Nutrition

Kids Come First follows Canada’s Food Guide when developing menus. The menus have been reviewed by a dietician and include a variety of foods taking into account holidays and food restrictions. Kids Come First serves breakfast and afternoon snack in our School Age programs. Our Preschool and Toddler programs are also served a hot lunch which includes raw and cooked vegetables, organic meat where possible, fresh fruit and whole grains. Copies of menus can be viewed on the parent communication board and coming soon to our website. Kids Come First Educators will work with families to familiarize themselves with information concerning medical conditions, exceptionalities, allergies, food restrictions, religious requirements, medication requirement and parental preferences in respect to diet and rest time.

Educators

Our quality child care programs are designed to create meaningful learning environments for children to grow, learn and develop techniques for future learning. Kids Come First’s Educators will support positive and responsive interactions among the children, parents, and Educators. Kids Come First will support this through the hiring of qualified, responsive, and well trained Early Childhood Educators who support families in their role as primary caregivers, and understand the needs of each child as an individual as well as within a group.

We see our Educators as knowledgeable, reflective, resourceful and we value the experiences and environments that they create for the children. Kids Come First ensures that the Educators are able to provide a quality program by providing ongoing education and professional development for our Educators related to best practices. Kids Come First supports the educators by providing opportunities for workshop and seminars that promote Continuous Professional Learning.

Kids Come First believes that Educators need to be reflective practitioners who learn about children through listening, observation, documentation, and discussion with others and families to understand children as unique individuals. They will observe how children learn and make sense of the world around them through their experiences and meaningful interactions. Children’s exploration, play and inquiry supported by engaged and attentive Educators, can be encouraged through a variety of open ended activities and emergent programming that is rich in content. The Educators engage with the children as co-learners during their exploration of the environment, provoke their curiosity and guide positive interactions to support children’s emotions.

Kids Come First provides opportunity for Educators to engage in critical reflection and discussion with others about pedagogy and practice, to support continuous professional learning. On a weekly basis, Educators will meet with their team to review their observations and plan for meaningful documentation and plan for learning. Our Educators use observation and pedagogical documentation to plan their weekly programming based on the children’s interests, reflect on children’s experiences, document dialogue and provoke further learning. The Educators will post documentation highlighting children’s learning through their play experiences.