WEST NOVA FAMILY BLOG

Group child care centers

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Group child care centers are required by law to be licensed. Licenses allow for additional accountability that give many parents peace of mind. Minimum standards are set for health & safety and child development/programming for both indoors and outdoors that are then enforced by government departments. Results of licensing inspections must be posted and can be viewed on-site, and in many cases the results can even be viewed online.

Most group facilities have separate rooms for different age ranges, for instance: infant room, toddler room, preschool, and school-age. Within each age group are specific standards regarding things like teacher to child ratios, types of equipment and toys, and programming expectations.

Infant centers will be connected to separate nap-rooms where cribs are kept in a quiet, darkened area accessible at anytime throughout the day. Toddlers and preschoolers often have to become accustomed to sleeping on a set schedule, as the playroom will be turned into the nap area each day with cots, nap music and the lights being turned down.

Group child care centers generally have designated outdoor green space, fenced in and secluded from public access, with outdoor toys appropriate for the group.

While some parents will choose to enroll their children in an additional preschool program that meets specific needs (i.e. a particular program philosophy or enrichment available, or offered in another language), it should not be necessary. Group child care centers standards require that all developmental needs be met, with a program that encourages appropriate growth and development.

Most licensed facilities operate according to a particular philosophy of learning. The latest trend is emergent curriculum, which has been touted as the most responsive to each child’s unique needs and strengths. (Check back for updates to learn more about various program philosophies here.)

It must be stated that while licensing ensures that a minimum standard is expected it does not guarantee quality of care. It is still vitally important that parents get to know the caregivers & program and monitor closely the care that children receive. It can also be said that license-not-required care, while not held up to the same minimum standards can still provide high quality care.

Filed Under: Childcare, West Nova Family Tagged With:

Making the right child care choices for you and your family

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I have had many people ask me how to go about finding childcare. “What are my child care choices?” “What questions should I ask?” And even what type of care I would recommend.

I worked in most different capacities of early childhood, prior to having my first child. One thing that cemented my decision to stay home with my children is the challenge of finding quality care.

There are basically three options to consider: licensed group care; home-based care (licensed and unlicensed); and in-home care (Nannies).

Questions to consider:

What age will your child(ren) be when they require care? Space is often limited for children under two years of age.

How many children do you require care for? Financially this may almost determine your child care choices for you. Once you have 3 or more children in care, it is often more economical to consider hiring in-home care.

Do you require ‘full-time’childcare (typically Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm)? Any flexibility required will affect availability of childcare space.

What are your children’s temperaments? Will they thrive in a large group of same-age children? Are they flexible and able to adapt to new routine easily? Do they require an intimate, mixed age-group setting? Do they need their familiar environment and routine to cope well? The child care program of choice will be one that suits their temperament best, if possible.

Once you have determined the type of child care that works best for your family, how do you secure and maintain quality childcare? There are some obvious and some subtle things/questions to help you determine if the child care option you are considering is one of good quality – you can visit Child care options: Top 10 Questions to Ask a Prospective Child Care Provider and Child care choices: 5 Steps To Choosing Quality Child Care for some suggestions.

The bottom-line is that licensing does not equate quality. While it should give you piece of mind that your child care program has met the minimum standards set by licensing, it is ultimately up to the parents to monitor quality of care. I am a huge advocate for childcare licensing, however it is my opinion that the standard set by licensing is 1) difficult to enforce, and 2) a minimum standard that any quality childcare programs should strive to not only meet, but to exceed.

I cannot stress enough: if anything about child care choices do not sit right with you, go with your gut. This is a very personal decision, and one of the most important you’ll ever make in your child(ren)’s formative years. Taking the time to strive toward a long-term arrangement for your family will benefit your child(ren) to the utmost.

Most importantly, observe your children in care! Even after all arrangements have been finalized, be sure to re-evaluate how the arrangement is meeting the needs of your family!

Check back for updates as I add more articles related to some of the specific topics mentioned above!

