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Welcome to the Early Childhood Education website
 Christine Gillan-Byrne, coordinator, early childhood education Christine holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in special education from the University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, an Education Specialist Degree (Ed.S) from La Sierra University, Riverside, CA and is completing a Doctor of Education (Ed.D) degree in Educational Administration and Leadership also from La Sierra University. Her undergraduate degree in early childhood was earned at Pacific Union College. From 1993-2001 she was the administrator for Kiddie Kollege, the child development center on the campus of Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska and lead consultant for Child Care Problems and Solutions. During this time she was also president of the Nebraska Association for the Advancement of Child Care Services (NAACCS), a non-profit training and certification organization.
She is a member in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the editor for the Adventist Child Care Network (ACCN) Newsletter as well as the category editor for Curriculum and Instruction Resource Center Linking Educators (CIRCLE) which is the on-line Seventh-day Adventist clearinghouse for curriculum and other instructional resources.
Contact: Email
Phone: 805-413-7342
High resolution photo of Christine Gillan-Bryne
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Environment
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 The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant denomination with 14.3 million baptized adult members around the world.Adventist institutions in the Western Region include a medical school, 15 acute care hospitals, two universities, two colleges, 149 secondary and elementary schools and 30 preschools.
Adventist early childhood education and care facilities teach Christian family values and provide age appropriate academics in a developmentally appropriate environment. Adventist programs are uniquely concerned with the development of each individual child’s character and mind. We believe educating the whole child requires instruction that includes mental, physical, and spiritual development.
Our teachers provide a safe, nurturing, playful and responsive environment that encourage a child's engagement and motivation. It is our goal to provide a balance in the “child-centered” environment with appropriate intellectual challenges that curious young learners deserve.
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Curriculum
Adventist early childhood teachers focus on teaching real and meaningful concepts; information and training that will be useful to the child for their entire life. Each lesson plan and activity is developmentally appropriate with the full intention of bringing the child and teacher closer to Christ. Adventist early childhood teachers:
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Math Skills |
Communication Skills |
Social Skills |
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| Help children select appropriate and challenging materials & activities |
Adjust activities to an appropriate level of challenge not frustrating to the child |
Vary the degree of assistance they provide according to the child's needs |
Revise expectations according to the child’s growing and developing abilities |
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Guidance
Discipline begins with an appropriately structured environment and a set of routines. When it comes to learning academic and life skills, one of the most important tools to teach a child is respect. One of the most important skills to enhance within a child is creative imagination. Adventist teachers purposefully design the educational program to help the child develop self-government in the areas of:
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Organization–Broad structures of thinking, such as classification, time and space
Coordination–More specific aspects of behavior that can be easily observed because they are based on imitation.
Concentration–Habits of mind or characteristic ways of approaching learning, other people, or situations.
Independence–The affective domain including one’s sense of belonging, security and self-worth.
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State Regulatory Agencies within the Pacific Union Conference:
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Early Childhood
