The childcare mission at CSUSB is threefold: to provide model programming for young children and their families, undergraduate and graduate teaching, and research.

With regard to service, both the Children’s Center and the Lab School are committed to exemplifying best practices in the field of early childhood education.  Staff try out “cutting edge” ideas for practice and provide children with and environment conducive to reaching individual potential.

Undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to observe best practices with young children and participate with children between the ages of birth through five in various ways.  Observation and participation allows students to put into practice information learned in lecture style classes.  In addition, students currently fill the majority of the staff positions at the Children’s center and all of our teacher and assistant teacher positions at the Lab School.

Both the Children’s Center and the Lab School are actively involved in generating empirical evidence related to the fields of early childhood education, family studies, and child development.  Laboratory programs provide an opportunity to observe children and families in context and provide a testing ground for evaluating best practices in the field of early childhood.  To facilitate research classrooms in the Lab School are lined with an observation booth equipped with headsets and microphones.  Observers and observations are thus unobtrusive.