Losing kids to pre-school ugh !! JUst venting :)

[lainey76]

So now that full day kindergarten has rolled in to quite a few schools in our area , the daycare centers that used to offer 1/2 days to those students are now opening their program to 18mths+ so since October I have lost 2 of my kidlets :(

One of those parents have referred a client to me (yay) .... The potential client had asked on the phone if I had post secondary education ????? and it kind of through me for a loop lol I didn't think that was any of her business but it just didn't sit well with me ....

[angelina]

i feel for you. in my area, we are all losing our 4 year old to full day kindergarten. most schools in my area both catholic and public have full day kindergarten.

as to post secondary education, tell her you got a Bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering in the field of Aerodynamics, Propulsion Systems and Vehicle Design from MIT. And wait for her reply, "oh that's great!". Yup, and you pay $100 /hour for tutoring your kid calculus. Who needs a degree? Can't kids be kids? Play base learning, anyone?
Parent's like that give me a feeling that they have "too much expectation" for the quality care we give.

Aren't we daycare providers have honorary title?
Something like a master's degree in Business Administration and PhD in Human Psychology majoring in Early Childhood Development?


Angelina

[playfelt]

I have expected that is what would happen to daycare centres.

I had an interview last night for a child for beginning of February and the mom made it clear right from the start that they intend to put him into a daycare centre "eventually" so he gets the group experience before going to school but for now she wants the home environment.

She did say they have to be walking is the new criteria for entering the daycare centre programs. So guess I won't be encouraging any of my gang to walk any sooner than they have to. I asked if there was a waiting list and she said yes and then added about the walking criteria. The problem with a wait list is if the parents are on it they will have a week to take the space whenever it is offered or go to the bottom of the list and we will be left arguing with them for proper notice and payment in lieu of attending meaning they will be paying for two spaces. At least by having them pay for the last two weeks upfront it won't seem quite so bad so more chance you will get some kind of severence pay.

Did the mom say what centre they are going to. Watching their website will help give a handle of upcoming openings they have maybe or at least I am going to start watching those in my area to see about new programs they are offering and the admission criteria, compare prices etc. There has to be some kind of edge we can come up and sure hope it doesn't come down to lowering fees but I know in other places I have lived with an overabundance of centre spaces that is what happened as we had to stay $5 a day at least lower than centre care to get kids.

Not sure what to do about the family that interviewed if they want to come knowing they also want to leave just not sure when.

[sunnydays]

Do you guys know what the fee range is for a space for 18 months and up in a centre? I am just curious really, but someone mentioned that it was around $50 or $60 per day...maybe more?

[angelina]

Do you guys know what the fee range is for a space for 18 months and up in a centre? I am just curious really, but someone mentioned that it was around $50 or $60 per day...maybe more?

This is from Colonel By Child Care, at Carleton University , Ottawa, ON
http://www.cbccc.ca/show.php?contentid=3 7#xtocid4926

What are the fees?

For infants and toddlers from six months to two and a half years of age, our fees are $1,626.45 per month. For preschoolers from two and a half years to five years of age, our fees are $1,029.21 per month. Generally, fees are increased no more than once a year when the annual budget is prepared to cover increases in costs. Parents are given a minimum of thirty days notice of any fee increase.

[sunnydays]

Thanks Anglina. The preschool fees are almost the same as mine! I hope the centres in my neighbourhood charge more than that ;)

[kidlove]

I here ya on the whole losing kids to preschool. I have done this for quite some time now but have to say in the last year I have lost so many little ones about a year early to "pre-school", a little frustrating due to the fact that I provide preschool education for all the kids when they hit 3yrs. If they stay with me by the age of 4.5 to 5 they are more than prepared for kindergarten. :) Parents are still opting out on my offer to prepare the child for kindergarten and in some cases actually, dropping their child to me in the am, picking the child up at noon and bringing them to preschool then picking them up from preschool and bringing back to me for the rest of the day.....why? so much work and extra pay for the preschool and my services when they could have the ease of one drop and their child would still be prepared for kindergarten. I think it's like the new fad, everyone is doing it!!!!!!! :rolleyes:
just had a Mom tell me yesterday that she planned to posibly move their daughter into a half day maybe full day preschool in the fall.....this has happened too many times, I informed her, her daughter will be off the schedule come september and I will need to fill the spot before then, so...IF she decides to go with half day I will need to know SOON. otherwise the spot will be filled, can't sit and wait for parents to make up their minds, and put my income on hold!

