Child Development Center

Welcome to the New Mexico Highlands University School of Education Child Development Center for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. This program strives to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children by offering many creative and stimulating activities. The Center serves children of NMHU students, staff, faculty and the local community. The center is approved by the New Mexico Department of Children, Youth, and Families (CYFD).

Philosophy and Program Description

The Center's philosophy is to provide children with a play environment and learning activities designed to be age appropriate and appeal to the children's interests. Because young children learn through play and using all their senses, the Center provides a wide range of creative and challenging hands-on activities. The children may choose daily activities according to their own interests and abilities.

The Center Curriculum is designed to be "developmentally appropriate", physically stimulating, and socially, cognitively, emotionally, and culturally exciting. We live in a multicultural community and our program reflects the beauty and diversity of our cultures and traditions.

Daily activities include:

Water and sand play
Reading stories
Dramatic play
Music and movement
Quiet time for rest
Blocks and manipulatives use
Physical and natural science
Exploration
Creative art projects
Free time outside
Parent Involvement and Support Activities
A partnership between parents and caregivers is what makes our program work! We ask parents to visit and observe often. We encourage communication between our staff and parents daily, so we can work together to meet the needs of our children.

Calendar

New Mexico Highlands Child Care Center follows the NMHU student calendar. We close for official holidays, spring break and between semesters. We also close if classes are canceled due to weather conditions.

Nutrition Program

Our center participates in the Child Care Food Program. We serve a nutritious breakfast, a hot noon meal, and an afternoon snack every day.

Nutrition education is part of our program. Good eating habits are encouraged and children often participate in the preparation of snacks or part of a meal.

IMPORTANT: Parents who need assistance to pay their child care services should contact the local Child Care Bureau at the New Mexico Human Services Department.

Staff

The program and professional staff all have extensive training and experience in early childhood education. The support staff includes experienced teacher aides, student workstudy aides, and volunteers from the Foster Grandparent Program and the United World College.

Staff development includes attendance at regular training conferences and workshops for the core staff and an on-site training program for student aides and new staff.