Severe Childcare Shortage Looming
websitebuilder • 6 May 2026

To the Mayors, City Council Members, Chamber of Commerce Representatives, and WESTMARC leaders — thank you for listening as my voice shook and for seeing past my nervousness to the heart of what I was sharing. This issue affects thousands of Arizona’s working families, businesses, and our entire workforce. Please know you are appreciated — our communities appreciate YOU. At Bright Beginnings, we believe childcare deserts can end. We have solutions to support both small and large businesses, and to help cities ease the enormous cost of the childcare crisis. Together, we can bring understanding, knowledge, and action to build a stronger future for families and our economy.
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by websitebuilder
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6 May 2026
We are so excited to once again share a preview of the fun and meaningful themes we will be exploring this month. Our teachers have planned engaging activities that will encourage creativity, self-expression, social skills, and plenty of hands-on learning. Each classroom will participate in the same themes but in ways that match their developmental stage making sure every child has opportunities to learn, grow, and shine.✨ We will get the month started with our All About Me theme, giving the kids a chance to celebrate what makes them unique! Ms. Holly’s three-year-olds and Ms. Vania’s four-year-olds will create self-portraits, crowns, and collages with lots of details, and they’ll practice sharing stories about their families during Show & Tell. Meanwhile, our toddlers will explore these activities in their own way. Ms. Heather’s one-year-olds and Ms. Brie’s two-year-olds will focus more on the sensory side — painting, stickers, and pointing out family members in their photos. No matter the age, every child will have a chance to let their personality shine. 🖼👑🎨 Next, we will explore Feelings & Emotions. This theme will give the preschoolers a chance to think about what emotions mean, and how we can use words and art to express them. Ms. Holly and Ms. Vania will guide their classes through activities like emotional wheels, drawing their feelings, and having group talks during circle time. For the toddlers, Ms. Heather and Ms. Brie will keep things more sensory-based with messy paint art, handprint crafts, and colorful materials to represent different feelings. The younger kids may not be using all the words yet, but they will begin to recognize and share how they feel in their own special way. 🎭🖐✏ Our Five Senses theme will give the children opportunities to explore the world around them. Preschoolers in Ms. Holly and Ms. Vania’s rooms will dive into “I Spy” games, scented play dough, texture boxes, and sound shakers, while practicing observation and conversation skills. Toddlers with Ms. Heather and Ms. Brie will experience these activities in a more hands-on way squishing, shaking, smelling, and exploring through touch. Each child will get to make exciting discoveries about how their senses connect them to the world. 👃🧩🎶 🤝 We will also spend time focusing on Friends and what it means to be kind and caring. Ms. Holly and Ms. Vania’s preschoolers will enjoy friendship-themed books, make bracelets, and work together on a center-wide “friendship hands” art project. They will also prepare a fruit salad as a group. A delicious way to practice teamwork! In the toddler classrooms, Ms. Heather and Ms. Brie will focus on the basics of being a friend: turn-taking, helping one another, and making simple crafts like friendship handprints. Whether through art, cooking, or play, the children will practice kindness and connection. 📚💞🍎 To close out the month, we will welcome the season with our Fall into Autumn theme. Even though our town doesn’t bring the same colorful leaf changes as other parts of the country, our preschoolers with Ms. Holly and Ms. Vania will still get to enjoy festive projects like leaf painting, pumpkin stamping, pinecone painting, and fall tree collages. They will also talk about the subtle changes we do notice here in the desert, shorter days, and of all the signs of fall we see in books and decorations. Toddlers with Ms. Heather and Ms. Brie will enjoy simplified versions of these activities, focusing on textures, stamping, and sensory play. And of course, everyone will love dipping pretzels in chocolate and sprinkles. A perfect (and tasty) way to celebrate the season together. 🎃🍁🍫 Here are our September Birthdays 🎂 September Birthdays. We are so excited to celebrate our Community members with birthdays this month! Please join us in wishing them a very special day. 🎉💛 September 7 – Anysia Aguilar (Staff) September 8 – Yadiel Rios (4 years old) September 18 – Ivy Summers (10 years old) September 19 – Erick A. Daniel Lagarda (3 years old) September 20 – King Chacon (7 years old) September 20 – Mia Garcia (4 years old) September 21 – Aamiyah Parrett (5 years old) September 26 – Ryder Chambers (4 years old) Happy Birthday to all of you🥳🎁🎈💛 Thank you for being part of our Community. We look forward to a month filled with creativity, discovery, and joyful memories. Together, we will make this September one to remember! 🌟 We can't wait to show you what we have planned next. Stay tuned 📺

