Philosophy

The Loyola Marymount University Children’s Center philosophy is clearly in line with the goals of the University and the values it holds. While respecting and appreciating all faiths, our philosophy reflects the Jesuit and Marymount traditions by developing the whole-child, encouraging life-long learning skills, fostering family relationships, and offering service to the community.

We believe that the whole child develops in an orderly manner by passing through stages of development, which occur in a predictable, sequential fashion according to his or her own physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth. We provide experiences in creative dramatics, math, art, science, music, language, literature and writing. These experiences nurture and facilitate growth at each stage of a child’s development.

We believe in the value of play as children’s work. It is their primary avenue to understanding their world. Play is a means of relating to others, developing concepts, and understanding adult roles through imitation. When we empower children to be responsible for their own learning, we encourage independence, self-confidence and competence. It allows children to be exactly who they need to be at that moment and fosters positive self-esteem. We believe that when children are trusted and allowed to trust, they learn security and faith in others. When children’s needs and ideas are treated with importance, children develop self-confidence and self-worth.

We believe in celebrating the diversity of our families and the communities in which we live. While we share our Catholic faith through prayer and celebrations, we welcome all our families to share the traditions of their homes. We invite members of our surrounding communities to our celebrations to build unity with our neighbors. The Loyola Marymount University Children’s Center admits children and employs personnel without regard to race, color, creed, gender, religion or national origin.

Child Guidance Techniques

When placed in a group care setting, it is inevitable that children will encounter the occasional squabble or disagreement. At LMUCC we believe that these situations can be utilized as learning opportunities. We are committed to helping children develop a positive sense of self-esteem and to learn care and respect of themselves and those around them. 

Our approach to guidance and discipline begins with modeling appropriate care for the environment, positive interactions between staff and children, and gentle reminders of expected behaviors. “Limit setting” (discipline) is done in a predictable, clear, and sensitive manner. The limits we set arise from two areas of importance: not hurting oneself or others, and respecting everything in the environment. We also set the environment to minimize the necessity of limits and share control with the children in the decision-making process. In establishing guidance techniques, our primary goal is to support the child in developing awareness in these two areas and then establishing effective “inner discipline” or self control. This reduces their dependence on adult-imposed control. Positive guidance techniques, such as redirection or facilitated problem solving are generally successful in helping children resolve conflicts, or in learning acceptable classroom behaviors. The adults in the environment assist children in identifying the problem or issue, and work through the resolution with patience, care and understanding. Children are allowed to share and express their emotions to learn how to deal with their feelings and to feel accepted for who they are.