Mission

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Children’s Center provides a high-quality early childhood care and learning program serving as an exemplary model for the support of the university , its students, and the field of early childhood education.

UHMCC supports the university by providing affordable, high-quality, on-campus child care primarily to UH parenting students to encourage enrollment and on-time graduation. Secondarily, we encourage the attraction and retention of high-quality child care. We support the early childhood education field by providing a model program to conduct pre-service training, and to conduct meaningful research in early child development, care, and learning.

Child care is not just about care and learning. It’s about making connections, socially, emotionally, and intellectually. It is an opportunity for children to learn who they are and to function in a learning community. It is an opportunity for families to expand their support networks, locate information and resources, and find balance between home, work and school demands.

It is also an opportunity for practitioners to share knowledge and experiences, researchers to expand our understanding of child development and ways of learning, and support the profession of child care providers.

Values

Be Intentional
Be Collaborative
Be Personally Relevant
Be Reflective

We hold these values within ourselves, and encourage the expression of these values in our interactions with our children, their families, and with our colleagues.

Vision

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Children’s Center is the special place where children play, families gather, and passions are discovered…

Hōkūpa‘a

Hōkūpa‘a are Hawaiian proverbs that have layered meanings to help remind you of the path you are following and the values you hold. The following are the current hōkūpa‘a used by our program

Poho pono nā pe’a heke a kū ana.

A well-filled topsail helped him arrive.

This phrase usually refers to a fast traveler.  Our new building is called Hale Haukani, house of the swirling, playful Mānoa wind.  A swirling wind can be hard to navigate, but with knowledge, and skill you can continually adjust your topsail to keep it well-filled and pushing you to your intended outcome.  This is the basis of our curriculum.

Hānai inā keiki e ulu ka lahui.

Nurture our children and our families will thrive.

Moving back to our mission statement, supporting children in a caring and welcoming environment allows parents to know their children are safe and well taken care of so they can focus on their studies and work.  Resources used well now will elevate the entire community, one family – one child – at a time.

‘O ke kahua ma mua, ma hope ke kūkulu.

First the foundation, and then the building.

Moving into a newly constructed building, this phrase takes on a literal meaning.  Considering what we do, early childhood education lays a foundation for future learning, development of an identity as someone who is valued, loved, capable, and able to learn in a variety of settings within a diverse community.

He alo mahina ke keiki. He aka i kea ao mālamama.

Children are like the face of the moon. They reflect their world’s light.

Children shadow the people around them and imitate what they see, whether it is an intentional model or not. When we care for an environment, we are addressing the physical, emotional, social, and historical aspects – the whole environment, just as we address the whole child.  Practicing hānai (nurturing) and ho‘omalu (protection) creates people who are able to hānai and ho‘omalu.  We based our classrooms on the phases of the moon based on this concept.