Aloha and welcome to the Hickam AFB Hawaii Child Development Centers. Our centers are designed to be a home away from home for children of working parents. Each classroom environment is arranged to be warm and inviting so that all children who enter want to stay and explore. Our philosophy is that children learn through play.
All three centers are accredited by The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This means that all the programs have voluntarily undergone a comprehensive process of internal self-study, invited external professional review to verify compliance with the criteria for High-Quality Early Childhood Programs, and been found to be in substantial compliance with the criteria. In addition to being accredited by NAEYC, the program is certified every year by the Department of Defense through unannounced inspections.
What about the curriculum? All three centers follow the Creative Curriculum. The Creative Curriculum is based on the idea that children learn by doing. Through active involvement with their environment, children attempt to make sense of the whole world around them. They learn by observing what happens when they interact with materials and other people. They spontaneously engage in activities such as block building, painting, or dramatic play, adding pieces of information to what they already know and thereby generating new understandings.
We know that young children view the world concretely, and as they mature, their views change. What they know at any given point will depend on the first-hand experience they have had. That is where we come in. The Main, West and Harbor CDCs will provide opportunities for your child to interact with the physical environment both indoor and outdoor, and their social environment (with other children and adults) to help them continually broaden their frame of reference.
Our highest goal is to provide a safe, healthy, caring environment that encourages growth in discipline, self-control and respect for other’s rights. This is accomplished by setting clear, consistent limits, applying logical consequences, modeling acceptable behaviors and by using mistakes as learning opportunities.
Hickam Main CDC
CDC Main is found in bldg 1597. The Main offers care for children ages 6 weeks to 3 years old. Hickam CDC Main has 13 classrooms. In these rooms, more than fifty teaching staff members care for 152 young children.
Hickam West CDC
CDC West is found in bldg 1654. The West offers care for children ages 3-5 years. Hickam CDC West has 5 classrooms to care for 119 children. In these rooms over 20 staff members work in partnership with parents to meet each individual child’s needs.
Both centers serve military and DoD civilian families through the following programs:
· Full day care (Main and West)
· Hourly care (Main and West)
· Part day programs (Harbor)
· Respite care funded by Air Force Aid Society (Main)
· Special evening and weekend care for “Parent’s Night Out,” military functions, etc.
· Resource and referral for families of deployed members