FAQ:
How are we different than babysitters?
We are early childhood educators and we have never sat on a baby! We have in depth understanding of children's development and knowledgable in different strategies and techniques on guiding and nurturing children. We work hard to support children, families and serve our community. Most importantly, we are committed and abide to our professional standards and codes of ethnics from College of Early Childhood Educators. We take our work seriously.
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How to prepare a child for daycare?
It varies from child to child. However, it is always best to introduce your child to different people and new environments a few months prior to enrolment so they would be more adaptable and flexible to changes. We will also provide you with some suggestions once we get a chance to meet the family.
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How to transition a child into daycare?
Each child is different. You can do gradual or 'cold-turkey.' From our experience, either way, it takes children 2-4 weeks to get use to a new routine and be comfortable with their classroom. Bringing a familar object from home is recommended.
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Will my child miss me?
Of course your child will miss you. Parents are irreplaceable! However, once your child is adjusted into their classroom, they will be having fun playing, learning and socializing throughout the day. Going home is not really in their mind until closer to pick up time. We do ask parents to not feel guilty and give in to their demands because it will be extremely difficult for transition and could possibly prolong the transition period. It is very important for parents and teachers to team up and be consistent with child guidance.
Will my child get sick more often after going to daycare?
Though we follow proper sanitary practices as recommended by Toronto Public Health, getting sick is unavoidable because the children will be exposed to many things (gems, viruses, etc.) that their little bodies have not develop the immunity for yet. However, we have to remember that this is how our immune system gets developed. We always advice parents to dress children in weather appropriate clothing (not too hot, not too cold) and make sure your child has enough sleep and eats a balanced diet.
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Scratches and bruises?
There are a few reasons: 1) Children are growing at a rapid rate which affects their eye-body coordination so they may appear a little more 'clumsy' during this period of rapid growth. So some scratches and bruises will be unavoidable. We would also monitor these children closely to determine if vision assessment is needed. 2) Children are naturally curious and we encourage it because it is how they learn. We allow children to push their limits within reasons. 3) There are times when children act out of frustration (scratching themselves or others). To avoid this, we ask parents to check their child's nails weekly and trim them if needed. Meanwhile we will work with the child(ren) to modify their behaviour and provide them with self regulating techniques.
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How does group care works?
In a daycare centre our ratio is 1:3 for infants, 1:5 for toddlers, 1:8 preschoolers and 1:13 or 1:14 for school agers. Though we do provide children with individual attention throughout the day, we are unable to provide 1:1 care unless a child has exceptionalities and requires additional support (professional therapist/resource teacher). Our goal is to promote and nurture children's social, emotional and self-help development in order for them to successfully transition into their next phrase in life. We put a lot of emphasis on teaching children practical daily living skills (dressing and undressing, cleaning, tidying, and toileting, etc.) and we encourage them to put these skills to use daily.
I can monitor my child through CCTV?
Unfortunately we are not planning to provide parents access to our CCTV because it can distract parents from their work and situations can be easily misinterpreted. All our educators are qualified teachers and we always put children's best interest first and our supervisor also does daily checks to ensure all policies and procedures are being followed in the centre. Mostly importantly we also want
to provide a comfortable working environment for our staff so they can focus on their work and not worry about if they would look good on the camera.
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Is subsidies available?
Currently one of our locations was able to join the CWELCC program and we do plan to enroll both centres into the program if the government allows. Sadly, our centres do not qualify for the subsidy agreement with the government, which is different from CWELCC.