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It's Child Care Month Again... I think!

5/15/2013

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May is child care month in British Columbia
The government of British Columbia annually proclaims the month of May as Child Care
Month to celebrate the work of thousands of caring and committed childcare
providers and early childhood educators throughout the province.
(source: Victoria Child Care Resource and Referral, Spring 2013 newsletter)

 
Perhaps my Google search skills are failing me.... or maybe this May child care isn't being celebrated in the same way.  I'm not really certain what's happening, to tell you the truth.  
In past years, a search would quickly provide loads of information relating to what we do, why we do it and how best to celebrate it: events, award ceremonies, caregiver appreciation days, animated videos to promote child care, statements by important people and all.  This year seems to be different.... scant bits like the quote above show up in the odd newsletter but that seems to be all can find for "May is Child Care Month in B.C. 2013"  and every variation of it (and search engine) imaginable!  While the annual award nomination forms still arrived in the mail, there seems to be little else to be found for this year.  Previous years, sure.... but not for 2013!
My first reaction was to wonder how that was possible. To the best of my recollection, in my 20 years of working in the ECE profession in BC, May has been Child Care Month.  I have the buttons, posters and letters from the Ministry to prove it.   Have we stopped celebrating child care? Should we, as caregiver and early childhood educators, be concerned?
Then I realized something else entirely. Until I read that very quote, I had never truly understood what Child Care Month was actually all about!  In the most basic and fundamental ways, I have misunderstood this month of celebrating
every single year of my career.  Wow!   All these years TreeFrog has celebrated child care month by acknowledging the families and children we provide care for and by helping to educate the public about the importance of learning through play- articles in the local paper, bulletin boards, open houses, and more- all for these purposes.  And  while I have made certain to treat our amazing caregivers to chocolate, coffee and thanks on Caregiver Appreciation Day, that has been the extent of it for them... and really, that happens on a fairly regular basis anyway , simply because they are a great staff!  How did I have no idea this month was actually intended to be all about US???  And now, when I have only just discovered this, NOW it all but vanishes???? ...... WAIT!!!!!
I began to feel a bit letdown, a bit disgruntled.  All these years while we were busy celebrating everyone else it should have been all about us.  How had I missed this?  How had our families?  Our Board of Directors?  And no- it has not failed to occur to me that since my role was to keep these people educated; they naturally thought what I thought, but really....
Still, anyone who has ever met an ECE knows that revised ideas and Plan B thinking are kind of our superpower.   So I rallied. I wrote an acknowledgement for our children and families to put in the local paper, I continued searching for information to share, and I posted an animated video to our Facebook Page... because I realized something else that was far more important-  I am an Early Childhood Educator and I am a Caregiver.  And in order for me and the rest of The Frog teachers to be either of those things we need children to care for, to nurture, to educate, to love... and in order for us to have those children in our care, we must first have families who see the value in what we do, families who trust in our abilities. So they must also be celebrated, whether May is actually Child Care Month or not this year!
This final realization made it all clear to me.   
As an Early Childhood Educator and a Caregiver, Child Care Month as it is defined above means very little to me- and the same is likely true of any other ECE or Caregiver you ask.  No government proclamation that designates a month to appreciating our work will ever mean more than the spontaneous hugs, the excitement,  the pictures, the stories, the pure and sincere “I love yous” we get from these children.  EVER. And the absence of that proclamation (or my failed search skill?!?) will never diminish the sense of fulfillment and pride in our work that comes from a parent trusting our knowledge enough to consult with us about their child’s development, or letting us know that their child talks about what we taught them and how much they adore us…. or simply bringing us a coffee!  
When a child tells you that you smell like bubble gum, when a parent hugs you and thanks you at the end of the day, when the phone rings and the voice on the other end says “everyone says we will love it there…. can we enroll our child right away?”, when teenagers who attended as children come back to visit with their fond memories….   well really, this list could go on forever…. These are the moments we celebrate.  And these are the moments we feel appreciated and celebrated. 
So whether May is or it isn’t Child Care  month this year, doesn’t much matter.  We don’t need a month. We have every day.  The caregivers at TreeFrog are fortunate enough to be inspired to grow each day- and for that we celebrate the children, the families, the daycare we work in and each other… all year!  ~ lisa


 


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All Good Things...

