BrightStart

BrightStart Check Facebook in case we need to cancel. Building Healthy Families seeks to foster health in the families by building the capacity of parents.

BrightStart Play Academy is our weekly program with fun play & learning activities for children with a parent circle, where parents can relax and enjoy conversation around a variety of topics. BrightStart for Families is for families with young children (pre-natal through age 4). The adult component is designed to enhance the skills of parents and other care-givers by encouraging an optimal home e

nvironment to improve their baby's success in life. BrightStart emphasizes how parents can stimulate brain development. Parents and caregivers are the single most important part of an infant's world. Parents with knowledge and skills can equip their young children to enter school ready to learn and thrive. There are several key elements to the workshop. We will discuss creating a home with opportunities for a child to grow with good nutrition, a sense of security and safety, ready to learn and develop his or her full potential. An important part of BrightStart is to equip parents as reading partners with their children.

04/24/2026

I talked with several international leaders in Banff, and most are bringing back play, recess, and more hands on learning.

04/24/2026

The first five years of a child's life are not just important. They are everything. 95% of brain development happens before age five, and what fills those years shapes the architecture of who that child becomes. Language, emotion, memory, attachment, all of it is being wired right now.

And screens are crowding out the things that wire it best. Not because screens are evil, but because every hour in front of a device is an hour not spent on eye contact, conversation, imaginative play, physical touch, and real human connection. Those are not optional extras. They are the raw materials a developing brain runs on.

Research shows that children under five who have high screen exposure show delays in language development, shorter attention spans, and weaker emotional regulation skills. The brain at this age is not built for passive consumption. It is built for interaction, exploration, and response.

Nobody hands a child a screen with bad intentions. It buys five minutes of peace and that is completely understandable. But knowing what is happening in that little brain during those five minutes changes the calculation.

The window is small. What goes into it lasts a lifetime.

04/23/2026

"I need you to... Support My Exploration."

The Top of the Circle describes the child's need for a secure base and support for exploration — an instinct to follow their innate curiosity and desire for mastery, when it feels safe to do so. When a child feels securely held, they venture out. They discover. They learn. And when they're ready, they come back.

The Top of the Circle is where children become themselves.

What does it look like when a child in your care feels safe enough to explore?






04/18/2026

ICYMI: Watch the recording of our recent webinar on stability in early childhood: https://bit.ly/4tHgr5r

This conversation examined how stability—or the lack of it—across children’s developmental environments can affect their well-being in the moment and throughout their lives, and highlighted strategies to promote stability for young children and their caregivers. Our panel of experts drew on insights from the new working paper, From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment: https://bit.ly/3PbD432

The Play Academy is open today, please park close to the building as the church is having their Trash & Treasure sale al...
04/18/2026

The Play Academy is open today, please park close to the building as the church is having their Trash & Treasure sale also and the parking lot will be full.

04/12/2026

Request for contact information for the UConn iLearn Study!

04/12/2026

Mulberry Play Therapy 💗

04/12/2026

📚💛 Why Reading to Children Matters…Beyond the Usual Reasons 💛📚
We often hear the familiar benefits of reading with children—
✨ the warmth and closeness it creates
✨ the conversations it sparks
✨ the language and early literacy skills it builds

All of these are so important.

But there’s even more happening when we read with children…

🌱 Stories Build Social Understanding
Through stories, children begin to understand people, relationships, and emotions beyond their own experiences. They start to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

🌍 Stories Simulate Life’s Challenges
Stories gently introduce children to real-life dilemmas—friendship, fairness, kindness, problem-solving. In a safe and supported way, children begin to imagine:
👉 What would I do?
👉 How might someone else feel?

💭 Stories Support Moral Growth
As children listen, reflect, and talk with us, they are building empathy, expanding their social world, and learning to care about others in deeper ways.

📖 And when we read together, something special happens…
We can pause, wonder, ask questions, and think side-by-side—supporting children in making meaning in ways that videos or recordings simply can’t replicate.

So yes… reading builds language and literacy.
But it also builds hearts, minds, and humanity. 💛

Credit and Thanks to Peter Gray
Read more here ➡ https://petergray.substack.com/p/102-one-more-really-big-reason-to

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20 Hartford Road
Manchester, CT
06040

Telephone

(860) 375-0121

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