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p10 weekender march 7l987 area centres offer day care diversity by sandy hazell this is the third in a series of articles on area day care centres this week miliiken mills and stouffville are examined next week private inhome day care will be featured milliken mills day care 1151 denison st markham when tina haji moved to mil- liken mills four years ago she tried unsuccessfully to get her children into a day care centre with an early childhood education ece diploma and ex perience in supervising a day care centre in ottawa mrs haji decided to open her own facility i thought there was so much need for day care i started look ing around for space says mrs haji its so hard to find a place the owner of this building said take the whole thing or nothing with financial backing she opened the miliiken mills day care centre in five units of a medical building today 90 children including in fants are divided into classrooms according to age rates are 135 per week for 4 to 18 months 110 for 18 to 30 months and 90 for 2v4 to sixyearolds financially it is very difficult to have infant care but some pa rents do need it says mrs haji you have to be very very care ful with infants in keeping the room clean and if two babies get sick i still have to pay my staff a maximum of seven infants are in one room with two ece staff we take children strictly full time she says the program isnt structured but organized themes are geared to each age group using a different approach we are not a babysit ting program ratnbow corners day care centre 5000 steeles avenue east markham when ebenezer united church built its new addition two years ago space was allotted for a permanentday care centre within the expansion today the nonprofit centre is completely run by a volunteer board of directors five full time ece staff and two parttime staff care for the 32 children aged 2 to 5 years weekly rates are 90 we have flexibility within a structured program says assis tant supervisor cariee marshall we follow the childrens de velopment guide to use as a checklist in an informal way to see what stage of development a child is at learning the basics of the alphabet are a part of the curriculum at local day care centres here instruc tor brigit knoll of unionville day care centre helps fouryearold students michael cunningham left vanessa mok and jeffrey hamilton learn the letter b supervisor janice freeman adds we try to keep the parents informed of their childs progress and development by praising them and encouraging selfhelp skills you can make the children feel good about themselves the original church facilities are used by the children during inclement weather as well for naps i dont believe there is any money to be made in day care once youve used the funds for top fiveyearold chums kelly brigdon left and kim- berley armstrong look like theyd prefer to some thing other than learn french instructor agnes margrain points to the image board that illustrates les fruits at the childrens academy of mar kham sandy hazell children at miliiken mills daycare centre are faught early on the meaning of the word sharing here instructor zcty shaboo encourages her charges miranda rupall six months jcnnoi ennis 14 months and sheldon titus 11 months to share sandy hazell quality toys and good nutritious meals says mrs freeland i think the government should give more grants to help establish more nonprofit centres she adds local community groups should also be encouraged to support day care centres there definitely is a need for more day care we have a waiting list of at least 30 people already st mary of leuca day care centre 290 risebrough circuit markham when the daughters of st mary of leuca moved from scarbor ough seven years ago most fami lies from their day care centre fol lowed them to their large new location in miliiken mills from the 50 children we had 45 families bought houses in mar kham richmond hill stouffville whitby and ajax says sister addolorata obal the parents brought their children here pa rents feel we are just one really big family most children started with us when they were 2 now its like an extension of home three sisters preside over four classrooms of 25 children who are divided according to age from vh to 6 years the weekly fee is 70 a before and after school prog ram is also available for children aged 7 to 9 years most of the parents are young couples and immigrants says sister addolorata we want to help you could say we are a humanitarian service the 14 sisters at the centre speak various languages and come from italy india and the philippines the 100 children at the centre represent 35 nationali ties members of the community assist with the children frequent ly such as volunteer parents and students doing field work from local high schools and colleges our program goal is to provide children with a creative atmos phere in which they can gain so cial skills and intellectual compe tence says sister addolorata there is a tremendous need for day care we have a twoyear waiting list chickadee day nursery 34 albert st s stouffville ont our kids arc separated by age but we try and make it like a home away from home says heather preece owner of the chickadce day nursery four eces and an assistant su pervise the 35 children aged 18v4 months to 5 years parttime and fulltime programs are available weekly rates are 76 for pre schoolers and 85 for toddlers although the program isnt structured and children arent formally accessed the children learn through the different areas sandy hazell we set up regarding our weekly theme and through playing says miss preece shes been able to keep costs down with the help of parents bringing in art supplies in her 10year ownership of the centre she has encountered prob lems in obtaining qualified staff that fit in with what you want and are willing to put in extra hours when required the childrens house day care centre 22 church st north stouffville ten years ago chris suzuki and sue mckinnon opened the chil drens house nursery school in stouffville prompted by parents from theirprogram who were consider ing a return to work the owners added a day care centre to their program three years ago it was just a matter of chang ing our facility to meet the de mand says chris suzuki the fullyintegrated centre has a capacity for 50 children aged 18 months to 5 years with ece teachers and 5 assistants weekly rates are 110 for toddlers and 100 for 2v4 to 5 year olds the staffing is the most impor tant thing in day care says mrs suzuki parents should really watch the interaction between the staff and children the bottom line is they should be careful that their emotional needs are met in a warm accept ing environment parents should feel really comfortable with the staff and philosophy of the centre mrs suzuki says costs for run ning the centre have been ex tremely high the recent 2 per day fee in crease has not been sufficient to meet increased mortgage ex penses staff salaries food and in surance she says its a big responsibility trying to meet all the needs of the chil dren and provide a quality prog ram with proper nutrition and proper equipment says mrs suzuki im really hoping the provincial government can subsi dize staff salaries unionville day care centre marklcc branch 100 lee avenue miliiken mills ont located in a former public school the marklee branch has the same program as the unionv- lle branch but offers only day care and has been operating since 1984 total capacity is 88 children each of the four classrooms arc supervised by one ece and two assistants with children divided according to age fees are 115 per week for 18 months to 2v4 years and 100 per week for2v4 to 5 year olds