June was a busy month at Kiddie Korner Day Care – but then again, almost every month at the daycare is a busy one.
Serving infants from 22 months to six years, the daycare expands in the summer months, looking after kids as old as eight. Right now, that means a total of 33 young children are being served. While the daycare can look chaotic at first glance, there is order in the madness.
“There is a curriculum that’s followed at daycare. It’s not just play. It’s important that it is play based, but there is a curriculum being followed that is in relation to early childhood education,” said Amanda Link-Labarre, the chair of Kiddie Korner’s board.
“The big thing is that they are here to ensure growth for each child. They are providing individualized attention for each one, so if you think about it, if there’s a little boy or girl who’s 22 months old in the chipmunk room, two years old, how much care will be needed, from diapering to just that one-on-one attention, compared to somebody who’s six years old, already in Kindergarten, what a vast array of needs that would be and being accommodating to those needs.”
“We change our themes weekly,” added Janelle Scully, the daycare’s director.
Each day, the kids play until 9 a.m., then move from structured segment to structured segment throughout the day. Sometimes, that takes the form of arts and crafts, while other segments may include storytelling, sensory play, games, colouring or even nap time.
“The routine is important. There’s expectations for the kids and for the staff too,” said Scully.
“I think the kids definitely thrive on having a routine and knowing what’s coming next.”
Unlike other forms of education, the students coming into Kiddie Korner are often completely blank slates. Instead of math or book reports, the lessons are a little more pragmatic.
“It can be anywhere from like diaper changing, nose wiping to teaching their letters to reading stories, even to teaching them how to hold a pair of scissors and cutting. Absolutely everything. Manners, mealtime, chewing with your mouth closed,” Scully said.
Outside the organized curriculum, the staff occasionally takes the kids out for field trips or holds special events. Kids with Kiddie Korner have gone to Culture Days activities, to Flin Flon RCMP and Flin Flon Fire Department headquarters, to the Northern Lights Manor and to the Personal Care Home, as well as other community locations. The group uses the Flin Flon Public Library weekly.
“Last winter, for our Christmas party, we had the children bring their parents and siblings to the center and had a visit from Santa and snacks and we were just able to go and show their families what they do every day. They were excited and pumped about four weeks. We loved having their families here,” said Scully.
Child care can be seen as a calling and for some of the workers. That calling has led to Kiddie Korner.
Scully, who will be leaving the daycare later this summer to spend more time with her family, began working with Kiddie Korner years ago before stepping away for a time. Right now, the daycare’s longest tenured worker is Michelle Betnar.
It’s the caring aspect, along with the unpredictability, that keeps Betnar happy with her work at the daycare.
“I love kids. It’s not for the money. You don’t know what you’re going to get from day to day. It could be a bad day, but then at the end of the day, a kid tells you they love you and you’re like, ‘Okay, it’s worth it,’” she said. “I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I love my job. I love what I do. I love getting the kids coming in every day and they’re happy to see me and when I get a hug or I get an ‘I love you,’ I know I’m doing my job.”
“As a parent, knowing that my daughter is coming to a place where there is that passion – where she is going to feel that love, knowing that you’re working or whatever you have to do while your child is here, knowing that your child is in a safe environment where they are being loved and the staff have that passion to care for your child; that’s it,” said Link-Labarre.
