TBC Child Development Center

For more information contact BabyTalk@TabernacleBaptistChurch-dc.org

Purpose

The purposes of Tabernacle Child Development Center are to support
Tabernacle Baptist Church environment families, and to provide quality
programming. To accomplish these ends the Center provides a safe consistent
and enriched environment where developmentally appropriate activities
encourage exploration and learning through "hands on" experiences.

Management Philosophy

Tabernacle Child Development Center provides' children with a caring. Safe
and secure environment that utilizes a child development centered
curriculum. This type of curriculum is based on the emotional, physical,
social and cognitive needs of the individual child. The developmental needs
of the child are used to determine appropriate activities carried out with
that child. Because children grow and develop at different rates, this
approach offers them the opportunity to explore each area of development at
their own pace.

The Staff of the Center creates an atmosphere of support and affection as
well as provides the materials, equipment and experience required to
optimize the experiences of each child. They also serve as examples to the
children, since children learn as much by observing others as they do by
direction instruction. The teaching staff acts as facilitators rather than
the directors of activities.

The environment is carefully planned based on an assessment of the
children's skills. Planning is most obvious by the presence of "interest centers" in every
classroom.

These centers include are, dramatic play, manipulative or small motor
skills, gross motor play or block, sand, water, books listening, etc.
Teachers make available a wide variety of activities in each "interest
center." Children are encouraged to explore all interest centers. Teachers
provide an external structure for the day and provide the children time to
work in the centers. Their explorations of the environment are usually
self-initiated. Because of the variety of materials, children can learn
several different skills in each center. Children's creativity is enhanced
by the open-endedness of the learning material. A sense of responsibility
and powerfulness is also promoted by allowing children to choose their own
activities.

Some of the attendant beliefs of a developmentally appropriate, child
-centered curriculum are:

Play is the child's way of working and learning.
Children's play becomes their work as they discover new materials
in the environment
Learning is what children do; it is not something that is done to
them. The classroom environment shall be designed to encourage
self-learning with guided practice from the teacher.
Children grow and develop at unique, individual rates that are
often unrelated to their ages.
Classroom activities should support this developmental approach for
each child.
Every child has the right to feel good about him/her.
Emphasis of the child's positive self concept will be the focus of
many classroom activities.
Children's natural curiosity and eagerness to learn are enhanced if
children are free to follow their natural interests.
A discovery approach to learning will be incorporated in the
classroom to encourage and develop children's curiosity.
Children learn from interactions with other people.
The environment will be designed to encourage children to observe
other children working, work with other children, and work individually.
Children need a variety of opportunities in order to encourage
creativity.
The classroom will contain interest centers, thereby encouraging
simultaneously occurring learning activities. In this way, each child has
an opportunity to work in a variety of centers and with a variety of
materials.

Goals

The goals established by the purposes and philosophy of the center are:

To accept children as individuals, to nurture their individuality
and creativity.
To promote critical thinking, so that children can verify and
validate information for themselves.
To expose children to a variety of experiences, to increase their
mastery of a variety of skills.
To encourage children to be active and resourceful in discovering
for themselves the world around them.
To help children learn to trust in themselves and feel confident in
their ability to make choices.
To increase children's capacity to confront new discoveries and
integrate them into their world.
To foster the ability to be sensitive and supportive of one
another's feeling.
To teach children to approach learning with confidence and joy, and
be willing to take risks.
To increase children's capacity to make commitments and become
involved.
To help children learn self-control and accountability for their
actions.
To enhance the child's mental processes by building confidence and
self-esteem.
To provide children with an environment devoid of sexual, racial,
religious or economic bias.
To maintain the lowest possible staff to child ratios.
To constantly encourage parent's visitation, in-put, and
participation.