Love
Crafting Futures with Care and Compassion
Spreading Joy,
One Smile at a Time.
Laughter
Friendship
Cultivating Connections for a Compassionate Community
Family
Extending the warmth of home, every day.
Building Blocks
Provides Each Child With Individual Experiences
Learning
To relate to and respect other children and adults
(negotiating, problem solving and cooperating)
Exploring
Curiosity and understanding about the world around them
Introducing and encouraging creative skills
Developing
A feeling of positive
self-image and confidence
Stimulating
Intellectual development
Interacting with other children in group situations
Learning
To relate to and respect other children and adults
(negotiating, problem solving and cooperating)
Exploring
Curiosity and understanding about the world around them
Introducing and encouraging creative skills
Developing
A feeling of positive
self-image and confidence
Stimulating
Intellectual development
Interacting with other children in group situations
We are four of a handful of early childhood education-based daycares here in the city of Medicine Hat or as we locals call it, the Gas City. You will find this website is packed full of information about our program and staff.
If, after viewing our website, you have any questions or would like to set up a tour of one of our Medicine Hat, Alberta facilities located in:
Crescent Heights, Ross Glen, Southlands, and Southview, please feel free to contact our Director, Andrea Coulombe, via email or phone. Once again, we would like to thank you for your interest and hope that we hear from you very soon.
Philosophy
Helping children prepare for world around them.
Building Blocks Childcare Centres mission statement is “Educating Through Love, Laughter, Friendship and Family.” We exude and amplify this throughout our daily activities and interactions.
Building Blocks Childcare Centres encourages children to develop an “awareness of the world around me.” This is the daycare’s yearly theme and is tied together with the monthly themes and activities of the program. We believe that in order to provide a successful daycare program, children are recognized as unique individuals who have the right to develop creativity, intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually and physically to his or her own potential.
Learning to play
Building Blocks Childcare Centres encourages development by providing a playful, nurturing and safe environment.
At Building Blocks Childcare Centres we offer structured, unstructured and routine activities. We recognize that play is the work of children and is a requirement to a child’s well being. Play stimulates a child to learn and is vital for his or her growth and development.
Love
The program will use child led and teacher supervised activities that promote positive mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health by focusing on the individual childs’ strengths and interests, asking questions about their feelings and listen and show empathy for their feelings.
This will help to develop nurturing relationships, provide a safe and positive environment, and help to build children’s confidence.
The educators will consider the different brain/cognitive development of each child in their class which will allow for daily considerations within their daily programming.
This nurtures children’s dispositions to learn, provide opportunities for play and playfulness and create a sense of well-being and belonging.
Laughter
Children are co-constructors within the program. This gives them the opportunities to develop
thinking skills and language.
This also allows for the safe exploration and experimenting with their ideas, culture,
traditions and self-regulation skills.
The environment and educators encourage and support the child’s ability to adapt their behavior, attention, emotions and thoughts throughout the day, depending on what’s going on in the classroom such as being able to follow direction ex. lining up to go outside, sitting still when appropriate.
Educators support and encourage pro-social behavior with praise and words of encouragement when a child demonstrates pro-social behavior such as sharing and cooperation.
The program uses learning provocations to allow the children to feel empowered and the Mighty Learners that they are. The staff are responsive to individual children by responding to and enhancing upon the provocations.
Friendship
Educators engage in “serve and return” interactions. These back-and-forth exchanges are the building blocks of children’s early brain development. They help children learn how to control their emotions, cope with stress, and learn skills that will serve as a foundation for later development such as awareness of peers, educators and community, empathy for peers and educators, kindness to peers and educators and the confidence to be assertive with their needs, thoughts and feelings.
Educators also follow effective supervision at all times.
Family
The program will demonstrate care, respect, honor, sharing and thoughtful listening to gain knowledge and appreciation of family, social and
cultural practices and traditions.
The program will seek opportunities to learn from elders and community learners as these can provide authentic and meaningful experiences that connect curriculum to living and life.
