Welcome to the Hartnell Child Development Center (CDC), where children are encouraged to grow, explore, and thrive in a nurturing environment rooted in play-based learning. Grounded in the principles of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), our program embraces each child as a capable, curious individual. With thoughtfully designed indoor and outdoor spaces, strong family partnerships, and a commitment to equity and inclusion, we provide developmentally appropriate experiences that support your child socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically.
Program Overview
There are two program sessions at the Hartnell CDC and each session is held for 3 hours:
- Morning session: 8:30-11:30 a.m.
- Afternoon session: 12:30-3:30 p.m.
Each session serves a maximum of 60 children and their families and are supervised
by a Master Teacher. Children have access to both indoor and outdoor work spaces and
guided by a monthly plan of activities designed to support deep exploration and time
for play. The Child Development Center is a state-funded preschool receiving Title
V funds and is licensed under State of California Title 22. A limited number of fee-based
spaces are also available.
We believe all children construct knowledge through play and exploration. Children learn and grow by providing a foundation of developmentally appropriate experiences in a safe and nurturing environment. Each child is a unique individual with varied interests and abilities. All areas of development are supported as children engage with peers and teachers in a carefully prepared environment that is responsive to their interests and ideas. The Hartnell Child Development Center philosophy reflects the position of the National Association for the Education of Young Children ()
- Indoor and outdoor environments carefully prepared with a range of activities and rich supply of materials nurture each child鈥檚 curiosity and competency
- Children are active explorers of their environment with the capacity to make choices and become independent thinkers
- Relationships between and among children and adults are essential to learning and growth
- Curriculum based on children鈥檚 interests encourages curiosity, discovery, problem solving, sense of agency and positive self-image
- Parents are the child鈥檚 first teachers and children learn best when parents are meaningfully engaged in the educational program
- Children develop and learn holistically. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional
growth are interdependent and integrated. Play supports all areas of the child鈥檚 development:
- Play supports a wide range of physical development
- Play supports the development of logical-cognitive problem solving
- Play supports the development of social problem-solving
- Play supports social-emotional development
- Exploration of and close connection with the natural world and life cycles supports each child鈥檚 developing sense of caring for the world
- Active engagement with the campus community expands children鈥檚 understanding of, connection with and contributions to their expanding world
The Child Development Center aims to provide:
- A schedule that is designed to support deep exploration and play
- Experiences and materials to support all developmental domains (physical, cognitive, social-emotional)
- Linguistically and culturally respectful and responsive environment, experiences and materials
- Inclusive programming and environment that recognizes and supports each child as a unique individual with varied abilities
- Programming that supports respect for the feelings and rights of others
- Clear and reasonable limits aligned with positive guidance techniques
- Use of child screening and assessment tools to support identification and understanding of each child鈥檚 unique abilities
- Opportunities for engagement and participation with families
- Resources to support child and family development
- Anti-bias educational approach to nurture within each child a disposition to speak
for peace, tolerance, and justice. In our classrooms and programs we are pursuing
the four core goals of anti-bias education for young children, as outlined in the
book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves by Louise Derman-Sparks
and Julie Olsen Edwards:
- Each child will demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.
- Each child will express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human differences; and deep, caring human connections.
- Each child will increasingly recognize unfairness, have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts.
- Each child will demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone,
against prejudice and/or discriminatory actions.
- Experiences with and contributions to the campus community.
- Opportunities to support the continuing development of the Hartnell Child Development Center staff and the broader ECE workforce in understanding and application of current best practices and research.
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