When kindergarten is on the horizon, your child will need an eye exam and our readers are here to help
All Illinois students entering kindergarten — or entering any grade K-12 in Illinois for the first time — are required to have an eye exam performed by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist. We recently reached out to our readers on Facebook to ask for eye doctor recommendations, and once again we were blown away by how much some families absolutely adore their optometrists (especially Dr. Oshiro-Johnson at Carle and Dr. Witt at Chittick).
We’ve listed the eye doctors recommended by our readers as a community service. All of these doctors are optometrists, who have earned the degree OD and who are your first stop for vision and eye health care. For the medical specialty of pediatric ophthalmology, check out this post.
Chambanamoms.com does not endorse or recommend medical professionals; all opinions expressed below are those of individual chambanamoms.com readers.
In no particular order, here are our readers’ favorite eye doctors.
Eye Mart Express (2515 N. Prospect Ave., Champaign)
- Dr. Michael Balgemann “He’s passionate about his work and outstanding. Our family of 6 has been under his care since we moved to the area 8 years ago.” “He’s great with making my 5-year-old comfortable and talking to her throughout. She also thinks he’s funny.”
Carle at the Fields (3105 Fields South Dr., Champaign)
- Dr. Greigham Hopkins
- Dr. Cherie A. Oshiro-Johnson “She is kind, laid back, and works with your child and takes into consideration their feelings as well.” “She found a serious issue with our 2 year old and sent us to the specialist he needed.” “Cherie Oshiro-Johnson is AMAZZZINNNGGG. 10/10 would recommend.” “My 18 year old had been with her since he was 4
” “I worked for Dr. Cherie Oshiro-Johnson for 5 years and I can promise you that the care and character everyone sees while meeting with her in office is the same when she leaves the room. She definitely is living in her calling as a pediatric care provider!” “I think my favorite thing is that she talks TO my twins and not just to me, even though they’re only 2 years old.”
Chittick Family Eye Care (8 Dunlap Ct., Savoy)
- Dr. Steve Leon “Dr. Leon is wonderful.”
- Dr. Ryan Witt “He has been fantastic with multiple serious vision issues with our family.” “Both kids (including one who needed glasses in 1st grade) were immediately comfortable with him, he’s great!” “My husband and I have had excellent experiences with Dr. Witt at Chittick as well!” “His rapport with kids is great and he took time to explain everything and answer my questions!”
Dr. Jodi Albert & Associates (308 S. Neil St., Champaign)
- Dr. Jodi Albert “Dr. Albert has been great with my kids.” “And they are doing great with the pandemic too!”
CU EyeCare (2008 Round Barn Rd., Champaign)
- Dr. Lisa Heckman “Dr. Heckman sees our whole glasses-wearing family. One kid has autism and the other has a tricky prescription and she has been wonderful with both since they were little, making sure both are comfortable during appointments and seeing well.”
Kessler Optical (44 E. Main St., Ste. 100, Champaign)
- Dr. Lawrence Kessler “He is the BEST. Very thorough and professional and takes the time to get the prescription right. His staff is very good too.” “Our whole family goes here.”
Bard Optical (907 W. Marketview Dr., #15, Champaign)
- “The optometrist at Bard Optical is very knowledgeable and helpful. They are stringently following the COVID guidelines too.”
Burgwald Eye Center (417 E. Main St., Mahomet) and Jones Optical (1711 S. Neil St., Champaign) — doctors travel to both locations
- Dr. Kelly Sanders “We think she’s amazing!” “My kids are always excited to see Dr Sanders.”
- Dr. Erik Burgwald “I see Dr. Burgwald and he’s fantastic!” “I’ve personally been with Dr. Burgwald for years and felt his team had patience, especially with my youngest who struggled with some of the tests.”
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