[playfelt]

Sunnydays this is the daycare over on Tompkins (Cumberland Hub Daycare).

http://cumberlandhubdaycare .ca/program-statement/fees/

[sunnydays]

Thanks Playfelt...I'd better not raise my fees anytime soon...I am close to what the centre is charging! However, so far I haven't had a hard time filling my spots, so I guess it depends what people are looking for. I agree with Kidlove...it is a trend to do more at a younger age with kids in general...they need be enrolled in every activity and educational program possible..it's really sad!

[kidlove]

you know what else I find really sad? I always think, if I had a separate Day Care had it all decked out for the kids, brightly painted walls and dif. little rooms ,for learning and play and eating and nap, and of course the sep infant room, child freindly EVERYTHING...( a dream for me..I think a dream for anyone in the daycare field) anyway, parents would be flocking to me, "did you here about xxx daycare?", "I have been on the wait list for months" bla bla bla, like you here about all the "overrated" preschools. Sometimes I want to say....What do I not have that those programs have? the brightly colored walls or a little more square footage? I still provide the same education, and give (willing to bet) more love and care than the AMAZING preschool, not to mention, offer full meals and snacks AND a lower charge. Why is our world so deep in the "show" of things, they have all lost the fundamental importance of care and well being of the children first and foremost? Not saying the preschool don't provide as good care as us but we are def not below them in time love and attention, yet parents seem to "flock" to them as soon as they can...to get on that coveted "wait list". :glare::huh:

[lainey76]

So far I haven't had a hard time filling one of the spots a little guy just started last week but they have been paying full fees since NOv 12th (they offered) and the 2yr old is leaving Dec 20th .

It's just crazy that now the big centers are lowering their standards (age requirements and so on ) ...The family that is going to the center her 2 older girls go there after school so it makes sense for them to put the young one there ( this was the original plan she would be here until 3yr 8mths and then go to the center )...

It was more the potential new client as well asking about post secondary education .....

[angelina]

you know what else I find really sad? I always think, if I had a separate Day Care had it all decked out for the kids, brightly painted walls and dif. little rooms ,for learning and play and eating and nap, and of course the sep infant room, child freindly EVERYTHING...( a dream for me..I think a dream for anyone in the daycare field) anyway, parents would be flocking to me, "did you here about xxx daycare?", "I have been on the wait list for months" bla bla bla, like you here about all the "overrated" preschools. Sometimes I want to say....What do I not have that those programs have? the brightly colored walls or a little more square footage? I still provide the same education, and give (willing to bet) more love and care than the AMAZING preschool, not to mention, offer full meals and snacks AND a lower charge. Why is our world so deep in the "show" of things, they have all lost the fundamental importance of care and well being of the children first and foremost? Not saying the preschool don't provide as good care as us but we are def not below them in time love and attention, yet parents seem to "flock" to them as soon as they can...to get on that coveted "wait list". :glare::huh:

yeah i agree with you, we don't have square footage. the yellow room, the green room. oh darn!

but we do offer more one on one, love and play base learning, which is what toddlers need. if only parents can see beyond that bright orange room!

[Momof4]

Be careful not to waste your time interviewing parents who are just shopping around. We don't need to waste our precious evenings when we work such long hard days. I learned that the hard way and do a very thorough pre-screening now. If the parents really want centre care but just want to look around at home daycares you will figure that out quickly. If they love the idea of one on one care at a home daycare and close friends and less sickness and a homey atmosphere instead of a school type setting you can find that out.

