Right now hand sanitizer’s are flying off the shelves in grocery stores and selling out online. Here is a great recipe to make your own so you can keep your family germ free. Make sure you get a 99% rubbing alcohol so your hand sanitizer is effective at killing germs! It is also recommended that you buy pure a bottle of aloe vera gel. We do not recommend using fresh aloe plants as it isn’t stable for storage.

• 1/3 cup of aloe vera gel
• 2/3 cup 99% rubbing alcohol
• 8-10 drops of essential oil, optional (such as orange, lavender, grapefruit, peppermint, etc.)

Mix ingredients. Put funnel in the opening of the bottle and pour the mixed ingredients into it.

**Always check with a doctor or healthcare provider before using essential oils.

     School Enhancements To Look Forward to in 2019:

• Summer 2019-Big Reveal Parties for Mill Creek
  and Crozet     
• Enhanced landscaping, hardscapes, gardens, plantings and additional shade to support outdoor learning
• New furniture and child classroom equipment for Mill Creek and Crozet (arriving Winter 2019)
• Begin to implement Eric Nelson, Outdoor
  Classroom Project, design for Outdoor Classrooms
• Directors and managers attending Outdoor
  Classroom Conference for training in Los Angeles, California
• Directors and managers attending SHIFT 3 day
  Early Childhood Best Practices Conference
• Planning for Tinkering Hollow (outdoors) or
  lab (indoors)
• Implementing Loose Parts curriculum (Read about the benefits of loose parts play on our blog, here)
• Classroom LED lighting for Crozet and Mill
  Creek

Bright Beginnings Partners with The Promise of a Pencil

Did you know the average good old #2 pencil is 7.5 inches long and contains graphite, not lead? And among its’ attributes, besides being used for filling in those stressful standardized test bubbles (we know you remember the SAT!) and for teaching a six year old traditional manuscript and cursive the average pencil can write 45,000 words and draw a line 35 miles long! Of course, at preschool, we’re all about offering all kinds of writing tools to our little ones to use when embarking on literacy including markers, crayons, chalk, charcoal and of course pencils!

So smitten are we with pencils that we’re supporting Adam Braun and his Global endeavor as articulated in his book, ‘The Promise of a Pencil’ to help build schools for children from poor communities. His personal story of going from a fancy Ivy League education (Brown) to a high powered consulting position, and being inspired in between by travel through India made us smile and cry when we heard him speak at a fantastic Early Childhood conference hosted by our favorite consultants, Hinge Brokers as part of their annual Shift conference last February in San Diego. Along with our owner, Kathe Petchel, Vice President of Operations, Molly Petchel, Regional Director, Alison Casey and Mill Creek Director, Brooklyn Stanley we were wowed by Adam’s aha moment which came when he asked a little boy what he wanted most in the world, and the reply was “ a pencil.” Wow- we are all so fortunate and we know it. After meeting Adam and reading  his book, we were even more inspired to follow his lead of a supporting a purpose.

So, starting July 1, 2018,  we join Hinge Brokers and Hinge Consultants in supporting ‘The Promise of a Pencil’ by donating $50.00 of each registration and re-registration fee. We’re so happy to extend our continued local community support to the Global Community and hope you’ll join us too. For more information, please go to pencilsofpromise.org and adambraun.com or pick up his book New York Times bestseller for an inspiring read. ‘The Promise of a Pencil- How an Ordinary Person can Create Extraordinary Change.’

At Bright Beginnings Preschool we love mud! No really- we prepare each of our 3 locations for International Mud Day annually because we are aware of the immense benefits of children playing in gooey, slimy mud! We even get a special kind of mud shipped to each of our schools- mud that is specially designed for child mud play.  Every year, we involve our infants through pre kindergarteners in all of the mud day fun! Want to learn why we love mud day so much? Read on!

