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Our Philosophy
The practices of the Air Force Child Development Programs are based on current knowledge of child development and early childhood education. We are responsible for supporting the development of the whole child, meaning all areas of development are considered inter-related and equally important. Our program acknowledges that children learn through active, hands-on involvement with their environment, peers, and caring adults. We respect each child’s unique interests, experiences, abilities and needs, thus allowing us to be responsive to and appropriate for each child. Children are valued as individuals, as well as part of a group. Likewise, our program respects and supports the ideals, cultures, and values of families in their task of nurturing children. We advocate for children, families, and the early childhood professionals within our programs.
Our Goal
- Foster positive identity and sense of emotional well-being
- Enhance social skills
- Encourage children to think, reason, question children to think, reason, question, and experiment
- Promote language and literacy development
- Build physical development and skills
- Support sound health, safety, and nutritional practices
- Advance creative expression, representation, and appreciation for the arts
- Appreciate and respect cultural diversity
- Develop initiative and decision-making skills
Desired Outcomes
- Children will experience growth and learning in their social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive development
- Children will develop a positive sense of self as valued members of the community
- Children will progressively gain social competence and display pro-social behaviors by connecting with peers in ways that build self-worth and belonging
- Children will gain competence in problem solving strategies, understanding of concepts and relationships, develop logical, representational, and symbolic thinking skills and to take initiative and make relevant decisions
- Children will gain competence in their home language to include ability to communicate through language, to discriminate the sounds of language, to ask/answer questions, to gain understanding of print and concepts, and to make sense of printing
- Children will display a progressively higher level of competence in their gross and fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, mobility and balance
- Children will develop creativity using art, drama, and movement to express and develop their uniqueness
- Families will feel supported and nurtured in their child rearing effort
- Families will experience greater support in dealing with the challenges of life in a military community
- Families experiencing lengthy separations due to deployments will be supported via formal or informal parent/staff support groups and networks with other community agencies
- Families will gain insight into their child’s development through the collaborative teacher parent partnership through relevant, intentional, systematic observation and assessment
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