Building Blocks Preschool & Child Care, Sioux City | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Two months at this daycare has been an utter disaster for our children. Our 4 year went from learning to spell and write at a previous daycare to asking what certain cuss words mean after being at building blocks for two short months. She learned “butthead” from hearing the teachers call some of the children that name. She learned the f word because multiple children call each other that on a daily basis.

On the surface things seemed like they would be good with printed daily schedules showing story time and circle time and talk of a curriculum. We found out that the schedule and curriculum are just suggestions. Circle and story times rarely If almost never happened and the curriculum wasn’t being used. We asked our daughter if they have story time at daycare and she told us that usually the teachers would read their magazines during story time while the kids had free play. We confirmed this by seeing the pile of Us Weekly magazines in the room. We actually donated new books to the class and talked to the teachers and director about story time but nothing changed. The classroom had no structure and each day we dropped her off to a classroom in chaos. Kids would run up to me to show me where another student hit them or bit them. I was routinely having to stop children from beating each other with wooden toys while a teacher sat idly by. The one time a teacher did intervene she took it way too far and aggressively grabbed a child by the arm while repeatedly screaming at the other children. I had to intervene and tell her to stop. I tried to talk to the director that day but there was no one there and they currently have no one in that role. They were also routinely over their teacher to student ratio but always had some sort of excuse about someone just stepped out or they were in transition etc.

The children are supposed to have circle time each day as well. A typical day description from our daughter is that circle time didn’t happen because student A bit or hit student B so nobody got to have circle time. The staff is either not receiving the appropriate training to deal with bad behavior or thinks punishing the entire class is an appropriate way to deal with 4 year olds.

To top it off we received a notice about the screen time policy for the daycare. We agreed with the policy which was to limit it to no more than 30 min per week and only educational material. This was followed by movie day where she watched 3 movies at daycare and our 2 year old did the same.

The daycare has a covered area for dropping your child off which initially seems nice. However in the morning drop off people leave their cars running so you walk through clouds of car exhaust and have to weave between running cars with small children to get to the door. When leaving in the afternoon you have about a 2 foot space from the door to the driveway. People drive through there really fast so you have to open the door and hope your child doesn’t dart out in front or a car will run them over.

We also had concerns about the nutrition offerings. Left over cupcakes, brownies and caprisun from Easter were being given on a daily basis until they ran out. It’s junk we would never feed our kids but daycare was giving it to them every day that week despite our objections. It may make us sound crazy but I’m not paying for someone to feed my kid brownies and let them watch movies.

I can’t express my frustration enough when we had a child who was reading and writing who after two months at building blocks now knows four different ways to say the F word. We tried several times to talk to the director and teachers about our concerns and nothing has changed. There might be some good classrooms there but overall the place lacks leadership and adherence to their advertise curriculum.

Don’t be fooled by the daily schedule or printed curriculum. It isn’t followed and there is a major disconnect between what is advertised and what actually goes on there. Send your children here only if you have no other options.

Not sure where to even start! I have had both my daughters in Building Blocks since they were 12 weeks. The Sergeant Bluff BB does not even compare to the North Side BB.
If you are looking to take your kids to the North Side BB, please look for another daycare! I had nothing but issues with BB once I transferred my daughters to the North Side.
Teachers aren’t supposed to be on their phones, but they will allow the kids to use their phone to watch YouTube videos or take Snapchats of the students and send it to their boyfriends. There was never a day that they followed the curriculum that it’s stated on the board. A new “teacher” seems to come into the room daily, and there never seems to be the same teacher there on any given day, so if you have concerns or questions, they don’t even know the answer because they just got to the room, or communication wasn’t given to them.
Teachers will scream at the kids, grab them by the arms and slam them against the wall for timeout, or they’ll just sit and talk to each other outside while the kids are all playing and getting in trouble. There were so many times I would have to step in and help situations in the room when it came to kids, whether it was breaking up fights, picking up messes, or even wiping the kids snotty noses. The “teachers” don’t care because they’re not paid enough there!
Due to BB hiring literally anyone who wants to work for $8/hour, the quality of the “teachers” is missing. Rooms smell like poop, there’s boogers all over the walls, flooded toilets, blankets all piled on top of each other so lice is spread quickly at BB.
I’m so glad I was able to take my girls out of that daycare!

In July 2017 this facility received a new director who has turned around the entire center for the better. There is clear communication between parents, children, and staff. If there is an issue with a child this director stops what she is doing to resolve the issue calmly, effectively, and appropriately. She is mindful of the work habits of her employees whether that be something the staff member does well, or they need to improve on. She is also great about keeping parents of all age groups up to date on what is happening in the center, in the child’s class room, which includes billing information, medical records, etc.

This center is a great place for children to learn social skills, problem solving skills, taking responsibility for their actions, and how to grow as an individual. It is also a great place for children to try new foods and eat a variety of food daily. There is a four week meal place in which no meal is the same every day of the week. There are four meals served each day in which each class sits at an 8-person table in a family style setting. The food is distributed to each child and passed around the table, in which the older kids are able to use table manners to have the food they wish to eat.