GREDC

Immaginare

Meaning imagine, Immaginare is a 4-yr old preschool program, in partnership with the Great Start Readiness Program. The program operates at the Child Discovery Center during the school year, providing opportunities for children to imagine all the possibilities of the world while learning to be part of a community.

Meet the teachers

Self Portrait

Becca Hansen

Lead Teacher

B.S.Ed Early Childhood

Self Portrait

Jake Exline

Associate Teacher

Preschool Child Development Associate®

Self Portrait

Aaron Farr

Associate Teacher

Self Portrait

Annika Nixon

Associate Teacher

Recent Study: Construction

Boy playing with toy hammer

Construction is such an incredible area of study for young minds. It opens up a whole world of imagination and creativity and by using real world construction materials it can also help children to appreciate the value and beauty of natural materials, such as wood, and to develop a respect and care for the environment. By introducing real tools, in a safe environment, it allows children to experience risk while also developing hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Lauren Huyck

Mentor Teacher

B.S in psychology and writing
A.A. in early childhood education
Teaching since 2010

My name is Lauren Huyck and I am the afternoon lead for the Scoperta classroom. I started as a teaching assistant when the center was still part of Aquinas in 2010. When we became the GREDC in 2012, I stayed on. In 2014, I was excited to accept the role of lead teacher.

I have a Bachelors in psychology and writing, and an associates in early childhood education. I am currently working on getting a Masters in psychology with a concentration in child development.

I love seeing the children grow and learn. There are so many developmental milestones that I get to see and experience. I fell in love with the Reggio approach and work to incorporate it in all my experiences with children. It has definitely taught me to treat children as citizens of the world.

I honestly could go on about how much I love the work I do and how passionate I feel about every child having quality care but that would take eons. So I will end with these two quotes:

“To take children seriously is to value them for who they are right now rather than adults-in-the-making.”

Alfie Kohn

If you trust play, you will not have to control your child’s development as much. Play will raise the child in ways you can never imagine.

Vince Gowmon