Summary
Quality child care and early education facilities benefit children, working parents, regional economies, and even the well-being and prosperity of the country as a whole, as it helps to create a healthy and developed new generation. In addition to attentive, responsive and educated teachers, psychologists and staff in such facilities, environmental design is of particular importance. For these reasons, the purpose of this project is to create an environmental design plan for child care and early education facility that will incorporate recommendations for indoor and outdoor environments for all ages, diverse needs and abilities for all learners, family engagement and partnerships, and meeting the needs of staff.
Project Introduction
This project is a new program that involves the creation of a facility. It combines the best features of family child care homes, child care centers, and preschool programs. The current program is based on the science of learning. It means that through play, problem-solving, experimenting with possibilities, and project work, children will get the best early education experiences possible. The program is designed for four separate age groups, which are also divided into subgroups according to age, interests, and abilities. The main age groups in the facility are infants from 6 weeks to 1 year old, toddlers between the ages of 1 and 3, as well as preschool and kindergarten prep in ages 3-5 years. The size of the facility is an 11,315-square-foot building and outdoor area and the program is licensed for 110 kids. The facility is designed for 16 infants, 28 toddlers and 66 preschoolers and kindergartens.
In order to create a successful environmental design plan, it is necessary to understand the peculiarities of learning in the facility. Infants and toddlers will be learning about mindfulness and discovering safety and hygiene. They will have enough movement and activity daily. They will start singing songs, hearing poetry, following simple directions, reading books, and developing relationships with caregivers.
Preschool and kindergarten prep in the program will master wellness and healthy living through daily physical fitness, independent self-care, and mindfulness techniques. The program will help them in gaining confidence and skills, such as reading, writing, and early phonics learning. There will be a separate early science, technology, and engineering class where children will conduct experiments, learn how to use tools and solve complex problems. There will also be continuing education on creativity, self-regulation, respect for the world, people, and the environment, and appreciation of art, music, theater, and dance.
The facility area is distributed between different spaces and uses. Acquaintance with the program begins with a comfortable and safe drop-off and pick-up zone. For safety, driveways are located away from the entrance. Nearby there is ample parking so that parents can conveniently park if necessary without creating traffic jams or active traffic around the building during rush hour. There is also a separate entrance and parking for the staff of the facility.
The adjacent territory is landscaped with different plants, and the technology of the green facade is also used. Five play yards are located behind the building and differ with distinct characteristics such as natural and man-made, sheltered and open, dry and wet, planned and open-ended, hard and soft, and flat and raised. Various play surfaces include grassy areas, sand, soil, and water for digging and mud play, and firm, resilient surfaces for wheel toys and balls. There is also an area for gardening activities.
The inner space is divided into two wings; the largest part is located on the left side of the main entrance and reserved for classrooms and spaces for children, the smaller one is on the right, and offices and other staff areas are located there. Ten children’s classrooms are from 690 to 910 sq. ft., and each room is equipped for the needs of a specific age group. Classrooms for music, dance, and science are located separately from the main rooms and an auditorium with a stage.
Located on the right side office and administration area is 740 sq. ft. and includes the reception area and offices of the program director, assistant director, nurse, and social worker. Support rooms and areas, such as the conference room, parent resource room, staff lounge, small meeting room, kitchen, bulk storage, and laundry room, are located in the middle part of the building and occupy an area of 2,900 sq. ft. The remaining space is reserved for hallways, stairs, elevators, utilities, and infrastructure.
Recommendations for Environmental Design
The first recommendation concerns outdoor spaces. To create a good balance of light and shade and reduce the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation on the skin, it is recommended to use landscaping with trees and other plants. Harmless non-honey plants and flowers and water feeders may be used to attract birds and harmless insects such as butterflies, ladybugs, etc., who cannot sting children. In this way, children will be able to develop their interest and respect for nature and animals. White et al. (2018) approve that urban environmental education within school grounds can increase children’s awareness, knowledge, and attitudes toward local biodiversity. Teachers will be able to show children live nature, not on pictures or screens, which will cause more interest and understanding. When calculating the square footage for outdoor play space, the quality design aims for 100 square feet per child (Holden et al., 2019). Licensing regulations do not always account for outdoor storage, garden areas, and mechanical equipment that may need to be installed in the play yard area, and enough space is key to ensure the right level of activity.
