Nshiime Child and Family Centre

Program Statement

Nshiime Child and Family Centre:

Is committed to providing an environment where the Anishinaabe culture and language are alive. We use the teachings, the community and our natural surroundings in order to enhance the binoojiinyag kinoomaadwin (teaching of the children). We invite our elders and other community programs to share their knowledge with the children. Nshiime Child and Family Centre maintains a close connection to the community by hosting and participating in many community events.

At the Nshiime Child and Family Centre we strive to provide a healthy and safe environment where children are encouraged to try new things and explore the world around them in order to learn through their play. Our daily routine includes healthy meals and snacks, personal hygiene (toileting, washing hands, brushing teeth), and time for quiet rest or sleep. Our staff strictly follows the Ministry of Education and Health and Safety standards. The staff also endeavors to model safe and healthy behaviours for the children. We allow children to explore and take safe risks, according to their skill level, while being closely monitored and supported by staff.

Children of Nshiime:

We encourage children to develop the skills needed to problem solve and communicate with their friends in a positive way. We view children as being competent, capable, curious and rich in potential. Staff members are always close by to help them find the words needed to have successful interactions. We respect that each child has a voice and emotions that should be heard and validated. Staff members engage children in conversation to model positive communication skills.

Parents of Nshiime:

Our goal is for parents to feel comfortable in the centre and feel that they have a positive relationship with their child’s caregivers. The staff aims to greet parents and children in the morning. We share information at the end of the day, whether through conversation or in writing (often using the Hi Mama Program), to provide updates, feedback, or stories from the day. We encourage positive and open communication between parents and staff in order to best meet the children’s needs.

Staff of Nshiime:

As a staff, we try to create a friendly and warm environment. Staff members are encouraged to maintain positive communication with each other. We are provided with time to meet with our teams, as well as with our supervisor, in order to connect, share thoughts, concerns, ideas and brainstorm together. As a team we help each other when needed, offering support and feedback. Our staff meetings are also a time for us to communicate, keep each other up to date, and plan for upcoming events. Professional Development days, workshops, conferences and training provide opportunities for continuous learning for staff. Resource staff is available to provide support for children, staff and parents.

Nshiime’s Learning Environment:

As Nshiime we feel strongly that children should be provided with a variety of materials and experiences in order to encourage curiosity. We carefully observe children while they play in order to provide activities that will interest them and help them to build necessary skills. We foster the children’s learning through exploration, play land inquiry. This is emergent curriculum. We use the How Does Learning Happen document as a reference for program planning.

Children are given the opportunity to explore and learn from their environment (indoor and outdoor). These opportunities help foster co-learning between the children and the staff. Every room creates a learning environment where each child will be stimulated to learn and be successful. Staff are ready to adapt activities to meet the needs of all our children. We encourage each child to be independent and help them develop confidence by being supportive, providing tools or tricks, and having the children help each other.

Nshiime Child and Family Centre documents and captures children’s progress through pictures and videos. We use an online program called Hi Mama in order to share these and other information with parents and to document children’s achievements.