Programs

  • Day Care Supply Fee is $130.00 per 12 month period 
  • First Child is always the youngest child in the family.
  • Minimum charge for daycare is 1 hour
  • A fee of $5.00 per 5 minutes per child will be charged if your child is not picked up by 6:00 p.m.
  • Payments are due within 5 business days after bill has been received.  $10.00 a day late fee will be charged after 5 days.  Bills are sent monthly.

First Steps offers the following programs:

Infant & Toddler

Infant and Toddler Care
Maintaining a low child caregiver ratio, (1:4 for birth to 18 months, 1:5 for 18 to 24 months) the infant program offers safe and secure care for babies from birth to 24 months.

The individual child’s schedule and family beliefs are highly respected as much as possible within day care limitations and regulations. The caregivers will provide lots of love and proper stimulation in an environment set up to allow your child to learn naturally. Each child has their own crib and storage space as well as lots of equipment like swings, bouncers and exersaucers for all to use.

The parent must provide formula, diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers and commercial baby food. The center provides bibs, wash cloths, sippy cups and table foods. All items should be labeled by the parent or will be labeled by the center.

Communication between staff and parents is an important part of your child’s day care experience and we have a daily report listing your child’s activities to aid in that communication.

Two Year Old Room

Two-Year-Old Room
A balance of planned and free choice experiences are offered the toddler child, ages 24-36 months. Daily activities include play time, art and learning experiences, music and stories, outside play, (weather permitting), naps, snacks, meals, and an abundance of hugs from the staff. Once again the environment is set up to allow your child to learn naturally and guidance is offered that is appropriate with your child’s developmental stage.

This is the room where potty training happens. The center staff will work closely with the parents so we are consistent with training.

Day Care

3 Years and Up:
For the preschooler, ages 3 years to 6 years, a competent staff encourages development of the child’s whole self; social, emotional, physical, and educational skills are enhanced through a wide variety of activities. We teach your child name recognition and introduce them to number recognition as well as teaching listening skills.

For those who are ready, we introduce the alphabet, teach the sound it makes and have the child recognize and write the letters. The children are also introduced to the numbers 1-10 and will write their names properly as well as do many activities that include visual skills, fine motor skills (cutting, pasting, tracing), gross motor skills and the calendar. We will include units on animals, safety, colors, and shapes just to name a few.

School Age

School-Age Care
Care for the school-age child is offered after school, holidays and during summer.

Snacks, supervised play and learning experiences are planned daily. During school holidays and summer release days, full-day programs will provide activities, arts and crafts, movies, library visits, field trips and more!

Drop-In

Drop-in Care
Drop-in care is available at the center for children of all ages while their parents shop, run errands, etc. Arrangements are to be made with the director.

Hot Lunch

Hot Lunch
If your child is not on the daily or monthly rate, you will be charged per day for lunch.

Lunch is included in the daily & monthly rates and is served on a daily basis.

Monthly menus are available for you to take home.
To download the lastest menu in PDF form, visit our Events Calendar

Breakfast Program: beginning 01/01/23, if your child is not on the daily or monthly rate, you will be charged per day for breakfast.  The charge will be $3 for breakfast.   The breakfast consists of milk, juice, cereal and toast. 

  • Your child may continue to bring their own breakfast. But we’re asking the following:
  • Cereal:  Must bring on a daily basis and fit their cubby.  Individual servings only.  No longer will we allow boxes of cereal at East Daycare.
  • Milk:  no longer will we allow ½ gallon of milk per child per month.  We request that it be brought in a small container on a daily basis.
  • Bread:  individual servings only.
  • You may also bring in fruit, yogurt, pancakes, etc. and the staff member in the lunch room will help your child with breakfast but please do not bring things to store in the kitchen or fridge.  We need the space to store things for snacks and lunch.  If you bring anything in a container that needs to be returned, mark it with your child’s name.

PEANUT/TREE NUT FREE
First Steps Central is peanut and tree nut free.  We will not serve peanuts or tree nuts and ask that you do not bring anything that has nuts into the center.  Things that are processed in a factory that processes tree nuts or peanuts may be used but cannot be served to children with allergies.  You need to let us know if any products you bring in (Example: birthday treats) are processed in a factory that processes tree nuts or peanuts.

Lunch Rates:
$4.00 per day (if not on Daily or Monthly plan)

Breakfast Rates:
$3.00 per day (if not on Daily or Monthly plan)

Additional services provided:

Transportation
Transportation will be provided to and from most private and public schools in Bismarck for the regular school year. No bussing to Solheim or Jeanette Myhre)

During the summer for the Camp Edventure summer school program we will only bus to specific schools. *See fee schedule for costs.

We reserve the right to alter bus runs/times based on weather conditions. Please let your child know that it is very important to come out to the vans immediately. We have many children to pick up and will not be able to wait for them to chat with friends.

Also there will be a $5.00 charge for every time you forget to call to let us know your child does not need a ride. It causes many delays when we are looking for your child and making phone calls. Every time we are waiting at your school looking for a child there could be many children at another school wondering where we are. You must call the center by 2:30 with any changes.

Transportation Fees:
All extra-curricular activities (soccer, golf, swimming):  $3.00 per lesson.

To Public Schools:  $3.00 per ride

Baseball
First Steps offers an in-house baseball program for boys and girls ages five and above during the summer.

Your child will learn the basics of batting, throwing, fielding, base running as well as play in many inter-squad games and baseball Olympics.

The dates, times, and costs will be announced each summer and posted on the events calendar on the website. Charges

Soccer

Soccer
Soccer will be offered during the summer months at a local park and at the indoor Sanford Power facility during the winter.  First Steps has developed our own soccer program with details outlined at the center.  We will teach the basics of soccer as well as teamwork while we are having fun!

Please remember to wear tennis shoes.  All other equipment is provided by First Steps. Check the bulletin board for sign up and the events calendar on the website for dates, times and costs. Charges are added to your day care bill for each session as well as transportation charges.

Still have questions?