Philosophy - Mission Statement

Philosophy Statements

 

We believe that immersing the Child Development students in a high quality program for their practicum and observations best serves the students as well as the families and children in our High Desert community.

We believe that children are our most precious and important resource, worthy of respect, and to be valued for their uniqueness.

We believe children are natural learners. When placed in a stimulating interactive environment, each child’s potential can be fully realized.

We believe children are curious, open-minded, honest, and accepting. Taking the time to observe them and listening to their ideas and thoughts will help staff fulfill each child’s individual needs.

We believethat play is a positive and natural way children learn. Play is exploring, experimenting, joyful, and the process through which each child discovers and develops an understanding of the world.

We believe that parents are the most important adults in a child’s life. We want to develop a respectful partnership between teachers and parents. We assist the parent and ultimately the child when we provide support, encouragement and education for the parent.

 

Goals

The primary goal for the Victor Valley College CDLC is to provide a lab for the Child Development Department students. As a lab for the Child Development Department, the CDLC provides an ongoing and professionally updated resource for Victor Valley College students to receive professional training that is required for certification and to observe children in a quality program to further their understanding of child growth and development. As a model of child development professionalism, we are dedicated to children and open to growth and change. Providing an educational environment for students keeps our staff informed of the latest trends in the field of Child Development.

The goal for the children in the CDLC is to provide a safe and rich learning experience designed to meet both their individual and developmental needs. The teaching team plans developmentally appropriate experiences that represent and reflect a commitment to children’s positive growth socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively and creatively.

The goal for the parents of our children is two-fold; first to support fulfillment of their educational and occupational goals by providing a safe, nurturing, and affordable program where they can be confident that their child(ren) are well cared for and educated. Second, our goal is to partner with the parents by supporting their role as the most influential person in the young child’s life.

 

Objectives

To offer students a program model in which to apply their knowledge about children, families, and development and put that knowledge into practice in a richly diverse setting that supports children and their families as members of the learning community.

  • To offer students a laboratory setting to be able to unobtrusively observe the development of young children.

  • To provide safe, reliable, inclusive, and culturally relevant child care services in partnership with families and their young children.

  • To foster communication and promote relationships that build upon the family culture and to promote respect and cultural sensitivity among children, families and teachers.

  • To assist children in gaining a sense of confidence and competence by fostering the ability to make choices and decisions within the classroom environment.

  • To help children develop self discipline and problem solving skills. Developing social competence is an emerging ability during the preschool years.

  • To encourage independence by allowing children to master many self help skills.

  • To provide opportunities for children and adults to experience joy, playfulness, learning, and recreation with other children and adults.

  • To assist children in gaining knowledge of their world, in developing creative expression, and becoming comfortable with physical movement.

  • To provide school readiness activities that foster growth in attention, memory, mathematical concepts, literacy, problem solving, and critical thinking.

  • To help children develop the ability to communicate their thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and to listen and respect viewpoints of others.

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