Testimonials
Channey, Darien & E
To whom it may concern,
I’m writing this letter to give my highest recommendation for Amanda and Holly at the DGLBCC. Our 18 months-old daughter’s first daycare experience was exceptional! Since day one, our little one has made friends and came home wanting “more” whenever we talked about her time at the Little Bear daycare. The home-to-daycare transition was exceptionally smooth for us, largely thanks to Holly and Amanda’s dedication in providing attentive care and the Montessori-inspired spaces they set up really helped our daughter feel capable and engaged. This was the main reason why we chose Little Bear – because our daughter was so immediately comfortable and started having fun with everything there during our first visit.
Since she started attending DGLBCC, we could tell from our daughter’s development that the environment they created is social and well-prepared with fun and educational activities everyday. We were not just receiving daycare, Amanda and Holly helped our daughter thrive, grow and learn.
They are also super thoughtful and great with communication. I remember of my first day going back to work, I was a ball of anxiety, but as I’m about to go up the office elevator, I received an update telling me that my daughter is in a great spirit! That little update meant the world to me and melted my nerves away.
If you are looking for a daycare that is attentive, nurturing and that feels just like an extension of home for your little one, we recommend these fantastic people! Both Amanda and Holly are wonderful at what they do. You will have complete confidence that your child will be having a great time there.
We unfortunately had to move away, but I’m sure that the lasting memories, friendship, skills and confidence they helped our daughter create will be something that treasures in our family!
Mitchell, Katie & Paisley
Dollin-Grice Little Bears Child Care is an excellent daycare that we love and trust. We enrolled our daughter, Paisley, at 11 months old and since then (she is now 33 months) we have watched Amanda and Holly take thoughtful care of her as if she was their own. They teach her things such as sign language and focus on different verbal sounds every week. They have plenty of activities on a daily basis to go above and beyond what we as parents even think to have energy for, also sending out a detailed monthly activity schedule with festive themes (Feb is valentines theme, March is st Patrick's theme).
They feed her so well, natural whole foods, well balanced and variety of foods, also sending us full daily menus so we know exactly what she ate. As an example of how they go above and beyond, they asked if it was okay to make a birthday cake, and we preferred no sugar, but they still said they could make a cake with natural alternatives! We said that's awesome and appreciate them asking and working with us to still do something special for Paisley.
They are responsible and we trust them based on how they've handled challenging situations, such as another kid pushing Paisley over, and Paisley scratched her belly. They texted us a picture right away and let us know (it wasn't that bad) and next thing we know the kid wasn't back on the days Paisley was there. We certainly did not expect this, but they apply good judgement on how the kids' personalities mesh together, and they thought it would be a better fit for this child to be with the other part time children later in the week.
All the little things, such as sending her home with arts & crafts (very frequently), holding her more when she's teething, making sure she's extra well fed on swim lesson days (Tuesdays we run straight to swim so dinner time is a bit delayed), they work with us and truly give us personalized care as if they were another set of parents. Even in the few times we've held Paisley back from daycare when she's sick, we can tell that Amanda and Holly miss her, and they text us to see how she's feeling, hoping for a speedy recovery. They take many photos (after getting our consent) and share frequently.
It's really nice to see the kids having fun together, and enjoying all the activities. Paisley is developing and growing there, learning tons, socializing with kids that get along well together, and just having a blast there. It's a bit of a hike for us (20min drive) but it's well worth it to get this level of care. We were nervous at first, as any parent is with letting others watch their children, but have grown to trust Amanda and Holly as excellent caregivers.
Nora, Jared & Elliott
Dollin-Grice Little Bears Child Care (DGLBCC) is an absolutely amazing daycare that far surpassed our expectations of what childcare would be like. We were very nervous as first-time parents to send our child to daycare but Amanda and Holly were wonderful and answered all of our questions. What made it so much easier though was that our son was comfortable at DGLBCC almost immediately because Amanda and Holly are such kind and attentive caregivers. They focused on having things he loved right at the door and made a game of answering the door to minimize drop-off tears. They even invited him for a special pyjama and movie day to watch his favourite Frozen movies which I think really sealed the deal for how much he loved going to their home for care.
