"Unless the investment in children is made, all of humanity's most fundamental long-term problems will remain fundamental long-term problems."

-UNICEF-

Why Is High Quality Early Education Necessary?

*because by the age of five, a child has obtained more than fifty percent of their adult knowledge.

*because young children exposed to high-quality settings exhibit better language and mathematics skills, better cognitive and social skills, and better relationships with classmates.

*because evaluations of well-run early-learning programs also have found that children in those environments were less likely to drop out of school, repeat grades, need special education, or get into future legal trouble.

Learning to respect others and to work together are an integral part of the Ballard Center education program.

How Can You Help?

You can help by donating to the BCS Early Education Program Fund called GIFT. There is more information available on our Donations page. Our early education program is available to low income families at roughly half of what it costs us to operate the program. We are able to do so because of generous donations from our supporters who provide the remainder of the costs for our children.

The philosophy of the Ballard Community Services Early Education Program is to provide a quality, developmental and age appropriate learning environment for all children ages one through five. We operate under a daily schedule that provides for fine and gross motor activities, developmentally appropriate skills learning and incidental learning through play. We believe that in order for a child to succeed he/she must have an environment where he/she is treated with dignity and respect and has an opportunity to grow and learn at his/her level.

EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAM
Program Statement

Ballard Community Services uses the Creative Curriculum with all ages: infants to 5 year-olds. The Creative Curriculum philosophy is young children will learn best by doing. Creative Curriculum believes that learning isn't just repeating what someone else says; it requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work allowing children to learn firsthand about the world we live in.

Ballard Community Services early education program administration and staff has made a commitment to the children and families residing in Douglas County. This commitment is to provide a high quality early education program in which the administration and staff understand the following principles of early childhood development:

*Children learn best when their physical needs are met and they feel psychologically safe and secure.

*Children construct knowledge.

*Children learn through play.

*Children's interest and "need to know" motivate learning.

*Human development and learning are characterized by individual variation.

The Creative Curriculum identifies goals in all areas of development.

Social Development - Social Development helps children feel comfortable in school, trust their new environment, make friends, and feel they are part of the group. 

Emotional Development - Emotional Development helps children experience pride and self-confidence, develop independence and self-control, and have a positive attitude toward life.

Cognitive Development - Cognitive Development helps children become confident learners by letting them try out their own ideas and experience success, and by helping them acquire learning skills such as the ability to solve problems, ask questions, and use words to describe their ideas, observations, and feelings. 

Physical Development - Physical Development helps children increase their large and small muscle skills and feel confident about what their bodies can do. 

LOCATIONS

Ballard Community Services has three early edecuation sites: The Ballard Center, Brookcreek on Mt. Hope and Brookcreek at Lawrence Highschool.

Ballard Center
The Ballard Center opperates Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. There are 5 classrooms made up of children ages 1 to 5 years old. It uses a sliding scale to determine tuition. This helps us adjust costs according to the families' ability to pay.

Brookcreek Mt. Hope  
Mt. Hope operates Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. There are 4 classrooms:
- an infant room for children 2 weeks to a year and walking
- a room for children a year old;
- a room for children 2 years old;
- a preschool room for children ages 3 to 5 years.