Kare-A-Lot Early Learning Centre

Emma lost her first tooth at lunch time today. The room was full of excitement and a little jealousy. 🤪

🐛💚 Compassion. Always.

☀️⛱️

I spent a lot of years thinking that being intentional meant planning what I was going to teach, setting up the right activity, or finding a way to bring literacy into children's play.

Now, I think intentionality starts with paying attention.

What are the children doing?
What are they talking about?
What ideas are they working through?
What literacy is already showing up?

Because once I can see that, I can make a much better decision about what they actually need from me.

Sometimes that's a new material. Sometimes it's language or information that helps move an idea forward. Sometimes it's explicit instruction.

And sometimes it's getting out of the way.

The goal isn't to make play more educational.

It's to get better at seeing the learning that's already there.

What are you noticing in children's play that you might have missed before?

🥺😭

Saying goodbye to the kids we’ve watched grow from infants is one of the hardest parts of being a childcare worker.

People don’t often talk about how deep our bonds are with these children or how much we truly love and care for them as if they were our own. I’ll be honest, this is the part of the journey I struggle with the most. My heart aches, but I know they’ll go on to do amazing things.

To the parents: thank you for trusting us with your babies and allowing us to be part of your community. It’s been a privilege to see them learn, laugh, play, and grow.

We’ll never forget them.🥺💛