These connections help to build appreciation for differences and nurture respect and social responsibilities within not only the family but the community as well.
Love
The program will use child led and teacher supervised activities that promote positive mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health by focusing on the individual childs’ strengths and interests, asking questions about their feelings and listen and show empathy for their feelings.
This will help to develop nurturing relationships, provide a safe and positive environment, and help to build children’s confidence.
The educators will consider the different brain/cognitive development of each child in their class which will allow for daily considerations within their daily programming.
This nurtures children’s dispositions to learn, provide opportunities for play and playfulness and create a sense of well-being and belonging.
Laughter
Children are co-constructors within the program. This gives them the opportunities to develop thinking skills and language.
This also allows for the safe exploration and experimenting with their ideas, culture, traditions and self-regulation skills.
The environment and educators encourage and support the child’s ability to adapt their behavior, attention, emotions and thoughts throughout the day, depending on what’s going on in the classroom such as being able to follow direction ex. lining up to go outside, sitting still when appropriate.
Educators support and encourage pro-social behavior with praise and words of encouragement when a child demonstrates pro-social behavior such as sharing and cooperation.
The program uses learning provocations to allow the children to feel empowered and the Mighty Leaners that they are. The staff are responsive to individual children by responding to and enhancing upon the provocations.
Friendship
Educators engage in “serve and return” interactions. These back-and-forth exchanges are the building blocks of children’s early brain development. They help children learn how to control their emotions, cope with stress, and learn skills that will serve as a foundation for later development such as awareness of peers, educators and community, empathy for peers and educators, kindness to peers and educators and the confidence to be assertive with their needs, thoughts and feelings.
Educators also follow effective supervision at all times.
Family
The program will demonstrate care, respect, honor, sharing and thoughtful listening to gain knowledge and appreciation of family, social and cultural practices and traditions.
The program will seek opportunities to learn from elders and community learners as these can provide authentic and meaningful experiences that connect curriculum to living and life.
These connections help to build appreciation for differences and nurture respect and social responsibilities within not only the family but the community as well.
Inclusion
We will ensure that our service is fully inclusive in meeting the needs of all children. We encourage children to discuss and share different aspects of culture, race, religion, abilities, life style and background. We aim to make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities of the setting. We welcome the diversity of family lifestyles and work with all families. We encourage children to contribute stories of their everyday life to the setting. Staff is responsive to children’s abilities and needs for assistance.
Confidentiality
All staff that are employed with Building Blocks Childcare Centers has signed our confidentiality policy.
In the confidentiality agreement the following is stated:
- All documents pertaining to children will be kept in a secure place.
- Anything that is discussed regarding any child will not be taken outside of the centre.
- Posting pictures, or comments regarding children past or present on social networking sites is prohibited.
Nurturing Environment
Children participate within a safe and caring environment where their health, vitality, well being and a sense of belonging and identity are protected and nurtured. Children participate within open, engaging and responsive environments where exploration and play are encouraged and purposefully planned. This enhances imagination and creativity, playful exploration and problem solving. This provides opportunities for children to be Mighty Learners as it allows the freedom to express themselves and a sense of belonging as the educators create a safe, secure and non-judgmental environment. Staff become the co-learners and scaffold learning stories to enhance upon the individual child to fully explore their interests. This allows the child to be challenged to achieve and move to a more complex level of moving, thinking, feeling and creativity.
Inclusion
We will ensure that our service is fully inclusive in meeting the needs of all children. We encourage children to discuss and share different aspects of culture, race, religion, abilities, life style and background. We aim to make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities of the setting. We welcome the diversity of family lifestyles and work with all families. We encourage children to contribute stories of their everyday life to the setting. Staff is responsive to children’s abilities and needs for assistance.
Confidentiality
All staff that are employed with Building Blocks Childcare Centers has signed our confidentiality policy.
In the confidentiality agreement the following is stated:
All documents pertaining to children will be kept in a secure place.
