But when Robin Cruickshank’s happy, well-adjusted 4-year-old began wetting his pants at school this fall, she grew concerned.
Her son Isaac seemed to be thoroughly enjoying kindergarten and had never had a problem when he attended a large daycare centre last year.
“I thought something was wrong with him,” says the working mother.
Her mind was quickly set at ease through daily check-ins with staff in the Waterloo Region District School Board’s pioneering full-day kindergarten program that uses the same early childhood educators (ECEs) who are in the classroom during the day to run the school’s extended day program, which begins at 7 a.m. and runs until 6 p.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,m.
It is part of what provincial Early Learning Advisor Charles Pascal calls the “seamless day of learning” as opposed to a school day bookended by child care, where children go back and forth between two distinct programs run by different adults.
“I told mom there was no need to take her son to the doctor,” says Lisa Tonner, the classroom ECE at Bridgeport Public School who oversees the after-school portion of the day. “I said it was probably just the new school environment and transition to kindergarten.”
A couple of weeks ago, just as Tonner predicted, the accidents stopped.Unlike traditional high risk merchant account ,
“Isaac had another terrific day,” Tonner tells Cruickshank when she arrives around 5:30 p.m. to pick up her son.
Isaac, who is playing Beyblades with his school buddies in a corner of the kindergarten room, has already had a snack of Goldfish crackers and spent an hour playing outside since school ended at 3:30 p.m. His mother is delighted with the program.ceramic magic cube for the medical,
“It’s so helpful to have that connection with the teachers,” Cruickshank says. “And it is so much easier for him to come here than have to go to a daycare centre after school.”
For parents like Cruickshank, the ability to communicate with their children’s school team of teachers and ECEs at the start and end of the working day sets school-run extended day programs apart.
“One of the biggest benefits of our program versus one that starts cold at 3:30 is that I know how the children have been since lunchtime,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.” says Tonner, who starts at 12:30 p.m. allowing for a one-hour overlap with the morning-shift ECE who starts at 7 a.m. The ECEs work as a team with a classroom teacher who works a regular school day.
“When someone walks in cold at 3:30, they wouldn’t know if little Jimmy’s had a sore tummy earlier in the day or if somebody’s fish has died or another’s mother had a baby,” Tonner says. “A third party doesn’t have the whole story. Personally, I think that is huge.”
Before- and after-school programming run by schools and funded with parent fees and subsidies was part of Pascal’s ambitious 2009 blueprint to expand kindergarten from a half-day to a full-day learning experience.
But Waterloo Region District School Board is one of just a handful of Ontario boards delivering extended day programming as part of all-day kindergarten.
Most other boards, including those in the Greater Toronto Area, are using non-profit daycare providers to deliver before- and after-school programs in schools where families show an interest.Replacement landscape oil paintings and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.
It is an approach that baffles Waterloo school board administrators like executive superintendent Mary Lou Mackie.
“How much longer do we sit around the table talking about the patchwork approach to early learning? I got tired of talking and said it’s time for action,” she says of her board’s crusade.
“Fortunately, we have had the full backing of our trustees,” she adds.
The advantage of board-run programs is a closely monitored, high-quality program with fewer transitions for children. Staff is part of the school and report to the principal. Programs use existing space and classroom resources like books, water tables and dramatic centres. And they encourage strong home-school connections that researchers say are key to student success.
“Schools struggle with how to engage parents. The extended-day program increases parent engagement and is a great way to connect parents to the building,” says Mackie.
“What’s more, you are maximizing the use of community schools, which is very efficient from a taxpayer point of view,” she adds.
By contrast, daycares have their own staff and administrators. They typically use their own space and don’t share classroom materials. And communication between school and daycare staff can be a challenge.
Waterloo’s program began last year in four of the board’s 17 all-day kindergarten sites. It runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is available for children from junior kindergarten to Grade 2. This year, it is available in eight schools and enrolment has almost quadrupled to about 200 children.
Parent fees have dropped from $29 to $26 for the program, which also operates on professional development days, Christmas holidays and March Break. New for 2011 is the option of paying between $12 and $14 a day for mornings or evenings only. Parents can also choose to send their children for part of the week and pay for only the days they use.
Next year when full-day kindergarten expands to another 26 schools, the board plans to contract with daycares and other outside groups to offer before- and after-school recreation programs for students from Grade 3 to Grade 6. This will help daycares offset the loss of younger children to the board-run program, says Scott Podrebarac, Waterloo’s early learning program administrator.
Daycares are also being encouraged to increase service to babies, toddlers and preschoolers. And along with other groups, they will continue to offer summer programs.
“We are looking to re-engineer the child-care status quo rather than end our relationships with third-party providers,” he says. “They are a vital part of our continuum of care from birth to age 12.”
Unlike typical school-age daycare that is limited by space, there are no waiting lists for the board’s extended day program.
“We can offer it to everyone who wants it because we have full use of the school and can open extra rooms to meet demand,” Podrebarac says.
But at this point, the larger issue for the board is lack of demand, he acknowledges. Just one-eighth of students eligible for the program are participating.
“All the news is focused on full-day kindergarten,” he says. “There hasn’t been as much attention to the extended day. And there has been confusion over who is delivering it. Getting the word out to parents has been a challenge.”
