Early Childhood Laboratory at the Center for Child and Family Studies, UC Davis

The Early Childhood Laboratory (ECL), Center for Child and Family Studies, serves as a resource for early childhood educators and child development professionals. It is accredited by the National Association for the Education for Young Children. Specific programs are developed, evaluated, and then disseminated widely to advance the health and well being of young children and their families. Notable projects include:

Gesturing as a precursor of spoken language

Infant Garden: a collaboration between child development and landscape design to create a sensorimotor texture and terrain yard that uniquely engages infants and toddlers

Development and implementation of a Nature Explore Classroom model and preschool Outdoor Classroom curriculum

Enriched early language and literacy environment

Infusion of STEM active learning elements into all age group programs

Inclusion of children with special needs into all age group programs

Implementation and demonstration of California Preschool Learning Foundations and Curriculum Frameworks

Piloting of California Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Guide Curriculum and Teaching Strategies

Demonstration programs, open for tour, offer a model of high-quality early learning environments and intentionality in child-initiated and adult-guided learning. Workshops exploring approaches to meeting early learning standards through environmental design and playful adult-child and peer-to-peer interactions are offered on site during the year. Demonstration lecturers and other program staff are also able to create customized, onsite training and technical assistance presentations.

Demonstration Programs
Early Childhood Workshops
Customized trainings and technical assistance
For more information about scheduling a tour, upcoming workshops, and arranging a customized training, please contact:

Janet Thompson, Director, 530-754-4000, jethompson@ucdavis.edu
Kelly Twibell, Child Development Demonstration Lecturer, Early Childhood Laboratory, 530-752-6239, kktwibell@ucdavis.edu
Education
A major mission of the CCFS is to give students hands-on experiences with young children to supplement their academic coursework in human development. Students from introductory courses, first-year seminar participants, medical students observing typical development, and graduate students learning child-friendly research techniques are periodic observers. All are directly supervised during their time here.
The heart of our education program is the course we teach on site, Communication and Interaction with Young Children (HDE 140). Fifty students each quarter enroll to learn about infants, toddlers and preschoolers by working as student caregivers in our ECL classrooms while they also attend accompanying lectures and discussions and write observations based on their experiences and readings. Working in caregiving roles with the children enriches their educational experience while enabling the ECL to offer highly individualized care and education to the program's children.
Questions concerning demonstration or observation opportunities can be directed to the CCFS Director.

Outreach
Those interested in designing or implementing an outreach program at the CCFS or at the Eichhorn Family House can download the Application Forms. Questions concerning outreach opportunities can be directed to the Chairperson of the CCFS Advisory Committee.