ABC Day Nursery of Windsor was established in 1966. We exist to provide high-quality child-care services for the parents of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school age children. We achieve this by providing nurturing and stimulating environments for all children equally, regardless of social, economic or cultural circumstances. We are committed to providing safe, healthy and happy child care services which meet the needs of children, their parents, the staff and community. We deliver these services through the establishment, maintenance and operation of licensed non-profit child care centres and services.
We have dedicated caring staff, many of which have been with us 20 years or more. Our educators are knowledgeable and rich in experience which promotes their ability to deliver a program that promotes the learning and growth of every child. Our educators are to be positive role models at all times in the presence of children, parents, and colleagues.
ABC Day Nursery of Windsor embraces the “How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years” document as a learning resource. We also incorporate the “Early Learning for Every Child Today” (ELECT) document when planning curriculum and documenting. Our objective is to support positive and responsive interactions among the children, parents and our educators and the community. Our aim is to inspire interest within the classroom in which children will use all of their senses to learn.
We feel that to promote a healthy lifestyle children benefit from proper nutrition, rest and daily physical activity based on their individual needs. Encouraging the children to understand their needs and articulate their needs to others is supportive of their emerging sense of self.
The food menu incorporates nutritional value based on “Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide”. Each site has a cook which holds a Food Handlers Certificate. All snacks include foods from two to three of the food groups; a hot lunch is served which incorporates foods from all four groups, also offered is a hot and cold vegetable.
The cook will make accommodations for children with food allergies or religious food needs wherever possible. If for any reason we are unable to accommodate the child’s nutritional needs parents may be requested to bring in their child’s food, which the cook would heat up and serve.
Parents will be able to view the menu upon registration or in advance with the Supervisor or cook to determine if they will be required to provide food from home. Any food brought from home must be in a sealed container with the child’s name on it. Allergy lists are posted in the kitchen and serving area of each classroom.
Positive and supportive eating environments are provided encouraging the children to make healthy decisions about their nutritional needs. Parents who bring in food/snacks for their children or the classroom are encouraged to make it a healthy choice. Our educators are required to make healthy eating choices when eating in the classroom in front of the children during snack. Water is made available to the children during all snacks and meals and throughout the day.
We also promote independence during snacks and lunches by teaching children to set the table, serve themselves snack and lunch, use their utensils correctly, etc. Lunch and snacks are also an opportunity to promote social interactions in a relaxed atmosphere.
To ensure that the environment is safe, inspections will be done in the classroom on a monthly basis and on the playgrounds daily, monthly and seasonally. Yearly we have inspections from outside agencies for the fire alarms/fire exits, from the health inspector and playground inspector. Fire drills are conducted once a month.
Our educators teach children about health, safety and good nutrition to promote a healthy lifestyle. They may also incorporate cooking experiences with the children, which includes food from various cultures.
In an effort to keep the children and staff healthy we conduct a Daily Health Assessment every morning on each child when they arrive. We regularly disinfect everything in the classrooms such as toys, shelves and cots.
Physical activity is provided either outdoor or indoor during inclement weather days on a daily basis. Planned activities and games that promote the fundamental movement skills will assist children to become competent and capable in their movements.
We encourage and allow the children to engage in activities that involve some risky play. This kind of play allows children opportunities for challenges, testing limits and exploring boundaries. It improves strength and safety awareness.
In order to stimulate the senses and develop healthy motor skills, children need the opportunity to take reasonable risks. The children will also learn to develop the skills associated with managing risk and making informed judgements from a very young age.
We strive to ensure that all children, families, educators, students and servicing agencies feel like they belong and are respected when entering our centres and classrooms. We wish to achieve positive relationships that encourage trust and the ability to work effectively as a team for the best possible outcome of learning/knowledge for all involved.
Educators and staff will model proactive interactions with the parents and children by encouraging appropriate and positive vocabulary and actions. Our educators will attempt to greet the parents by using their names and encourage/assist the parents in learning our names as well as the classroom name their child is in.
The goal is to give everyone a sense of belonging within our centres. The educators and staff will respond to the children in a warm, sensitive and respectful manner, being attuned to the physical and emotional state of each child.
