Child Development Lab Center
Program Philosophy
![Child Care Center - Inside The Child Care Center. Small tables have colorful chairs put on them after hours.](/marketing/images/academics/cdc/child-care-center705x520.jpg)
At the Mission College Child Development Lab Center, we believe children learn best in an environment that encourages exploration, provides nurturing supportive relationships, adapts to each individual child’s learning styles and needs, and offers opportunities for play.
Play provides the foundation for children's academic learning later in life.
By providing materials in the environment that facilitate the discovery of key math, literacy and science concepts children expand their foundational knowledge for later learning.
From this platform they will be prepared for the academic concepts they will encounter throughout their educational experience. Our center is a place where learning grows one child at a time.
Nurturing Environment
When children are cared for in a nurturing and caring environment, they learn that they are special and deserve to be cherished. Our primary care-giving system provides each child and family with a teacher who builds a relationship with the family, bonds with the child by learning about his or her family, cues and personality, and responds to the child s needs as they arise.
Personal Relationships
Children create relationships with their teachers that we value at CDC. The teachers in our classrooms spend 2-5 years with the same group of children.
They move up to older classrooms with their children in a Continuity of Care Program that supports children's social and emotional development and provides continuous care and support for both children and families.
Parent's Input & Support
We value parents as their child's first and most important teachers. We work closely with families to ensure parent's desires and goals for their children are reflected in the program. We welcome families into the program. We strive to be full partners in their child's learning.
Parents are also invited to join our Parent Advisory Council (PAC). The PAC advises and helps guide the center toward the future and helps to evaluate different aspects of the program. Our parents offer insights and wisdom to help with our functioning and future planning.