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Why Choose An Educational Family Dayhome?

As parents, why choose a francophone educational service?

The transmission of francophone culture from generation to generation is an important process for the maintenance and growth of the Albertan francophone community. The francophone parent, just like the anglophone parent, is a model for the child. Language is an indispensable tool to ensure the transmission of francophone culture and heritage. We wish to help children to acquire and improve their competency in the French language to fully integrate the francophone school, their community, and society. Because of this, in the centre, exchanges and interactions occur solely in French. In the end, the commitment and perseverance of all will show our pride and sense of belonging to the francophone community.

Advantages of educational family dayhomes

Children benefit from the advantages of a multi-age group;
The living environment reflects family life at home;
Having the same educator throughout early childhood;
Noise levels are easier to control;
Caring for a smaller group of children allows to dedicate more time to each one, which increases daily interaction possibilities. This individualised attention, paired with a welcoming approach with the children, constitutes the basis for the establishment of a strong social competency;
Privileged relationships with parents: they may weave between them more personal and intimate connections;
Brothers and sisters of different ages may remain together.

Advantages of a multi-age group

The younger children observe the older children and are inspired to imitate them;
Thanks to their interactions, younger and older children develop their social abilities (ex. they learn to affirm themselves, to care for others, to share, etc.)
Older children gain confidence by serving as models for younger children. This encourages them to perform different tasks and to take responsibility as well as becoming more autonomous;
By being in contact with younger children, older children learn to better perceive the needs of others and to be more sensitive towards them;
There are less situations that bring about comparisons, as multi-age groups place children with different developmental levels in interaction with each other.

Advantages of choosing an educational service belonging to our agency

Before joining our agency, dayhomes have been subjected to a selection process that is compliant with the requirements of Children’s Services (CS;
We interview the provider and the members of their family;
All adults in the residence must provide a criminal background check including the vulnerable sector;
Visits to verify interior and exterior security are conducted by the agents, by following specific criteria approved by CS;
All providers must attend training provided by the agency;
Providers commit to attending professional development opportunities;
All providers commit to respecting all the policies and procedures of the agency;
We ensure that the dayhome is in compliance with laws and regulations from Children’s Services and the Family Day Home Standards so that you are able to trust us;
The agency regularly visits the day homes in order to verify the safety and well-being of the children and families (minimum 6 per year);
Our day homes may also be inspected at any moment by a representative of the Government of Alberta who, per our contract, must visit 10% of our day homes each year;
A substitution system is in place in the case where the usual educator is not available;
Tax receipts are provided;
Subsidies are available for families that qualify.

Admission and registration procedure

Placement of families

The agency accompanies parents in the registration of their children to an appropriate service. At the moment of registration, the agency provides potential parents with information on the operation of home visits, complaints received, and incidents that may have taken place in the different day homes.

If a provide recruits a family for their service, they must inform the registrations commissioner at the agency office and direct the child’s family to the commissioner in order to be admitted to the legal registration process based on the standards of Children’s Services.

During the placement process, the agency must:

Communicate with the parent(s) to determine their personal preferences and criteria in terms of educational services (for example: location, pets, desired hours of operation);
Provide a list of potentially appropriate day homes so that the parent(s) may evaluate them;
Provide the potential parent(s) with a profile summary of the different services indicating information relative to the home visits performed, complaints received, and any incidents that occurred within a service;
Coordinate contact/visits between the parent, the service’s educator, and the child before placement;
After approval of the registration by all parties, the agency coordinates the submission of registration documents that provide access to the required information for opening the file; and
Document all contacts between staff and the agency, the parent(s) and the educational services by using the Contact Report Form

Registration and admission of children

The agency being an organisation by and for francophones, places capital importance on ensuring the offer of services in French, operating under its banner. We expect that service providers do the same.

Registration Priority
The centre offers priority to children who are:

Children of a francophone family;
Children with a brother or sister already registered to the program.

Registration Process and Delay

When the family and the provider have confirmed their desire to collaborate, the registration documents are sent by the agency to the family;
The registration process is done via the agency’s computer system;
Expect a delay of a minimum of 7 business days to treat the registration file of a new child, after having been completed by the family;
The child may begin their activities in the centre only once the files are complete and the family receives confirmation from the agency’s registrations commissioner;
Once registration is confirmed, the commissioner has access to the file via the computer system and must print the following documents for the paper file to keep in the service:
- Emergency sheet
- Consent form
- The child’s welcome document
- The administration of medicine form, if applicable

Find a program

Guides and resources

Finding and choosing a person to entrust your children to is not a simple task!

Here are resources containing, among other things, other common questions to ask as you try to choose the right educational family day home for you and your family.