Les BouTchou a French Daycare

We love Les Boutchous. Vanessa and her team create a beautiful place for our two kids to learn, play, and grow. They put so much thought into their routines, curriculum (for pre schoolers), art projects and food. 

Our daughter joined a year ago at two years old and our son joined when he was 6 months old. Our daughter is now 3 and loves the big kids classroom, they have a sweet routine, lots of play and learning, great home cooked meals. Her French and English language development has been good. Our son loves the little kid area and already is developing a sense of community with his caretakers and other kids. We leave the kids every morning knowing they are going to have an active day with people who love and care about them.

A highlight is the books the kids make. They keep all of their art projects in a charming book over the year which we treasure!

Update: We've since moved on from Les Boutchous but enjoyed our time there from 2021-2022. Upon entering preschool, our son had the social and emotional learning skills needed to thrive. We also received great feedback from his new teachers on his language development, both in French and English. 

One thing that we love is that their doors are always open to returning students on occasion. We've enrolled our 3yo at their new and expanded location during school breaks and it's been so great to see him reconnect with his old teachers. While transitions and changes to routines can be hard, the familiarity of the staff (and at times, the children) helps. 

We love Les Boutchous and can't wait to see how they grow and expand. Such a gem! 

Our son is currently at Les Boutchou twice a week and it's been going really well. While drop-off is always hard for him, the team reassures us that he settles down quickly after and will send us pictures of him playing with friends. You can tell that the staff really does care about the child. During these pandemic times, they have remained diligent with taking temperatures every morning and washing hands at the sanitizing station outside. They have done a great job at encouraging the progression of his French, which is spoken at home half of the time. We're really lucky to have found this neighborhood gem for our family. 

This Nursery is amazing. It is run by Vanessa who is an extremely caring leader, and runs a very tight ship! This nursery is at her home so your child will feel safe and comfortable. They speak both French and English so don't worry too much if you don't. It's great for children under 5 to experience two languages. 

She has developed and looked after my young daughter since she was 3 months old up until 3. She gave me great advise on child development, challenges and always listened and cared as she has a great connection with the kids. They do Yoga, cook together, celebrate occasions and birthdays and all the staff there are kind, experienced and on top of it will all the children.

I would recommend this nursery to anyone.

Cluny

We LOVE Les BouTchou! My son, now 16 months, has been attending this home daycare since he was 3 months, and has really been thriving. They are flexible, caring and fun. When we drop him off in the morning, he walks into the back room, picks up some toys and barely waves goodbye. As a first-time mom, I've learned a lot from Vanessa, the owner, and Alix, who has worked there for several years. They speak French with all the kids, too, which is great for his language development. He has lots of fun there, and is always happy when we pick him up at the end of the day.

Both my children went to Les BouTchou and had a wonderful experience!  They were loved and nurtured there.  They were always involved in some sort of project, whether it was gardening, art, and cooking.  They even did yoga once a week!  We felt they had ample time for play and developed great social skills.  It was wonderful having the teachers speak to them in French and in sign language.  We miss that place!

Les Bou Tchou is a great independant mom-owned and operated daycare in Emeryville. We sent both our kids here and would highly recommend to anyone in the area. There's a lot of real love and thoughtful care happening here. Vanessa and her team are like a second mom to our kids. Just a great day care.