Early Learning Institute

We love Social Butterflies! We have been going to Miss Melanie's class for over a year now and plan to keep going until my daughter enters PreSchool.\r \r She was about 20 months old when we first started going to the class and at first, she wasn't really interested in participating very much. She chose to just play with some of the toys that are there. But just when I started to think that she wasn't getting anything out of the class...I would hear her singing one of the songs when we got back home! Turns out that she actually was listening and paying attention, but just wasn't ready to participate yet. \r \r Although I always felt bad that she was not participating in the class, Miss Melanie didn't mind at all. She knows that kids that age love to play and have fun, but also that they want/need to do things on their own terms. Eventually, without any of us forcing her, she started to play along. Now, a year later, she loves to sing the songs and do the dances that she spent so much time more

We love Social Butterflies! We have been going to Miss Melanie's class for over a year now and plan to keep going until my daughter enters PreSchool. Pros: null Cons: null more

My 2 year old daughter really enjoyed the Social Butterflies class. She was super shy when we began, but she was definitely opening up more by the end of the class. The instructor, Miss Melanie, really made a point to interact with each child individually as much as possible. I think this helped my daughter feel more comfortable. It is such a great class for kids who are shy or not used to interacting with other kids to help them open up and enjoy social interactions! more

The preschool is great and so are the programs they have to offer like social butterflies, where Melanie takes the time to work the room and spend time with each child all during running the class. Never forgets a parent or childs name and what special issues they might have. more

When my wife and I were looking for somewhere to get services for our son and daughter we found TELI. While they were enrolled in their services I can't say enough about the professionalism and services that my son and daughter received here! After attending Social Butterflies with Melanie, my son started speaking more than we ever thought he would! Our daughter was born premature and she had significant issues but after she started to get services from TELI she is now running and playing just like any other "normal" child. Melanie and Debbie are miracle workers, and without them our children would never progress the way they are. Pros: null Cons: null more

The preschool is great and so are the programs they have to offer like social butterflies, where Melanie takes the time to work the room and spend time with each child all during running the class. Never forgets a parent or childs name and what special issues they might have. Pros: null Cons: null more

Social Butterflies is a wonderful program and we love Miss Melanie! I started taking my older son to Social Butterflies when he was about 2 1/2 years old and and he is now going to be 4 and we also started taking my younger son who is now 2 and they both love this program so much. It has made such a difference in both of my kids lives. They get so excited when they know it is time to go to Social Butterflies and love making the crafts and dancing and singing. Miss Melanie is wonderful and is so patient with the kids. At first my son did not want to interact with the kids or Miss Melanie at all but after he started going a few times and with the help of Miss Melanie he opened up and now cannot wait to go. We loved the program so much that when it was time for us to choose a preschool we knew that it definitely was going to be TELI. He loves the preschool and we love all of the teachers and staff there. TELI and Social Butterflies are a wonderful school and program! more

The Early Learning Institute (TELI) advertises itself as place to help not only normally developing children, but one with disabilities. I was informed that their social butterflies program would be good for my son with autism as they have a "developmentalist" who leads the class. I was also told by my wrap around agency that CCBHO (the agency which head behavior services) that I could not take my son's TSS to the program because TELI has their own developmentist and in essence it would be like paying two people the (TSS and the developmentalist at TELI) to the same job. So I went to TELI with my autistic son who is almost 3 to find that the developmentalist completely ignored him. She never prompted him once to do anything. She never gave me any instructions and expected me to figure it out on my own. And ontop she keep opening the door to class which allowed my son to keep running out. In fact the main doors to building were wide open to the street!!!! Clearly TELI is falsely advertising about their programs or their developmentalist is not qualified. I was disappointed and also do not understand how they are also allowed to provide services for Early Intervention in Allegheny County. Pros: null Cons: null more