Philosophy
Our goal is to provide quality care and education for young children. Providing such care means maintaining a warm, supportive environment for children in which they can reach out, explore, grow, and share. We strive to help each child make their own discoveries about themselves, about each other, and about their world, and to develop emotionally, socially, cognitively and physically. We want each child to feel good about themselves and their abilities, to develop self-direction, self-motivation, and independence and to know themselves and others as vital members of the classroom and CCC community.
Families are also considered to be vital members of the CCC community. Families in all their diversity are respected and valued at CCC; sharing individual family perspectives is encouraged and becomes an important part of the child's life at CCC. Staff honor each family's culture and welcome the opportunity to learn more about the families we serve through a variety of ways, including conversations, meetings and social gatherings.
We believe that a child's natural interest in play fuels the exploration and construction of knowledge. Our curriculum is embodied in the varied, open-ended materials that we make available, and the presence of responsive, supportive teaching staff. Together they provide a rich learning environment. This reflects our goal of letting children actively make their own discoveries rather than learning to depend on adults to frame their experience for them.
The children choose how to play or what to use during their play time, while teachers work hard to support positive social interaction and create a caring community which balances the needs of the individual with the needs of the group. They model good emotional expression and management while actively teaching awareness and respect for self and others, communication, and negotiation of conflicts and other interpersonal problem-solving skills. They nurture sparks of shared enthusiasm into group projects and, in the pre-school, use group time as a forum for problem-solving and rule-making.
We do this because we believe that one of the most valuable things we can offer is the opportunity to participate in a lovingly guided early group experience. We believe that learning to function in a group, make friends, and meet personal needs through social relationships are fundamental life skills which support development of a positive self-concept and the confidence that goes with it, opening the way for a lifetime of exploration and growth.
Strongly committed, highly qualified staff work together to put these ideas into practice. They are both professional and caring, and this approach assures our emphasis will stay where it belongs - on the children themselves.