“My family has had a wonderful experience with El Cerrito Chinese Pre-School. My daughter has been there since she was 4 months old, and she’ll soon be 4 years old.  I knew we found the right place when I first toured the school. The children are happy to be there and the environment is very inviting, clean, well-organized, and staffed by caring and attentive individuals. The outdoor play area is safe and has many toys for the children to play with.

More importantly for me is that it feels like my daughter is part of one big family since it’s a home-based pre-school. In addition to the other pre-schoolers, my daughter also plays and talks about Shirley’s (the owner’s) children all the time. As a working mom, I also appreciate the healthy, home-cooked meals and snacks they provide to all the kids and not to mention the potty-training support.  On the rare occasions I run late for pick-ups, Shirley has been very understanding and accommodating.

Now that my daughter is older, she comes home wanting to do “homework”, i.e. practice her ABCs. At first, she struggled with some letters but Shirley found a way for her to learn them. Shirley has many years experience as a former teacher in China and shows a lot of patience with the kids.

My daughter loves to sing a lot of songs in English and Mandarin and recites many poems. She also likes to teach her mom and dad Mandarin from her lesson books – my husband and I don’t know Mandarin, so it can be a humbling experience for us.

I highly recommend El Cerrito Chinese Preschool!” –Clara, parent of a current student

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“我儿子进入廖老师家幼儿园有8个月时间，通过孩子的成长和与廖老师的交流，我最想说的是这里是给孩子最好的选择。这里的特色之一是中英文并进，特别是刚来美国的小朋友，或者是想学中文的孩子，在这里都可以收获自己的果实。虽然我儿子入园不到一年，但他的成长的确出乎我的预料，令我们吃惊兴奋，他已经可以和小朋友用英文交流，这是我没有想到的。特色之二是这里的育儿方式方法灵活多样，寓教于乐，孩子没有觉得枯燥厌烦，他们往往采用手工课，或户外活动，或唱歌等形式教授科学知识和社会礼仪等。特色之三，廖老师是位非常有经验的育儿专家，她 很有耐心，很乐于与家长分享交流她的育儿经验，甚至在小孩护理方面，她也很有经验。另外，我最想感谢的，不仅是她带给我们孩子最初的启蒙教育，让他受益一生；而且她对我们给予了特别的关照和宽容，使我很受感激” — Parent of a former student

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“With the exception of a medical emergency, we can think of no service more important than the education and care of our daughter.  Choosing to send her to El Cerrito Chinese Pre-school has proven to be one of the best decisions we have made as parents.  Better yet, it is a tremendous value given its reasonable fees and outstanding level of service.  Of all the bills we pay each month, this is the only one we pay gladly and non-begrudgingly.  We sincerely hope there will be a slot available when our second child arrives, and if you decide to send your son or daughter to this school, we look forward to making your acquaintance.” –Eric, parent of a current student

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“My daughter started to go to El Cerrito Chinese Preschool when she was about six months old and until she went to kindergarten.  I trusted them with the most precious thing in my life, my daughter.  Shirley and her team really put their hearts and soul in every child’s development.  I can focus on work knowing my child was being nurtured and interacted with in ways that promotes all areas of her development. This confidence in El Cerrito Chinese Preschool creates a win-win situation for us.

This warm and welcoming family home day care is an environment that offers great mixture of play and structure, and in a really caring, loving environment. My daughter thrived in a social, fun environment with a real mixture of kids, in age, race, and background.  At pick up, Shirley and her team would informed me about what went on during the day in addition to what my daughter ate and learned.   Shirley also took a lot of pictures during the cause of years and I could tell the wonderful time she had in El Cerrito Chinese Preschool.

I truly thank Shirley and her team.  They not only made my life easier, they did the best of the best, love and care my child like their own.” –Emily & Simon, parents of a former student

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“Our son began attending EC Chinese Preschool when he was 6 months old and was in Shirley’s care for over 2 years.  We had every intention of sending our 2nd child to ECCPS, but we ended up moving to the East Coast.  Shirley and the other caretakers are an extension of our family, which made it an extremely hard decision.  They took such wonderful care of our son, helped him overcome separation anxiety, taught him the Chinese language, provided us with opportunities to meet other families and build community, etc.  Although we’ve moved cross country, we continue to keep in touch with Shirley and visit her every time we are in the Bay Area.  We truly miss all the wonderful and loving teachers at ECCPS.” –ML, parent of a former student

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“Our daughter joined Shirley’s pre-school/daycare when she was 7-month old and it was her first experience at a daycare. She had no issue adjusting to the new environment — having only experienced separation anxiety once (on day two). My daughter’s grew rapidly in Shirley’s daycare, from not crawling well to crawling and walking around. She has also become a lot more social, interactive and confident around other children. I highly recommend Shirley’s daycare. Thank you, Shirley!” –J, parent of a former student

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