An effective child-care approach
Our program is play-based, encouraging children’s creativity and learning through hands-on discovery in a responsive and stimulating environment. The safe, supportive environment at our child care centre encourages children to invent, play, create, and use their senses.
Children are connected with the natural world through their explorations indoors and outdoors and through their use of natural materials in many open-ended activities.
Activities that support children’s cultural backgrounds and home languages help them build a strong cultural identity as well as encourage cross-cultural sharing and learning.
Experienced child care educators
Our nurturing, culturally diverse child care educators work to create an environment where all children and families feel welcomed and included. They are actively involved in developing and demonstrating wise practice; that is, bringing together the best of early childhood practice and the best of cultural practice.
The child care educators at Intercultural Child & Family Centre are chosen to echo, as closely as possible, the cultural mix of the families of the children in our care. This enables the program to encourage home language and reflect the cultural realities of the children. This helps children maintain their connections with their families and their pride in their heritage. At the same time, they come to feel they are an integral part of a community that consists of a variety of ethnicities and languages.
Our child care educators are engaged in ongoing professional development under the guidance of our Early Learning and Child Care program faculty liaison. They are engaged in exploring and implementing concepts from Play, Participation, and Possibilities: An Early Learning and Child Care Curriculum Framework for Alberta. Educators are certified through Alberta Human Services and are trained in first aid and CPR.
Families as partners in child care
We recognize that families are their children’s first teachers, and we partner with them to provide a consistent, safe environment for children. Family members are always welcome and we encourage them to share their culture, language, and interests, and have a voice. There are many opportunities for families and staff to enjoy time together.
The centre employs a family support worker to assist families, connect them with resources, and build community among staff and families.
Education and research
We are committed to discovering and demonstrating effective practice in intercultural child care.
Our child care centre is a practicum site for post-secondary programs in early learning and child care, human service administration, and nursing, among others. The Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) program at NorQuest provides a half-time faculty position to liaise and support the child care as a demonstration centre for the ELCC program. This faculty member organizes research and education in the centre and supports implementation of Play, Participation and Possibilities: An Early Learning and Child Care Curriculum Framework for Alberta.
We offer a mentoring program for newly certified child care educators who wish to gain work experience before entering the job market. Contact our centre for further information.