Program Description
The Vivian Olum Child Development Center is a comprehensive, early childhood education program where children are nourished, parents are welcomed, and caregivers feel valued. Our goal is to provide a foundation of experiences that fosters the growth and development of children in a safe and nurturing environment. The center serves UO faculty, staff, and student families, and community families on a space available basis. The Vivian Olum Child Development Center is a program of the UO Human Resources, Work and Family Services.
Teaching Staff
The center is staffed by a team of dedicated, professional teachers/caregivers. Professional staff are assisted by university students who work for pay or credit as part of their university education.
Dreamers and Builders
8 children per classroom: 8 weeks to 2 years
The Dreamers classroom sets its pace around the needs and unique differences of each child. The program is designed to help infants feel secure, with attentive adults warmly responding consistently and supportively to each child’s cues. Routine aspects of care-giving such as diapering and feeding provide opportunities for significant one-on-one interactions with adult caregivers that nurture relationships as well promote the children’s development. The physical environment is also an important aspect of the program. We provide materials, experiences and the physical space for children to explore through touch, sound and sight, a requisite for their cognitive growth.While being supportive of infants in their quest for competence, our teachers look to the parents as the best resource for working with their children. We encourage parents to spend as much time as they would like visiting or breast feeding their children.
The move to the Builders side of the classroom occurs as the children gain mobility and need a more active play space. An area where the older babies can use balls and push toys, along with a low climbing structure, encourages free movement. Teaching staff regularly implement carefully planned activities to foster cognitive, emotional, language, physical, and social growth.
Pathfinders and Adventurers
10 children per classroom: 2 to 3 years
During the second year of life, identity becomes a significant developmental issue, closely tied to questions of independence and control. In the Pathfinders and Adventurers’ classrooms, adults help toddlers find appropriate ways to assert themselves by supporting their individuality, by giving them choices whenever possible, and by introducing social guidelines.For toddlers, cognitive growth continues to occur through active exploration of the physical world. Because they are active explorers, toddlers are eager to try new things and use materials in different ways. In planning curriculum for toddlers, our teachers are prepared to be flexible and spontaneous.
Another developmental achievement for children between one and three is language acquisition. Supporting this emerging cognitive skill is an important focus for our teaching staff. Adults responding to communication attempts, daily experiences with books and music, and opportunities to hear adults match the child’s experience with language are all designed to support growing language acquisition.
Explorers and Discoverers
As children develop physically during the preschool years, they are capable of exploring a greatly expanding range of environments and opportunities for social interaction. Considerable growth and change occurs during the 3 to 4 ½ years of age in all areas of development- physical, cognitive, and social-emotional, and our preschool curriculum addresses all of these areas of development. The teaching staff offers a planned curriculum that stimulates their interest, experimentation, and cooperation. Children are offered activities in which they will be involved in a “hands on” manner, encouraged to solve problems with materials, activities and with each other. Teachers carefully design the classroom spaces so that the children can freely choose and follow their interests within the established daily routine.
20 children per classroom: 3 to 4.5 yearsVoyagers
20 children: 4.5 to 6 years
The Voyagers classroom offers child-centered learning activities guided by teachers who believe that discovery and exploration foster a positive attitude toward learning through questioning, observing, and experimenting with varied materials. The children make their own predictions and form their own theories in hands-on activities that involve cooking transformations, water movement, group and board games, dramatic play, physical science, experiments with art materials, pattern blocks, and math games. By engaging their interests and inspiring active experimentation, the teachers promote the children’s construction of knowledge and build foundations for school success in reading, math, science, and the arts. We foster children’s interactions and collaboration with peers, thus promoting language development, perspective taking, and conflict resolution.
Inventors
30 children: 6 to 11 years
Our Inventors classroom allows flexibility and freedom of choice within a secure setting. Staff ensures that the classroom functions as a caring community in which all of the children and adults feel accepted and respected. The children have an opportunity to participate in group games or to work or play alone. Opportunities are provided to complete homework if desired, read books, write in journals, and get physical exercise. Planned and spontaneous activities are facilitated in an environment rich in the creative arts. The children have opportunities to write and produce plays, publish newsletters, and engage in arts and crafts activities. They also can participate in outdoor activities each day.Parent Involvement
Parents have many opportunities to be involved in the life of the center. We encourage parents to visit spontaneously, to come to lunch with their children, to be involved in discussion groups and social events, and to serve on the Advisory Council.
Food Service
Breakfast, snacks, and milk are provided by the center. Parents provide lunches for their children. Refrigerators and microwaves are available for storing and heating food. All food for infants is provided by the parents. We make every effort to accommodate breast-fed infants.
For More Information
For general information, please call Carol Snead, Director, at (541)346-6585 or by e-mail at snead@uoregon.edu.
For fee or waiting list information, please call (541)346-6586.
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