Campus
daycare assists CSULB students
Jennifer
Camacho/Forty-Niner
Miles Denmion, 3, swings on the jungle gym
at the Isabel Paterson Child Development
Center at Cal State Long Beach. The center
provides opportunities for CSULB student
parents attending classes to finish their
education.
By
Emmy Gonzalez
On-line Forty-Niner
Cal
State Long Beach student parents are attending
classes and finishing their education with
the help of inexpensive campus day care.
CSULB students have the luxury of dropping
off their children at the Isabel Paterson
Child Development Center, located on the
northwest corner of campus. The center provides
quality childcare services for the university
and community.
"The
high quality of the program enables parents
to pursue their education," said director
of the center, Rhonda Marikos. "Without
this service many students would not be
able to attend college."
The
convenient location is one reason many students
use the center, but the cost is another.
Students pay $2.90 an hour or $116 a week
for daycare. According to Children's Home
Society the center's rate is still lower
than the market average.
"Parents
benefit from the center because it's on
campus, it's affordable, and we provide
subsidy," Marikos said.
Students
who fall under a low-income level qualify
for state subsidy, making it easier for
students to concentrate on their studies.
Support from Associated Students Incorporated,
the California Department of Education,
CSULB Division of Student Services, the
university, CDC parents and the Long Beach
community help keep the rates low for this
non-profit organization.
The
center provides services for approximately
270 children ranging from 6 months to 7
years old. The center is able to provide
services for so many children because many
parents only need part time day care. Marikos
says one of the reasons might be that parents
are taking a lighter school load.
"Families
are using less hours than before,"
Marikos said. " Parents are only taking
what they need, making more spots available."
The center provides a curriculum designed
to teach individuality in a child-centered
environment through challenges and predictability.
The different areas set up consist of books,
art supplies, blocks, sad boxes, puzzles,
etc.
"We
are providing activities that help with
the social and cognitive development of
the children," Marikos said.
The
staff help provide a physical and social
environment where children learn to meet
their needs and solve their own problems.
"I
see a difference between other day care
providers. Baily has learned to pour her
own milk," said mother Heather Enriquez.
"They teach her independence and how
to communicate."
The
center divides the children into three age
groups. The infant toddler program includes
children 6 months to 2 years and six months
of age. Children at this age group are taught
to walk, and are potty trained by staff.
"I
love working with the 2-year-olds,"
said student staff member Felice Davis.
"Even at 6 months old, they are learning
to build relationships and actively listen."
Davis
is a liberal studies major emphasizing in
early childhood development. She has been
working at the center for almost three years.
Two
schools exist in the preschool program,
separating the younger toddlers from the
older children. The Blue School has children
2 1/2 to 4 years of age. The Purple School
has children 3 1/2 years to kindergarten.
"The
CDC is a very special place with a special
child-centered philosophy," said Lynette
Gaskill, head teacher of the 3 and a half
to 5 year olds.
The
last age group is the school-age program,
it is a before school and after-school program
for children in kindergarten through second
grade.
Student
staff make up majority of the staff. Student
assistants go through extensive training
in the summer months. Marikos said student
assistants have to know about child development,
safety and policy procedures, how to interact
with the children, and how to meet their
individual needs.
Since
it first opened 23 years ago, the center
continues its mission to ensure that no
student parent is denied access to higher
education due to a lack of affordable childcare.
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