Little Bears Laboratory
Albany, CA
To see Department of Social Services records on this facility, click on its DSS Facility License # below.
Our daughter was at LBL from six months until age 2, when we moved away from the area. Tiffany and LBL are probably the thing we miss most from living in the Bay area! We are not a Mandarin-speaking household and weren’t quite sure how an immersion environment would go, but we connected with Tiffany over her gentle care, kindness, love of music, and the way she threads learning into everything she does. We really appreciated how Tiffany and her team supported our cloth diapers and vegetarian diet. The school provides really wholesome food as part of its very wholesome environment. We also liked the fact that LBL has kids from infant to pre-school, which allowed our daughter to see what older kids were doing as well as the younger ones.
Our time with Tiffany started at peak COVID and we really liked how careful Tiffany was, and how she altered the school environment to keep everyone safe. The kids spend a lot of time outside, are introduced to things like Persian mulberries on Tiffany’s tree, experience different traditional celebrations like the Lunar New Year, and read books and listen to music played by Tiffany’s children. We loved watching our daughter’s language capacity grow as she would come home singing songs learned from daycare. Tiffany is so thoughtful and genuinely loves kids – it is something that you can feel when you meet her. We highly recommend LBL! It is a very special place.
Both my son (3.5) and daughter (1) are at LBL. I was looking at transitioning my son to a Mandarin preschool but was not able to find a suitable one. After discussing with Tiffany to make sure that LBL can meet our expectation, we continue our son at LBL when he turned 3.
We are happy to see Tiffany arranges different classes (Art, Spanish, Science, Culture), outings, gymnastic class (need to pay based on if your kid would like to participate). As a native mandarin speaker, I want my kinds to be in a Mandarin environment as long as possible. With LBL, I know that my son is not only in the Mandarin environment, but also learning new things everyday. I would recommend parents who are looking for a Mandarin preschool near this neighborhood.
We brought our daughter here when she was 4.5 mo. old. Tiffany helped us to feel like she was part of the family and I was able to go back to work worry free. I can definitely say that LBL has been the best find for childcare and I feel blessed everyday that our little lady (9mo. old now) is in such loving hands. Tiffany and her helpers do a wonderful job exposing the kids to many different activities and occasional outings. She was also open to using cloth diapers and helping us do Baby Led Weaning when it came time to introduce solids. I even get occasional video or text updates showing us what our girl is up to throughout the day. Lastly, I feel that Tiffany does a great job in ensuring that the kids stay fairly healthy, we've only had to keep our daughter home 1 day since she's started at LBL. I highly recommend LBL!
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Nov 2013
My daughter has been attending LBL since she was 8 months old. I was initially nervous and not sure how it would work out since no one in my family speaks Mandarin, but I was equally excited for her to have an intensive cultural experience and exposure to another language. Our experience has far exceeded anything I could have ever dreamed of! Tiffany and the other teachers have embraced my daughter as a member of the LBL family and she practically leaps out of my arms each morning, she just LOVES going to daycare! Every day is filled with adventures and learning. They go to the park, the library, music class, the farmers market, the little farm and more. Tiffany plays the piano and they sing songs, read books, and everything is an opportunity for learning something new and creative play. Most importantly for me, the teachers are all truly warm and loving people. I am also very particular about nutrition, and they are very conscientious about my wishes and only feed her healthy, organic meals, as well as a big variety of foods. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this daycare-- This is truly one of the most special daycare experiences a parent could hope for!
Jennifer S
June 2013
Little Bears Laboratory (LBL) Mandarin Bilingual is a terrific home based day care. My wife and I have been taking our son to LBL since he was just six-weeks old as we prepared for our transitions back to work. The director, Tiffany, was very kind and accommodating in working out a part-time schedule in acclimating our son to the new environment. A native Mandarin Chinese speaker, Tiffany is fluent in English and has been attentive to the language needs of both the parents (my wife is a native Mandarin speaker; I only speak English) and the language skills of the students in her school.
There is a separate room for infants to nap as Tiffany leads a Mandarin lesson, facilitates music/singing time or enjoying the backyard and neighborhood walks. In addition, they only use Eco-friendly products to clean their facility and toys.
My wife and I are very happy with the care LBL provides to our son and recommend LBL to anyone interested in a Mandarin language focused daycare.
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