Take a Virtual Tour of our two South Fargo Programs!
Rocking Horse Farm Location
Prairie Groves Location
We have eight classrooms and a gym at each of our South Fargo locations. In each room, teachers facilitate growth and development by setting individual developmentally appropriate goals.
- As children grow, we look at a combination of their age as well as their development and will move them up to the next classroom as they are ready.
Bright Futures Learning Centers is proud to use NDELS (North Dakota Early Learning Standards), Reading and Math Corps, SEEDS, Love & Logic, S.T.E.A.M. and play-based environment, and our teaching team’s extensive knowledge of children to help them learn and grow naturally!
Program Goals
At Bright Futures Learning Center, we focus on the "whole child” including social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. We aim to foster curiosity, uniqueness, self-esteem, self-worth, self-discipline, independence, patience, collaboration, and respect for self, others, and the environment.
Through experiential learning, children have opportunities to develop academically in language and literacy skills, math, science, social studies, the arts, cooking, and technology. We provide an environment where children can explore values and seek to learn about differences and uniqueness, while also bringing people together with similarities. A big focus in these younger years of life is on social and emotional development. We feel that these first years of life are vital for setting a good foundation for a sense of self-worth and seeing worth in others. Some focuses are things like developing social skills, making good choices, and exhibiting good manners.
We provide a structured routine to help children feel comfortable and confident. With our nurturing environment, we strive for maximum development of our children. All experiences fostered by our teaching team will be developmentally appropriate for each child and will be derived from a variety of resources. Of course, through their experiences the children will be prepared for each area of development and for their next step of schooling, including getting ready for kindergarten and grade school.
Program Philosophy
We are honored to be an extension of each child’s family, recognizing that the family is the primary role model and source for all areas of development.
Bright Futures Learning Centers understand the importance of connecting with families and building upon children’s life experiences. We also believe that connecting experiences at our center with the happenings in children’s daily lives help build a deeper understanding of how children learn best. At Bright Futures we guide children to learn and develop by giving a wide variety of opportunities to play and explore the world around them in order to reach their full potential at each milestone in their development.
Not only do we find education a priority at Bright Futures, but the environment surrounding children is highly valued as well. We help children by carefully planning the environment they learn in, toys they play with, food they eat, water they drink, and chemicals they are exposed to.
We believe that clear, open, and honest communication sets the stage for better experiences for our teaching team, children, and their families. Additionally, involvement from parents, families, staff, and community is recognized to enhance our program; involvement is strongly encouraged and welcomed. In our center we have an open, respectful, understanding, collaborative, encouraging, and accepting environment. We welcome and encourage you to be a part of our environment any way you feel comfortable. Bright Futures is constantly growing, learning, modifying, and making improvements to enhance the development of your children and our family.
Specific Programs:
Infants
Safety
The entry door is locked for the safety of the children and our staff. In order to gain access, Bright Futures Learning Center has a computer-based entry system that requires an individual passcode for the front door.
- All infant teachers are trained with Safe Sleep, CPR, First Aid, and AED.
- All toys and play spaces are cleaned each day with soap, water, and sanitizer
- Child safety locks on all cabinets and refrigerators
Activities
The activities at our childcare center are developmentally appropriate. We encourage activities that foster growth and coordination. Your child will have a full and active day while in our care.
- Encourage muscle growth and coordination by sitting, standing, and jumping.
- Small and large group time reading stories, singing songs or participating in teacher lead activities.
- Engaging in center-style play.
Development
Infants are learning how to form new attachments and communicate with caregivers. They are learning a significant amount in terms of physical development. Throughout their time in the baby room, they learn to:
- Sit up without assistance, crawling and walking.
- Learn sign language to communicate their wants and needs.
- Socialize with friends and primary care givers.
Growth
A major aspect of growth for a new infant in our program is to learn to trust our staff and feel secure. Parents will also be a part of encouraging growth and trust. For example, it can be a smoother transition for the baby if parents start feeding the baby with bottles before they start at the center.
- Trust our staff and feel secure with us
- Beginning to soothe themselves and others when they are upset
- Recognizing others’ emotions
Meals
We feed the infants the parent’s choice of breast milk or formula, baby purees, or table food. We follow USDA guidelines and recommendations to provide your child with a well rounded and nutritious meal.
