Testimonials

I have two children who attended BBNS and I could not be more pleased with the program. The staff are all caring and wonderful. It is obvious that they love what they do. My children both learned to read at BBNS and were confident readers while still in Kindergarten. Both of my children are better learners as a result of being at BBNS. Most of all, the school provides an environment where children can play, make friends and learn social skills that will benefit them in the years to come. I have nothing but praise for this school and the teachers. I would recommend BBNS to any parent who is looking for a quality preschool or Kindergarten program for their child.

Munira Nensi

My son has been blessed by the incredible support he has received at Building Blocks Nursery School for the past 3 years. He began as a preschooler with a moderate speech and language delay, who needed a stimulating learning environment delivered by caring and professional teachers. He has since completed JK and is now in their SK program.

I am ecstatic with the development of my son’s language, socialization and learning skills since attending this school. Building Blocks’ early childhood educators are dedicated professionals who understand all young children have different learning styles and abilities. They provide a safe, secure and exciting environment that supports successful learning. I will forever be indebted to them for their skills and knowledge to help me provide my son with a strong foundation for his future success.

Ingrid S.

The neighbourhood children that are in JK in the Public and Catholic school system are nowhere close to Karlene’s level of understanding of phonics, which she learned at Building Blocks. She is continually sounding out words. My husband was driving through Tim Hortons and Karlene kept asking what is “The Keg”? After checking his rear view mirror he realized she was reading the words after 3 1/2 months in the JK program at Building Blocks.

Building Blocks provides a wonderful environment for your child to grow, build self-esteem and gain confidence. The teachers are above standard and are always available to speak to regarding any concerns.

Our daughter loves the teachers and how they make learning so much fun!

Laurie Myhal-Knaggs & Calvin Knaggs

To all of the wonderful ladies at Building Blocks Nursery School,
September 2006 was not just the first day of school for our son, it was a turning point in his life, as well as ours. It was the time we handed our special-boy over to strangers – whom through word of mouth came highly recommended. Regardless, having to part with our most valued treasure made my husband and I very nervous. Luca, our son, was and still is very attached to us; some say he’s ‘too attached’. Because of this, we felt it was time to do what was best for Luca. That meant allowing him the opportunity to spread his wings and learn how to develop the trust, in others, as well as offering him the chance to meet new friends. Initially, the transition was extremely difficult for my husband and I; but most of all, it was difficult for Luca. It was so hard, we couldn’t take seeing him in so much emotional pain, and came very close to pulling him out of school a number of times. Boy are we glad we didn’t. We all persevered, and over time, Luca began to not only like school but love it!!! And it’s all because of the dedication, and more importantly the love, wonderful women like you bring to the classroom each and every day.

The transformation in Luca over the past nine months has been truly remarkable. Family and friends have all noticed the positive change in him. Each and every one of you, in your own respective ways, have contributed to Luca’s development and growth, and for this my husband and I are truly grateful. We cannot put into words our gratitude, all we can say is thank you…… and please continue making a difference in our children’s lives – offering them the initial ‘building blocks’ to success!

Have a wonderful summer and see you in September!!!

The Maiuri Family

Mrs. Freer,

How can a parent adequately thank someone for having such a positive influence on their child? Liv looks forward to seeing you every day at school, and when you’re not there she misses you. The extra care and time you’ve spent with Liv has made a profound difference. We are so grateful for the concern and genuine care you have shown to Liv. You are a gift to all the children you teach. We felt like when Liv was going to school each day she was going to be with family.

We would love to stay in touch with you. You are truly a wonderful woman!

Lots of love to you!

The Tenthorey Family

Our son started going to Building Blocks in September 2003. He went 3 mornings in the Preschool setting and 2 mornings in the Kindergarten setting. This was what was decided by ourselves and the staff members, since our son has special needs and was at the age to attend Kindergarten but was, in certain areas, intellectually at the Preschool level. It was important to us to have our son with his peers, but we still had to acknowledge his delays. The staff at Building Blocks helped in both areas. They adapted the Kindergarten work to his level. He learned his alphabet (both upper and lower case), the sounds that each letter makes, and recognized his numbers to 20, by the end of this school year. He has been included in everything, from daily routines to Christmas and end of school concerts. He has been taught how to be just one of the kids! In order to keep our son’s academics up, we chose to keep him in Building Blocks for the smaller teacher/student ratio, 3 afternoons a week, even though he is attending a public school in the mornings (a decision we made so our son could learn the school routines before starting Grade 1). The staff continues to encourage him to try the difficult tasks, in a non-threatening way. Without Building Blocks, we feel our son would not be as far advanced as he is. We have nothing but praise for the school and all involved. The only thing we want to know is “WHY DON’T YOU TEACH HIGHER GRADES?”!!!

Greg and Kathy Thompson

My daughter, Emma, has been attending Building Blocks since November 2005. When she started here, our plan was for her to attend the preschool program three mornings per week while I was on maternity leave with our second child. We wanted to provide Emma with a group learning situation for socialization, routine and play. We did not have any plans at that time to send her for JK or SK.

