Care On Campus
UW-Madison Offers Flexible Child-care Options To Faculty, Staff And Students.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Karen Rivedal, Wisconsin State Journal
Posted: 5/17/2005
Like harried parents anywhere, many faculty, staff and students at UW-Madison
need good quality, affordable and flexible child care. And while there's any
number of places around town that could provide it, many people in the
university community are looking for spots near their jobs.
UW-Madison operates eight centers in and around campus that serve about 500
children a week, from infants to 12-year-olds.
"People like to have their kids close to their labs if they can," said Lynn
Edlefson, coordinator of the university's Office of Campus Child Care. "It's the
convenience factor, that good work-life balance that every parent wants."
 Edlefson's office is sponsoring a fundraiser for the centers June 16 at Luther's
Blues. Organizers hope to raise $10,000 to pay for center extras, such as new
toys, equipment and added training.
Edlefson said the cash is needed to keep improving the centers, which aim to do
more than just provide a place for kids to nap and eat graham crackers. The
sites are nationally accredited and state-licensed, with 95 full-time teachers
with degrees in early childhood education and experience levels ranging from new
graduates to 30 years.
"We're not just sitting (the children) in front of a TV," Edlefson said. "It's a
very integrated and age-appropriate curriculum, in a nurturing and stimulating
environment."
Jean Stajich, a teacher at UW-Madison's Eagle's Wing center, works with a class
of 20 children ages 3 to 5. While being interviewed, she gamely chased her
charges during one of the center's free-play times, clearly having a ball
herself.
"At this age, with the discovery and exploration, it's a fun learning phase, a
very enjoyable time," she said. "It's about letting kids be kids."
But Stajich, who worked at a public elementary school before joining the center
three years ago, said the program isn't just about having fun.
"Children learn by doing and by social interaction with their peers," she said.
"You can learn a lot about geometry when you're playing with blocks."
April
Kigeya, a 2003 UW-Madison graduate who now works in a campus office, enrolled
both of her children, ages 5 and 2, at the Eagle's Wing center. With only one
car and a husband who is still in college, Kigeya, 26, said the on-campus center
is a lifesaver: convenient, affordable with university and county aid and
educational.
"It's just the quality attention they give the children," she said. "They're
really dedicated. (My kids) talk about their teachers all the time."
The centers also share in the university's teaching and research missions. That
means up to 150 student teachers spend time at the centers every year, helping
with care or just observing for one of their classes. It also means the children
may participate in research on child development, if parents consent.
For example, one of the university's child-care sites is located at UW-Madison's
Waisman Center, which does research on developmental disabilities including Down
syndrome and cerebral palsy.
Waisman teacher Kerri Lynch said having special-needs children in the classroom
-- there are three in her class of 17 children ages 4 and 5 -- is a good
learning experience for the students without disabilities, too.
"They really get a strong sense of how to interact with people with
disabilities, and it becomes natural to them," Lynch said. "They learn that
before they get to a setting where teachers or the other kids may not be as
accepting."
Most of the programs at the centers are for preschoolers, who can attend
half-days or all day, depending on location and availability.
By far the toughest care to find -- both on campus and in the larger community
-- is for babies.
The university's
infant-care programs provide space for only 44 babies, leaving some 100 families
on a waiting list at any time, Edlefson said.
Infant care is scarce because it's expensive to provide, she said, after
factoring the required staffing. The law mandates one caregiver for every three
infants, compared to one for every 13 children ages 4 or 5; as it is, 94 percent
of the centers' budgets goes for personnel costs.
Most parents pay about $300 a week for infant care or $250 for preschoolers at
UW-Madison's centers. Limited financial assistance is available for academic
staff and students, including some undergraduates who may have the hardest time
balancing school, jobs and parenting, staff said.
"About 20 percent of the students we serve through our scholarship program are
undergraduates, and they're typically single moms," Edlefson said. "But they are
tenacious. A lot of them make it."
Edlefson said her focus now is to add home-based care programs. For younger
children, many parents would prefer a setting in someone's home rather than a
center, she said.
But regardless of location, the important thing is the quality of care, Edlefson
said.
"If it's bad care, all you're doing is putting them behind when they start
kindergarten," she said.
|
