Bright Horizons has been expanding rapidly through NYC and Brooklyn as of late. We recently had the opportunity to speak with the lovely Allison Wilmot, Director of the Kent Avenue location, and can understand why parents are thrilled with the programming and why new locations are popping up everywhere.
Allison has been implementing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) into Infant through Kindergarten Prep classrooms (yes, infant!) at the Kent location, and her enthusiasm and passion is contagious.
STEM Education, a term initiated by the National Science Foundation, refers to an educational approach which integrates a combination of these disciplines to promote scientific thinking and a deeper understanding of science content.
How does one integrate STEM in a classroom for infants you ask? In the Kent location, Allison had infants explore density as they played with water and oil in the sensory table, while the Toddler classes added vinegar and baking soda to create a chemical reaction, and built a core understanding of chemistry: that they can change the properties of objects by manipulating them. In the Preschool classrooms, they explored how a Pelican’s beak works to decode how important this tool is in finding food. A hands-on experiment using Rice Krispies in lieu of seeds and a straw as a beak helped to illustrate this example for the class.
Families of children at the Kent location are included in workshops encouraging them to participate in actives such as constructing a roller coaster track to understand movement, exploring a conveyor belt to better understand force and motion, and even the Infant classroom explored motion and gravity though manipulating objects and ramps.
The Bright Horizons curriculum, The World at Their Fingertips, offers a comprehensive education that develops the whole child mind, body, social self, and character in a nurturing environment.
Bright Horizons at Kent Ave is more than just a child care center. It is a new-community based child care, early education center and Preschool located in Williamsburg NY located between N. 3rd and N. 4th Street. They offer full time and Part time care for infants and toddlers, plus preschool and Kindergarten prep programs for ages 3-5. Hours of operation are 7AM to 6:30 PM.
For more information, check out the Bright Horizons super informative and comprehensive site here. There are currently five centers in Brooklyn, with more opening soon. Visit their site to find open house dates in the center closest to you.