The second recommendation concerns the location of staff offices. It is better to place them in a separate wing, as children can make noise, and noise can distract people from their tasks. Noise adversely affects health by causing hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and hearing difficulty (Kerns et al.,2018). Sometimes the staff needs to rest in silence, and special rooms are perfect for this purpose. High-quality sound insulation is necessary for these rooms.
The third recommendation refers to classrooms and supporting environments. All these spaces should be safe for kids to explore independently, with various scales, textures, and activity choices. The rooms for infants and toddlers should include a space dedicated to sleeping and napping directly adjacent to the classroom. The area must accommodate eight cribs and a rocking chair or glider. Caregivers and infants spend most of their playtime on the floor; therefore, this room will have a large carpet or a warm floor system. Adding more gross motor activities to the active area is also recommended. They are necessary for successful cognitive development in toddlers. The relationship of cognitive development with gross motor activities is supported by Veldman et al. (2019). This activity may include an infant loft with carpeted ramp and shallow, carpeted steps, foam shapes, balls, music and movement, mirrors, pull-to-stand bars, tunnels, and pushing and pulling wheel toys.
The recommendation will be to transfer the facility to green energy. The study confirms that learning in green institutions positively affects academic performance and helps involve children in caring for the environment and respect for the world around them (Cole & Hamilton, 2020). It will also make it possible to reduce the cost of utilities and maintenance.
Systems and Tools for Success
The strategies that should be in place to ensure the greatest level of success in implementing the environmental design project are to define the goals and keep them adaptable. The project implementation aims to create a quality institution that will make children and their parents happy and simultaneously bring profit to investors. One more strategy is to understand the project scope and set clear expectations. The project involves attracting significant investments, time, human capacity, and other resources; therefore, it is necessary to assess the availability of all these components. Managing project risks strategy means that a new project always involves certain risks. To successfully implement this plan, it is necessary to assess the risks and compare them with possible benefits, after which it will be possible to make the right decision.
The implementation of the project is associated with the need to interact with regulatory agencies, such as local zoning, ADA compliance, licensing, etc. For example, it is necessary to provide the number of washrooms and fixtures in accordance with local Child Care Licensing and Building Code requirements. Provide barrier-free access in accordance with ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities.
An effective design team includes representatives from the childcare and design professions, developers, management, contractors, and regulatory agencies. This team will support the process of implementation of the design plan. Ongoing evaluation during the implementation phase and after the project completion is a crucial objective for the implementation process. Some difficulties may arise in the process, or vice versa, and opportunities may arise, and all of them must be analyzed and taken into account. If the process starts to exceed the planned budget or becomes uneconomical from a financial point of view, it will need to be reviewed and amended in time.
References
Cole, L. B., & Hamilton, E. M. (2020). Can a green school building teach? A pre-and post-occupancy evaluation of a teaching green school building. Environment and Behavior, 52(10), 1047–1078.
Holden, M., Chang, R., & Gunderson, R. (2019). Resilience and pedagogy: learning from international field studies in urban resilience in Canada and Germany. Cities and the Environment (CATE), 12(1), 2.
Kerns, E., Masterson, E. A., Themann, C. L., & Calvert, G. M. (2018). Cardiovascular conditions, hearing difficulty, and occupational noise exposure within US industries and occupations. American Journal of industrial medicine, 61(6), 477-491.
Veldman, S. L., Santos, R., Jones, R. A., Sousa-Sá, E., & Okely, A. D. (2019). Associations between gross motor skills and cognitive development in toddlers.Early human development, 132, 39-44. Web.
White, R. L., Eberstein, K., & Scott, D. M. (2018). Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children’s awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife.PloS one, 13(3), e0193993. Web.