“The First Things First Program at Sonshine Learning Center has helped develop the children of Black Canyon City into adept readers”

Last September, seven children who had attended the Sonshine Learning Center, in Black Canyon City, entered Kindergarten raring and ready to learn. Two of them, in fact, tested into first grade.

“All of these children came into Kindergarten knowing how to write their names, identify many letters of the alphabet, identify and count the numbers to at least ten.” Canon Elementary School Teacher Angela E. Jangula wrote, “The First Things First Program at SonShine Learning Center has helped develop the children of Black Canyon City into adept learners.”

The Sonshine Learning Center is directed by Sherry Birch and enrolled in Quality First, a program funded by First Things First. Through Quality First, a consultant works with Child Care Providers to improve the quality of their center. Enrolled centers are eligible to for a number of benefits, including Mental Health Consultations, where a specially-trained therapist or counselor partners with child care providers to address children’s social-emotional needs; and higher education scholarships to help child care providers develop professionally. Quality First can also provide an allotted number of scholarships for children attending their center—to make child care more affordable for working families.