The Child Development Institute, part of the Children, Childhood and Education Collaborative, was established in 1987 to develop programs for early childhood and elementary school teachers, administrators, child development professionals, parents and the community at large.
More than three decades later, the Child Development Institute honors its innovative legacy of thought leadership and progressive education with regular offerings such as:
- Lectures and panels that engage the expertise of psychologists, educators, sociologists, and other professionals
- Collaboratively engaging with organizations that want to partner
- Developmental research studies
- Intensive seminars and accredited workshops for teachers
- Community Adventure Play Experiences (CAPE) for children in our surrounding communities
Mission
Through its work, the Child Development Institute provides a progressive perspective on child development and education. In this perspective, the child is viewed as an individual in the social context, actively engaged in constructing knowledge through interactions with other people and the physical environment. We believe that the child's educational experience should encompass social, emotional, and imaginative aspects of life in concert with intellectual development. Further, we are concerned that schools and other institutions be developed as communities that attend to the interests and needs of children from diverse backgrounds.