By Christina Quattrone
Juggling school is hard enough and adding the responsibilities of parenthood to the mix can be a struggle for many students. During the day while they are in class, these parents need high-quality and cost-friendly child care. College of Southern Nevada offers such services on Charleston and Cheyenne campuses.
“Wow! I wasn’t even aware we had a day care on campus, let alone two,” said CSN student and nursing major Lisa Litwin. “[This] could have saved me a lot of trouble shuffling my kids back and forth to their grandparents across town.”
According to Jennifer Clark, communications manager for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 26 percent of undergraduate students have children; half of those are single parents.
Cheyenne’s Early Childhood Education Lab School provides opportunities for parents to be involved by attending observatory sessions. In addition the ECE provides a practicum site for CSN students who are studying childhood education to work with children.
“We’re here as a learning facility for our college students so they can work with master teachers and see what is appropriate and learn best practice,” said Janis Fikes-Buntjer, director of the ECE Lab School. “[Parents] can go to the observation booth where they come in and see what’s going on. The parents are very involved in the program, as well as the student teachers.”
Cody Stratton and son
CSN student Cody Stratton, education major at CSN who works at the Lab, takes her 6-year-old son Jaiden to the school. Stratton likes the program for her son and also for herself.
“The program at CSN has given me the opportunity to do a variety of hands-on experiences and observations in actual classrooms, which I believe is essential in the education field,” Stratton said.
There’s an instinctual worry that comes with the territory of motherhood, Stratton said. “Parents can drop their children off with a clear conscience knowing that they are being well taken care of at ECE Lab School.”
Campus Child Care at Charleston and the ECE Lab School at Cheyenne operate Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., throughout the school year. The ECE Lab School is tuition-based, and requires necessary paperwork and immunizations.
Parents seeking more information on the ECE Lab School can go to https://www.csn.edu/pages/4676.asp.
Coyote Student News at the College of Southern Nevada 