U.S. Navy photo by Doug Davant Capt. Alex Casimes, Commander of the Aegis Training and Readiness Center, reads to CDC tots at the base library.† Dahlgren's CDC routinely features outings for its youngsters such as trips to the library.

So what makes military child care so special?

‘‘The military system has a mission philosophy of developing the whole child emotionally, physically, educationally and socially to prepare him or her for life...it isn’t just a baby-sitting center,” explained Beverlie Ludy, Naval Support Facility Dahlgren’s Child Development Center Director.

Indeed, the military shines brightest – the NACCRRA report points out that DoD is alone in requiring child care center directors to have a bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood development; as well as requiring that child care staff be trained in first aid, CPR and other health or safety issues. Additionally, CDC personnel are required to pursue further training in child development and education. The report also emphasized the fact that the military routinely conducts criminal history record checks in probing for child abuse or neglect reports, and requires that child care in its centers address nine of the 10 basic care standards such as childhood disease immunization, fire drills and emergency preparedness.

The Defense Department’s CDC’s were also lauded for their strong system of school-age programs and curricula, something that Ludy’s center perhaps exemplifies best.

‘‘Each age group is separated into different rooms and has basic weekly lesson plans to follow,” the Dahlgren CDC director said.

The plans feature such lessons as teaching the children to count, plus physical activities that stimulate the developing mind. Additionally, Dahlgren’s youngsters gain exclusive features by virtue of being located on a small base with places and people willing to help, Ludy said.

‘‘The community really supports this CDC in terms of partnerships,” explained Ludy. ‘‘The children get to do special events such as field trips around the base. We recently visited the (NSWC Federal) Credit Union, and had one of the Korean sailors (a student at the Aegis Training and Readiness Center) help us celebrate Asian New Year. We had a dragon parade for the New Year too in which each of our children made special fans.”

In addition, Dahlgren also gets a lot of support from parent volunteers who volunteer time to help kids learn arts and crafts, or listen to their special talents—for example, Ludy pointed out, one parent recently brought in a guitar and played for the children.

‘‘It also is really significant that we have a school on base here,” she said, ‘‘because we do some joint things with the school too.”

As noted in the NACCRRA report, the first five years of a child’s life are the most critical in development (a time when early brains are forming and social, cognitive, and emotional ties are made). NSF Dahlgren CDC’s approach to this time is to feature much emphasis on things to stimulate this early child growth period and this summer will underscore this approach as a visiting artist from the Wolf Trap artistic community will intern here to do classes in dance.

The CDC has scheduled such things as weekly trips to the base library for a Friday morning story-telling session too, and Ludy said it is always on the lookout for more parental involvement in classroom storybook reading to complement its already strong parent-reading programs.

‘‘Parents are always welcomed here,” she said. ‘‘They can come in any time to check on their children and see first-hand how they are progressing.”

Parents can also help ensure that child care programs in their localities are high quality by visiting the NACCRRA website (www.naccrra.org) and download information such as ‘‘Is This the Right Place for My Child?”—a booklet that helps them rate the quality of child care programs in their community.