Pic 1. Baby Japnoor arrived August 21, 2022

Pic 2. Baby Allison arrived July 27, 2022

Please find pasted below letter from Alberta Government :

August 9, 2022

Subject: Announcement – Non-Permanent Residents Eligible for Child Care Subsidy

Dear Program Operator,

The Government of Alberta is committed to ensuring that all families starting a new life in Alberta have access to financial supports that help pay for the cost of child care and allow them to participate in the workforce.

I am pleased to announce that Children’s Services is expanding the child care subsidy eligibility criteria to include people who claim refugee status after arrival and temporary residents with a work permit.

Previously, one of the applicants OR the child had to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. This change ensures that if the child requiring care or the applicants are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents but at least one of the applicants are a temporary resident with a work permit or are awaiting a refugee claimant decision, the family is better able to access affordable, quality licensed child care.

Effective August 1, 2022, parents/guardians who meet the expanded citizen/immigration status and other eligibility criteria with children 12 years old and not yet in grade 7 attending a licensed child care program can apply for child care subsidy.

This change does not impact access to affordability grants. All non-permanent resident children enrolled in a licensed child care will continue to be eligible for the affordability grant reductions.

If you or your families have any questions or require additional information regarding child care subsidy for non-permanent residents, please contact the Alberta Supports Contact Centre at 1-877-644-9992.

Thank you for communicating these changes to families attending your program.

Sincerely,

SCHEDULE CHANGES: A reminder that schedule A cannot be changed in the middle of the month. It should be done 5 business days before the beginning of a new month.

REGISTRATION TIMELINE: Consultants need 5 business days before a registration can be completed.

BACKUP CHILDREN: If you have back up children in your care, please note it under the child's name on the time sheet.

From Props and Celebrations to Actions and Interests

Not sure whether you are planning for themes or interests?

Take a look at your flow chart and if your planning describes the following then you are planning for THEMES:

1. An event that’s happening that month (Easter, Diwali, Valentines Day)

2. A prop (Dinosaurs, Blocks, Babies)

3. Emotions (Being kind) or

4. Concepts (Colours)

INTEREST–BASED PLANNING describes an action, a verb – a doing word or words (e.g. Dumping and Filling, Constructing, Mixing, Stacking and Falling).

Why interest-based planning?

Children express their interests and their desires to learn about the world around them through the actions you are seeing in their play. For children, play is experimentation, discovery, exploration, persistence, and creatively answering the questions that they have about the world around them.

When you plan based on the interests you have observed, you are capturing the child’s intrinsic motivation to explore, learn and immerse themselves in experiences that are inviting and interesting to them. A child’s learning is deepened through experiences that are based on their interests.

Advantages to adopting an interest-based planning approach:

Responsive

More interesting and engaging to the children

Child-focused

Adopts a co-learner model

Allows flexibility in your planning

How do I begin?

Start simple.

NOTICE: Begin with an observation of your children in free-flow, child-led play. What are they doing? How are they engaging with the materials they have selected?

Sit alongside them and engage in active listening to really understand what they are exploring – is it the texture of the fabric, is it how to balance the wooden blocks.

NAME: Set up an invitation to play to test your theory. If you think they might be interested in Stacking and Falling, set up some solo cups in the outdoor classroom and watch how they engage. If they start exploring how to stack the cups and then enjoy watching them fall, you know that you have captured their interest.

NURTURE: Plan experiences based on Stacking and Falling. Collect materials and do some research.

REFLECT: After a week of this planning, reflect on how the children are engaging with the materials you have offered them and decide whether to continue planning for this interest. If the children have moved on, then begin the cycle of Noticing, Naming and Nurturing again.

So should I never plan Halloween ever again?

No. Take a look at your Flow Chart and there is a box for Special Occasions – this offers you the opportunity to include celebrations, festivals and special occasions into your planning.

For more information or support transitioning to interest-based planning, reach out to your consultant.

Further reading:

https://childhood101.com/emergent-curriculum-how-does-following-an-interest-differ-from-a-theme/

https://genmindful.com/blogs/mindful-moments/benefits-of-child-led-learning

“What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught, rather, it is in large part due to the children’s own doing, as a consequence of their activities and our resources”

Loris Malaguzzi

Analysis: From this observation, I can say that children were having fun with paints. They are sharing paints with each other, waiting for their turns, mixing the colors and making new color and sharing with their friends. Nice and calm using their imaginary art. Helping their friends to get the paints.

This fun art supports children in all developmental domains. Having good hand-eye coordination, social and emotional development, fine and gross motor development, cognitive and language development.

They can explore outdoor fun by enjoying the beautiful weather, getting good Vitamin D, and fresh air. Looking around for birds and flies. Jumping and running around. Expressing their feelings.

Please note that the office will be closed on Monday, September 5, 2022 for Labour Day.

Contact the emergency number 780-245-3097 during this time.