About Us

Mission

The Child Development Laboratories' mission is to provide:

• Outstanding service to children and their families
• An exemplary setting for training students in child development
• An outstanding research setting for faculty and students
• A solid base for outreach to other early childhood professionals

Philosophy

The MSU CDL serves children and families by providing a play-based curriculum influenced by such theorists as Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bronfenbrenner. We are able to provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to promote development of the whole child. We do this by addressing development in the six domains. Our programs provide a continuity of interaction across classrooms through the use of social guidance techniques. The CDL welcomes children and families representing many languages, countries of origin, income levels, family structures, and ability levels. We value families as experts on their own children and collaborate with families to develop individually appropriate goals for children within the context of the classroom community. Families will find outstanding support from our staff as they learn to be advocates for their children through our programs.