that I know for a fact that she has been in business for 20 years. I know a 23 year old who was in her care when he was 3 (this same child has 3 younger siblings and all of them were cared for by Miss Sarah). There may be a discrepancy because the City of Hercules does not require a business license until you have a LARGE family daycare or the academy changed locations. And lastly, the Hercules Chamber of Commerce is an organization. Like every chamber of commerce, every business that is a member pays dues depending on the size of the business. At the end of every year, the organization awards one of its members an award for business of the year. EVERY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE is the same. I think maybe Bianca was not aware how the chamber of commerce in america works.

We enrolled our daughter in Little Munchkins about 1 year ago and we love it! This was our first attempt of having her attend day care/​pre-​school and we were very nervous, but the owner Sarah really helped all three of us transition. Sarah has gone above and beyond to accomadate us and I can tell from conversations with my child how much she loves attending school.
At the age of 2 ½, our daughter can say her alphabet, numbers to 20 in English and 10 in Spanish, works on 26 piece puzzles by herself, sings songs, and has great socialization skills.
I highly recommend Little Munchkins to families who are looking for a pre-​school.

Parents beware!!! I’m rewriting my review to give you all the REAL DEAL on this place. I would describe my experience at this so called daycare, nothing short of a NIGHTMARE. The owner of this place Sarah Kazmi will made me regret putting my child in daycare. I wound up having to sue the owner… yes SUE her in small claims court. I won my case and finally after many weeks of waiting was paid my judgment. Something interesting I also found out as I was preparing for my small claims case against Ms. Kazmi she is not accredited with NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) although she advertises as if she is and charges outrageously high child care rates for accreditation’s she does not carry. so according to the letter I received from NAEYC that says she’s not accredited with them, she’s a liar too (documentation was attached but Unilocal took it down). She made up these tremendous lies against my husband and I, stating I paid her in advance for daycare services (not quite Sarah, I paid my child’s tuition two days early and then you had an argument with my husband and the next day kicked our 14 month old out of school and refused to refund the tuition you were paid, of course the small claims judge ordered a judgment against her) then she lies some more stating she had us arrested and chased out of town, more lies and truly laughable. HA
Oh and let’s not forget she will try to shove the fact that she was awarded Business of the Year 2010, however what you won’t find out unless you do some research is she pays dues to the Hercules Chamber of Commerce who gave her the award… Seriously is that a joke or what! AND she had not been in business for 20 years like she advertises, when you call the City of Hercules you will find out she has only had a business license since 2003. That is only 10 years, talk about over exaggerating.
So parents if you want your child’s first experience with daycare to be like what you just read, Little Munchkins is the place for you. However, there are lots of wonderful daycare’s our there with loving compassionate teachers and staff (this place is not one of the) that will make your experience memorable in a good way. I hope this was informative but if not, just go to yahoo and read remarks on this place, or read the filtered comments here on Unilocal, or go to the BBB an you will see lots of parents had MAJOR issues with Ms. Kazmi.
Lastly Ms. Kazmi please discontinue sending threatening letters that you will sue me for liable. Look it up, find out what it means, and then blow smoke lady. YOU CAN’T SUE PEOPLE FOR TELLING THE TRUTH, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!! :-)