About Us
Established in 1977 as an outreach to the community by Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Children’s Center at Gracelyn is a certified green facility licensed as a 5 star program by the state of North Carolina and serves children ages one through five. The Children’s Center is non-sectarian and dedicated to providing quality childcare to all children of the community without regard to racial, ethnic background, or religious status.
Program Philosophy
At The Children’s Center, we understand that the critical years for learning, and establishing a strong foundation for learning and development, are between birth and five years of age; and that children are instinctively natural learners. Therefore it is our responsibility to provide a highly enriched environment with carefully planned, meaningful activities to nurture and facilitate children’s learning by recognizing the individuality of each child, and encouraging their efforts to construct their own understanding about the world around them. We believe that this philosophy is acquired best in a supportive partnership with parents and families; as we recognize that parents and families are the primary teachers of their children.
Program Goals & Objectives…
To encourage children to make decisions
By offering meaningful choices throughout the day that provide opportunities for problem-solving and decision making.
To facilitate social-emotional development and pro-social behavior
By role modeling, guiding and encouraging appropriate expression of thoughts and feelings and through helping children recognize and label their own emotions as well as the emotions and feelings of others.
To promote interest in language & literacy
By encouraging the use of classroom print, books, stories and rhymes along with the use of props, music and other games to facilitate language and literacy development both inside the classroom and outside the classroom.
To inspire creative expression
By offering a variety of materials and through frequent experiences in music, art, dramatics and literature within a classroom environment that recognizes and instills pride in creative expression.
To support intellectual development
By recognizing and encouraging each child’s individuality, interests and capabilities while incorporating these into the classroom environment and curriculum.
To encourage gross motor and fine motor development
Through outdoor activities such as running games, tricycles, hoops and balls; and through indoor activities such as manipulative toys, blocks, puzzles, scissors, crayons, glue and other small tools and objects.
To build partnerships with families
By respecting the unique belief and value systems of each family through supporting and understanding parents goals for their child through daily communication and providing parents the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors