For the month of October to celebrate Thanksgiving, we had 31 days of thankfulness. We used 31 small cups (plastic shot glasses) that we covered in tissue paper and each cup had something to be thankful for inside. Ms. Davis drew a turkey so we could stick the cups on it for the month. Each day we poked a cup and discussed what word was in the cup and why we were each personally thankful for it.

Communication is key to a successful early learning and care environment. Le centre éducatif Cœur des Jeunes has recently leveraged some communication strategies such as emails, ClassDojo, DigibotGo, Zoom virtual meetings and in-person meetings.

Before March 2020, verbal communication was ever-present in our daily practice at Coeur des Jeunes when parents had access to their child’s classes and premises. The centre’s staff and educators were then able to communicate in person. Obviously, daily face-to-face verbal communication is by far the best means of communication and contact with parents when it comes to sharing their child’s daily routines and development. However, the unusual circumstances we are facing since the beginning of 2020 require the use of other methods.

Dear Child Care Partner,

As you prepare to re-open your program, CISS is here to support you. We were pleased to note that the Child Care Reopening Guide (page 7) excluded Special Needs support staff from the cohort maximums. This will allow for the possibility of re-integrating children with special needs as part of the first group back while ratios and numbers are lower.

A tribute to Susan Spence, Intake Coordinator (retiring December 2019)

Susan started her career as an Early Childhood Educator in Northern Ontario and later received her Early Childhood Resource Teacher Certificate as part of the first graduating class.

Susan’s career moved into different roles when she moved to Ottawa in the 1980s. First as an Educator at Thursday’s Child Nursery School (TCNS), then with an ODAMR specialized Preschool.  From there, Susan moved to Elsie Stapleford Day Care Centre which was operated by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (RMOC). This program was one of the 15 programs in the City that was given the designation on their license to integrate children with special needs. This step launched her into her next role as the Coordinator of the Integrated Preschool Program for the RMOC. Susan worked to set up networking opportunities as well as resource support for all of the center-based Resource Teachers. Under that role, Susan was responsible for training opportunities and the creation of a Resource Library for the Resource Teachers.

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