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Child Development Center

Contact Us

Center: 707-476-4337
Director: 707-476-4537
FAX: 707-476-4414

Hours:
Mon.-Fri. 8:15-4:15pm
during college instructional days

Location
The center is located near the college stadium toward the rear of the main parking lot.

What is Play-Based Curriculum?


"Play is children's self-chosen process of recreating experience in order to understand it." 1

At the CDC, children's play is supported by the thoughtful array of activities that the teachers present. Play allows the whole child to develop. Children grow intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally, and creatively.

Teachers in a play-based program that reflects children's changing interests and abilities, create an environment and corresponding curriculum that encourage children's exploration. Teachers at the Child Development Center take the time to listen to children, engage them in conversations, and closely observe the ways they interact with others.

Teachers use these observations to help children think about their thinking.

"Project Work" enables children to solve a problem or answer a question as they learn to make sense of their world. Children review their current knowledge about a topic, make hypotheses and predictions, and then, within a group, explore, research, interview, discuss, reflect, and even change their point of view as they share their ideas.

The program develops relationships between the children, their families, and the adults at the center. Young children are developing trust, a sense of self, and initiative. Each child's teacher creates a trusting relationship which supports that child's learning.

The Child Development Center's play-based curriculum fosters an integrated community of learners.

1   Reynolds & Jones, Master Players, 1997

 


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