A group of three year olds burst out of a classroom in a Michigan State University Child Development Laboratory preschool, ready to burn energy on the playground before they are reminded by their teacher to suit up on the chilly March day: snow pants, jackets, hats.
Little voices fill the hall as the kids suit up: “I can do hard things,” one asserts. “Where are my boots?” another stresses. Their teacher flutters her attention from one student to the next. “Do you want to do it yourself?” she asks one child. “What is our first step?” she asks a frustrated youngster.
The Child Development Laboratory has been providing specialized early childhood care and education for nearly 100 years. There are currently laboratory locations in Haslett and East Lansing, and one more will come to Lansing’s east side in the coming months, providing much needed preschool slots in an area with few options…