[lainey76]

So the Pre-school that my dcg will be going to is Childrens Village out of Heritage school . They dont show rates (or I cant see a link for it)

[playfelt]

Age mixes may be changing for everyone if some of the recommendations of the Audette inquiry are followed. Reading in the paper this morning that they proposed that all providers be registered with the ministry of Ontario and there be surprise inspections. That homes with pools above or inground not be eligble for registration - hence not able to provide care from such a home as well as the banning of even use of a wading pool - rules now used by the licensed agencies.

It also talked about looking at ratios and reducing the number allowed in a private home daycare in comparison to licensed agency homes. While this is going on of course that has been pressure from agency home providers to get their numbers adjusted to better match those of private providers. Then of course with full day learning that throws a mess into the whole age/ratio/numbers game too. If they lower the rules for daycare centres ex 18 months moving to next room to make room for more infants and balance group sizes that could filter down to the two under 18 instead of now the age 2 so lots to follow. At the same time I am nearing the end of my career so do not plan to jump through a ton of hoops if it comes to that but these things don't always move quickly.

[lainey76]

Yes , my husband was telling me about the inquiry of that poor little boy :( I plan on being in the business until both my kids ar ein school full time and then maybe work out side the home but also if things dont change I may just keep doing the daycare I too dont want to be jumping through hoops to make a living.

[sunnydays]

For me it depends on the hoops and the viability of the business once changes have been put in place. I don't mind registering or having visits if that is necessary, but if I cannot have 5 daycare children and/or rigid age restrictions are put into place, I am not sure if it will make sense in terms of being able to make a decent living. I would love to keep doing daycare for quite a few more years and the longer I do it, the more I want to continue doing it...but it does have to be financially feasable, especially once my young kids are both in school and daycare costs are no longer a factor in it all.

[playfelt]

With kids age 3 1/2 and up in full day school it really messes with the age restrictions in home daycare agency or private and that is the issue that will need to be addressed. Another option that has been put out there for consideration was the two caregiver more kids option but heard nothing on that issue so not sure the inquiry addressed the issue of too many caregivers and kids and playdates. I was hoping something would have been said about that and taking kids on outings etc.

[jazmic]

If they reduce the number of kids that providers are allowed to have, then I guess rates would have to go up. But for that to work, ALL providers would have to do that across the board. Not just some.

[angelina]

so, we are allowed 5 now, right? is there a breakdown how many part time (define how many hours a day, or how many days per week), and how many full time?

i have 3 toddlers and 1 after school. 4 in total. these 2 toddlers in my care will attend full day kindergarten in sept 2013.

Granting they will come before and after school to me, I will still have 4 in total - 3 will then be before and after school, and one fulltime. With that 3 B/A, and one full time, it will be really tight financially.
So with that 4 kids in my care, would I be able to pay rent/mortgage on that income? Any thoughts on this?

Anyone have any idea what are the 16 recommendations of the jury on the inquest? I was looking where it is, but none I can find.

[Momof4]

Angelina, you can only have 5 children who aren't your own at any one time in your home no matter how many hours they are there. You can't have more than 5 children ever in Ontario, simple. As long as you aren't with an agency and are private you can have any ages that you like.

[angelina]

Angelina, you can only have 5 children who aren't your own at any one time in your home no matter how many hours they are there. You can't have more than 5 children ever in Ontario, simple. As long as you aren't with an agency and are private you can have any ages that you like.

Thank you Momof4.

This is now, we can take 5, as per DNA.

We sort of discuss the Audette inquest, and there is a jury recommendation to lower the ratio of children in home daycare. How much lower are they taking about? Was it strictly recommending how many part time or full time?

[Inspired by Reggio]

Anyone have any idea what are the 16 recommendations of the jury on the inquest? I was looking where it is, but none I can find.

Have not see the full list but this is the most detailed one I have read


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/12/06/ottawa-audette-inquiry-jury-recommendations-today.html

Registration recommended

The jury made a number of recommendations concerning unlicensed day cares, including that the ratio of adults to children should be same as for licensed daycares. Licensed home daycare providers can only have five children, including their own children, in the home.

The jury also recommended that all daycares, regardless of license, be registered, and that the Day Nurseries Act be amended to allow for unannounced safety inspections of registered daycares.

