Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/home-like-environments/5014750/
A child care center is the setting in which children learn, play, work, eat, sleep, find comfort, become excited and engrossed, and make meaningful relationships with new adults and other children.Children in center-based care are spending much of their lives away from their families in surroundings that are, by nature, institutional. Living in a group setting for eight to ten hours a day creates inevitable tensions and stresses - even in the best of programs. Positive, nurturing interactions between caregivers and children can reduce the tensions; a home-like environment can ease the stress.
Home-like environments provide softness and challenge, stability and flexibility, space for shared living and for private moments, for both children and adults. Furnishings are chosen for comfort as well as for durability. Artwork, artifacts, plants, pillows, and area rugs are added for softness. The selection of wall colors, lighting fixtures, furniture, window treatments, floor coverings, and decorative accessories become as important as the choice of learning materials. In planning a home-like environment, it's helpful to consider the following elements:
Color - Color can relax or excite; it can be noisy or quiet. It can emphasize one area of the space and diminish another. The intensity or hue of a particular ...