Education, Nutrition and Fun for Your Child at Our Daycare & OSC Programs (0 months - 12 years) in Edmonton
ABC’s Program environment is best described as open-ended, where children are encouraged to use group activities, as well as self-direction to aid in their learning. We attempt to flow with the unique events that arise spontaneously from the ideas and thoughts of the children involved in our program. The staff is responsible for structuring the environment to be full of appropriate choices, helping children to make choices, being involved in their choices, and extending the child’s experience by leading them to more information related to the choices made. The ABC Child Development Centre Day Care and OSC facility is made just for children. We have six classrooms, one for each age group, to ensure that every child gets to learn and play at their own pace. We also have a great indoor play-space as well as a fully equipped, soft-space, and large outdoor playground where children can enjoy the outdoor time during free-choice play, as well as for planned activities. The Centre also provides Transportation Facility to the neighbourhood schools using the school bus and van. Please refer to our Programs for further information.
Infants (0 - 19 Months)
Our Infant Care Program provides a nurturing environment to care for the babies. The Infant room is fully equipped with special focus on non-slip carpeting and floor mats to provide safe space for children to enjoy the activities with designated areas for diapering and napping. The room has a wide range of age-appropriate toys and play equipment to give wholesome developmental experiences to our lovely babies.
Our staff collaborates with parents to ensure both the child’s and parents’ needs are met. We encourage and provide indoor and outdoor experiences for infants to develop speech, gross and fine motor movements, as well as social skills. One to one interactions with infants help to develop trust and bonding. We are attentive to our babies as important milestones are reached, such as learning to roll over, crawl, walk, smile, babble, and wave hello! Our Program supervisors use the learning through play approach to ensure that the child is learning educational concepts, social interactions, and new experiences through indoor and outdoor play. The Teaching Strategies and authentic assessment tools guide teachers in documenting observations, ensuring all children are meeting developmentally appropriate milestones and introducing new activities for learning.
Toddlers (19 - 36 Months)
The Toddler Program provides toddlers with opportunities to learn and explore. The major developmental goal for our toddlers is promoting gross motor skills. The room is well-arranged and equipped (indoor slide and tunnel) to give access to free movement along with the large outdoor playground to enhance gross motor skills. The room has developmentally appropriate inventory including toys to promote cognition, socio-emotional skills, creativity as well as physical literacy. The classroom is organized into learning centers to engage children in learning through play while building independence.
Our staff communicates with parents to ensure we are working together on important milestones such as language acquisition and speech development, potty training, fine and gross motor skills and also to ensure our children’s daily needs are met. We utilize the emergent curriculum to guide child’s natural curiosity into meaningful indoor/outdoor learning experiences and promote social skills (i.e. Sharing, toddler manners). Teachers utilize authentic assessment tools to document daily observations, develop new learning opportunities, and ensure the progression of development and learning.
Pre-School (3 - 5 Years)
Our Pre-school Program’s staff provides children with opportunities to develop a love of learning! Pre-school consists of two rooms as per the age group i.e. Pre-School (3-4 years) and Pre-Kindergarten (4-5 years). In both these rooms, we emphasize on encouraging indoor/outdoor movement and expanding exposure to new interests with pre-schoolers. The room is planned to accommodate a larger activity area for pre-school children as they tend to have more energy and need more space. Children have access to the large and soft padded outdoor playground to help them develop gross motor skills.
Learning centers offer pre-school children the opportunity to learn, to share and to play with others; build independence and confidence, and acquire the skills needed for kindergarten. Learning emerges through frequent exposure to concepts, interactions, purposeful play, and new experiences. Utilizing the emergent curriculum, our teachers complete daily observations and authentic assessment to plan activities while ensuring that each child is meeting developmentally appropriate skills.
Kindergarten
In our Kindergarten Program, the room area allows free movement and activities as well as quiet space for homework. The kindergarten room is so configured that it promotes cooperative play and group activities. There is plenty of table space for projects and activities along with ample storage areas for a larger inventory of supplies and materials. The room setup creates a dynamic learning environment to encourage children to learn and grow in all the developmental areas.
Children have access to a beautifully designed outdoor playground with the soft padded floor to help them develop physical literacy skills along with building social relations and exploring nature. Staff encourages positive interaction with peers, communication and listening skills with children to aid problem solving, further development of fine and gross motor skills, appropriate responses to anger and frustration (i.e. verbal responses rather than physical outbursts), and demonstrate the importance of personal hygiene. Children are given more freedom to explore, based on their interests as they are engaged in the classroom learning centers. Programming is based on the emergent curriculum. Our teachers complete daily observations to develop program planning and activities while ensuring that each child is meeting developmentally appropriate skills.
School-Aged Children (Grade 1-6)
ABC’s Out of School Care Program provides an engaging learning environment for our School Age children. The age range of the children using school-age care places unique demands on the design space. The OSC room allows flexible use of space for a variety of development stages for children between 6 – 12 years. There is enough space to accommodate a wide variety of activities including social interactive games, sports and mixed media, arts, as well as space for quiet activities such as reading or working on school projects. The room has access to the outdoor area and a wide range of gaming equipment such as hockey, soccer/foot-balls and bats, hula hoops, pool noodles etc. The room also has a multicultural library and reading areas with large comfortable sofas. Children have access to individual cubbies for keeping their backpacks and other personal belongings. The Centre has a large outdoor playground, equipped with slides, monkey bars, basketball hoop and a variety of outdoor equipment to engage children in the outdoor play and enhance their physical literacy skills.
The Program activities are planned to inculcate positive interaction amongst peers. The focus is on developing the ability to communicate and solve problems in an amicable manner. The Program thrives at facilitating the development of creativity in all facets of the program; promoting individuality, self-esteem and sense of self-worth among children. Children are actively engaged in a stimulating learning environment. We offer a safe, structured environment that balances learning and fun. Our programs offer enrichment opportunities, field trips, engaging learning centers, and opportunities to extend learning beyond the school day. From completing homework to fun physical activities, this program builds independent learners while promoting youth voice.
Summer Programs
The Centre runs Full Day Summer Programs for the Kindergarten and Out of School Care children during the months of July and August. The camps are full of fun and learning; indoor/outdoor activities intended for the overall development of the child. Our Summer Program is a perfect blend of activities from all the developmental domains which encourages children to be more active and facilitates a wholesome experience.
During the school breaks, we plan a variety of on-site activities and field trips to ensure children enjoy their time out of school. Magic shows, regular visits from Librarians for story sessions and games, Rocks and Curling, Lego & Robotics workshops, visits from fire fighters, training sessions from Yoga and Ballet instructors are few on site field trips that we have been organizing in the past years. We have also organized and continue to organize outdoor field trips to neighborhood splash parks, Valley Zoo, Legislature, Jackie Parker Park, Aquarium and many more fun places around Edmonton.
