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weekender february 28 1987 p15 area daycare centres offer variety by sandy hazell the following is the second in a series on area day care centres this week features facilities in the old village of markham and unionville next week milliken mills and stouffville will be examined centennial child care centre 8252 mccowan rd we really try and involve the parents in our program and encourage their parti cipation says pat grub su pervisor of centennial child care centre we work together as a joint effort some parents try and pop over for lunch while others try to attend special events owned and operated by the centennial baptist church the centre opened last september in the spacious basement of the church available to children aged 2 to 5v4 the centre has 16 children in its program some openings will be available in march weekly rates are 80 per week the semistructured prog ram offers halfhour long music classes every wednes day and friday and every week features terrific tues day a special events day with activities such as a winter pic nic and valentines party we put a newsletter out ev ery month keeping the pa rents informed of upcoming activities and monthly themes some parents have flexible hours so they try to participate when they can mrs grub said as well as having their own staff of three ece teachers and one trainee the centre i has two regular volunteers and on special outings parents and church volunteers assist the christian day care cen tre offers children some reli gious teaching but is not done in a formal manner the super- teacher janice bowie background plays the music as children have a musical parade from left jason pecchia zara clarke christina clarke and marshall fuller enjoy the activities at the centennial child care centre visor noted childrens academy academie des enfants 199 main st n i want to help children to become bilingual at a very early age says shirley be- natar owner of childrens academy in 1982 she opened her day care centre on main street markham the heart of the anglophone com munity mrs benatar previously owned a day care centre in ottawa and was an active advocate of getting french into public schools in that city licensed for a capacity of 92 children the staff includes 5 ece teachers and 8 assis tants weekly rates are 115 for 18 months to 2vt years and 110 for 2v4 to 5 year olds this program is a good base to start elementary school french immersion children can ha ve tools for the future says mrs benatar the children must be made very happy happy and disci plined go together along with the best environment and best nutrition financially it is very very hard to run a day care centre you have to put so much of your own money into it you have to wait for many years before you see a return mostly you have to pay de cent salaries for your staff and alwaysyou are replacing and renewing equipment mrs benatar is hoping to get approval for an extension of her building to make more room for the existing classes by- next fall i definitely think the gov ernment should give annual grants for staff salaries or subsidize part of the salaries on top of what were paying they are very hard workers dickson hill daycare and nursery school 70 dickson hill we have such a diversity of children says assistant supervisor nancy reed we respect the rights of children and their individual needs we try to make their day as happy and productive as possible in a stimulating environment the children are very close with each other and the staff licensed for 35 children aged 18 months to 5 years the staff consists of 3 ece s and 2 assistants the weekly rate is 80 per week privately owned by robert p mitchell the centre has been operating on the ground floor of the apostolic luther an church supervised by his daughter judy norman- deaux the most difficult thing in running a day care centre i think is getting qualified competent staff that has the same philosophy as you do says mrs normandeaux we have one of the highest paid staff because we have such low rent but the centre doesnt make a profit it just carries itself we spend a lot of money on nutritional meals for the children as well as waiting for sever al months for the bylaws to be amended the centre was not immediately recognized by the community because of its location situated on the stouffvillemarkham border near 19th line the centre now has children coming from markham stouffville ballan- trae and dickson hill kindergarten children are driven to dickson hill public school then brought to the cen tre by bus for lunch and after noon daycare fulltime part- time and nursery school prog rams are available unionville day care centre 4171 highway 7 e a lot of professional people want more than a babysitting service says marianne gaettens people are really interested in a structured program the husbandwife team of peter and marianne gaettens owns and operates two union- ville day care centres formerly a large home the unionville branch opened in 1981 and caters only to 4 and 5 year olds four nursery school classes are held upstairs while the main floor is occupied by 32 children in junior and senior day care kindergarten prog rams each group of 16 is led by one ece and 1 assistant cost per week is 100 although licensed for 64 the gaettens chose to use the basement as a full gym facil ity for the children the nursery school chil dren come here for various reasons everybody feels chil dren should learn they come here to socialize and give the moms a break junior kinder garten is not available to some children says mrs gaettens with the daycare kids they are here all day they come froih working parents this is their second home they are my children while they are here they definitely deserve the very best we dont have parttime daycare because we have a group of children who belong together it is an extension of home peter gaettens says the biggest misconception about daycare is that we are a profit making centre we are a ser vice industry seventy per cent of fees goes into salaries for staff and other expenses must be met i think the gov ernment should deduct the cost of daycare as an expense for working parents they should be allowed to deduct all of it not just 2000 markham transit study public information centres we need your help in evaluating route and service options for markham transit the town of markham is currently undertaking a study of transit services in the town and before any decisions are made we would like your input drop in to one of the public information centres listed below to see what is proposed for the fall of 1987 have a coffee and donut and tell us what you think for further information please call markham tran sit at 4777000 location thornhill thornhill community centre 7755 bayview ave milliken st benedict school 50 aldergrove dr markham markham community centre 15 wellington st e unionville unionville high school 201 town centre blvd date monday march 2 tuesday march 3 wednesday march 4 thursday march 5 time 300 pm to 900 pm 330 pm to 900 pm 300 pm to 900 pm 400 pm to 900 pm transit l pvv fst im mm grand opening march 13th 14th preopening special onnow 10 20 off our large selection of exclusive european childrens wear 3 birth ricco childrens boutique date mach 13 1987 time 1000 am place markham village lanes come in and fill out a ballot to win 1st prize 25000 worth of merchandise from our exclusive european selection j 2nd prize dinner for 2 at lindners b f x ricco childrens boutique 144 main st n markham ont a1a 7 a 1q in the markham village lanes r f 0 uif 1