Click below for information on different types of child care options:

Family child care

Licensed group child care

Preschool

Nannies

Filed Under: Childcare, West Nova Family Tagged With:

Child care laws and regulations

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Knowledge of child care laws and regulations provides one of the ways that we can ensure our children are in safe and stimulating environments. As parents, we may not be trained early childhood educators. We may not know what are the best ways for caregivers to promote our children’s progress in their development best. The regulations help to ensure a minimal standard so that we can all have some confidence.

Child care legislation regulates such things as minimal standards for health, safety and nutrition; how many children can be cared for and the ratio of caregivers to children; who can provide child care and what qualifications they are required to have; and minimal educational program standards.

Child care is generally regulated by each province, territory or state.
Check back here for updates to our growing list of links to child care regulations and related information.

Government links to Canadian child care laws & regulations

United States child care Government links

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The truth about child care costs

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Child care costs vary from region to region, as well as between ages of children and then type of care your family requires. The regional differences are effected somewhat by cost of living, but also by the amount and nature of government financial support that is provided to support child care.

Depending upon the type of care you are investigating the cost of care can vary significantly between infant care and after school care, and all ages in between. This is generally due to government regulations and industry recommendations around the ratio of children to caregivers, as well as the requirements surrounding caregiver training.

Today’s Parent magazine offers a good general break-down of child care costs in each province in Canada.

Child Care Costs Across Canada

These do not, however, reflect differences within each province. For instance, you may note a big discrepancy between fees in Toronto, and those in Petwawa, Ontario, or between Kelowna, BC and Vancouver.

When trying to determine what you can afford to pay for child care (if this is even a practical exercise – in many cases as parents we have very few options) some things to consider include whether your family qualifies for subsidy, and if so does the child care arrangement I am considering qualify? In many cases there are strict policies around what types of programs (i.e. licensed group child care) a parent can use their subsidy for.

Some other considerations include what your tax deduction will amount to and what the after tax cost of child care will be. You can learn more about child care expenses and your Canada tax claim here. If you are hiring in in-home caregiver or nanny, it is important to research whether your national/state law requires employers to register and make employer contributions.

Watch for updates as this topic will be addressed in further detail at a later date.

Filed Under: Childcare, West Nova Family Tagged With:

The child care search, and how to take the scramble out of finding quality care

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Are you suddenly on a child care search? Did your childcare arrangements fall through? Did you have a sudden job offer that requires a near immediate start date? Perhaps it’s your first time requiring childcare and you simply had no idea how long the process could be?

Have you called all the best centers/providers only to be told there’s a long, long waiting list? Have you been on the waiting list and not received any sort of update? Do you not even know where to begin your child care search?

This can be a very overwhelming time of year for parents. Whether you require infant, preschool-age, or after school care. Whether you’re looking for full-time, part-time or flexible care. Whether you have narrowed it down to a specific type of arrangement (i.e. licensed group care, or private home-based care). And especially if you don’t even know where to begin.

The first step to find child care is determining what type of care is best for your family (licensed group, licensed dayhome, home-based caregivers, in-home/”nanny” care, family caregivers, etc.)

If you are anything like me, this may need to be re-assessed based on availability of quality care, but it’s still important to know what your preferences are before beginning the child care search. You can find tips to get started: here . Once you’ve narrowed it down to type and preferred location, it’s time to start making phone calls. Keep a checklist of questions by the phone and when your questions are answered to your satisfaction, request a tour/meeting – even if they have (or you are already on) a waiting list.

During busy transition times (the fall is especially so) childcare centres/providers don’t always have/make time to refer to their wait lists. If a spot opens up unexpectedly (a child is moving, or a parent loses a job) sometimes it is possible to jump the line if you are in the right place at the right time. If you’ve already identified your first choice childcare provider, keep checking in with them to ensure that you are remembered.