We value children as individuals, each with their own personal needs. Our intent is to provide an environment which places value on the children’s interests and developmental needs.
Parents are encouraged to ask about their child’s development. Our educators are able to assist with goals for the children and offer support to the parents on how we can all work together to achieve the goals.
Families will be supported on a daily basis with communications about their child at drop off and pick up as well as receiving daily reports through Lillio.
We always welcome parents to become involved in activities/special events happening at the centre or in your child’s classroom. Documentations/photos are posted throughout the classroom and sent through e-mail via Lillio. We value and encourage parents’ input to fully complete them.
If your child has talked about or displayed any of the learning taking place at the child care centre, we would value your feedback.
Parents are encouraged to share a talent or interest with their children. Talents/interests such as playing an instrument or teaching the children a few words in your family’s first language.
Contact the Supervisor or classroom teacher to arrange a time to help us expand on the experiences the children receive while at the child care centre.
We also encourage parents to consider saving and donating materials/treasures on a regular/ongoing basis that could enhance our craft activities such as:
Educators will be encouraged to attend meetings which include staff from all our locations to discuss their classrooms. They can network with their colleagues about curriculum and other matters in their classrooms.
ABC Day Nursery of Windsor places the children’s social and emotional needs to be significant to have positive experiences and outcomes on a daily basis. The children are encouraged and supported by the educators to interact and communicate in positive ways and to promote their ability to self-regulate. Supportive social learning is put into practice.
Our goal is to teach the children appropriate coping skills. It is also important that we validate the child’s feelings. We will model appropriate self-regulation skills at all times when interacting with the children.
The children will be provided with a quiet area with appropriate materials to aid in their ability to self-regulate, express their needs and reflect. This area is to be accessible to the children at all times.
Educators will work towards the children becoming more comfortable in displaying a more socially acceptable way to handle their anger, fear and frustrations.
Offering a quiet space during outside play to help the children self-regulate is also recommended.
Throughout the day educators will offer calming activities such as:
It is important to recognize that critical learning takes place during conflict, negotiation, brainstorming problems and resolution, thus allowing the child the ability to explore these skills.
ABC Day Nursery implements play-based emergent curriculum. We strive to provide an environment and opportunities for the children to play and explore through a flexible schedule with limited interruptions and transitions.
Uninterrupted play is extremely important for the children to complete their thoughts and learning. We believe that when children are engaged in play they are expanding on their learning.
The curriculum is based on the children’s interest and developmental needs. The children learn through play, relationships, discovery and exploration.
Opportunities are presented to the children to:
The educators provide a classroom environment with experiences to engage children in active, creative and meaningful exploration, play and inquiry. This is known as provocation.
Educators introduce activities that “provoke” or “stimulate” interest. Provocation provides discussions, interest, creativity and ideas. It expands on thoughts, ideas and interest.
The exploration, play and inquiry incorporate learning important skills such as:
The environment includes natural materials and loose parts to enhance the learning. This learning is extended to the outdoor environment.
We will be involved in the play and learning with the children, then document the learning that took place in the activity.
Parents are encouraged to follow our documentation and provide any insight they may have. Educators then reflect upon the learning/documentation and use this information to plan further experiences for the children.
The educators will provide open-ended materials to the environment to enrich the learning process. Adding new materials incorporates new ideas, challenges and learning possibilities.
We will offer the children activities and follow their lead during play. Educators will provide materials for creative activities allowing them to create their own work of art based on the children’s interest.
The children in the preschool rooms will also be offered a creative/craft shelf at all times, in which they can choose when they are feeling creative.
The children will be able to choose activities that they wish to participate in. This is referred to as free choice.
The educators will allow more time and develop goals to support the children’s independence/learning in the following important skills:
Our educators will provide activities that are age appropriate taking into consideration learning development in all areas.
Centres throughout the classroom will reflect the interest of the children and promote creativity and curiosity for the children to learn and explore. Educators will set up the environment to provoke or stimulate interest.
As the children’s needs are being met according to their developmental levels it incorporates all children as well as the children with special needs.
The environment will be set up with materials/activities to expand on their growing interests and allowing the children to make their own choices and succeed at tasks.
We recognize that children have different learning styles and support them by creating learning opportunities to support the many ways of learning.
