Early Learning Programs
Mailman Segal Center families should continue to monitor the NSU Hurricane page (http://www.nova.edu/hurricane) and the NSU Hotline at 800-256-5065 for updates.
The Mailman Segal Center’s early childhood programs recognize the diverse needs of today’s families and offer a wide range of early care and education options:
- The Family Center Parenting Place allows parents to learn and grow with their child as they participate in innovative, fun, and educational classes carefully designed and led by early childhood professionals.
- The Family Center Infant and Toddler Program caters primarily to the needs of the working family by offering full-day child care for children from six weeks to two years of age in a nurturing environment rich with play-based learning activities. The infant and toddler program acknowledges that children’s learning and development is anchored by long-term, trusting relationships with caregivers. Disruptions to relationships are minimized by assigning a primary caregiver to a group of children and by practicing continuity of care where a familiar adult stays with the group as they progress through the program.
- The Family Center Preschool, designed for children two years of age through prekindergarten, utilizes best early educational practice to help children acquire the critical skills and key experiences necessary for success in kindergarten and beyond.
Regardless of whether families begin their early educational journey in the Family Center’s Parenting Place, Infant and Toddler, or Preschool, curriculum content is intentionally designed to promote development in all domains. We believe in both the naturally growing abilities of children and the critical role of caring adults in nurturing learning. To support this philosophical approach, learning environments are carefully designed to spark children’s curiosity and teaching staff are trained on how to implement a child-centered curriculum which combines the structure of carefully framed objectives with the spontaneity that emerges from commitment to discovery and exploration.
Research-based strategies for learning guide teaching practice: from Piaget’s child-centered approach where children make sense of their world through active exploration and manipulation of objects, to Vygotsky’s theory of assisted performance where the role of the knowledgeable adult is critical to helping children acquire targeted knowledge and skills.
At the to Mailman Segal Center’s Early Learning Programs, we provide a range of high quality, rich, innovative, and integrative learning programs designed for all children and their families.