- Cook with stainless steel dishware
- Use durable and sustainable eco-conscious dinnerware
Goals
We strive to make sure that each child’s needs are met every day through individualized activities. We complete observations and assessments through observation and one-on-one interactions. Bright Futures takes the time to get to know each child and learn their individual needs. We help your infants reach goals in these areas:
- Social and Emotional development
- Fine and large motor skills
- Establishing a structured routine
Toddlers
We are full of laughter, energy, excitement, and of course learning. Are you asking yourself, what can a one-year-old actually do and learn? Our response would be never ending! At this age children are capable of so much and reach many important milestones. We strive every day to foster that growth in each child.
Safety
The entry door is locked for the safety of the children and our staff. In order to gain access, Little Sprouts has a computer based entry system that requires an individual passcode for the front door.
Activities
A variety of activities such as group time, free choice, and guided small group time are all part of the curriculum. The child will learn to express themselves through music, movement, dancing, and art. Children will also enjoy:
- Songs to engage children in developing the skills to listen and understand
- Teacher-guided activities
- Flannel boards
- Books that encourage new vocabulary
Development
Mastering self-help and toilet training are targeted areas of growth. We build on these skills by encouraging them to use the bathroom without teacher direction.
Little Sprouts provides a structured daily routine to help each child feel comfortable in their surroundings and let the children know if things are different. Children will start to learn:
- Using the toilet
- To solve simple conflicts among each other
- Counting, recognizing basic shapes, sorting, and comparison.
Growth
Children will focus on:
- Demonstrating an awareness of their emotions
- Mastering 2-3 word phrases
- Beginning to work on building full sentences
Meals
We follow USDA guidelines and recommendations to provide your child with a well rounded and nutritious meal. When preparing your child’s food, we:
- Cook with stainless steel dishware
- Use durable and sustainable eco-conscious dinnerware
Goals
Goals for each child taken into consideration with weekly plans. Brightwheel strives to give children the independence that they need and teach them how to go about doing that through their physical development. Children will learn:
- Multi-word sentences
- Phrases
- Introducing of new words
- Understand multiple-step directions
Preschool
Our room is filled with lots of creativity, learning, and active activities to keep our bodies and minds growing as well as having fun. In our room we start to gain a lot more independence and responsibility. Our preschool children show so much growth and development in these years (3-5) and we make sure we encourage them in a multitude of ways.
The Bright Futures Preschool Programs run with North Dakota Reading and Math Corps philosophies and instruction as well as SEEDS Curriculum. We work closely with the school district to help prepare students to be life-long learners, caring individuals, and responsible citizens.
Development
Bright Futures Learning Centers believe that children add depth to learning and we invite our students to politely interject their thoughts during lessons and ask questions when they arise.
Most children in our class are able:
- To recognize and appropriately respond to others in a helpful way
- Continue working on recognizing emotions
- Independence and development of social skills
Growth
We continue to develop:
- Practice using words to solve conflict
- Working together as a team and being kind to others
- Start to identify the letters of the alphabet
- Talking in sentences of 4 to 5 words or more
Meals
We follow USDA guidelines and recommendations to provide your child with a well-rounded and nutritious meal. When preparing your child’s food, we:
- Cook with stainless steel dishware
- Use durable and sustainable eco-conscious dinnerware
Goals
Goals for each individual child taken into consideration with weekly plans. We host parent teacher conferences two times per year, three in our prekindergarten programs. Bright Futures encourages children to communication, problem solve, and express themselves. We help facilitate this by teaching children tips and tricks to develop lifelong communication skills and empathy development.
Our goal is to help students realize that they have an important voice in our world. With our focus being on:
- Kindness
- Independence
- Confidence
- High academic goals has been proven successful in preparing for Kindergarten
School Aged Program
School Aged Years
During the school year we provide before and after care for children who attend elementary school. We also provide care on those days schools might be closed and we are still open. During our summer months we have a JAM-PACKED calendar of activities planned to keep your child active while not in school. This includes weekly hands-on field trips throughout our community and enrichment activities to provide exposure to a child’s passion!
Transportation Currently Offered to the Following Schools (2023-2024):
Before and After School
School Year 2024-25
- Bennett Elementary – Prairie Groves Location
- Centennial Elementary – Prairie Groves Location
- Legacy Elementary – Rocking Horse Farm Location
- Deer Creek Elementary – Rocking Horse Farm Location
- Meadowlark Elementary - Rocking Horse Farm Location (Open Fall 2024)
Brightwheel is an application we use to communicate with parents while their child is in our center. This program allows you to see a snapshot of your child’s day. Teachers log meals, bottles, and diapering/toileting for parents to see. The teachers can capture all the learning moments for families, and tag learning domains for evidentiary linking and send them to parents. This app is a great way to stay connected with you child throughout the day!
Learn moreBright Futures is proud to have be part of the following organizations:
