University Of Wisconsin Whitewater Childrens Center

The philosophy at the Children’s Center is that children are capable, confident, unique individuals with rights. We also feel that learning happens for children when children feel safe and secure in their environment both physically and emotionally. The base of our curriculum is in Social and Emotional Development. By involving the children in activities that have meaning and relate to their everyday world our children feel successful. We based our assessment of children and plan our activities by focusing on a child’s strengths and interests. The number of adults to children at the center offers comfort and one-on-one attention and interaction. There is usually an adult to listen to a child, play with a child, read a story to a child, hold a child, etc. We encourage the children to become empathetic to the needs of others; critical thinkers, problem solvers and active members of their communities. We encourage the children to work out problems, take chances, try new things, become involved, experiment, etc. We also try to help the children trust themselves and their abilities while they meet the challenges of being part of a group each day.

We do not teach academics in a way that is familiar to most people. Instead we hope to plant the seeds of wonder so that when the children are ready to learn academic skills, they will have the desire. Through positive experiences in which the children are able to feel success, the children will later recall these positive feelings and generalize these feelings to academic skills when their minds and bodies are ready. We hope to be a part of nurturing young, inquisitive minds that question rather than trying to teach rote memorization skills to children too young to understand the meaning of such an activity.