College of Charleston N.E. Miles
Early Childhood Development Center

As a demonstration program, we have the freedom to explore, experiment, and reflect on our curriculum as a “moving target” – an organic construct. ECDC’s three-part mission is to provide:

1. A demonstration preschool for research, observation and practicum purposes.

2. Quality care and early education for children ages two through five from the College and neighboring community.

3. An active model of child advocacy in the Charleston community.

Our Nature Explore Classroom is valued and honored as an integral part of our learning experience at ECDC. The children spend 2 to 2.5 hours each day outside interacting with the environment. We respect the Nature Explore classroom as an extension to the classrooms we have inside the building. We encourage and facilitate discovery, imagination, open-ended play, and experimenting with loose parts. Our outside classroom is a model to other programs that visit our center.

Each year we host up to 200-250 visitors from the college community, students, research, community visitors, and other school visits to our program.