Anything that is discussed regarding any child will not be taken outside of the center.
Posting pictures, or comments regarding children past or present on social networking sites is prohibited.
Nurturing Environment
Children participate within a safe and caring environment where their health, vitality, well being and a sense of belonging and identity are protected and nurtured. Children participate within open, engaging and responsive environments where exploration and play are encouraged and purposefully planned. This enhances imagination and creativity, playful exploration and problem solving. This provides opportunities for children to be Mighty Learners as it allows the freedom to express themselves and a sense of belonging as the educators create a safe, secure and non-judgmental environment. Staff become the co-learners and scaffold learning stories to enhance upon the individual child to fully explore their interests. This allows the child to be challenged to achieve and move to a more complex level of moving, thinking, feeling and creativity
Developmentally
Appropriate Curriculum
Our program is based on the individual needs of the child. It is planned based on the individual needs of the kids and age groups in the room. Through play based activities, learning stories and provocations, we will focus on refining the skills they already have and develop and use newly acquired skills through exploration and discovery.
These activities keep children challenged, stimulated, busy and happy. Learning occurs through playing and hands on activities. Children learn to be independent by making their own choices throughout their play experiences.
We will focus on positive interactions with their peers and their teachers. In our daily planning we will incorporate a variety of activities that will allow them to use gross motor, fine motor, and cognitive skills. We will also incorporate 3 language units, letter recognition, as well as a theme, color and number for every month.
The program has employees that are certified in FLIGHT training and will be implemented as this curriculum recognizes, appreciates and values the practice of relationships among educators, children and families. It also recognizes the unique nature of educators and allows for “in the moment curriculum decisions” along with a shared professional language. This will cause educators to pause and reflect in order to make values, principles and goals that frame practice in early learning and child care clear to ourselves and visible to others. Routines give infants and toddlers a sense of security and stability. Routines help infants and toddlers feel safe and secure in their environment.
Young children gain an understanding of everyday events and procedures and learn what is expected of them as routines make their environment more predictable.We encourage children to be independent learners by giving them choices so they can reflect on their own interests and preferences. We encourage group work such as in centres or even on the playground so that children can learn from each other.
We teach them how to collaborate with the other children to set shared learning goals and we also involve children in the classroom planning of activities. This meets the needs of all of the children as it is very adaptable to all needs as the children are the ones who are choosing at what level are the engaged and it’s based on their interests and preferences.
Our program is based on the individual needs of the child. It is planned based on the individual needs of the kids and age groups in the room. Through play based activities, learning stories and provocations, we will focus on refining the skills they already have and develop and use newly acquired skills through exploration and discovery.
These activities keep children challenged, stimulated, busy and happy. Learning occurs through playing and hands on activities. Children learn to be independent by making their own choices throughout their play experiences.
We will focus on positive interactions with their peers and their teachers. In our daily planning we will incorporate a variety of activities that will allow them to use gross motor, fine motor, and cognitive skills. We will also incorporate 3 language units, letter recognition, as well as a theme, color and number for every month.
The program has employees that are certified in FLIGHT training and will be implemented as this curriculum recognizes, appreciates and values: the practice of relationships among educators, children and families. It also recognizes the unique nature of educators and allows for “in the moment curriculum decisions” along with a shared professional language. This will cause educators to pause and reflect in order to make values, principles and goals that frame practice in early learning and child care clear to ourselves and visible to others. Routines give infants and toddlers a sense of security and stability. Routines help infants and toddlers feel safe and secure in their environment.
Young children gain an understanding of everyday events and procedures and learn what is expected of them as routines make their environment more predictable. We encourage children to be independent learners by giving them choices so they can reflect on their own interests and preferences. We encourage group work such as in centers or even on the playground so that children can learn from each other.
We teach them how to collaborate with the other children to set shared learning goals and we also involve children in the classroom planning of activities. This meets the needs of all of the children as it is very adaptable to all needs as the children are the ones who are choosing at what level are the engaged and it’s based on their interests and preferences.