The jury also recommended private daycare providers be certified as trained and that there be no pools at home-based daycares. The Ministry of Education director for eastern Ontario had already prohibited pools in licensed home day cares in the region following a 2011 coroner's report on drownings in the province.


Other recommendations include:


Asking the Ministry of Education to provide more public information on differences between home-based daycares and regulated daycares.
Requiring municipalities to enact pool enclosure bylaws.
Ensuring pool gates be self-locking, and establishing an inspection process to make sure.
Requiring backyard pools to be supervised at all times when a child is in the pool.
Asking realtors to distribute pool safety info to homebuyers buying homes with pools.


The recommendations of the inquest jury are not binding.

Jeremie's father Alain said after the inquest he hoped the recommendation might prevent a tragedy like what happened to his son in the future.

[Inspired by Reggio]

....How much lower are they taking about? Was it strictly recommending how many part time or full time?

They are basically talking about requiring the rules to be the SAME regardless if you are with an agency or a private providers .... so basically your OWN to be counted in your five and that even private would have to follow the rules about the age mix allowed ... the reality is this has been being discussed since back in 2008 when I was still with my agency so well before this poor boy drowned .... the 'inequity' between private and regulated care has been part of the round table discussions on how to promote more providers to choose to be with a licensed agency and the barriers that are seen ... as the rules currently in place actually promote 'unregulated' as a more financially appealing option because you do not have to count your own children and can choose whatever age groups you feel able to serve .... which is why there are more unregulated providers and with the introduction of 'full day early learning' here in Ontario even more regulated providers have had to jump ship to 'private' in order to make a viable income because the pool of children over the age of 3 to fill the remaining spaces has shrunk considerably!

[Serendipity]

Do any of you have a degree in early childhood? Just wondering if it is the norm to have a degree or not in your area.

As a parent, I would prefer my child care provider to have a secondary degree in early childhood. It isn't just about the love, supervision and play time. I think really knowing and understanding child development is just as important. Just because someone is a mom or has kids, doesn't mean they are equipped to care for kids.

Experience is defintely a huge role in being a provider but education is also important.

As a parent who has had to search for a good provider for my child, I believe it is my business whether or not the provider I choose has a secondary degree or not.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I am a registered ECE Serendipity ...and while I agree that experience and firm understanding of child development is important to the quality of care as we learn as we perfect our programs ... I do feel you can acquire th knowledge and skills to provide quality child care that without having your ECE or post secondary education... plus I have peers with thier ECE who are not particularly best practice cause they do not have skills to transfer theory into practice .... some people are just naturals at providing care to others!

[angelina]

They are basically talking about requiring the rules to be the SAME regardless if you are with an agency or a private providers .... so basically your OWN to be counted in your five and that even private would have to follow the rules about the age mix allowed ... the reality is this has been being discussed since back in 2008 when I was still with my agency so well before this poor boy drowned .... the 'inequity' between private and regulated care has been part of the round table discussions on how to promote more providers to choose to be with a licensed agency and the barriers that are seen ... as the rules currently in place actually promote 'unregulated' as a more financially appealing option because you do not have to count your own children and can choose whatever age groups you feel able to serve .... which is why there are more unregulated providers and with the introduction of 'full day early learning' here in Ontario even more regulated providers have had to jump ship to 'private' in order to make a viable income because the pool of children over the age of 3 to fill the remaining spaces has shrunk considerably!

I agree, we are losing the 4 year old in the area due to full day kindergarten, so its a tough call between staying in business or find livelihood somewhere else.

Even my own toddlers do no count, (private daycares), I still count them on the 5, because the liability insurance only covers 5 children in my house under the age of 10. For insurance purposes, your own child count.

That is why i see many daycare with agency in my area switch to private - to allow more mix to the group - as our 4 year old are gone. (most catholic and public have full day for our 4 year old)

How is it in your area Reggio? Are all schools at full day for year old or it is still half day?

angie

[Inspired by Reggio]

Still a mix here with the full day ... so some still need alternate days or 1/2 days ...IMO to keep home Childcare viable they will either have to alter the restrictions on age mixes OR fees for the business will go up to make it viable for only have 3 kids in care ... so our fees would end up be same as centre with it being $200-250 a week ...sure the public will love that ;)

[angelina]

Do any of you have a degree in early childhood? Just wondering if it is the norm to have a degree or not in your area.

