As far as structure and education, it really isn't! We ARE a licensed preschool. Our preschool is just located within a childcare center.

We provide a structured curriculum, weekly themes, scheduled field trips, advanced circle time, engaging crafts, social and emotional skill building, dramatic play, outdoor exploratory play, kindergarten readiness objectives, and SO MUCH MORE!

Where we really differ is that we are allowed to keep children for THE ENTIRE DAY! When attending a licensed preschool that is NOT located within a child care center, a child can only attend for up to 3 hours per day.

So, your child will get all the social, emotional, and educational benefits of preschool WITHOUT the hassle of figuring out what the rest of their day would entail that comes with attending a half-day style preschool.

With that, we provide an entire structured day from 6-7:30 with all meals, snacks, nap times, activities, education, and everything else you would expect to find in a preschool and childcare setting. The best of all worlds!

Great question! Most importantly, we want each child that attends Bright Minds Academy to learn to be a great friend and build meaningful relationships. Caring about each and every one of our friends is something we hope every child leaves our program with.

Educationally, Bright Minds Academy utilizes the Big Day For Pre-K (now Pre-K On My Way) curriculum as a guide to build what our lessons will include on a weekly basis. The units in Big Day For Pre-K are as follows:

• Ready For School

• My Family

• Our Community

• Awesome Animals

• Imagine It, Make It

• Growing Up Healthy

• Nature All Around Us

• Moving On

We pull from each unit and pair the lessons up with our weekly themes, letter, and number. Our Pre-K Professionals create FUN and engaging crafts, activities, and experiments to help your child reach important milestones and have a blast as they learn and grow!

Below is what a typical day in the life of a preschooler looks like at BMA:

Normal Hours

• 6-8 AM: Arrival + Quiet Free Play Stations (coloring, puzzles, magnetiles, etc.) + Exploratory Outdoor Play (weather permitting)

• 8-8:30 AM: Potty Break + Prepare For Breakfast

• 8:30 - 9 AM: Breakfast Snack

• 9 - 11 AM: Structured Curriculum + Circle Time + Centers

• 11 - 11:45 AM: Outdoor Free Play

• 11:45 AM - 12 PM: Prepare For Lunch

• 12 - 12:30 PM: Lunch

• 12:30 - 1 PM: Potty Break + Brush Teeth + Prepare For Nap

• 1 - 3 PM: Nap Time

• 3 - 3:15 PM - Potty Break + Prepare For Snack

• 3:15 - 3:30 PM - Snack!

• 3:30 - 5:30 PM: Teacher's Choice + Outdoor Play (weather permitting) + Structured Free Play

Extended Hours

• 5:30 - 6 PM: Potty Break + Prepare For Dinner

• 6 - 6:30: Dinner

• 6:30 - 7:30: Teacher's Choice + Outdoor Play (weather permitting) + Structured Free Play

This is another advantage of attending Bright Minds Academy. We are able to split our preschool program into two age groups that each get to learn, explore, and grow in their own age-appropriate classroom.

Typically, our Jr. Preschool ranges from 2.5 - 4 years of age, while our Preschool accommodates 4 - 6 year olds.***

This allows us to have more age specific centers, activities, and crafts for each room while the themes and curriculum follow the same structured goals.

***Since every child is different and may not have the same needs as the next, these age ranges aren't set in stone. In our experience, however, this is typically when children are ready to move from Jr. Preschool to Preschool.

Students starting in Preschool are typically able to write their name, know their ABCs, colors, and shapes, be able to count to 10, hold a pencil, use scissors, participate in a short circle time period, engage in centers, activities, and crafts, and be potty trained.

The beauty of having a Jr. Preschool program like we do, is that we are able to provide ample time and attention on developing all of the above skills prior to students entering Preschool.

Our Jr. Preschool room will be licensed to accommodate students from 2.5 - 6 years while our Preschool room will be licensed to accommodate 3 - 6 years.

So, even though our typical age ranges in the Jr. Preschool and Preschool rooms will be 2.5 - 4 and 4 - 6 respectively, children in our care will always have the opportunity to learn, grow, reach milestones at their own pace, and move up when they (and you) are ready!

Our Jr. Preschool room will be licensed for up to 20 children while our Preschool room will be licensed for up to 24 children.

Each room is only required to have two teachers at a given time. However, we always have at least a third teacher in the room during the busy, educational times of the day when these rooms are at or near full enrollment.