Center for the Child to host celebration at FMU

By: From local reports | SCNow
Published: April 21, 2009

FLORENCE — The Gail and Terry Richardson Center for the Child at Francis Marion University is hosting a celebration this week in honor of the “Week of the Young Child,” an event sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the center will host “Bringing Families Together for a Safer Community.” The event is free and open to the public.

“The purpose of this event and those like it being held nationally throughout the week is to celebrate the enthusiasm, creativity and energy of young children,” Center Child Care Director Frances B. Roberts said in a press release issued by the university. “We’ve planned activities to educate families about the resources in the community while also providing interactive activities for the children.”

Information about household safety will be provided by Safe Kids of Florence and stranger safety will be provided by the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault. In addition, members of the Windy Hill Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. will provide fire safety tips while FMU campus police and the coalition’s Durant Children’s Center will offer child identification cards.

Center staff members will also offer tours of the center, which provides child care services to 6-week- to 5-year-old children of students, faculty, staff and community members.

It serves as a child development and evaluation clinic to train students, giving them firsthand experience in dealing with the children it serves. In addition, the center is a South Carolina model for the dissemination of best practices in early childhood education. The center is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The 15,000-square-foot center is located on a site near the Pee Dee Education Center on the FMU campus. The $4.7 million building includes a child-care wing of two infant rooms, two toddler rooms, two rooms for the three- and four-year-olds, and two rooms for four- and five-year-olds; an office area for psychology and education faculty members; a central lobby and library that function as a family waiting area; observation and assessment rooms; and an outdoor play area.

To learn more about the center, contact Roberts at (843) 661-1630 or visit its Web site at www.centerforthechild.org.