I suggest during your child care search making initial visits without your children whenever possible. If you like the place enough, bring your child on a subsequent visit before committing to anything. You’ll know immediately if it’s a poor fit for your child based on their reactions (keeping in mind what is a “normal” reaction to a new situation for your child).

During your initial tour ask if you can drop-by unannounced for a second visit and if there are any particular times of day that are discouraged. If they insist on an appointment, find out why. Unless you are satisfied with the answer, this in itself may be a red flag. That being said it is not uncommon for visits during sleep times to be discouraged. It is also common to hear that the transition leading up to lunch and naptime is not an optimal time for visiting. These times of day tend to be more challenging for both staff and children in group environments.

Unannounced visits during your child care search can give you an opportunity to see what the facility is like during an average day. You’ll also find that during repeat visits to the centre you’ll be more likely to take note of little details that are important to you. Generally speaking if your first reaction to a centre is a negative feeling, you can almost certainly rule that option out. Some places will feel great the first time in, then subtle details may begin to stand out that identify items that are important to you.

It can sometimes feel like your choices are almost non-existent – quality childcare is in short supply everywhere, but don’t give up hope – you can find the right arrangement with a little diligence and patience. If you truly have no time left, and aren’t entirely satisfied with your choice, keep searching – remain aware of centre policies around withdrawals and move your child if you are confident you’ve found a better arrangement for your family. Above all, listen to your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

Trish McCourt is a parent of two school-age children, consumer of childcare, and former child care centre director and early childhood educator.

Making the right child care choices for you and your family
Family child care checklist

Filed Under: Childcare, West Nova Family Tagged With:

Team Diabetes Bluenose: me & my girlies

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Once again I have joined Team Diabetes, a team of people from across Canada who will be crossing the finish line together and who have raised funds to support the more than 9 million Canadians living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. I will be on the course of the 2012 Blue Nose Marathon (Local). This is not a travel event, so administrative costs are very low, hopefully allowing more of the fundraising dollars to go to research and support.

This year, not only did my oldest daughter (who will be eleven on the race course this year) decide to run again, but her 8 year old sister has decided to join in as well! They are both dedicated to supporting the cause of diabetes research and support because of their Auntie Dana who was diagnosed Type 1 five years ago at the age of 30. Please help us to support people like my sister who and suffer numerous health complications due to Diabetes. You can read my sister’s story here: Why I Run for Team Diabetes.

You can read about my 2010 Bluenose 10K here; and mine & Breanna’s 2011 5K here.

It takes dedication to be part of Team Diabetes, but we are committed to making a big difference in our lives, and in the fight against type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

One of the greatest contributions of the Canadian Diabetes Association is toward outstanding Canadian research. But that is not all the Association does – it runs camps for young people with diabetes and provides education and special services to people affected by diabetes in communities across Canada.

As we participate in this event, you will be with us in spirit and your support will help us be strong all the way to the finish line. A donation for each kilometre is suggested, but whatever you can contribute matters – it all adds up!

Our goal is to raise a minimum of $350 each ($1050 total) by mid-March and continue to raise additional funds until race day!

If you want to support our mission, please click the following link(s):

Pledge Trish

Pledge Breanna

Pledge Payten

Thank you so much for your generosity!

Trish, Breanna & Payten

Filed Under: Advocacy, Diabetes, General, Health & Fitness, Parenting, West Nova Family Tagged With: , ,

Finding Quality Child Care with Confidence

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Are you looking for quality child care like so many others? Are you a new parent finding childcare for the the first time? Have you had challenges with your searches in the past? Or are you considering offering care to others, so that you can stay at home and provide your own early childhood learning for your child(ren)?

I am a mom of two and an early childhood educator. I’ve been through the search for quality care both as a parent and as a child care provider. I’ve also been through the process of setting up my own family child care services.

Getting started

When I first needed care I had a bit of an inside scoop. I was trained to provide quality early learning and care. How hard could it be to find the right caregiver for my family? It turned out to be much more challenging than I’d imagined.