Queen’s Park had originally mandated school boards provide the program when 20 or more families in a school request it.
Her son Isaac seemed to be thoroughly enjoying kindergarten and had never had a problem when he attended a large daycare centre last year.
“I thought something was wrong with him,” says the working mother.
Her mind was quickly set at ease through daily check-ins with staff in the Waterloo Region District School Board’s pioneering full-day kindergarten program that uses the same early childhood educators (ECEs) who are in the classroom during the day to run the school’s extended day program, which begins at 7 a.m. and runs until 6 p.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,m.
It is part of what provincial Early Learning Advisor Charles Pascal calls the “seamless day of learning” as opposed to a school day bookended by child care, where children go back and forth between two distinct programs run by different adults.
“I told mom there was no need to take her son to the doctor,” says Lisa Tonner, the classroom ECE at Bridgeport Public School who oversees the after-school portion of the day. “I said it was probably just the new school environment and transition to kindergarten.”
A couple of weeks ago, just as Tonner predicted, the accidents stopped.Unlike traditional high risk merchant account ,
“Isaac had another terrific day,” Tonner tells Cruickshank when she arrives around 5:30 p.m. to pick up her son.
Isaac, who is playing Beyblades with his school buddies in a corner of the kindergarten room, has already had a snack of Goldfish crackers and spent an hour playing outside since school ended at 3:30 p.m. His mother is delighted with the program.ceramic magic cube for the medical,
“It’s so helpful to have that connection with the teachers,” Cruickshank says. “And it is so much easier for him to come here than have to go to a daycare centre after school.”
For parents like Cruickshank, the ability to communicate with their children’s school team of teachers and ECEs at the start and end of the working day sets school-run extended day programs apart.
“One of the biggest benefits of our program versus one that starts cold at 3:30 is that I know how the children have been since lunchtime,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.” says Tonner, who starts at 12:30 p.m. allowing for a one-hour overlap with the morning-shift ECE who starts at 7 a.m. The ECEs work as a team with a classroom teacher who works a regular school day.
“When someone walks in cold at 3:30, they wouldn’t know if little Jimmy’s had a sore tummy earlier in the day or if somebody’s fish has died or another’s mother had a baby,” Tonner says. “A third party doesn’t have the whole story. Personally, I think that is huge.”
Before- and after-school programming run by schools and funded with parent fees and subsidies was part of Pascal’s ambitious 2009 blueprint to expand kindergarten from a half-day to a full-day learning experience.
But Waterloo Region District School Board is one of just a handful of Ontario boards delivering extended day programming as part of all-day kindergarten.
Most other boards, including those in the Greater Toronto Area, are using non-profit daycare providers to deliver before- and after-school programs in schools where families show an interest.Replacement landscape oil paintings and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.
It is an approach that baffles Waterloo school board administrators like executive superintendent Mary Lou Mackie.
“How much longer do we sit around the table talking about the patchwork approach to early learning? I got tired of talking and said it’s time for action,” she says of her board’s crusade.
“Fortunately, we have had the full backing of our trustees,” she adds.
The advantage of board-run programs is a closely monitored, high-quality program with fewer transitions for children. Staff is part of the school and report to the principal. Programs use existing space and classroom resources like books, water tables and dramatic centres. And they encourage strong home-school connections that researchers say are key to student success.
“Schools struggle with how to engage parents. The extended-day program increases parent engagement and is a great way to connect parents to the building,” says Mackie.
“What’s more, you are maximizing the use of community schools, which is very efficient from a taxpayer point of view,” she adds.
By contrast, daycares have their own staff and administrators. They typically use their own space and don’t share classroom materials. And communication between school and daycare staff can be a challenge.
Waterloo’s program began last year in four of the board’s 17 all-day kindergarten sites. It runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is available for children from junior kindergarten to Grade 2. This year, it is available in eight schools and enrolment has almost quadrupled to about 200 children.
Parent fees have dropped from $29 to $26 for the program, which also operates on professional development days, Christmas holidays and March Break. New for 2011 is the option of paying between $12 and $14 a day for mornings or evenings only. Parents can also choose to send their children for part of the week and pay for only the days they use.
Next year when full-day kindergarten expands to another 26 schools, the board plans to contract with daycares and other outside groups to offer before- and after-school recreation programs for students from Grade 3 to Grade 6. This will help daycares offset the loss of younger children to the board-run program, says Scott Podrebarac, Waterloo’s early learning program administrator.
Daycares are also being encouraged to increase service to babies, toddlers and preschoolers. And along with other groups, they will continue to offer summer programs.
“We are looking to re-engineer the child-care status quo rather than end our relationships with third-party providers,” he says. “They are a vital part of our continuum of care from birth to age 12.”
Unlike typical school-age daycare that is limited by space, there are no waiting lists for the board’s extended day program.
“We can offer it to everyone who wants it because we have full use of the school and can open extra rooms to meet demand,” Podrebarac says.
But at this point, the larger issue for the board is lack of demand, he acknowledges. Just one-eighth of students eligible for the program are participating.
“All the news is focused on full-day kindergarten,” he says. “There hasn’t been as much attention to the extended day. And there has been confusion over who is delivering it. Getting the word out to parents has been a challenge.”
Queen’s Park had originally mandated school boards provide the program when 20 or more families in a school request it.
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