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What did you learn today?
Student Services. During that time the Children's Center moved from Willow
Run and grew from two to five portable classrooms on WCC's campus.
The Center continued to focus on the needs of both parents and children.
Roberts told the Ann Arbor News in 1972, "Parents are able to take more
courses. They are able to attend more consistently, carry heavier loads
and get more involved in classes.
"The other part of it is that you're getting children interested in learning
at a very early age and giving them experiences that can be very helpful."
When Patricia Travis became director in 1974 she began emphasizing more
academic activities and later introduced the High/Scope curriculum. High/Scope
is an educational research foundation in Ypsilanti and is known nationwide
for its curriculum, which is used in Head Start programs. The High/Scope
approach encourages hands-on learning and allows the children to choose
from ten "interest areas" for their play like block building, art activities,
computers or books.
Each classroom in the Children's Center is arranged so children can move
from one activity to another. In one area you'll find a little girl lining
up cardboard blocks on the floor. In another area three children dressed
in oversized high heels and long scarves are giggling and chasing each
other. Other children might be engrossed in a craft or taking a turn at
the computer.
The High/Scope curriculum was a big change, Char Longino recalls, "In
the old days, we mimeograph work pages for the kids even in preschool.
They would do things like count the number of apples on an apple tree
and circle the number that was correct. We really focused on the academic
skills they needed to start kindergarten."
But after asking elementary schools in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti which skills
they considered most important, the Children's Center found that other
things were as relevant as academic skills. Schools noticed that children
who could do tangible things like tell the teacher when then needed to
go to the bathroom, zip their own coat or read their name were best prepared
for learning in kindergarten.
These everyday skills along with social skills also have a place in the
Children's Center curriculum. "We teach kids to work together, to share,
to negotiate because these things are really important in our society."
Says Longino.
Return to About Us page.
Trudi Hagen, Director
Family Education Building, 4800 East Huron River Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-4800
Ph: 734-973-3539
Email:
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