Horizon / Open an educational family dayhome

Open an educational family dayhome

The Agence des milieux éducatifs familiaux francophones de l’Alberta (Francophone Family Dayhomes of Alberta Agency) can help you make your project a reality

Our team of early childhood specialists will help you realize your project to open an educational service and guide you toward your objectives.

The agency wishes to create new spaces for early childhood in Alberta to help francophone families who are looking for a French-language service for their child.

WHO IS IT FOR?

This project concerns entrepreneurs who already have an educational family dayhome and who wish to be part of an early childhood community, who wish to break isolation, receive personalized support, and improve the quality of existing services.

This project also concerns entrepreneurs who wish to open an educational family dayhome and who are ready to commit to offering quality long-term services for families in their community.

First, do you have the physical and mental capacity to offer educational services to children aged 0 to 12 years?

Then, here are some additional questions to ask yourself to know if this project is adapted to your lifestyle and ambitions. Are you ready to:

Offer a childcare service that ensures the good health, safety, and well-being of children;
Plan and offer educational activities that fulfill the agency’s educational program;
Perform tasks outside of opening hours (cleaning, laundry, meals, planning, training, research, etc.)
Dedicate yourself to your own professional development;
Interest yourself and keep yourself informed on the evolution of different educational movements as professional development for the continued improvement of the service;
Adapt your services according to the needs of families;
Dedicate a part of your family’s space for your service;
Work in strict collaboration with the agency;
Receive constructive criticism from families and the agency.

As an entrepreneur, why choose to open an educational family dayhome service with our agency?

Here are a few advantages:

Wage subsidies based on level of certification;
Offer more affordable services for families;
Policies and procedures based on provincial regulations, ensuring compliance;
Professional development in French that is adapted to your needs, enabling you to acquire new knowledge and improve educational practices;
Monthly meetings with other providers allowing to connect and exchange;
Access to a library of pedagogical resources;
Work from home and be present for your own children.

Why Choose Our Agency?

Click through the slides to see all the advantages of working with us!

Administrative Support

We handle advertisements, registrations, the children’s files, we offer annual training opportunities, consultations, sharing of information, financial management support (annual budgets, family billing, expenses, honorariums, preparing tax receipts for parents)

Personalized Support

We adapt our support to your needs and your individual operating style. A support agent will be assigned to your service to guide, support, and accompany you in the evolution of your practices to meet the province’s standards, all in the spirit of collaboration.

Support Agent

The support agent, as well as accompanying the provider in terms of pedagogy, the environment, and children with special needs, is also the person who keeps an eye on the location’s compliance and safety standards. They make several visits per year, some announced and others unannounced.

The Agency Director

The agency’s Director supervises the daily operation of educational family dayhome services. They are charged with coordinating the agency’s services as the contact person for families in the community.

Computer System

We provide access to our sophisticated computer system to support you in the administrative management of the service.

Advertisement & Promotion

Advertising support includes the development of a logo, website, brochures, and online advertising on the agency website as well as social media. The registrations commissioner suggests educational family dayhomes to families seeking a place for their child.

Financial Security

The agency establishes payment agreements with families and takes charge of handling withdrawals and monthly subsidies. The agency also handles the declaration and reception of salary subsidies for providers.

Fiscal Advantages

As an autonomous worker, you may benefit from fiscal advantages. The agency puts its providers in contact with a partner organisation offering support and accompaniment for managing a business.

Tools & Resources

Several tools and adapted resources are accessible at all times for providers collaborating with our agency.

Among others, this includes:

Access to a list of substitute educators if you ever need to be absent.
Access to a community of French-speaking students of early childhood
Access to a training workshop platform

Required Qualifications

You must have a minimum of a Level 1 Early Childhood Certification.

Training to obtain this certificate is accessible online in French or in English for free at the following link:

https://childcare.basecorp.com/home

Qualities of an Educational Family Dayhome Provider

To be successful in this industry, it is important to:

Be enthusiastic, patient, welcoming, and dynamic;
Be creative;
Be flexible;
Be autonomous and responsible;
Have a sense of humour
Enjoy taking care of others;
Take real pleasure in working with children and be able to provide an environment where all children feel welcome;
Understand the impact of your role as educator on the lives of children who are entrusted to you;
Be capable of performing required administrative tasks and acquire new competencies if necessary to manage a small business successfully;
Be a competent, developed, and efficient communicator to be able to work with children and adults;
Demonstrate the capacity to respond appropriately to the needs of children and have the competence to guide the children’s behaviour in a positive manner;
Wish to manage your service with support from a solid team of professional consultants who come to your home;
Be aware of the importance of professional development and desire to improve competence by participating in training opportunities offered by the agency.

Professional Development Opportunities

The provider commits to demonstrating a commitment to their continued professional development by participating in at least three professional development activities per year.

Further, the agency offers six annual meetings for providers. These meetings aim to offer information on regulations and changes, training, and professional community exchanges in order to break the isolation of French-speaking providers and favour networking. These meetings are planned by the agency director and are mandatory for all providers, with exceptions for unforeseen circumstances. For example, a death in the family, extreme weather conditions, etc.

Pedagogical Framework

The agency commits, under the government, to implant Alberta’s vision of the pedagogical framework “FLIGHT” in its educational childcare services.

For the agency:

The child must be considered a citizen and a powerful learner, capable and growing.

We prioritize learning through play, organizing the space into zones to provoke interest and respond to needs, natural materials, and collaboration with parents and the community.

Adults as well as children have roles as co-learners, co-researchers, and co-creators of possibilities. Educational practices must be positive, democratic, and must respect the rights of children through their identity and individual uniqueness.

To consult the French version, please click on the following link:

Flight Framework Document French Web F.pdf

Admission, Registration, and Payment Procedure

The Francophone Educational Family Dayhome Agency of Alberta has its own administrative process for placement, registration, and financial management.

As the service provider is an autonomous worker and works with a multi-age group of children, alone in their environment, it is normal that they may be involved in the selection of children for their service. However, they must respect the organisational and administrative functions determined by the agency.

In order to ensure good collaboration and communication between the agency and the service provider, this procedure will indicate the steps to follow.

Click here to view the Registration Policy

Click here to view the Financial and Payment Management Policy