Helps Your Child Reach Developmental Milestones While children continue to grow throughout their formative years, mud can help your child reach their developmental milestones like fine and gross motor skills, sensory awareness, balance and coordination. Mud play is a fantastic opportunity to get children into a fun environment to socialize…what child doesn’t get excited over mud play?

Encourages Your Child To Have A Connection With Nature You guessed it-playing in the mud promotes your child to have an empathetic connection with nature. These days many children are often given more opportunities to play inside than outside in the fresh air. At Bright Beginnings we like our children to be outside a minimum of 2 hours a day participating in our outdoor classroom curriculum but also enjoying free play. We firmly believe that free play is the perfect balance to our creative curriculum. When enrolling at our daycare you can expect your child to be actively engaged in our outdoor classroom everyday with activities like loose parts play!

Mud Is Great For Your Child’s Immune System Step away from the hand sanitizer at home, Mom and Dad! Research has shown that mud (including wet mud!) Actually helps build child’s immune system. So instead of banning dirt play in your household- encourage it!

Playing In The Mud Makes You Happier Researchers have finally proven what kids have known all along…that mud can make you happier. Studies have shown that dirt contains microscopic bacteria called Mycobacterium Vaccae which increases the levels of serotonin in the brain that in turn helps us relax and feel calm. No wonder kids are always so happy playing in the mud!

Promotes Creative Thinking Open ended materials like mud, sand and play dough helps stimulate a child’s imagination and creativity. Imagination and creativity are vital to instill in children from an early age because it not only helps them think outside the box but also encourages children to tackle problem solving skills.

It Could Lessen Your Child’s Chances of Developing Allergies As well as strengthening your child’s immune system, playing in dirt could lessen your child’s chances of developing pesky allergies. Studies have found that children who are raised on farms suffer from less allergies and autoimmune conditions than kids who aren’t raised on farms. A large part of this is because of dirt exposure! This is because gradual exposure to environmental allergies like pollen allows your body to become accustomed to them!

We love to do little things for our teachers when we can, and Easter was no exception! On Friday, March 30th each of our teachers and directors received an adorable Easter basket! There was a big Lindt chocolate bunny, some fun spring pencils and a handwritten note in all of the baskets! We’ve been working on growing our positive culture and being very clear what motivates and supports our wonderful teachers. We’ve recently read the book, The Five Languages of Appreciation and done a fun exercise with our teachers helping them articulate the best way for us to show them gratitude. FYI- the languages are: words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time and physical touch. Most of our teachers love words or gifts! Here we combined their favorite two! Just look at their faces! Who says the Easter Bunny is only for kids! We love to let our teachers feel the love!

Last year we started a super fun tradition for all of our preschool teachers. We gave each teacher a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a love note- telling them why we appreciate having them be a part of our Bright Beginnings family. It was such a success that we decided to make it a tradition every year. Who doesn’t like to receive flowers and a kind letter on Valentine’s Day? The day takes a bit of planning- we organize the day with Trader Joe’s- they help us pick out the bouquet’s ahead of time and make sure there are enough delivered on Valentine’s Day morning. Then Ms. Alison goes to Trader Joe’s in Charlottesville first thing in the morning when they open to pick up the boxes of flowers so she can deliver them to our Crozet, Forest Lakes and Mill Creek preschools.  Our Directors at all of our locations have the sweet notes they have written  for their teachers ready to go when Alison gets to each school for it’s flower drop off! It is so fun to see each teacher receive flowers and a note! This year was a particularly fun day because we had teacher appreciation day on Valentine’s Day. The theme was Fondue and our parents went all out with the celebration. Spending Valentine’s Day with preschoolers is always full of excitement- it never gets old! A big thank you to all of our teachers for always going the extra mile with our children- you are our forever Valentine’s!

Petting Zoo

Sprinkler Play

Arts & Crafts

Cupcake Decorating

Kona Ice (snow cones)

School Tours

Food and Drinks provided

A PLEASURE FEAST FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!!