We are a national model for the integration of the education, support, and care of children and their families in an environment which recognizes the importance of all involved: children, parents, and staff alike.  We accomplish this through research, development, and demonstration of systems designed to meet these purposes.

As an urban campus child care center, we advance the goals of the University by providing flexible services and employment that are central to both student parents and student staff, in the pursuit of their academic goals.  Issues and initiatives that are key to the University system, the Children's Center, and the field of Early Childhood shape the directions we take.

What Do We Teach ?

The Center's basic teaching philosophy is that children learn best through a curriculum that builds on children's play.  Play programs lean heavily on the importance of activity, not passivity, on the real rather than the abstract, and on children's overall development, rather than isolated parts of it.  Play programs build on what children are already engaging in on their own.  In group play children learn sharing, consideration and tolerance, and develop meaningful relationships with other children and the adults who care for them.