I started my search with family dayhomes. We’d decided that we wanted a small home-like setting where our children could remain together all day. It turned out that our area did not have a large number of providers who treated home based care in a professional manner. The supply of quality care was very limited.

Dealing with crises

Some time after our children had been in a fantastic centre that we loved, our circumstances changed. We found ourselves in a pinch looking for flexible care, and unable to make things work for our family. We explored many different options, only to have each one fall through.

We tried a dayhome provider who turned out to be less than ideal. As I will advise every parent I know, when your gut says it’s not right, follow your instincts. We terminated our contract with this provider before any harm was done. Others who chose to remain weren’t so fortunate.

We hired a few different in-home (but not live-in) caregivers, only to have one move away, one become-ill and another return to school full-time. Finally we settled on a cooperative arrangement with friends. This turned out to be the best option for everyone. Our children were happy, and I could be confident they were in good hands.

Options for care

Sometimes the right solution is a creative one that wouldn’t ordinarily have been the first choice.

Just how do you determine:

Child care costs and what fits within your budget?

What qualities of care are most important to you?

How do you evaluate all of the possibilities to determine the right fit for your family?

How do you assess if the caregiver has what you are looking for?

How do you monitor your child care arrangement once it has begun?

The child care search
The child care search in the fall, and how to take the scramble out of the search for quality care.
Your child care choices and finding the right one
A discussion of your child care choices and how to find the right program or caregiver for you.
Child Care Costs
Helping parents determine true child care costs, including tax benefits and deductions, and other costs associated with specific types of care (i.e. in-home/nanny care).
Child Care Laws
Where to find relevant child care laws and regulations

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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!

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Book 2 #50BookPledge / You Don’t Need a Job! You Need Guts

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Book 2 of the #50BookPledge

You Don’t Need a Job! You Need Guts
Click here to view more details
by Ashley Ambirge

~Founder, The Middle Finger Project

I have been following Ashley’s e-newsletter for sometime now. When she announced the launch of this book I jumped at the chance to pre-purchase it at the discounted price. I needed to know HOW. How do I make a living online, working from home or anywhere else a darn well please? (Okay I am not as brave as Ashley when it comes to freedom of language, but you get my drift). How do I do it? And how do I find the guts to do so?

I started reading as soon as it was released, then life happened. If you’ve read any of my blog over the last 2 months’ posts you have a small understanding of what I mean. It just totally got in the way, and the reading and the planning and the action, got pushed to the backburner. But now I am ready to start my own momentum going, and I started with reading Ashley’s ebook, and another great new website I found (I will review one of her ebooks soon as well).


Ashley follows a similar philosophy on life as Chris Guillebeau, whose book Art of Non-Conformity I reviewed last year. And the fact is, this is the kind of life I want. One with the freedom to go, do and be – where and what I please. One with the satisfaction of making a difference, leaving a legacy, knowing that it meant something to me and to those my activities effected.

Ashley offers some really great tips on how to go about getting started, including step by step guidance in setting up the mechanism(s) for income. Some of this was confirmation of information I already had, some of it was brand new (and exciting). Ashley’s book has given me the know-how to set in motion the dreaming I have not yet put feet to. It’s time, and I have Ashley to thank for resources to help me get started!



*Edit 9:15pm 11 Jan 2012 This is now an affiliate link, I love this book that much!   🙂

You Don’t Need a Job! You Need Guts
Click here to view more details

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Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!

I invite you to subscribe to my blog using one of the options available on my page (email, rss, Google Connect, Facebook fanpage, etc.)

If you enjoyed this post, please do share it. You can do so using the easy share button below!

Filed Under: 50BookPledge, Books, Reviews, West Nova Family Tagged With: , ,

Finding our new normal

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The grieving process has so many aspects to it. We grieve the loss of our loved one. We grieve the loss of our future as we envisioned it. We grieve the loss of our daily normal life as we knew it.

For those of us directly effected by that normal daily life it can be the most challenging, emotional, exhausting part of grief.

