ELIZABETH RIVER BAPTIST DAY CARE
EXPLORE PLAY LEARN GROW in Christian Faith
Infant | Toddler | Jr. Preschool | Preschool | Pre-Kindergarten | School Age Children | Out of School Camp
ELIZABETH RIVER BAPTIST DAYCARE
Explore. Play. Learn. Grow in Christian Faith.
WELCOME
A place where we teach differently, through a unique blend of the arts and inquiry, sensory experiences, nature exploration, and purposeful play.
We are a ministry of Elizabeth River Baptist Church which is a non-profit, religious exempt facility regulated through the Virginia Department of Education located in Chesapeake, VA. We welcome children 6 weeks to pre-Kindergarten with Before and After school available. Through our experienced early childhood educators and administration, we aim to meet each child's optimal development in a small group setting.
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We offer a mix of traditional Christian learning and a multi-sensory curriculum of learning. All complemented with engaging activities that promote your child's growth and development. Every staff member at Elizabeth River Baptist Daycare is committed to supporting your family in raising happy, healthy, confident and spiritually fed children even after they depart Elizabeth River Baptist Daycare.
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We are a privately owned, non-profit child care center committed to nurturing and educating your children in a safe and loving environment. Our Center provides cozy amenities:
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Small Classroom Sizes
Natural Outdoor Classroom/Playscape
Warm & Inviting Environments
Loose Parts Play
Holistic Strategies
Reggio Philosophy
Faith Based Programs
Out of School Camp
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One of the most important decisions you'll make is who to trust your children with for their care. Schedule a tour today and see if Elizabeth River Baptist Daycare offers that feeling of security and education opportunities your family desires.
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Are you interested in learning more about ERBDC? Call us today for more information and to schedule your tour. We are happy to answer any questions or concerns your may have about our Center.
ABOUT OUR MINISTRY
Our Center is one of the organizations within Elizabeth River Baptist Church. The purpose of the Daycare Ministry of the church is to minister families with quality Christian Education and childcare. The Daycare committee of ERBDC is comprised of active members of the church which implement policy and Center business, while the daily operation of the Center is executed by the Center Director.
OUR MISSION
Elizabeth River Baptist Daycare focuses on the individuality and uniqueness of each child. We aim to serve a proudly diverse group of families and their children.​Our mission is to create a safe and inspiring environment that allows each child to develop at his/her own pace and provide experiences that encourage self-confidence, connection, curiosity, and a love of learning.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
A Reggio-Inspired Approach
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Elizabeth River Baptist Daycare has long followed a child-centric philosophy in its approach to early childhood education. This philosophy encompasses a play-based curriculum and the belief that a child's school environment should be one of unqualified love, warmth, acceptance and respect. Recently, the staff and administration have explored a similar education philosophy that is known as the Reggio Emilia Approach. In May 2023, the center made the decision to move in the direction of being known as a "Reggio Inspired" preschool. This means we will meld the appropriate elements of the Reggio approach into our current philosophy and approach.
WHAT IS THE REGGIO EMILIA APPROACH
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy based on the premise that in the early years of development children are forming who they are as an individual. Thus the program is based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment based on the interests of the children through a self-guided curriculum.
The Reggio approach derives its name from Reggio Emilia, a city in northern Italy where educators, parents, and children began working together after World War II to reconstruct society and build an exemplary system of municipal preschools and infant-toddler centers. The region has since been recognized to have one of the best municipal educational systems in the world, largely due to its innovative educational approach and the amount of civic resources committed to the system.
The Reggio approach provides a model for more project-based work with an even greater emphasis on child-led curriculum. The goal for this project-based curriculum is to provide even deeper, more meaningful learning for children, as well as inspiration and growth for the teachers.
REGGIO EMILIA PHILOSOPHY
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
THE ENVIRONMENT IS THE THIRD TEACHER
The environment is recognized for its potential to inspire children. An environment filled with natural light, order and beauty. Open spaces free from clutter, where every material is considered for its purpose, every corner is ever-evolving to encourage children to delve deeper and deeper into their interests. The space encourages collaboration, communication and exploration. The space respects children as capable by providing them with authentic materials & tools. The space is cared for by the children and the adults.
CHILDREN ARE COMMUNICATORS
Communication is a process, a way of discovering things, asking questions, using language as play. Children are encouraged to use language to investigate and explore, to reflect on their experiences. They are listened to with respect, believing that their questions and observations are an opportunity to learn and search together. It is a process; a continual process. A collaborative process. Rather than the child asking a question and the adult offering the answers, the search is undertaken together.
AN EMPHASIS ON DOCUMENTING CHILDREN’S THOUGHTS
You’ll notice in Reggio and Reggio-inspired settings that there is an emphasis on carefully displaying and documenting children’s thoughts and progression of thinking; making their thoughts visible in many different ways: photographs, transcripts of children’s thoughts and explanations, visual representations (drawings, sculptures etc.), all designed to show the child’s learning process.
​CHILDREN FORM AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD THROUGH THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS
There is a strong focus on social collaboration, working in groups, where each child is an equal participant, having their thoughts and questions valued. The adult is not the giver of knowledge. Children search out the knowledge through their own investigations.
THE HUNDRED LANGUAGES OF CHILDREN
Probably the most well-known aspect of the Reggio Emilia Approach is the belief that children use many different ways to show their understanding and express their thoughts and creativity. A hundred different ways of thinking, of discovering, of learning. Through drawing and sculpting, through dance and movement, through painting and pretend play, through modeling and music, and that each one of these Hundred Languages must be valued and nurtured. These languages, or ways of learning, are all a part of the child. Learning and play are not separated. The Reggio Emilia Approach emphasizes hands-on discovery learning that allows the child to use all their senses and all their languages to learn.
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CHILDREN ARE CAPABLE OF CONSTRUCTING THEIR LEARNING
They are driven by their interests to understand and know more through play.
AN EMPHASIS ON DOCUMENTING CHILDREN’S THOUGHTS
You’ll notice in Reggio and Reggio-inspired settings that there is an emphasis on carefully displaying and documenting children’s thoughts and progression of thinking; making their thoughts visible in many different ways: photographs, transcripts of children’s thoughts and explanations, visual representations (drawings, sculptures etc.), all designed to show the child’s learning process.
WHAT THIS APPROACH MEANS FOR CHILDREN
Early childhood programs that have successfully adapted to the Reggio educational philosophy share that they are attracted to Reggio because of the way it views and respects the child. They believe that the central reason that a child must have control over his or her day-to-day activity is that learning must make sense from the child's point of view.
In essence, the philosophy is based on the idea that if a child's learning is meaningful to the child, the learning is deeper and stays with them. Further, the philosophy advocates for a child's "one hundred languages"; the idea that children represent ideas and feelings through any of their "one hundred languages" (expressive, communicative, and cognitive) - words, movement, drawing, painting, building, sculpture, shadow play, collage, dramatic play, music that they systematically explore and combine.