The program turned out to be more than we had anticipated. Building Blocks provides an environment that sets children up for success and facilitates a love of learning. The atmosphere and teaching style develops a more responsible learner and allows children to explore a greater depth of learning. Children are learning skills in the Building Blocks preschool program that many children are still being introduced to in JK, i.e.: the ability to sit in circle and understand the routine. The teachers here are all very caring, kind, calm and professional. Emma could feel that on her first day when she let me know that I did not need to stay with her for the morning.

As registration approached for the following year, Emma asked me if she was coming back for JK. It started us thinking about what path we wanted to take for Emma. Knowing the importance of the early years, my husband (who is a primary teacher) and I started to explore our options. We spoke to other teachers in the Peel Board, parents at Building Blocks and with Emma’s teachers. We realized very quickly that Emma would be missing out on an opportunity to continue to develop her love of learning here at Building Blocks if she did not continue.

After considering different scenarios and speaking with Mrs. Freer, we decided that we would continue Emma for her JK year five mornings a week. She has since continued in the SK program, five mornings, and now our younger child, Evan, is also attending the preschool program, three mornings a week. We cannot imagine making a better decision for both of our children, and our family. Watching how they have both developed here has been an amazing experience as parents. Aside from the academics, learning through play and the opportunity for the development of social skills, both children have developed a foundation for a love of learning. They both love coming to school and are upset if they ever have to miss it. Watching Emma reading and continuing to love learning has been a rewarding experience.

We know that this has given Emma the best start in her school career. We are confident that she will go to grade one next year with all the skills that she needs to be successful both academically and socially.

We plan to continue Evan through another year of preschool, JK and then SK and also plan to start our next child in the preschool program as soon as they can.

Thank you to the teachers at Building Blocks for all that you do for our children and the environment that you provide to them.

Brett and Susan Everett

It is my great pleasure to tell you about how completely satisfied our family had been with the Building Blocks program and staff. Both my children attended Building Blocks for a year of pre-school and a year of Junior Kindergarten. One of the most important things they took away with them is a love of learning and a positive attitude about school. The teachers are nurturing and kind and above all patient. They gear their instruction to the level of the child yet maintain high expectations for each student.

One of the other important things the children got from Building Blocks is a solid foundation in phonics. I feel that this is an extremely important tool which will only enhance the language arts programs they will encounter in the public school system-there’s no guarantee that letters and sounds will be taught so thoroughly at one’s local school. Both my son and daughter were enthusiastic about learning to read at Building Blocks because the staff also made it fun. My daughter is now at the stage where she is reading every sign and bill board she sees…I’ve never been so aware of all the “exits” around me. I highly recommend Building Blocks to any family with young children. There was never a day when either of my children was not excited about going to school.

Erica is in the Junior Kindergarten class and comes from Mississauga 3 afternoons a week.

Building Blocks Nursery School has proven to be a very effective learning facility for my daughter. Joanne Freer and Karen Sanger – the founders – and all the other highly professional and experienced teaching staff, are all very focused on the developmental accomplishments of all the children. Their enthusiasm, coupled with their compassion, is positively overwhelming.

The environment is fun loving and educational, with endless days for crafts, activities, story time, spelling, counting, sharing, and much more. My daughter’s 4-year experience is now coming to an end; however, our happy memories of Building Blocks Nursery School will stay with us forever.

Thank you for treating us as your extended family.

Sharon Konwisarz - Sharon's daughter attended preschool, JK, and SK at Building Blocks.

My name is Roula. I am the mother of 3 kids.

My elder one is in Grade 6, the middle one is in grade 3 and the third is in the JK program at Building Blocks, as well as in a regular school. She used to be in the preschool program here and we heard about the JK program from the parents of the previous year so we decided, after a lot of thinking, to keep her for the 5 day JK program. One of the major reasons we kept her here is we know that a strong foundation is most important in our kid’s life.

Neither of my other two children came to Building Blocks; I wish we could go back in time and hear about Building Blocks for them. We are glad that we were able to keep Layanne here and we will continue to keep her here for the SK program because we see the difference. With my other 2 kids we noticed that JK/SK was like babysitting, which is not what we were aiming for. Unfortunately, my other kids did not benefit from this. Now we see how weak the JK program in the public system is. My older 2 kids are suffering from the weak base. We can see how Layanne is sounding out and reading. We are so proud of Layanne as she can read words up to five letters, and simple sentences, thanks to the Building Blocks team. My older girls could not do this work until grades 2 and 3. It was more of a struggle because of the way it is taught in the public system.

Another reason for keeping her here is the small ratio compared to the other school where the ratio is 1 to 23, and she is in a split class as well.

She comes in every day excited about what she is going to learn. At Building Blocks, they have a warm, caring environment. You can feel and see the kids’ happiness when they go in there and when they come back home at the end of the day, all smiles.