Mini University

About Us

This center, on the campus of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, was founded in 1987. The Wright State University Child Development Center offers Quality Early Care and Education for children 6 weeks to 12 years old. The center was first accredited by NAEYC in January 1990 and was the first early childhood center in Greene County to attain NAEYC Accreditation.


Infant and Toddler Programs
Mini University’s infant and toddler teaching staff use the Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers and Twos, developed by Teaching Strategies. They also incorporate the educational quality standards from NAEYC’s Accreditation Criteria, Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards, and the Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) philosophy. The RIE philosophy is based on the research of Magda Gerber and Dr. Emmi Pikler.

The RIE (pronounced “rye”) philosophy is based on RESPECT for each child. The educarer respects an infant by talking directly to the child, explaining what he/she is about to do, making eye contact, and by waiting for the child’s response. RIE’s goal is to help nurture AUTHENTIC infants who are: Competent, Confident, Curious, Attentive, Exploring, Cooperative, Secure, Peaceful, Focused, Self-Initiating, Resourceful, Involved, Cheerful, Aware, Interested and Inner-Directed.

Preschool Program
Mini University’s preschool teachers use the Creative Curriculum for Preschool, a written research-based curriculum created by Teaching Strategies. This curriculum has been aligned to Ohio’s Early Learning &Development Standard