When my ex-husband and I split up 6 years ago this was most definitely true for me and our girlies.

When we lost my 59 year old grandmother suddenly to liver disease 25 years ago, this was certainly true for my grandfather.

Since losing my 59 year old mother after a short illness with cancer 4 weeks ago, this is absolutely true for my father.

Nothing prepares us for the grief or loss in such circumstances. It is raw. It is ever present. It comes in waves. And it overcomes us.

There are no tried and true answers. There is no remedy for grief. Time is the ultimate healer. Yet, I do try to assist this process along.

Holidays and special occasions bring with them added intensity to feelings. Some of our traditions and rituals bring great comfort with the wash of happy memories that come with them. Others bring an unanticipated painful flood of raw grief.

It’s not possible to stop the hurting, nor is it healthy to try to do so. However, I have found that creating new memories and traditions that will be associated with them have brought comfort. The things that I have found most challenging to face, I tried to change in some way. Letting someone new take it on, or doing it in a new way, and creating a joyful association with the new rituals that will continue with our new normal.

The firsts are always the toughest. This will be our first Christmas without my mom. We will all be gathered in my home, which became the new tradition after my girlies and I moved back to Nova Scotia. Every Christmas that I have them home with me, we host and the girls get to sleep in their own beds before waking up to the spoils of Santa’s mid-night visit. Christmases without my children are very different, and intentionally so.

This year I will prepare mom’s Christmas brunch on the eve. We’ve asked my grandfather to provide a soup for Christmas Eve that he hasn’t cooked for us since he remarried. Mom won’t be here to overfill the stockings with her little extras that could fill a stocking each on their own. I decided to take care of everyone’s stockings myself rather than try to recruit help when no one is in the spirit. And this year my sister, dad & I will prepare the feast without mom’s singing to keep us inspired.

There are gifts under the tree from mom. These will be emotional and special in her all-to-obvious absence. It’s also far too reminiscent of a Christmas long ago, when the three of us kids unwrapped some very special knits that mom’s mom had completed, right down to the wrappings before she became ill herself.

Yet, it will be the first Christmas in six years that dad will have all of his children under the same roof as he. The first ever that all of his children and grandchildren will be. It will be the first that we are all together with my grandfather (mom’s dad) and wife, and my uncle (mom’s brother), just like the many Christmases after we lost Nanny.

Family drawing together to guide one another through a difficult and bittersweet time. Drawing upon the children for the joyful spirit that most of us aren’t naturally inclined to this year, we’ll make it so for the girlies.

Filed Under: balance, Cancer, Parenting, West Nova Family Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

DO right now. That which is most important.

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Have you ever thought about what you want from life? Have you ever REALLY thought about it?

What is MOST important to you. If you had to make sacrifices in your life dreams, what could you absolutely NOT miss?

Since my loved one was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I’ve found that my priorities have become all the more clear to me. What have I identified as being the MOST important? Family.

I’ll bet if you took a real hard look at your own, you’d say the same.

Why is that even when we KNOW our greatest priorities, we rarely treat them as such?

How many of us are guilty of letting life get in the way?

Remember that old saying? “Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?… When it comes to relationships of any value to you, it’s more like: “never put off until tomorrow what you value today…”

I’ve been completing some projects that are really important, but just hadn’t gotten done. Have been making some decisions that were being put off and most importantly, have been putting the most important people and activities to the top of my priority list. It is so unfortunate that it takes the circumstances of a loved ones’ sudden terminal illness to wake up. Don’t let that be you.

Do today, right now, what is important. Don’t put off the things that you most value in life.

Tell your loved ones how much you care about them. Give hugs. Talk about the important stuff. Most of all make the time to have no regrets.

Drop me a note in the comments below, or connect with me on Twitter @ceilidhontherun, email me at ceilidho at ceilidhontherun dot com, or use my contact form!

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Filed Under: balance, Cancer, General, West Nova Family Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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