18 months – 2 years
Toddlers
Toddlers move. We staff this room at one teacher to seven children — better than the Texas minimum of 1:9 for eighteen to twenty-three months — because two adults in a room of fourteen is what it takes to keep everyone safe and still have a lap free.
Open — Two places open now.
This is the room where children start eating what everyone else eats, start telling you what they want, and start finding out that other children exist and have opinions. Most of the day is spent on those three things.
We keep fourteen children as the ceiling even though Texas would allow a group of eighteen at this age. The difference you notice is noise: a smaller group is a quieter room, and a quieter room is one where a two-year-old can actually hear a word being said to them.
Toilet learning happens when your child is ready, not when they turn a particular age. Tell us what you are doing at home and we will do the same here. We will not push, and we will not charge you extra for nappies while it is in progress.
Biting happens in toddler rooms. When it does we tell both families the same day, in writing, without naming the other child — that is the standard practice and it is also what the rule requires. We then change what we can change: the space, the timing, the staffing at that moment.
What is included
- Breakfast, lunch and two snacks, included in tuition
- Toilet learning on your child’s timeline, in step with what you are doing at home
- A daily sheet with meals, naps, nappies and one thing your child did that day
- Outdoor time twice a day on the toddler yard
- Spanish and English in the room all day, from teachers who speak both natively
A day in this room
- 6:00 amDoors open, quiet play.
- 7:30 amBreakfast.
- 8:30 amOutside — climbing, trikes, sand.
- 9:45 amCircle: songs, names, weather, in both languages.
- 10:15 amChoice time — blocks, water table, books, paint.
- 11:30 amLunch.
- 12:15 pmNap. Cots down, lights low, two hours.
- 2:30 pmSnack, then outside again.
- 4:00 pmOpen play and books until pick-up.
- 6:30 pmDoors close.
Schedules and weekly cost
| Schedule | What it means | Per week |
|---|---|---|
| Five days a week | Monday to Friday, any hours between 6:00 am and 6:30 pm. | $235 |
| Three days a week | Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Wed/Thu. Chosen at enrolment and fixed for the term. | $162 |
| Two days a week | Two fixed days. Subject to space in the room on those days. | $122 |
Plus a one-off $75 registration fee per child, per year. Sibling discount 10%.
Questions about this room
What time do you open and close?
Bright Start is open Monday to Friday, 6:00 am to 6:30 pm, and closed at weekends. There is no early-drop or late-stay surcharge inside those hours — one price covers the day, whether your child is here for six hours or twelve. After 6:30 pm we charge $1 a minute, which exists to protect our staff’s evenings rather than to make money.
How much does it cost?
Weekly tuition at Bright Start runs from $58 for before-school care to $255 for full-time infant care, and every rate is published on the schedules and tuition page. Meals, snacks, materials and school-holiday cover are included. The only extra charges are a $75 registration fee once a year, optional nappies at $12 a week, and late pick-up.
What are your staff-to-child ratios?
We staff at or better than the Texas minimum in every room: 1:4 with infants, 1:7 with toddlers, 1:11 in preschool, 1:14 in Pre-K and 1:18 with school-age children. Texas would allow 1:9 for eighteen-month-olds and 1:18 for four-year-olds. The full state table, alongside ours, is on the safety and licensing page — and you can check any Texas centre’s standards and inspection history yourself at the state’s public search.
When do I have to keep my child at home?
We follow the exclusion criteria in the Texas minimum standards. In practice, keep your child home if they have a fever over 100°F under the arm together with a change in behaviour, two or more episodes of vomiting or watery stools in twenty-four hours, an undiagnosed rash with fever, mouth sores with drooling, or an illness that stops them taking part in normal activity. They can come back twenty-four hours after the fever ends without medication and after any prescribed antibiotic has been running for a full day.
Come and see the room your child would be in.
No appointment needed. Come during the day when the rooms are full, ask what the ratio is right now, and take the answer with you.