We absolutely trust Amanda and Holly's judgement and care of our son. They have always been honest if there has been an incident at daycare. When our son falls or gets a scratch, they let us know right away. They are also completely transparent if there has been any pushing or hitting during the day which we absolutely appreciate. They are never judgemental and make sure that all parents understand the situation and what we can do to mitigate the situation later at home.
The food they prepare is nutritious and we always know our son will be well fed. They've told us that he often uses his sign language to request more food before he is even finished what is on his plate - which rarely happens with anything other than desert at our house!
Our favorite part is all of the photos that we get each week of the kids playing, especially the ones out in nature on one of their walks. We also love all of the crafts the children get to make which are so creative and thoughtful. There are such fun and exciting things for the children to do each day plus they host special events like music days, birthday parties and even planned field trips.
We truly wish that we did not have to leave DGLBCC as our son is so happy in their care and we hope to have opportunities for our son to visit again. We would not hesitate to recommend DGLBCC or Amanda and Holly and hope that the family who takes our place knows how lucky they are!
Kristen, Warren, T & I
My kids absolutely loved going to DGLBCC. They always walked right in and started playing. The crafts and activities were always so cute! No holiday or event passed without a fun craft! They made an alphabet book where each letter had a handprint in the shape of something that started with that letter throughout their "Letter a week" program. I still have it out to look at and talk about with my Son. They have so many enriching activities, they come home with vegetables they grew in the summer and cloud viewers they made while learning about evaporation and precipitation. I know that they eat great during the day as well, they have menus for each week showing exactly what the kids are eating. The kids also help with the preparation of the food with their Chef of the week program, my kids definitely looked forward to their week to help out. It always looks delicious and nutritious! They even got a firetruck to come to the daycare to show the kids. Amanda and Holly go above and beyond to ensure the kids are having a great time and learning too.
Julie, Andy & L
I cannot recommend a childcare provider more highly
than Amanda Dollin-Grice!
She worked as a full-time nanny for our 2½-year-old son.
Amanda is kind, caring, intelligent, and conscientious.
Her background in ECE is evident in the activities
she planned for our son, from learning about colour theory
(using food dye, water, soap, and bubbles)
to learning about cooking
(when our son helped make her delicious homemade pizza).
Our son has issues with speech, but he made great progress this past summer in large part to Amanda’s help.
(She took him to appointments with his Speech-Language Pathologist
made careful notes for us at his appointments,
and incorporated daily speech activities into our son’s play).
Our son adored her,
and we often heard his delighted laughter downstairs
(as we worked upstairs).
Amanda is a gem, and while we’re sad she is moving to Kitchener,
we know whichever children she works with
in her new city will be incredibly lucky!
Dave and Christen Irwin
To Whom It May Concern,
​
I'm pleased to be able to write this letter of recommendation for Amanda Dollin-Grice.
Amanda cared for our son Luke (age 7) in June of 2021
when school was shut down by the pandemic
and my wife and I were both working full time.
Amanda immediately clicked with Luke
and made him feel comfortable and safe.
Amanda is kind, gentle and extremely conscientious.
Amanda worked for us for 5 weeks full time,
and during that time she forged a strong bond with our son.
He was always happy to spend the day with Amanda
and looked forward to her coming every morning.
I note this in particular because our son tends to be slow to warm up
to new people and situations, so we were particularly impressed that Amanda was able to connect with Luke so quickly.
​
This obviously took a lot of stress off my wife and I,
during a very stressful time.
As parents, there's nothing that can provide peace of mind like knowing that your children are safe and being well taken care of.
Not only did Amanda take care of Luke every day
but she made him meals and snacks,
contributed to our meal prep
and did general cleanup and laundry.
(as well as built many epic forts!!)
Much of this was unsolicited and a huge help for our busy household. She also engaged Luke's love of animals and nature
and fostered his curiosity for the natural world around us.
Our daughter (5 years old) was so jealous of Luke that we actually kept her home from daycare one day so that both kids
could spend the day at "Amanda Camp".
Luke still talks about Amanda regularly
and we hope that they can spend time together again soon.
I would highly recommend Amanda without hesitation.