11/22/2012

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Hello Friends of TreeFrog-
December 31st 2012 will mark the end of era at The Frog.... our Mona is retiring at the end of this year. As one of the last two original staff members, every child who has come to our daycare in the past 19 years has gotten to know what a special and amazing woman she is! Whether your family knew her as Mona, Celine, "Lin" or something else- chance are very good she made a lasting impression. We will be hosting a party on her honour in the new year and will make details available to everyone shortly. Please help spread the word among any alumni families you may know and encourage them to contact us through email (treefrogdaycare@shaw.ca) or on Facebook so they can be included in the details.
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Sending Love to Rita and her Family!

4/16/2012

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  For those of you that remember Rita May McEwen from her time working at TreeFrog, and those of you who would just like to help a family in need as they prepare for a liver transplant for their year old daughter, please take the time to read this and visit the site below to show your support... we will be accepting donations at the daycare over the next while to send to Rita and her family as th...ey prepare for the time off work and travel required to be with their daughter through her transplant and recovery. if you would like to contribute, please speak to a staff member.
"Kaiya has a genetic condition, called alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency A1AT deficiency (A1AD). This condition makes it so her body is deficient of anti-trypsin, a protein that protects her body from enzymes of inflammatory cells. In A1AD, the anti-trypsin that the liver makes doesn't work the same as it does in other people. This can cause build up of the protein in the liver, and of scar tissue in the liver (cirrhosis). Anti-trypsin normally protects the lungs, so people with A1AD are also more susceptible to having lung issues."
Sending TreeFrog love to all of you, Rita May! xoxo
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Where's Doug?

3/4/2012

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Keep your attention on our blog as we carefully track our friend Doug on his adventures around the world.  Ask your littles about where he is now;  they've been tracking his movements on a map in the big room.
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Where Food and Art Meet! - thank you Ruud

2/26/2012

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It's Pink Shirt Time Again!

2/21/2012

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It’s Pink Shirt Week again at The Frog!
Get your pink shirt ready to send the message that "Bullying Stops Here!"  Wednesday, February 29/12 is Pink Shirt Day in Canada. 

Pink Shirt Day for Anti- Bullying began in February 2008.  As a staff, we decided last year that this is a great opportunity for us to open up the dialogue with the children at the daycare and spend the week discussing what bullying means, what we can do to stop it & how we can make others feel good through our words and actions.  The children rose to the challenge!  We were so impressed by the awareness and compassion these amazing little people displayed.  It became clear to us that this needed to be an annual event!

Although I was vaguely familiar with Pink Shirt Day before last February, it wasn’t until a friend sent me the link to the website that I really looked into it more closely.  What sent me to the website was her half-joking comment at the end "these boys must have had really good preschool teachers! "

Here’s a bit from the Globe & Mail article about these boys she was referring to (from the Pink Shirt Day website http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/) :

“David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school.
‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’
So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag.
As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled.  The bullies were never heard from again.”

As I looked around at these amazing children we spend our days with, and listened to them interact with each other, I could see the basis of her comment… This is the time for ideas like Anti-Bullying to take root! These children readily absorb what they are taught and integrate it into their lives. As their parents and their teachers we are collectively sending these messages to the children all the time: be kind, take care of each other, your voice is important, if something is bothering you use your words and tell someone so we can help you… the list goes on.   And the understanding the children showed us last year convinced us further- this is the time for the anti-bullying message to take root!  We are all excited to spend the week focussing on the strength of these messages and how, even as young children, they can be empowered to prevent bullying from starting.

If you are interested in more information about Pink Shirt Day, check out their website at: http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/  and on February 29, 2012  we encourage all of you to wear something pink to symbolize that we as a society will not tolerate bullying anywhere.
thanks,
lisa
p.s.  official Pink Shirt Day t-shirts are available through their website or at London Drugs, with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Clubs and CKNW Orphans' Fund to support anti- bullying campaigns. 
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Happy Holidays!

12/21/2011

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Here comes Santa Claus!

12/19/2011

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Thanks to all who celebrated the season with us at our Christmas party this year.  Fun was had by all - especially when those yummy cupcakes came out!
We'll be posting the rest of the photos of the party in the next couple of days.
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Self Portraits - Can you guess who's who?

12/7/2011

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Just look at these gorgeous faces! Can you guess who the artist is behind their self portraits?
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Our Unique and Beautiful Selves!

11/30/2011

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As many of you know, our last two week cluster of activities were focused on the glory of apples in the big room.  We made apple stamps, apple sauce, apple cake, apple juice, apple art, .....

Starting this past Monday our new focus is on the self.  We'll be talking about, playing games around and learning more about emotions and communication.  Here are a couple of self portraits that our amazingly creative littles have been working on.

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