Men in Daycare

By Andrea Belanger www.askanece.com

How many of you work with a man in the child care field or have a male
child care provider at your child’s centre? How do you feel about men in
the child care field?

I took my Early Childhood Education Diploma both through Seneca College
and Loyalist College. Out of all the courses I took to get my diploma, I
had only one male in any of my classes. This student was fantastic. He
had a real love for children, a willingness to learn, his projects were
fantastic and creative. He would have been great addition to any daycare
centre.

He did however have one problem…there was not one child care centre in
our area that would allow him to do his field placement in their
establishment. Without field placements he could not graduate. He was
very discouraged, as you could imagine. He had taken the course after
his nephews were born. This student had discovered he had a talent with
young children and he really enjoyed spending time with them. I ended up
leaving the school before I found out if he was ever allowed to graduate
and I always hoped our paths would cross again somewhere in our field.

Today, as a supervisor, I would hire him in an instant based on his
talent and passion for the job, however I also have to think of the
parent’s in my centre. How would they react to a male diapering and
toilet training their children? Sadly, there is a stigma attached to men
in child care. I have had the pleasure of working with only two men in
the child care field over the span of six years, and both were in
school-age programs where there is no diapering or toileting involved.

Perhaps this is why these men were more widely accepted. Although I must
admit, there was more then one odd glance or derogatory comment made by
parents about his choice of profession.

From these two experiences, I have come to realize the benefits of male
staff in a child care centre:

* They work twice as hard to prove they are capable of handling the job.
* They have a natural ability with the older boys who are usually
embarrassed to be attending daycare in the first place.
* They provide different styles of teaching, behaviour modification
and life experiences which only improves the program.
* A well rounded childcare team is more representative of real life
situations.
* They provide a strong male role model for the children in the centre.
* Men in the child care field help break the stereotype that child
care as women’s work.

Men make great parents, why not great child care workers too?

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Tamara and as Carly has announced I am the new owner of Durham Region Daycare.  I would like to welcome all of you and ask that if you have any questions or problems to please feel free to contact me. I look forward to working with all of you and hope you look forward to some new and exciting changes that will be coming soon!

Tamara

André Picard, The Globe and Mail’s public health reporter, is answering a question a day from readers about the H1N1 pandemic (link here). Last week he was asked this very interesting question I thought you’d all like to see the answer to:

Q: Why aren’t teachers and daycare workers considered “high-priority” for the H1N1 vaccine? Teachers are in daily contact with children (and sick children). Also, many teachers are in their childbearing years and lots of them get pregnant. I don’t understand why teachers aren’t at the front of the line for vaccination.

A: When outbreaks of infectious disease occur, schools and daycare centres are invariably among the places hit first and hardest. Children are virtual microbe-spreading machines and teachers know this well – they tend to get every bug out there. By virtue of being in contact with large groups of children, teachers at relatively high risk of contracting H1N1.

However, the priority groups for vaccination are not those at highest risk of contracting the disease, but those at highest risk of suffering complications and dying if they are infected. This in an important distinction.

The priority groups are:

- People under 65 with chronic health conditions;

- Pregnant women;

- Children aged six months to five years of age;

- People living in remote and isolated communities, particularly First Nations;

- Front-line health workers;

- Care providers to those at high-risk.

As you can see, pregnant women (including teachers) are a high priority for the vaccine. Some jurisdictions, like Quebec, are also urging all pregnant teachers, daycare workers and health professionals to take “preventive early maternity leave” to lessen their risk of contracting H1N1 influenza.

Daycare workers who care for children under the age of six months are a high-priority group and should be vaccinated. Daycare workers and teachers of children aged six months to five years, as well as those care for or teach children with chronic health conditions like cystic fibrosis are also considered a high-priority group in most jurisdictions though there are varying interpretations of what the term “care provider to those at high-risk” means.

So, while not all teachers and daycare workers are at the front of the line for vaccination, some of them should be.

Many have wondered why front-line health-care workers are considered high priority and teachers are not. After all, nurses and doctors are not at higher risk of complications and dying if they are infected. There are two reasons: 1) Front-line health-care workers treat a lot of high-risk patients and could put those patients at grave risk if they passed on the flu bug; 2) They are needed to treat people who are sick with the flu (and other conditions), particularly if there is a pandemic that causes widespread illness. Put crudely, a sick nurse would cause a lot more sickness and social disruption than a sick teacher.

Everyone has been hit hard by our slumping economy. So, this summer we had a HUGE sale on a 6 month listing on Durham Region Daycare: Just $20.

Almost 30 providers signed up, or renewed their current ad.

You sent us a not-so-subtle message: Our prices were too high for today’s times.

We listened.

Although the summer sale is over, we have permanently reduced our already low rates:

• 6 months: $35
• 1 year: $65
• 2 years: $110

It’s now easier (and cheaper!) than ever to reach potential families. Click here to join (or renew) today: http://durhamregiondaycare.com/members/

Take advantage of the busiest time of the daycare season with our summer special!

It’s just $20 for a six month listing — new or renewal — on our busy site.

Simply enter coupon code Summer09 to build your custom, searchable, photo-enhanced ad on DurhamRegionDaycare.com.

Click here to join!

What a sad story:

http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/article/128141

Our daycare provider, Julia, sends Lucy home with the neatest crafts each week.

This guy was just three balls of dirt-filled panyhose until a few days ago when it started to sprout!

And now we have a very hairy caterpillar in our kitchen. My husband is determined to plant it in the backyard.

What a cool idea to teach kids about nature and growth, while having fun, too!

If you live in Durham Region or anywhere in south central Ontario today, you know it’s GORGEOUS out — currently 28 degrees up here in the Boonies! Unfortunately I’m spending some of the afternoon getting ready for tomorrow’s Mamas & Chicks Show, which includes this reminder blog post, which in hindsight is probably pointless because you’re probably all outside!

Eric, Alice and I will be there just inside the front entrance, so be sure to say hello and enter to win all this booty:

• Haircuts, shampoos & accessories from Melonhead Children’s Hair Care
• Funky maternity shirt from Spegg Wear
• Free portrait session and gift certificates from Shelly Ferguson Photography
• Tagalicious Blankie from Balaboosta Baby
• Eight-week workout session from Mommy and Baby Fitness
• Baby wrap from Wee Ones by JaJoC
• Two one-hour treatments and coupons from Feet First Reflexology

Another special thanks to our friends in the Durham Region parent-geared business community for the support and product donations. Don’tcha all love freeeeee stuff?

See you there!

This Saturday we’re at the first of two big parent shows in Durham this month: The Durham Parent Baby & Toddler Show.

Stop by and say hi! We’ll be promoting the site to parents by handing out Durham Region Daycare business cards and raffling off some great gift baskets.

If you’re a childcare provider, now is the time to sign up: Because we’ll be seeing hundreds of parents the next few weeks, we’re offering a 30% discount to list or renew your daycare!

Click here, and enter coupon code Show09.

Want more info? Email me at info@durhamregiondaycare.com

Look forward to seeing you!

We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes on the site the past few weeks, making a bunch of changes.

The most noticable is the addition of provider photos on the front page. These are randomly generated, and changed each time the page is refreshed.

It’s a great, visual way to highlight providers, and give extra exposure — clicking on the photo/link brings users to that listing.

And it certainly freshens up the home page, something I’ve wanted to do for ages.

On the inside of the site, we’re working hard to get automatic renewals going this week, and the ability to use a coupon for special promotions.

Enjoy!