As a parent, I would prefer my child care provider to have a secondary degree in early childhood. It isn't just about the love, supervision and play time. I think really knowing and understanding child development is just as important. Just because someone is a mom or has kids, doesn't mean they are equipped to care for kids.

Experience is defintely a huge role in being a provider but education is also important.

As a parent who has had to search for a good provider for my child, I believe it is my business whether or not the provider I choose has a secondary degree or not.

I do not have degree in early childhood education, but I have a Bachelors Degree in Education and undergraduate in Aerospace Engineering (Carleton U).

I undergone many training along the way in the last 12 years, as private nanny, as babysitter, as daycare worker, as a mom.

Even with my degree, I do not think I would be able to translate all the theory into practice if I was not truly interested in children in general. I know some daycare center staff, that are "just there"....and I do not sense they would love to continue working with children.

A provider could show you curriculum, and programming by the book [Montessori trained] and followed stimulating activities base on their developmental skills, but if she lack the special element which is love for children, everything else will go downhill. You will sense that when your child come to this provider, your own child can feel if this a home environment she wanted to be.

I'd say, some providers are born for this job and nurtured and develop that sense of holistic approach to running a business and providing early education to children through play.
Some gain the perspective through formal education, some through lifetime experience.
Whether by formal education or lifetime experience, to my eyes, they can take over my job.

Anyone who has lifetime experience in the daycare business always attend trainings and update themselves with latest tools and theory to apply at your home business. I think even agencies send their daycare providers to trainings. Most caregivers even without theoretical training have initiative to bring their kids to libraries, OEYC playgroups with RECE who supervised structured time.

Around my area, I don't know any caregiver who have RECE. Few I know have Personal Support Worker Diploma, RPN, Developmental Service Worker, mom and grandmother.

Definitely, the home daycare is not for everyone. With the upcoming changes with the DNA (if implemented), I wonder how many more hoops we will endure to be deemed qualified to be the EARLIEST childhood educators.

BTW, does anyone read the ELECT document yet? What do you think of this framework? Throw the lesson plan away and start over?

[Serendipity]

I agree that through years of experience and a general interest in children is definitely a requirement for being able to provide greart care but it still doesn't mean that home daycare is best for kids once they reach the preschool age.
Children who are preschool age DO need an educated provider/teacher in order to teach them academics. Someone without the deeper understanding and knowledge from an ECE degree is not necessarily qualified to teach children the academic part of learning in comparison to a home daycare provider.
I would think THAT is the line of thinking used by parents when they pull their child from home care and enroll them in preschool.

[playfelt]

The biggest excuse I have heard for pulling a child from home care to a centre is to give them the chance to get used to being part of a larger group which is what they will face in school. So it is a year of transition for them too and allows them to do it while the actual academic learning is not a requirement in the sense that JK/SK build on and will teach if necessary ready for reading and grade 1.

As for requiring a degree to teach the alphabet and shapes - there are many homeschooling parents with only basic schooling themselves that do an awesome job so no a degree is not required. It is a perk that parents think is great but in reality in a home enviroment means very little. Especially when in the degree itself it barely touches on what to do when best practices have to be sacrificed due to multiage programming ie no scissors in open art centre with babies in care unless you put them in separate areas which defeats the point of family care.

I have an elementary teaching certificate as well as ECE courses and non of that prepared me for diaper changing, cooking with kids underfoot and dressing everyone for outside - being a parent did.

