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news
Choosing child
care at CSULB
By Kimberly Pasquis
On-line Forty-Niner
Kendal Parks, a
senior family and consumer sciences major, will be able to
experience child development firsthand in one of Cal State
Long Beach's two childcare centers.
"It is a hands-on experience working with children,"
said Parks. "In the center we are able to implement things
learned in the classroom and put them to practical use."
The Child/Family Center, in the family and consumer sciences
department, takes part in academic study for many departments
on campus. This program, along with the Isabel Patterson Child
Development Center services students and faculty in need of
child care services.
The Child/Family Center primarily meets the needs of faculty
on campus, according to Director Jo Ann Bernard. The fees
are higher than the Child Development Center in order to subsidize
the operating expenses for the self-supporting center. The
family and consumer sciences department provides the facility
and classrooms.
"The student-teacher training systems has been in service
since 1982," Bernard said. The center is designed to
provide child care for faculty.
Students who are child development majors use the center to
design environments for children, to observe teachers and
students, and to work teacher assistants.
Other departments, such as linguistics and nursing, also use
the center to observe the development of language in children.
Children in the program range from 18 months to 5 years old.
The preschool operates year-round to meet the work schedules
of full-time faculty. This program is designed to fit faculty
schedules. The expectation is that children will be there
full time. The timing of the program typically does not work
well with a student's schedule.
"We coexist cooperatively with the Isabel Patterson Center,"
Bernard said. "There is another clientele that needs
to be serviced so we complement each other."
Some students that have graduated from the program have gone
on to work at the Child Development Center.
The Child Development Center services the student community.
The Associated Students Inc. provides most of the funding
along with state subsidies to make it affordable for students,
including grants from the U.S. Department of Education for
low-income families.
"We are at capacity every semester," said Rhonda
Marikos, director. "We have 232 children ranging from
6 months up to second grade."
Even though there is an overwhelming demand for the on-campus
service there is no plan to expand the facility due to quality
concerns. At one time the facility is able to house 28 toddlers,
100 preschool children and 40 school aged children. These
children are all at the center full-time, however.
"We enroll children on flexible schedules to make it
affordable and help more students," Marikos said.
"There needs to be a balance of serving people and the
quality of the program."
According to Marikos, the center could service up to 500 children
if they attended fewer hours. However, there is concern that
more children would harm the quality of service.
"I am not concerned that the number of children is a
problem," said Marikos. "We have been steadfast
in not having so many children that we don't know who they
are."
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