Bill 10, Child Care Modernization Act: Exposed

This article is very unsettling...and yet it explains a lot.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1464091/bill-10-fast-tracked-in-advance-of-auditor-general-s-report

And this...

http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/5176933-not-the-solution/

I still feel that I will do okay as a home daycare provider, despite the restrictions coming with Bill 10. (Although if the make-up of children in my care changed I may not fare so well, and I know many other home daycare providers won't.) For me, the problem is more about the false accusations of the entire unlicensed sector, and the lies being told to the public about incidents that have occurred in licensed versus unlicensed sectors. That, more than anything else, hurts my business.

Still, the most disturbing part of all this is that the well-being of children is not (as is being professed) being put first. Quite the contrary. Silver lining? At least people are now catching on.


#daycare #homedaycare #unlicenseddaycare #childcaremodernizationact #bill10 #childcare #children #caringforchildren #earlychildhoodeducation

Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds to Read

I opened High Park Home Daycare 5 years ago. Since then, I have always focused the majority of our reading time during snack/meal times. This really has proven to be the optimal time to hold the children's attention. When they are happily eating and sitting still, they are game for some 'entertainment'. To this day, we still read many books at all meals.

But a few months ago, I began to devote the initial part of meal time to a short phonics lesson. Once the children became adept at letter sounds, I started to use two letter sequences (which in some cases were words, in some cases not) to teach them how to blend the sounds together.

Although I started this program for Thomas, who seemed very much ready and interested in learning to read, I was shocked at how quickly Leila and Amadea caught on. Here is a video of one of our sessions. Thomas is 3 years and 4 months old. Leila (closer to me in the video) is 2 years and 8 months old. Finally, Amadea is 2 years and 2 months old. They are all superstars.


Although I consider these somewhat formal lessons to be the core of our reading program, there is much more we do informally to support it. Also, I believe that teaching early literacy should be fun and pressure free. Some kids really aren't into letters or their sounds at such a young age. Still, it is my hope that this kind of reading program would 'rub off' on them. If not, they should in the very least, develop a love of books.

Below is a list of techniques and tips that I believe really support early literacy.I hope this list helps somebody out there!

• Read books to children during meal times.
• Devote the initial portion of meal time to a reading or phonics lesson. This should be very short (Between 1 and 5 minutes), but exciting and fun. The exact lesson will vary depending on what stage of literacy the children are at. (So, it could range from practicing one letter sound for a week, to blending 3 and four letter words together.) Start with upper case letters.
• Focus more on the sounds of the letters, not their names. If working on a letter that makes more than one sound, stick with the most common sound first. (Example: when working on the letter A, only use the short vowel sound, until that is mastered.)
• Throughout the week, take notice of the letter sounds you are working on: in books, around the home, and in the community. (Example: You pass a sign with the word "Dog" on it. You can exclaim, "Oh look! D!" The sound you make when you refer to "D" should not be the name of the letter, but the sound the letter makes. Leave the name of the letter completely out of the conversation, at lest as much as possible. You can then sound the word out.)
• Model excitement, determination, and focus when pretending to figure out new words. Kids love to see us struggle a little (they're just relieved that adults also can experience frustration, since they so often do). They also love the chance to help us. If we don't know the answer right away, they become empowered by helping. So show them, in very slow motion, how you would go about sounding out the word. When you get a word, show excitement. When they get a word, show excitement. Show how proud you are, and how much reading is valued.
• Always be happy with the child's interest and involvement in reading, not the accuracy. Trying is much more important than being right. When trying to read a word, if the child is not getting any sounds right, congratulate them when they copy your sounds. Always make them feel like they have succeeded. There are so many baby steps in learning to read. If they associate good feelings with trying to read, they will try again. And that's all we can ask for.

I find it so exhilarating when a child learns to read. Their whole world opens up. Now, they can read signs on stores in the community. They can recognize words in books, on clothing and on toys. They start to notice signs on the walls in restaurants, or at the library. I am always truly happy when I see or hear of a child that has just learned to read. I know that the child will feel more confident, curious and connected to her world. 

Thanks for reading. ;)

#daycare #homedaycare #unlicenseddaycare #earlyliteracy #teachingkidstoread #earlyreading #learningtoread #daycareteaching

Cheers!

Post lunch and cookie making shenanigans....



Have a great weekend, folks!




#homedaycare #unlicenseddaycare #daycare #children #childcare

Surprise, Surprise. Many Licensed Daycares Have Serious Flaws Too

 

Apparently, there are serious problems with roughly a third of all licensed daycare centres in Ontario. After years of the media scapegoating all unlicensed daycares in an attempt to find a quick and easy reason for inadequate, even illegal care of children, we are finally getting more insight into the problem.

Child care is becoming a hot topic, and this is fantastic. As the discussion becomes more complex, it means that we can learn even better ways to care for these little souls. It means we, as a society, are starting to value early childhood education, (and dare I simply put it "early love"), even more.

Here is more information about the Auditor General's report.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-s-daycare-safety-inspection-system-flawed-ag-report-1.2866896




#childcaremodernizationact #childcare #Bill10 #licenseddaycare #unlicenseddaycare #children #earlychildhoodeducation

Paper Plate Angel Tree Topper Christmas Craft

I adapted the following idea from http://www.crafty-crafted.com/category/christmas-ideas/. There are a lot of great ideas for Christmas crafts on this site! 

Materials:

• plain white paper plate
• paintbrushes and paint
• scissors
• marker
• glue
• stapler
• Popsicle sticks
• glitter

First, cut the paper plate in half. The one half will be the cone for the angel's body. Out of the other half, cut wings, a small circle for the head, and long or short hair (depending on the length of hair of the child doing the craft). (I cut boys' and girls' hair out - upper left corner).

Draw a face on the bottom two thirds of the white circle. Have the children paint the hair the same colour as their own. When the paint dries, have the kids glue the hair to the head, and the head to the top of the Popsicle stick.

The children can paint one side of the wings their favourite colour. Cover the semi circle with glue and have them sprinkle their favourite colour glitter on. (You will probably need to assist a little more with this!) 

Here are the four sets of wings my four little guys painted.

And the four glittery bodies.



And here are all the pieces, ready to be assembled into four angels.

To assemble, bring the two corners of the semi-circle together, and align the sides, one overlapping the other (it should look like a cone). Staple the sides together. Put the Popsicle stick through the hole of the cone, and staple the wings to the back. Ta-da!

From left to right, it's Thomas-angel, Amadea-angel, and Leila angel.

And of course, Noah-angel.

Amadea's favourite colour is blue, as you can probably guess!

We've been meaning to get something for the top of the tree, and now we have something! We'll alternate between Noah-angel and Leila-angel at the top of the tree. Amadea and Thomas have already taken theirs home to put atop their own trees!

McDonalds Treat!

Our daycare helper had a special Christmas present for the kids: lunch at McDonalds! They loved getting happy meals. By the way, why is the boys toy always so much better than the girls?! From now on, whenever I take Noah and Leila, we're going for the boy's toy in the happy meal!

They continued their meal at home, but seemed to be much more into the happy meal boxes than the food! Once I took a picture of the group, they each demanded to see a picture of themselves. So here it is, a box-head portrait of each of them!

It was a fun little adventure! Have a McHappy Day!

Monday Monday....so Good to Me!

You WISH you could still get THIS excited about the little things. :)



It's okay, we can live vicariously through them. Little darlings!



Also forgot to add a couple of pics from last week. Happy Monday!