CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS

• Bachelor of Science in Child Development 

LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE

• Associate Degree in Child Development: Early Childhood Education

• Child Development Early Childhood Education: Associate Teacher Certificate

• Child Development Permit Specialty: Infant/Toddler

• California Early Childhood Mentor Program - Mentee  

• 60 Hours of Lab Experience - Long Beach City College CDC 

• Administration of Child Development Program - Long Beach City College 

• Adv Supervision ECE - Long Beach City College 

• 1.5 Hours of Professional Development - Nature Center Preschool 

• 1.5 Hours of Professional Development - Nature Center Preschool 

Tiny Tots Childcare was made possible due to its strong foundation and family support. Jose Bonilla grew up in a childcare family, with his parents owning and operating their family home childcare. Many years later, Catalina Bonilla joined the family business and worked as an assistant at the family childcare program before she assisted her sister-in-law when she opened her own childcare. Soon after, Jose and Catalina opened their own home family childcare program, with the help and support of the Bonilla and Valenzuela family, to whom they are beyond grateful. Without their assistance and foundation, none of this would have been possible.

Shortly after opening Tiny Tots' doors, the pandemic took over. The Bonilla family decided to make the best of it and make lemonade out of lemons. Catalina took the opportunity to return to school to obtain her child development degree. She loves bringing the latest child development research and best practices directly into the classroom every day.  

Meanwhile, Jose Bonilla, who once worked for Long Beach Memorial Hospital, pivoted and sharpened his culinary skills and learned about nutrition to become the in-house chef. He enjoys incorporating all the food groups into his meals, while still staying true to his roots by integrating flavors of Mexico and El Salvador into his cooking. Together, Catalina and Jose Bonilla bring education to a home environment, where children can learn, with the smells of a home-cooked meal in the background, the same way they have raised their own three children. 

They believe that it is important to lay a strong foundation for the future, with their two older children being SATO and CAMS graduates that are continuing their education in STEAM fields, it has inspired Catalina and Jose to include more STEAM learning opportunities for their Tiny Tots, where they can learn through mistakes, messes, and hands-on experiences. These life experiences is what has shaped the nurturing, educational environment that families experience today. 

At Tiny Tots Childcare, every child is welcomed like family, encouraged to explore with confidence, and given the opportunity to build a strong foundation through play, meaningful relationships, nutritious home-cooked meals, and hands-on learning.