A self-regulation centre will be available for the children to learn coping skills. Educators will assist the children in learning about their feelings and how to deal with their emotions appropriately.
Children who require an Individual Support Plan will be supported by the educators in implementing the goals and recommendations.
Providing a visual schedule assists the children in choosing an activity they want to participate in.
Inviting parents to share a talent or talk about their profession is encouraged and always welcomed.
ABC Day Nursery views all children as competent, capable, curious and rich in potential thus allowing ongoing learning.
Every educator shall ensure that they are programming and providing the following:
We attempt to offer small group activities for the children to benefit from more individual attention. We will take advantage of the meaningful learning opportunities that arise and explore them.
Through daily observations the educators are documenting the children’s experiences to understand the child’s thinking and learning. It assists the teachers in making informed decisions about how they can proceed to continue to enhance the learning and development of all the children.
Documentations displayed throughout the centre can include:
These documentations appear in the classroom to make the learning visible to the children and families as well as on the Lillio program.
Making the learning visible gives the children and families a sense of belonging, well-being, expression and engagement.
Educators will involve the children in the documentation process, ask their opinion and show them the finished documentation you are posting.
The children will be encouraged to invite their parents to view the documentations and activities they are doing in the classroom.
Parents are invited to view the documentations and are encouraged to contribute information on the learning that the child may have transferred to the home environment.
We welcome parents’ input such as what their expectations are for their children while in our care.
During the registration interview process, Supervisors will explain documentations and the importance of parent involvement. Staff have an obligation to work towards involving parents to participate in expanding on the documentations.
Through Lillio we will send an individual daily report to full and half-day children that includes:
We educate and encourage families to work on skills that are currently being worked on at the centre, such as serving themselves at the dinner table at home or zipping their own coat.
Parent socials are held twice a year for parents to visit the classroom and be involved in the programming that is happening.
We also do a parent survey once a year and encourage parents to participate and give us their feedback.
ABC Day Nursery of Windsor is committed to working with local community partners to support the children, families and educators.
Local community partners can include, but are not limited to:
It is important to create these partnerships and benefit from the resources and expertise they provide, thus providing sharing between Supervisors, educators, parents and the community. All of which will work towards goals for the children and families.
These agencies are welcome to observe children in our classrooms, collaborate with the Supervisor and educators, as well as the parents, and assist us in implementing the best possible program for all children.
Educators are responsible to implement the strategies as set out by these agencies with the children involved.
We are also responsible for educating all the children and have achievable goals for the age group.
Our experienced educators have a responsibility to all who are new to the profession or our centre, in which they will guide them in working with the children, parents, program and professional knowledge.
We are also committed to volunteers and students from our local high schools, colleges and university placements in our centres.
Our educators will train, guide and support these students based on the program required by their placement Supervisor.
Our goal is to enhance their learning experience with the children and within the classrooms. Students and volunteers will be given regular feedback from the educators evaluating their performance.
It is our responsibility to recognize that families are very important in the child’s development; they are the ones that provide us with relative information about their child.
We strive to respond to parents and their values and concerns about their children in the most respectful context.
ABC Day Nursery of Windsor feels that professional development is extremely important in enhancing the program and committing to be life-long learners.
All staff/educators will be held accountable when it comes to attending workshops/training sessions and engaging in other forms of learning.
We hope to encourage staff to be consistent with self-reflection and professional growth.
You are required to follow the guidelines as set out by the College of Early Childhood Educators CPL Continuous Professional Learning Portfolio, as well as any individual needs that may arise within the workplace.
ABC Day Nursery requires staff to attend a minimum of four workshops each calendar year.
We will occasionally provide opportunities within ABC to:
If there is a fee to attend a workshop ABC Day Nursery, whenever possible, will cover the cost.
For workshops approved by the Director that are offered during working hours, ABC will allow a few staff to attend provided they are able to cover their shift with a suitably qualified staff member.
Educators are expected to share with their co-workers information they received or learned about at workshops, especially when a limited number of educators are able to attend the training.
We're excited to announce the launch of the brand-new ABC Day Nursery website!
Read More →This year marks a very special milestone for ABC Childcare as we proudly celebrate 60 years of serving children and families throughout Windsor.
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