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Our Center

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Child Development Center (CDC) is a licensed early learning facility. WGTC CDC provides childcare for children from 12 months through four years of age. The After School and Full Day Summer Programs are designed for pre-kindergarten (4) through fifth grade. The Center offers a courteous, friendly, and caring staff to assist with childcare needs. Our goal is to provide a safe secure learning environment where children learn through hands-on, age-appropriate activities. The Center staff is devoted to helping the child achieve his/her full potential.

The Center is open from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A nutritious breakfast, lunch, and healthy snacks are served daily.

Program Philosophy

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Child Development Center is committed to providing:

A safe, supportive, age-appropriate learning environment for children;
A developmentally appropriate environment centered on the natural curiosity and energy of young children;
An environment where adults warmly welcome both children and parents;
A setting where parents and caregivers communicate often and openly to build mutual understanding and trust, ensuring the welfare and optimal development of young children;
A place where caregivers engage in many one-to-one, face-to-face interactions with young children;
A setting where meaningful communication takes place between caregivers and young children;
An environment where caregivers frequently engage in language activities such as singing, reading, and talking with young children;
A place where caregivers consistently respond to the physical, emotional, social, and mental needs of young children;
A setting where caregivers model types of interactions appropriate for young children's development.
A place for Early Childhood Care and Education students to apply skills taught in the classroom.

Curriculum

The CDC is responsible for the development of the whole child. Children learn through experiences. The CDC's staff believes in establishing an environment where a child can learn through play. Children are provided opportunities to develop intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically.

The Creative Curriculum serves as the basis for the early childhood program. This curriculum focuses on interest areas that acknowledge a child's ability to work best in small groups and to offer children clear choices in the selection of their interest areas. This curriculum is based on the theories supporting a child-centered learning environment. Children find success through active participation in the learning process. Content and skills are presented in a variety of meaningful and relevant ways.

Daily activities are designed to encourage children to act upon their environment. Children are helped to question, to experiment, to think, and to reason. No single area of development is stressed above another. Fostering the growth of the child emotionally, physically, socially, and intellectually is of paramount importance. The program design fosters self-esteem, self-confidence, competence in self-help skills, and those inner controls and language abilities necessary for effective social interaction. The process of learning and discovery is stressed rather than the final product.

The program is play oriented to help children develop into fully-functioning, well-rounded, self-confident individuals. After, "play is a child's work." The child care center instructors and assistants have circle time where children learn about the alphabet, colors, numbers, and shapes. Character education and story time are important areas of learning. Music, art, math, and science are also included in the pre-school setting.

For Parents

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Wellness -- We assess every child's health by talking with parents and monitoring for symptoms during the course of each child's day with us; we notify parents when a child does not feel well to help prevent an illness from spreading.
Playgrounds -- Our playground areas have shaded and open play areas and the ground cover is made of state-of-the-art materials.
Security -- Only pre-approved people with photo identification may pick up your child. We also have video cameras in each classroom and play areas and they are monitored continuously.

Mission Statement

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The Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Child Development Center (WGTC CDC) exists so that parents may continue their education while having affordable, quality childcare available to them. The mission is to ensure quality childcare while providing an effective learning environment for both the adults who are in the Early Childhood Care and Education program and children who attend the CDC. The CDC is a teaching center providing care primarily for children of WGTC students, faculty, and staff.