Child Development Center is very different from the usual childcare experience and this is very well described by Novick in this article (1999/2000, 70-75). She describes how many of these children spend as much as 40 hours a week there, so it is important to make them feel comfortable and to relieve the anxiety of being separated from their parents (72). Novick says this is achieved by the casual atmosphere of sofas, rocking chairs, braided rugs and large rooms, with many books and stuffed toys for the children so they feel more like they are in a home setting than a care center (71). She notes there is a high staff-to-child ratio so every child gets a lot of attention, and how the children are grouped into two- and three-year-olds and three-to six-year-olds to add to a home-like atmosphere which is beneficial because the children will learn more if they feel secure and supported in their surroundings.
Novick describes in detail how the teachers try to create an environment similar to what the children experience at home, where they seem to learn to read naturally (Novick, 1999/2000, 70-71). They encourage child-centered conversations, singing, poetry, pretend play, painting and drawing, storytelling, story dramatization, a print-rich environment, and story reading - a combination which encourages the children to develop their imagination and their narrative voice. The article gives examples of stories and poems related by children at the Center and written down by staff verbatim so that the children can learn to recognize what they see in a written form, and how these dictated stories, poems, and songs are displayed throughout the Center where children can recognize their own stories or those of friends displayed there which stimulates their interest in learning to read and write more.
Novick discusses how the Center also takes into account ethnic differences and has materials relevant to all races that attend the Center,...