The University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) program is based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy of child-centered, long-term investigative projects inspired by children's interests. The ECEC utilizes this approach and provides educational opportunities for developing children through ample time, concentration, and revisiting concepts from different perspectives. The ECEC serves approximately 250 children from toddlers to kindergarteners in multi-age classrooms led by qualified teachers along with student staff and practicum students.

1. The Early Childhood Educa on Center (ECEC) is part of
the College of Educa on, Health & Human Services at
the University of Michigan-Dearborn. It is a high quality
early childhood program accredited by the Na onal
Associa on for the Educa on of Young Children
(NAEYC). The early childhood program applies a Reggio
inspired construc vism theory of learning to early child-
hood educa on. Our curriculum focus is nurturing chil-
dren's cri cal thinking skills and problem solving skills.
Approximately 250 children are enrolled in the Center.
The classrooms are mul age programs that give children the opportunity to learn from and teach each other. We have two toddler
classrooms, five preschool classrooms and one kindergarten classroom.
• Toddlers (1 - 2½years old)
• Preschool (2½- 4 years old)
• Kindergarten (5-6 years old)
Educational Program
University of Michigan-Dearborn
College of Educa on, Health & Human Services
Early Childhood Educa on Center
Rela onships
Bella greets Carlos at
the Family Fun Day.
Material Explora on/Representa on
Children explore open-ended
materials and represent their ideas.
How the ECEC Provides
Quality Care
The ECEC lead teachers are highly qualified with a
bachelor’s degree or higher and a concentra on in
Early Childhood Educa on. The ECEC also serves as a
teacher prepara on and research site for the College
of Educa on, Health and Human Services and as a
campus child care. The classroom teaching staff con-
sists of a lead teacher, student staff, and three levels
of prac cum students. At the beginning of the term,
the lead teacher models the program philosophy and
is responsible for carrying out long term projects
based on children's ideas.
There are several advantages of involving educa on students in the ECEC program. Because of these students, more inten onal
learning ac vi es can be offered, more one-on-one interac ons and individual aAen on can be provided, and closer management
and behavior support can be provided at the ECEC. A low child to adult ra o is possible due to the inclusion of University
students. They also bring to the classroom their enthusiasm and thoughBul curriculum planning.
The students also apply the most recent research based educa onal theories and prac ces they are learning in their University
course work. At the same me, these University students have the opportunity to observe and learn from the children and to
model and learn appropriate teaching methods and strategies from experienced teachers.
Inten onal Learning Group
Children observe trees and
document their findings.
Experimenta on
The University student and
children test what happens.
The child places her finger in the
middle of the spinning sand.
University of Michigan-Dearborn Dr. Seong Hong, Director
Early Childhood Educa on Center Deborah Jones, M.A., Site Director
18501 Rotunda Dr., Suite 300 Website: umdearborn.edu/ecec
Dearborn, MI 48124 Phone: 313.593.5424

2. The University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Childhood Educa on Center (ECEC) program is based on recent child development
research and the best prac ces in early childhood educa on. The Center is na onally recognized for its adapta on of the
philosophy of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. This approach is child centered, incorporates classroom long-term inves ga ons
based on children’s interests, and encourages collabora on among children, teachers, families and the community.
Our program u lizes the long-term inquiry based project approach as inspired from the Reggio Emilia philosophy in early childhood
programs. It addresses the needs of the developing child and provides many educa onal opportuni es. Another key principle
is the concept of me. We oFen call it following children's sense of rhythm. Time is given in ample amount and children are
expected to take their me and concentrate on the specific curriculum. Thus, teachers offer children mul ple opportuni es for
the construc on of knowledge and allow children to revisit their ideas and understand concepts from various perspec ves in order
to deepen their understanding.
Educational Philosophy
University of Michigan-Dearborn
College of Educa on, Health & Human Services
Early Childhood Educa on Center
Documentation of Learning
“Do you think we will be able to see colored shadows if we use colored light?”
The children have been thinking about colored light when they discovered
that the light beam from flashlights could change color if they placed
transparent ssue or cellophane paper on top of the light. Because we
have been exploring with shadows and light, I thought to raise the ques on,
“Do you think we will be able to see colored shadows if we use colored
light?” The children were enthused to find out. As the children came to
test if they could see colored shadows, they thought about turning the
lights on one at a me only to find out that they could not see colored
shadows.
The children began to think
about turning more than one
light on. Trevor said, “Can we
turn the green and yellow light
on?” Conner said, “Let’s turn on
all the lights!”
“I see rainbow shadows!” said Grace.The children no ce the many different colors
they can see. Conner said, “I can see orange,
green and purple. I have three arms.”
Iliana no ced the colored
lights did not mix to make
other colors like paint. When
she wanted the yellow and
green light on she said, “I see
orange, purple and green.
I didn’t know those colors
could make purple!”