[kidlove]

Playfelt! yay! thanks for your point of view, I too feel the same way as you! I know a ton of home school parents in our church and community and they too, have no higher education to teach their children and all have well rounded intelligent children. I also have a sis in law who IS an accredited teacher and comes to me for advice in all areas of child rearing and education...she went to school for 4 plus years and continues to update her teaching license annually and needs help from me, an undereducated stay at home Day Care Provider. I believe that saying you need a higher education to be a more suitable provider can be a steriotypical point of view, I think more than anything, you need knowledge of children and experience, that can be acheived in many dif ways, higher edu., experience of child care and child rearing or a mix of the two. Although I agree knowledge is KEY, but I also believe you can get the knowledge in many dif places. I do have 1 year college, not in child care but in social skills. I also have over the years completed many trainings in child care and many ECE's. I do not have a paid for eduacation from any one university or college and I know I don't have all the answers regarding children and their developement, but I also KNOW I am just as fit if not more than some providers who sport the much coveted "education" that some people think is what makes them so important. :) no dis to anyone here, just a simple statement, that altyhough to each his or her own opinion when choosing a Day Care Provider vs. Preschool.....I personally know that I am just as fit to provide eduacation at the preschool and kidergarten level as any joe shmo with a secondary edu, early childhood developement edu. I have shown it time and time again having my daycare kiddos go off to kindergarten fresh from my care and the teacher sends messages to parents regarding the very well prepared children that come from my care year after year. :)

[angelina]

The biggest excuse I have heard for pulling a child from home care to a centre is to give them the chance to get used to being part of a larger group which is what they will face in school. So it is a year of transition for them too and allows them to do it while the actual academic learning is not a requirement in the sense that JK/SK build on and will teach if necessary ready for reading and grade 1.

As for requiring a degree to teach the alphabet and shapes - there are many homeschooling parents with only basic schooling themselves that do an awesome job so no a degree is not required. It is a perk that parents think is great but in reality in a home enviroment means very little. Especially when in the degree itself it barely touches on what to do when best practices have to be sacrificed due to multiage programming ie no scissors in open art centre with babies in care unless you put them in separate areas which defeats the point of family care.

I have an elementary teaching certificate as well as ECE courses and non of that prepared me for diaper changing, cooking with kids underfoot and dressing everyone for outside - being a parent did.


Reminds me of what Monique said on our CCPRN workshop about ELECT: " we in the business of home daycare are called Earliest Childhood Educator, with diploma or not".

That said, it is still the parents who have the final decision where to put their children.

The language maybe different, but it all means the same. The theory trained caregiver might put in lesson plan -5. Physical Development - Fine Motor Skills Activity for Pre-school ( cutting with scissors, drawing shapes with markers, using pinchers to pick up objects, using pretend kitchen play for tools ) while self taught mama would say - Lesson plan - using scissors, lets have fun in the kitchen. Both offer Play base Learning - which is capitalizing on your child's desire to explore and learn. To me, how the lesson is presented does not matter. As long as, this busy buddy is having fun and learning at the same time.

ah the big groups to get ready with the big crowd of 30 kids...i hear that before.

thanks playfelt.

[sunnydays]

As a parent who has looked for daycare in the past (before I had my own daycare), I was not really interested in finding someone with ECE...if they had it that would be nice to know, but would not make me think they were a better caregiver. I looked more at experience, personality, program, etc. I actually disagree that kids need an ECE who is qualified to teach them academics...I mean we are talking about kids under 4 years of age (at least in Ontario). I actually feel that parents are led to believe these days that kids can no longer learn what the need to learn through playing...which is funny because when I was a kid, kids just played until they started school (and I didn't start school until six)...I don't think it put us at a disadvantage. In fact, kids are becoming more and more stressed because we are pushing them into so many structured activities and trying to make them into baby geniouses and super athletes etc. I think a caring, intelligent, caregiver can provide everything a young child needs to learn in those early years without having a degree in ECE or any other degree for that matter.



