Puffer Childcare Center

PHILOSOPHY

We believe that the social-emotional development of the child is foundational to all growth and development. We understand that developing warm, trusting and responsive relationships with the children in our care is essential to creating a climate that supports the child’s blossoming understanding of self and the world. We strive to guide and empower each child to express his or her needs and emotions in a healthy and responsible manner. We acknowledge that each child develops at his or her own pace and possesses unique strengths and abilities. We affirm that play is the developmentally appropriate vehicle of all learning in early childhood and prepare our classroom environment with activities and materials to support learning through play. We support the use of an emergent curriculum that allows teachers to plan activities based on the interests and needs of the individual class. We strive to provide a safe, enriching and developmentally appropriate classroom in which children may discover, explore and interpret their environment with the encouragement and positive guidance of our staff. We observe, document and assess the growth and development of each child as they play, work, and interact with teachers and peers, so that we can better support each individual child and continually improve our center. Just as children learn and grow through support and guidance, staff are expected to grow professionally through additional education, workshops, and mentoring. We recognize that families are the first and most important teachers of the child and respect and uphold the parent’s rights, opinions, and culture. We believe in the importance of family and community involvement to ensure that we are creating a caring and constructive environment that will support the health and well-being of all who are involved in our program. We value open communication with families to ensure that families are receiving support and encouragement.