by websitebuilder
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6 May 2026
The week was all about pumpkins, harvest, and hands-on exploration — and every classroom approached it in their own creative way! 🍂🎨 The toddlers kicked off the week with simple pumpkin-inspired art, using paint and basic shapes to explore color and texture 🖐🧡. They even got a special Friday visit from Mr. Pasquier, who introduced their very first math concept — sorting big vs. small. It was adorable hearing tiny voices proudly repeat, “big!” and “small!” 📏😊 Our Two’s class got brave and opened up a real pumpkin to see what was inside. The moment the goop came out… let’s just say there were some very dramatic “eww!” faces 😅. They still painted pumpkins afterward — from a safe, slime-free distance. The Preschool classes focused on understanding what a pumpkin was. Through guided art projects, they identified the stem, seeds, and pulp, and even painted their own pumpkins while teachers explained how they grew during harvest season 🌱🎃. The lessons were both creative and educational — exactly how we loved it. Meanwhile, the School Age group took a completely different route — pumpkin decorating contest time! Not biggest, not weirdest, but best character pumpkin. Each team chose a SpongeBob character and turned their pumpkin into a mini Bikini Bottom masterpiece. The results were so good we decided to display them all the way through Halloween! Our teachers also made time to explain what a harvest was, and how farmers worked to grow and gather food during this season 🌾🚜 — connecting learning to real-world traditions. Next week… SUPERHERO WEEK! 🦸♂️🦸♀️ We fully expected capes, dramatic hallway posing, and at least one child trying to fly. Stay tuned. 😄

by websitebuilder
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9 October 2025
Hi everyone, and welcome to another month at Bright Beginnings Early Childhood Development Center! September felt like a blur, but it was filled with so much learning, laughter, and growth. Now we are moving into October, and we are excited to share all of the wonderful things planned for our students. This month will be full of hands-on learning, creativity, and opportunities for both fun and discovery. Our curriculum this month is designed to engage the whole child—mind, body, and heart. Each theme will bring with it developmentally appropriate art projects, fine motor practice, gross motor activities, and opportunities to build important skills in a way that feels like play. We will also continue to explore our brand-new STEM program, which was created by our very own Mr. Pasquier. This program helps children build curiosity, problem-solving skills, and confidence in early technology, all while staying true to the joyful, play-based approach that defines us at Bright Beginnings.

by websitebuilder
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16 September 2025
To the Mayors, City Council Members, Chamber of Commerce Representatives, and WESTMARC leaders - thank you for listening as my voice shook and for seeing past my nervousness to the heart of what I was sharing. This issue affects thousands of Arizona's working families, business, and our entire workforce.

by websitebuilder
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4 September 2025
Howdy, Partner! We’re saddling up for Wild West Week, and each classroom has exciting activities planned! From preschool to school-age, students will explore the Wild West through age-appropriate lessons, including circle time, art, gross motor play, and dramatic dress-up. This week, students will make their own cowboy and cowgirl hats using card stock and construction paper—great for building fine motor skills like cutting, gluing, and shape recognition. They'll also design custom sheriff badges using fun materials like foam, cardboard, or cardstock, giving them another chance to practice name writing and creativity. Another highlight is a cactus-themed art project using yarn, stickers, tissue paper, and more—no two cacti will look the same! Plus, the kids will go on a gold nugget hunt , searching for hidden treasures around the classroom. Let’s have a rootin’-tootin’ great week—be kind, be joyful, and don’t forget to smile! We’ll wrap up the week with a Western dress-up day —bonus points for Woody or Jessie costumes! Throughout the week, children will also enjoy reading, sensory play, and making memories with friends.

by websitebuilder
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4 September 2025
Hello Friends! We’re thrilled to share what our little learners are up to this week—it’s one of our favorite themes of the year: Pets! So many of us—students and staff alike—have pets at home, and this week is all about celebrating them! Whether your pet is furry, feathery, scaly , or even a little slimy , we want to hear all about them. Big or small, cuddly or quirky—every pet is welcome in our conversations!

by websitebuilder
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3 September 2025
Hello Friends! August was full of excitement as our students explored the world of Community Helpers through hands-on learning and special visits! Over the past two weeks, students learned about people who serve the community—like police officers, teachers, firefighters, and chefs—through art, dramatic play, fine/gross motor activities , and engaging circle times .








