Even the ECE programs do not recognize home care correctly. The biggest issue is that best practice and reality do not mess well for home care. That doesn't mean home care is wrong it just means maybe we need to look at what is really best practice and does it mean the child will be damaged for life if the program they are in does not have certain things.

In home care the biggest issue is that we deal with multiple ages in the same room - that means sometimes a baby does need to spend time in a playpen or play yard or exersaucer while the older ones have dance time or that older ones do not have unlimited access to craft supplies and must either ask for them or wait till the babies are having morning naps. Open water tables are best practice for older kids but a safety hazard to infants and toddlers - to meet the regulation waterplay can be the kids taking a bath at bedtime. Again not everything a child is supposed to learn or do in life has to take place during daycare hours. Parents have to have a partnership too.

Mostly our contracts deal with what we expect from parents in terms of when they are dropping off, picking up, what they are to provide such as diapers and bottles, how much we are to be paid, how vacations and stat holidays will be dealt with, etc. As far as regulations to follow within the daycare that is pretty much up to the caregiver to make a routine that works for their group. Common sense takes over and in most cases caregivers are also parents so they are providing what they would want for their own children too in terms of activities, cleanliness, routines, equipment.

A criminal reference check only goes back a few years so for a new caregiver maybe important but if a caregiver can give names and references back over 10 years that says more than any police check will ever say. Common sense says if there had been a conviction there would be a major gap in the 10 years of care and the caregiver's own children would likely have been removed from the home.

Rather than required post-secondary training it is more important that there be local opportunities for caregivers to take workshops, learn from more seasoned caregivers and get local support so they don't feel isolated. Many woman who have not even finished high school are very good at caring for children. They just need a bit of help to add programming to their day.

I lived in Calgary from 1985 - 1990. I worked for an agency called Jan-Pat Satelitte Family Dayhomes. It was started by a woman named Janet who used to be responsible for going around and supervising the other home daycare agenices in Calgary. In frustration she left that job and started her own dayhome agency doing things that answered all the things she felt were wrong. It was wonderful working for her. At the time there were not very rigid standards in Alberta for daycare either. When we moved to Ottawa I started working for an agency here just assuming it would be the same and I actually lasted 4 months before I just couldn't do it anymore.