Philosophy

Our educational philosophy is the developmental-interaction approach. We believe a child’s learning and growth depend upon their interactions with their physical surroundings and with their social environment of peers and caring adults. Our emphasis on developing relationships, and the careful attention we give to individual interests and abilities, creates an environment that encourages curiosity, problem solving, creativity, and social growth.

A child learns best when developmentally ready for new experiences and when those new experiences are built on earlier ones. Teachers and caregivers introduce new activities based on the interests and abilities expressed by the child and the group, as well as on their own observations. In this atmosphere each child learns at his or her own pace and is encouraged, but not rushed, through the early years of exploration.

We use mixed-age groups where we can: in toddler rooms the children are one and two years old. In preschool rooms, children may be three and four. There are social and intellectual benefits to having mixed age groups as children at different developmental levels can help each other learn new skills. Some children at the CFC have the opportunity to spend two years in one room, which allows them to experience first being the younger and then the older child in the group.