Women returning to, college
cone with discourasment .
1 D
(Continued from Page 3)
attend the workshop's sessions
on advising, registration, and
counseling.
Ms. Reno explained the
necessity of such a peer group:
"Take the example of a
woman who has been out of
school for 20 years. When she
was a sophomore (in college
before she quit), the campus
was much smaller, she was
much younger, and in the habit
of studying. She had a different
self image. Now, she knows
where the administration build-
.14
4
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Only a bit of foliage still hangs on Stout Hall, one of the last ivy-covered buildings on campus. Stout is
being torn down to make room for a new life-sciences building.
Kids learn at day care centers
By Pat Moynihan
The thought of 25 preschool
children running under foot on
these hot summer days would
be enough to send most
mothers scrambling for cover.
But for the staff of the
University Child Care Project,
this is an everyday occurrence.
The University Day Care
Centers, which were begun in
1969 by the Office of Financial
Aid3 and ASUN, were initially
intended as aid for low income
families. Since then, they have
come under the supervision of
the Graduate' School of Social
Work and the Office of Student
Affairs, but families are still
screened for eligibility by the
Office of Financial Aids.
The project operates three
centers for different age groups.
Sessions for the youngest
group, the 6-month to 3-year-olds,
are held in the First
Plymouth Congregational
Church, the 3-to 5-year-olds
meet . in , the Commonplace
Church, and the elementary
school children go to St. Mark's
on the Campus Episcopal
Church. A total of 63 children
can be accommodated between
the three centers.
"The main goal of the
program, according to project
supervisor, w v-a, '
not to formally teach the
children, but rather to expose
them to different concepts and
ideals.
"There is so much time for
them to learn," she said, "we
just want to start them
thinking on their own."
Recently the 3- to 5-year old
children have been learning
about different cultures through
films, songs and speakers.
They have also made a pinata
and visited a local Mexican
restaurant, ate fortune cookies
in a Chinese restaurant, and
went out for a real Italian pizza.
The next project will be
ecology, Ryan said, and plans
are to plant seeds and explain
how they grow, explain polh
. tion and take trips to illustrate
what we're saying, and to go on
a litter pickup outing.
ing is, but she doesn't know
where anything eise' is. The
campus has changed. She's
competing with 18-year-olds.
"As one woman who had
returned to school told me, 'for
20 years, the only writing I did
was notes to the milkman and
Christmas cards. Now I'm
writing themes,'" said Ms.
Reno to illustrate the change
and frustration a woman can
experience when she returns to
school.
A women's group could help
other women who are con
Although the day care
centers are located in area
churches, the program is not
sponsored by any church, Ryan
said. Funds for the project
come from a variety of sources,
which include the Student Fees
Allocations Board, the Work
Study Program, the federal
government and donations.
"We operate on an annual
budget of approximately
$45,000," Ryan said, "and this
is only about half of the cost of
running a commercial day care
center."
Costs at the centers are kept
down by programs such as the
federal lunch programs which
help pay for the children's
breakfasts and lunches, Ryan
said. Parents are expected to
pay for the remainder of the
food costs, she noted, but
donations of surplus food from
the university also help out.
However, even this cannot
keep costs down completely.
Toys for the centers must be
built much stronger than toys
made for family use, Ryan
noted, and these institutional
type trucks and cars cost
approximately $10 a piece.
Ultimate responsibility for
the activities of the centers
rests with the parents, Ryan
-1 aiiHi'bi in a trmro
cooperative program than in
most day care centers.
"Because the parents make
most of the final decisions,"
Ryan said, "they are more
aware of what their children
are doing and the costs."
They also help out consider
ably by raising money for the
center, she noted.
All of the parents are college
students, Ryan said, and so
they tend to be more aware of
the development of the child,
especially if their field of study
happens to be psychology or
education. Therefore, these
children are perhaps better
adjusted to behavior in an
educational atmosphere.
"For this reason, we have as
few rules as possible here,"
Ryan said, "but these rules
must be firm and always
templating a return to college
overcome ineir ajicm;no.w.o,
said Elouise Soukup, a work
shop participant. "The group is
something they can share in, if
they've had a rough day."
Mrs. Soukup, who completed
a bachelor of arts degree in
history in 1973, after one year
at UN-L, said she returned to
school mainly for personal
enrichment.
A life insurance agent (one of
three women agents among 300
agents in Lincoln), she said her
classes were "an intellectual
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carried out."
During a normal day when
the children are not visiting a
Mexican restaurant, they are
allowed a great deal of
freedom, Ryan said. They are
allowed a choice of playing
outside under supervision,
using one of the tables which
are set up for activities such as
collage, or playing with the
toys.
One type of toy you won't see
at the day care center is a gun,
Ryan said.
"There are so many more
constructive things we can
contribute to the child's en
vironment," Ryan said, "but if
the child wants to introduce
this type of thing into his own
environment by constructing
one with tinker toys, that's
fine." '
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Mon, Wd, Thw, fii
10:00 to 9:00
Tue & Sat
10 00 to 5:30
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Mr?. Soukup, had been out of
school for 25 years. Previously
she had attended the Uni
versity of Southern California,
but quit school and went to
work to help support her
family.
Her son's college graduation
persuaded her to return to
school, Mrs. Soukup said. With
only one year to finish, going
back would be "kind of a
novelty," she said.
"But the longer you put it off,
the harder going back be
comes," she said. "It got to a
point where I either had to go
ahead (and return to school) or
shut up about it."
Mrs. Soukup attended Doane
College in Crete, then trans
ferred to UN-L, where her
daughter was a junior.
"We" would be running into
each other in the halls," Mrs.
Soukup said. "At times I felt
she was watching mother."
One of the first semester's
biggest obstacles was tests,
Mrs. Soukup said. "I wasn't
used to taking them and I was a
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nervous wreck before them.
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over it. Women need to know
that this is a normal reaction."
Tests and classes don't have
to upset a woman's household
schedule either, according to
Mrs. Soukup. Organization
comes with maturity, she said,
and women returning to college
after raising their families are
more goal-orient ated than some
college students. She sug
gested that women schedule a
two or three-day class week
instead of spreading classes
over a five-day period.
Another fear Mrs. Soukup
said she started out with, was
that the younger students
would resent an older person in
their classes.
But "some wonderful people,"
students and instructors both,
"helped me get over my stage
fright," she said.
"It (returning to school) has
been a very enjoyable ex
perience for my whole family,"
Mrs. Soukup said. "My kids
even like me better."
COMPANY I
475-2556
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VWV-
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Mon thru Sat
10:00 to 5:30
Thu
10:C0to 9. 00
tuesday, july 2, 1974
summer nebraskan
