Charlotte R. Riley Child Center

The program of the Charlotte R. Riley Child Center has been developed to meet the physical mental emotional social and creative needs of the young child. The classroom environment encourages trust and independence. Emphasis is on helping the child gain a positive self-concept self-discipline and help in developing warm relationships with others.

Early childhood research shows that young children learn primarily through play. Play is an essential part of childhood. It offers the freedom children need to try out new ideas practice developing skills and imitate adult roles. It allows children to learn social skills and develop friendships.

Children are knowledge builders. They apply what they have already learned to different situations. Exploring discovering questioning and guessing are important activities. Readiness skills are developed through play and concepts are formed. Children gain a sense of mastery through their activities. They become the active decision-makers in their own scenarios. Our center promotes the development of the whole child through play.

Activities in the classroom reflect our commitment to provide a developmentally appropriate experience for all children. The National Academy of Early Childhood Programs our NAEYC accrediting association is a strong advocate for developmentally appropriate practices and activities for young children.

We believe that children learn through active hands on involvement with materials equipment and activities. During active play a childs mind body and emotions develop and true learning takes place. We encourage children to be independent in basic care routines because these routines can provide as much opportunity for meaningful learning to occur as experiences planned in the interest areas of the classroom. Our goal is to provide a stimulating sensitive environment that supports the childs social emotional physical and cognitive growth.

Children learn how to form positive caring cooperative relationships by interacting with children and adults. Through these interactions children learn to get along with others. When a child experiences success in play and is encouraged to make choices communicate thoughts and feelings in a positive way and accept responsibility for actions the child learns social skills that will last a lifetime. Early childhood play experiences effect learning and personal growth throughout life. Our objective is to assist families in the task of providing a strong foundation for their childs future development.