I agree that through years of experience and a general interest in children is definitely a requirement for being able to provide greart care but it still doesn't mean that home daycare is best for kids once they reach the preschool age.
Children who are preschool age DO need an educated provider/teacher in order to teach them academics. Someone without the deeper understanding and knowledge from an ECE degree is not necessarily qualified to teach children the academic part of learning in comparison to a home daycare provider.
I would think THAT is the line of thinking used by parents when they pull their child from home care and enroll them in preschool.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Sunnydays ~ just a FYI but you should be hard done by to find a regulated daycare in Ontario with RECE running it that are still doing 'academic/theme based' focused programs anyway as for the many years there has been a very strong push towards 'learning through play ~ emergent child led educator supported programming' from every professional development resource out there for the past decade almost and now that the Ontario government has officially rolled out the 'Early Learning for Every Child Today' or the Ontario Early Learning Framework as it is now called the document and the supporting principles for 'quality childcare' has been issued to every centre across Ontario who receives government funding and all of them are suppose to be implementing that new 'play based program' based on that document and to get us BACK into best practice that we had long ago before everyone got so obsessed with 'academics' being the be all and end all to early years ... and sadly yes that was mostly PARENT driven and ECE feeling pressured to produce 'academic results' for parents who were demanding it ~ now there is a push for us to 'reeducate' parents that this is NOT best nor developmentally appropriate practice to have wee ones doing worksheets and flash cards and being given boxed curriculum themes and being asked 'testing' style questions at group times like 'what does a Polar bear eat, what color is he, what does he do in the winter' and so forth and reality is as an ECE most of us know it never has been best practice we just got 'shoved' into having to offer that from both the parents and 'licensing agencies' because it was the 'demand' from parents and those who 'fund' daycare to see 'academic measurable results' that just snowballed totally out of control :(

[angelina]

Reggio, I just finished my ELECT training by CCPRN. I think it was a long dry document to read, but here is the excerpt. None of these really need ECE degree unless unless #4 and #6 requires a certain format available only to ECE's ONLY as OEYC and PARENT Resource Centers offers trainings for ALL daycare providers.

The 6 Principles of ELECT
1. Early child development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behaviour and health.

2. Partnerships with families and communities strengthen the ability of early childhood settings to meet the needs of young children.
3.
Demonstration of respect for diversity, equity and inclusion are prerequisites for optimal development and learning.
4.
A planned curriculum supports early learning.

5. Play is a means to early learning that capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity and exuberance.

6. Knowledge and responsive early childhood practitioners are essential to early childhood settings

What i get from the series that resonates to me was:
1. adult work = child's play
2. you learn most when you have fun - learning through play, even adults retain more of the lectures when it was fun (Psychology 101)
3. Plan your activities base on #5 and you will meet all developmental domains for child development.

I personally think that the ELECT document want us to go back to the roots, let children be children, and develop our daycare plans around them. And use more community resources, OEYC, Parent Resource, libraries - for social development of these children.

What's your take on this?

Role of the professional (Daycare Provider - anyone can do this, especially moms!)
From the book: The Plays the thing,
Director ,
Mediator ,
Player ,
Observer,

Interrupter,
Writer ,
Evaluator and communicator,
Planner


and oh sunnydays! i hear you. I got one 5 year old in my afterschool saying she was stress out. And i wonder...she goes on saying: there is piano on mondays, swimming on tuesdays, and dance on wednesdays. And she just really want to play dolls for now....Guess what? I give her all the free play she want that afternoon..I observed that: She sings ABC to dolls, she count with them, and read with them (communication, language, numeracy, literacy). She cooks in the kitchen, arrange the utensils, measure servings, served her dolls. (cognition, fine motor skills). She is learning in her own pace and having fun...not stress out!

[Momof4]

A degree is not necessary to enable me to play and dance and sing with the children all day long and teach them and talk about nature and play I Spy and sing Rain Rain Go Away as we walk to the park to play on the equipment. I don't need a degree to keep them safe and watch them all the time and make them happy and spend the day crafting and laughing as we did today.

I wasn't on the computer all day, I was with my daycare children. I don't tell others I'm better than them ever and I know my imperfections. I don't judge others but I see them for what they are and I'm a little tired of this.

However, I have 3 college diplomas in other fields and worked in the medical field and before that I was a secretary for many years but most importantly I have 4 children and 5 grandchildren and was a guiding/scouting leader for over 17 years. If caregivers are going to pick on each other what chance do we stand with parents? Rant over.