About Us
Located in Etobicoke, Royal York Child Care (RYC) offers child care for children ages 12 months to 12 years old.
At Royal York Childcare Centre, we view the child as competent, capable, curious and rich in potential. Our view of the child is as follows:
- Every child has a sense of belonging when he or she is connected to others and contributes to their world.
- Every child is developing a sense of self, health, and well-being.
- Every child is an active and engaged learner who explores the world with body, mind, and senses.
- Every child is a capable communicator who expresses himself/herself in many ways.
We offer a blended program at RYC which consists of child initiated, teacher guided and play based learning opportunities supported by the guidelines of the How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years Document (2014).
Our Programs
Childcare is the beginning of a child’s educational journey thus, one of the main stepping stones into your child’s social life experiences. At RYC we believe that all children from infant to preschool ages have the ability to learn through different types of experiences. These experiences will enable your child to grow physically, mentally and emotionally while ensuring a calm, healthy and caring environment.
Our programs are developed with the children’s interests and abilities in mind as well as supported by the ELECT document. At RYC we believe that a blended program uses different types of teaching styles such as:
- Teacher and child guided activities
- Montessori and ELECT experiences
- sensory activities
- gross and fine motor activities
- indoor and outdoor programming
- creative and music experiences.
RYC offers programs for children ages 12 months to 12 years old.
Programs Available
Infant Program
Age: 12 to 18 months
Capacity: 10
Ratio: 3:1
Toddler Program
Age: 12 to 18 months
Capacity: 10
Ratio: 3:1
Preschool Program
Age: 31- 48 months
Capacity: 24
Ratio: 8:1
Before & After School Program
Age: 4 years to 12 years
Capacity: 30
Ratio: 16:1
Nursery Preschool Program (9:30am-2:30pm)
Age: 31-48 months
Capacity: 24
Ratio: 8:1
Our Approach
At RYC the children in our care will have a variety of opportunities to reach their full developmental potential.
These opportunities will be offered to the children by our staff keeping the following goals in mind while creating programming and developing classroom environments:
Through exploration of the children’s interests, Teachers will provide both active and quiet activities that will create a positive environment that will stimulate all areas of the child’s development while meeting their individual needs.
In order to develop weekly programming that is geared towards the children’s interests, teachers will be using observations documented on each child to create activities and mindful programming which involves all children and their developmental needs.
Programming will be collaborated with the teaching resource Early Learning for Every Child Today (ELECT) document as well as “How Does Learning Happen?”. There are copies of the ELECT document available in the office for review or online here: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/excerptsfromelect.pdf
Health, safety, and well-being
RYC will promote Health, safety, nutrition and well-being of the children.
All classrooms will consist of 1-2 Registered Early Childhood Educators (R.E.C.E.) licensed by the College of Early Childhood Educators as well as an Early Childhood assistant depending on room capacity and child to teacher ratio.
All Staff will be trained in RYC’s health and safety policies, procedures and emergency protocols. Staff are required to supervise the children at all times indoors, outdoors, wash routines and rest periods. The Centre observes and follows Toronto Public Health policies and procedures and Health and Safety guidelines and executes fire drills and evacuation procedures on a monthly basis.
All Staff have valid and up to date certification in standard first aid and CPR level C (Infant and Child CPR) upon hire and thorough understanding of the use of Epi-Pens. RYC will collect information from each Staff member and child, including documentation of up to date immunization records. Teachers will review all information regarding a child before said child starts in their class room (especially noting allergies, diet and Parental preferences). The health of each child is documented on a daily basis upon arrival to the program this includes documentation of any new immunizations.
Nutrition
RYC's snacks and warm lunches are catered to the centre by ``Yummy Catering``.
Yummy Catering is a catering company based in Toronto with a short distance of 8 km away from our centre. For more information please feel free to visit their website at: http://www.yummycatering.ca/
Our centre will supply 2 healthy snacks and a balanced lunch, catered by Yummy Catering daily.
RYC and Yummy Catering are both nut free facilities.
Foster the children’s exploration, play and inquiry
Children make their interests known in a variety of different ways.
To discover those interests the Teachers observe, listen and talk with the children and document their interactions. Using the 4 Foundations of How Does Learning Happen (Belonging, Well-Being, Engagement and Expression) we will create an environment that allows the children to explore the topic of interest, and the world around them, with their natural curiosity and exuberance. Through our blended program, children will develop the skills needed to expand their abilities as well as their knowledge and understanding of their world.
Provide Child-initiated and adult supported experiences
The R.E.C.E. will follow the child’s lead in our interactions and in developing an environment that is rich in opportunities for exploration and interaction.
Reflecting on our documentation we discover the child’s current interests, which guide us in the materials we provide and the opportunities we offer in all areas of the child’s development. While considering the needs of the group, individual needs are always considered as well. The environment will then be set up to encourage the children to challenge their abilities, expand their interests and develop relationships.
We will follow the guidelines of the CCEYA in developing our program. We strive to provide equal opportunities for all children to find the active and quiet time that meets their individual needs. We make use of the playground for two hours every day, weather permitting, providing a variety of active materials.
