About Us

Little Buccaneers Early Childhood Learning Program is a play-based center that supports students of ETSU by providing care to children ages 3 months to 5 years of age. A parent or caregiver must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program through ETSU in order for their child to attend Little Bucs. Little Bucs is licensed through DHS and participates in the Child Care Certificate Program. Funding and student support is supplemented by ETSU’s Student Government Association and CCAMPIS grant funds.

Our program collaborates with the Early Childhood Department by serving as a model and professional preparation site for individuals working with young children. Our lead teachers partner with professionals from the Early Childhood Department to facilitate research projects, implement evidence-based practices, and support students of the department.

Little Bucs employs students studying in various areas. Graduate Assistants, Work Study, and Academic Performance Scholarship recipients are employed as co-teachers and teacher assistants. Students provide extensive support to classroom teachers while at the center. They assist in organizing and implementing projects, facilitating learning, and building relationships with children and families. They are instrumental to our success at Little Bucs!

• Location & Hours 

  Little Buccaneers Early Childhood Learning Program is located at 2101 Signal Drive, Johnson City, TN. We are a few minutes from the campus of East Tennessee State University and are a part of the Tennessee Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development. Little Bucs is a full-day program, open five days a week. The program follows ETSU's Spring/Fall academic schedule and is closed on state-recognized holidays as recognized by the University. ETSU’s Academic Schedule can be found here.

  Hours of Operation:

  • Monday-Friday 7:45 am-4 pm

Philosophy 

We are committed to creating and maintaining a place for children that acknowledges, reflects and communicates our values. Our values are based on an image of the child as curious, competent and capable of co-constructing knowledge. We support the co-constructing of knowledge by designing environments that allow children to freely engage in materials and planned experiences. We encourage children to follow their curiosity through inquiry, and to form relationships with caregivers that supports their social and emotional development.

Our philosophy draws inspiration from the Reggio Emilia Approach, the foundation of which is rooted in sound theory and research. The Reggio Approach places importance on the relationships children form "with the environment of the school, with the community, and with the wider society," which includes peer-peer, child-teacher, and child-family relationships (Gandini, 1993). It is a philosophy of early education that emphasizes documentation, emergent curriculum, community collaboration, the environment and respect for a child's pace of learning. To be "Reggio-Inspired" is to adopt the core values and beliefs of this approach to educating young children.

Each classroom is guided by a play-based curriculum that underlines the importance of outdoor play, inquiry, and process art, as well as Emotionally Responsive Practice. Additionally, infant and toddler classrooms follow the RIE philosophy of child development.

To learn more about these philosophies and practices, please select the tiles below.

• Reggio Principles

  “In the Reggio Emilia preschools each child is viewed as infinitely capable, creative, and intelligent. The job of the teacher is to support these qualities and to challenge children in appropriate ways.” – Louise Boyd Cadwell

  The principles of the Reggio Approach, developed by Loris Malaguzzi, are rooted in the research and analysis of the works of major sociology, psychology, and philosophies of education; they focus on the image of the child, the hundred languages of children, the role of the teacher, reciprocal relationships, a pedagogy of listening, and the environment as third teacher. Those who follow the Reggio Approach are teachers and researchers as they continually observe and learn from the children and with the children. Vygotsky, Bronfenbrenner, Montessori, Gardner, and Piaget’s theories have a place within this approach and help guide educators in their roles.

  “In the Reggio Emilia preschools each child is viewed as infinitely capable, creative, and intelligent. The job of the teacher is to support these qualities and to challenge children in appropriate ways.” – Louise Boyd Cadwell

  The principles of the Reggio Approach, developed by Loris Malaguzzi, are rooted in the research and analysis of the works of major sociology, psychology, and philosophies of education; they focus on the image of the child, the hundred languages of children, the role of the teacher, reciprocal relationships, a pedagogy of listening, and the environment as third teacher. Those who follow the Reggio Approach are teachers and researchers as they continually observe and learn from the children and with the children. Vygotsky, Bronfenbrenner, Montessori, Gardner, and Piaget’s theories have a place within this approach and help guide educators in their roles.

  · The Image of the Child - Adults see children as competent, full of potential and active in constructing their own knowledge through interactions with others. Adults try to understand as fully as possible the child's point of view and abilities (the child's "culture").

  · Symbolic Representation - The Reggio Emilia Approach can be seen as an extension of the "Whole Language" approach as well as an entire array of creative media that are considered as "other languages." It is a way of using children's many ways of expressing themselves to enhance their creative, social and cognitive development.

  · The Role of the Environment - Through conscious use of space, color, natural light, displays of children's work, and attention to nature and detail, the environment serves as another teacher. The environment serves as an initiation to enter and participate.

  · The Role of the Teacher - Teachers facilitate children's ability to represent what they know and imagine. Teachers mediate between children's current understanding and what they are on the threshold of understanding.

  · The Importance of Time - In Reggio schools, time is not set by the clock, but by the child's needs and interests. There should be sufficient time for a child to express, learn, explore, extend and revisit a given project.

  · The Role of the Parents - The education process involves three equally important participants: children, teachers and parents. We welcome parent involvement in a wide range of ways. The ideas and skills that the parents bring to the school and, even more important, the exchange of ideas between parents and teachers, favor the development of a new way of educating.

  · Emergent Curriculum - Teachers observe and document the interactions, discussions, and fascinations of children. By developing learning opportunities from these observations, the curriculum "emerges" from children's interests and ideas. Our goal is to sustain and deepen children's learning and development through utilizing their emerging interests, and our teachers deliver this emergent curriculum through project work, which allows children to explore these areas of interest in detail.

  · Documentation - By documenting the children's work through photographs, video, written word, displays, etc, teachers record the life that happens in the classroom so that adults can revisit experiences with children to plan more carefully future objectives and activities. The process of documentation helps the adults (families, students, staff, and faculty) to be reflective about the children and what is revealed in their play.

"Infancy is a vulnerable stage of development, therefore, it's not enough that babies receive good care, the care must be excellent." --Magda Gerber