CCDC offers day care for students’ kids
There are four colorful houses
near the comer of 15th Avenue
and Moss Street. Their fenced-in
yards are filled with strange
looking climbing contraptions,
tree swings, and tiny tables and
chairs, nestled in a cushion of
sawdust.
Stories by LARRY MAGDER
Of the Emerald
This is the main location of the
University Child Care and De
velopment Center (CCDC). The
CCDC provides day care to chil
dren of students.
The center was originally estab
lished by 17 families as a child
care cooperative eight years ago.
It serves approximately 80
families providing care to some
160 children from two months to
10 years in age. The center oper
ates these four houses and an
after-school program at Edison
EMU care center also
provides day services
Not io be confused with the Child Care and Development
Center is the Childcare Center, located in the EMU. Sponsored by
the EMU, the center provides a different kind of service.
The Childcare Center charges parents by the hour. Most
programs force a parent to pay for child care they don t want by
charging by the half or full day," said Edd Castor, last year s
director of the center. At the Childcare Center, students can
contract to leave their children for just the hours during which they
have classes.
The center also provides "occasional use and drop in
child care. While there is no guarantee that children will be admit
ted on the spur of the moment, usually they can be accommo
dated. "If we've got the space, and we don t feel it would alter our
flow for the day. we will admit the child," said Castow.
Charges vary from $1 per hour depending upon age of the
child.
According to Castow. the Childcare Center is the only center
in Eugene that provides evening care. This serves parents who
attend night classes or evening activities.
The center occupies an orange multi-leveled romper room in
a corner of the EMU. There is an empty grassy area designated
for the children. Castow said one day they will acquire some
playground apparatus.
Because of its policy of admitting children by the hour, the
Childcare Center does not usually reach its 28 child limit.
Preschooi children are separated from toddlers, and there is
a ‘‘lead Care-giver" for each group. In addition, the center hires
work study students. "We require previous experience in group
child care. We prefer a full year s experience, said Castow of his
hiring standards.
Registration for child care at the Childcare Center will begin
during registration for classes
Center uses tree swings, play areas
to entertain the fykes while you study
Community School.
Wanda Venturacci, director of
the center, believes that with the
possible exception of the EMU
Childcare Center, the CCDC is the
only center in town providing care
for children under two and one
half years old.
Some of the original coopera
tive character of the center has
been retained. Parents are re
quired to put in two to four hours of
“co-op time” per week, which may
involve such activities as making
toys, washing dishes or buying
groceries. Also, the steering
board, which sets general policy
and decides major program
changes, is composed mostly of
parents.
In June there were 80 families
on the waiting list to use the
center. Applications for fall term
were due August 15. There is a
priority system used to discrimi
nate between applicants. Single
parents who are full-time workers
and full-time students are consi
dered first.
“Every year we have to work
hard to secure our IFC (Incidental
Fee Committee) appropriation,"
said Venturacci, “and every year
we get it. I don’t know what we
would do if we didn’t."
The appropriation from the IFC
accounts for about one-fourth of
the center’s budget. This approp
riation enables the center to
charge parents on a sliding scale
based on their affluence. Some
parents pay as little as $2 a day,
others pay as much as $10.40.
Parents are eligible for monet
ary assistance from either the
state Children Services Division
or the federally funded Commun
ity Coordinated Child Care prog
ram if they can show that they are
in a two-year training program.
Venturacci said some University
programs fall under this category.
The CCDC has certain financial
advantages over other day care
centers. No rent is paid for the
University-owned houses in which
it operates. The employment of
work-study students saves payroll
dollars. The director’s salary is
paid for by the EMU
On the other side of the coin, the
infant care provided by the CCDC
is costiier than care of older chil
dren. Also, according to Ven
turacci. the teacher salaries at the
center are higher than most.
One of the houses has an art
room, a large play area, a quiet
reading room and a mam room.
What we emphasize is sociali
zation skills and independence,
said Venturacci We don t push a
child to know the alphabet by age
3 and reading by 5 If they re ready
for it we provide the resources and
stimulus
Children are given a maximum
number of choices. In each house
there may be two or three ac
tivities going on at the same time.
'We usually try to have an arts
and crafts activity, a science activ
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ity, and maybe a reading activity,"
says Venturacci. The child may
choose whichever, or choose to
do something else.
Much time is spent away from
the houses. The campus provides
many interesting destinations
within walking distance, e.g., the
duck pond, the museums, the
animal labs. Also, they may go on
lengthier trips, such as pizza pic
nics or excursions to the coast.
The adults that play with the
children are mostly classified as
“teachers" or "aides.” The aides
may be work-study, ESCAPE, or
practicum students. "We don't re
quire previous experience in child
care to be an aide,” said Ven
turacci. Anyone who shows an in
terest in children can get hired."
Aides are trained on the job and in
a serias of workshops which they
may ittend.
One of the guiding ideas at the
CCDC is that children should be
encouraged to do things for them
selves whenever possible They
are given the chance to solve their
own problems, even if it just
means asking another for help.
And children are not ordered
about. They are reasoned with.
“Instead of saying Don't run in the
house' we say ‘We walk in the
house, we run outside,” said one
teacher. The hope is that children
will learn from the logical conse
quences of their actions. It was
admitted, though, that certain
“logical consequences" are
created by the staff to promote so
cially harmonious behavior.
Ptiolo by Enc BoekelheiOe
Having a swinging time is Michelle, one of the many children of Univer
sity students who stay at childcare centers while their parents are in
school. Two campus-area agencies, the Child Care and Development
Center and the EMU Childcare center, offer such services.
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