Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO)
489 College Street M6G 1A5 Toronto, ON, Canada

"The effects of COVID-19 hit everyone but what can’t be any clearer now that the data is out is this: it didn’t hit everyone equally. In an already faltering CO...VID economy where women’s participation was at a historic low racialized, low-income and immigrant women were the hardest hit by the pandemic’s economic impacts. In response to COVID-19 impacts on women, a national child-care strategy was the big promise in September’s throne speech. Advocates have been stressing the importance of this for years but they say it won’t be easy to implement."

We are grateful to all who participated in the Week of Action - posting, calling, tweeting and submitting! We received copies of 80 of your submissions on the changes to the Child Care and Early Years Act. Great work everyone! Our submission is posted here: https://www.aeceo.ca/latest_news

WEDNESDAY 12PM : Lunchtime Twitter Storm! Let’s take it to social media and remind Premier Ford, Education Minister Lecce, and the public why our sector deserves better than watered down regulations. Please share your story of how these changes will impact you, children, families, and your communities. Be sure to tag us at @AECEO and @ChildCareON and use the hashtags #RisingUpForChildCare and #StopTheChildCareChanges. For example:... @Sflecce + @fordnation We need you to #StopTheChildCareChanges because ... (Insert your story here). We are #RisingUpForChildCare with @AECEO + @ChildCareON Or, @Sflecce + @fordnation Children, families and educators deserve better than watered down regulations. It's time to #StopTheChildCareChanges and start #RisingUpForChildCare with a national child care system! @AECEO @ChildCareON Or, @Sflecce + @fordnation It’s not quality early childhood education without the early childhood educator. It's time to #StopTheChildCareChanges and start #RisingUpForChildCare with #DecentWork for ECEs! @AECEO @ChildCareON

Thank you to the Decent Work & Health Network and Fight for $15 & Fairness for working so hard advocating for paid sick days for all Ontarians! https://www.decentworkandhealth.org/ https://www.15andfairness.org/

Tuesday: Call your MPP! We know that MPP’s will speak up when they know their constituents are opposed to changes or they will have a negative impact on their community. Let’s call our MPPs and let them know what we think of the proposed changes to the CCEYA. Don’t know what to say? We’ve got a template to help you, but remember your voice, experience, and ideas matter, and you are the best person to speak about how these changes will impact you and your community. To find ...the phone call template: https://docs.google.com//18p-uUpJgVN-QOE--7zwWjPMZMl/edit To find your MPP: https://www.ola.org/en/members ***If you call your MPP's office (even if you just get the voicemail) let us know in the comments!*** ***Or, share with us how it went! Who did you call? What response did they give you? Is there any follow up action we can take?***

VIDEO: Watch just a few of the nearly 50 parents who spoke out last night to Save Waterloo Region Children's Centres. https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/public-meetin...g-discusses-futur These parents and educators need our support. Take a minute to sign our online petition that sends a message right to Regional Councillors. https://www.childcareontario.org/waterloo

The AECEO and OCBCC are holding a Week of Action to #StopTheChildCareChanges. We want to ensure the Ministry hears from you before the consultation period closes. We encourage you to use this opportunity to share your perspective and advocate for our profession and sector. Here is a link for details as to how you can participate: https://www.aeceo.ca/week_of_action_to_stop_the_child_care_

Q: Will an online registry of unlicensed home child care mean there is more oversight? `` A: No, a registry would simply put the current market of unregulated child care online with a government stamp of approval - no regulation. The Ministry of Education posting claims an unlicensed child care registry could help parents find [unlicensed] child care providers in their communities.... An online registry is perhaps the laziest, cheapest and most disingenuous way for a government to claim they are addressing the child care crisis. Instead of actively working to create enough quality licensed child care spaces for all, a registry would simply put the current grey market of informal child care online without oversight or regulation. It’s just the Ministry of Education acting as a glorified Kijiji. An unlicensed child care registry would give parents a false sense of security, as they may expect that there is a level of government oversight of these providers when none exists. Also, many people associate the word Registered with the protected title of Registered Early Childhood Educator, adding to the confusion. An unlicensed child care registry was first proposed in 1981, in the form of a government-sponsored referral network. Trumpeted by the government of the day as an innovative approach to the child care shortage, it’s much less innovative four decades later to continue reliance on unregulated child care rather than building a quality licensed child care system. An online registry was also proposed in 2010, with almost exactly the same wording as the current proposal, but was rejected then, too, following public outcry and a series of deaths in unlicensed care. We will not be silent on this, and we need to hear from you. - AECEO/OCBCC Survey: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdKGJU2FALMJS.../viewform - Email response template: https://drive.google.com/.../1GiVMJFXv0hgYdFoP8szu73.../view (Email your response to the Ministry of Education by November 20th at: [email protected] (and cc us) - Sign our petition: https://www.childcareontario.org/rising_up_petition - Tell your MPP & MP we need a national child care plan with Decent Work for all.

ECE Narratives: https://ecenarratives.opened.ca/ A group of pan-Canadian early childhood researchers and instructors looking into narratives of change within early childhood education, is offering a free webinar. Regstration: https://ecenarratives.opened.ca/nov-21-2020-registration

Week of Action to Stop the Child Care Changes Friday: Call out to the Minister of Education Education Minister Stephen Lecce needs to hear from you especially today, on National Child Day, let’s make sure he has no doubt about where you stand on the proposed changes and their impact on children! Let’s make sure he hears our collective voice, and he feels our ECE Power. Let’s all take a few minutes to call Minister Lecce and tell him we are opposed to changes to age ranges/g...roup sizes/ratios and to staff qualifications. Let’s tell him why children, families and educators deserve better. We have a template to support you: https://www.aeceo.ca/latest_news but remember, your voices and experiences matter, and they deserve to be heard. Ministry office: 416-325-2600 Constituency office: 647-560-9700

Shared from Ontario Aboriginal Head Start Association: Indigenous Professional Learning Opportunities Knowledge Exchange Gathering November 25, 2020 ... Pedagogical Documentation Indigenous Professional Learning is extending an invitation to early years professionals to attend our upcoming Knowledge Exchange Gathering. See more

#RisingUpForChildCare Story #23: Anonymous: "I was recently terminated from my position at a for-profit child care centre due to low enrolment. Along with four other educators we were told of our termination- via email. I understand the pandemic makes in-person meetings difficult, but a phone call would have been nice. For a business that claims to thrive on the idea of being part of a family getting fired this way felt so cold. We have put so much time and even our own mo...ney into our classrooms. You develop emotional ties with the children. Yet educators are seen as disposable through email afterthoughts. On top of that, my co-workers that still have their jobs are being stretched thin. People assigned earlier as cleaners/screeners are now periodically in the classrooms teaching and also periodically cooking in the kitchen. The centre has now increased enrolment and is over-working the current staff. One of my ECE co-workers is working nine-and-a-half-hour days. They have no supply teachers on hand so staff feel like they can’t get a day off. Younger children are being put into rooms they are too young for, just to avoid having to open another room. Fitting in more families seems to be a priority, but treating staff properly is a bottom-tier issue. I worry for my co-workers well-being and mental health. ----------------------------------- Educators are not disposable. It is the early childhood workforce that is the key to quality in child care. And yet they are being underpaid, disrespected and stretched to the limit. We must change and build a child care system that puts decent work at its core. Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care. https://www.childcareontario.org/rising See more

Hope you can join us at the Institute for Change Leaders' anniversary party - 6pm on Nov 12. We are honoured and excited to have been nominated for ICL's Strategic Win for Change Award!

Q: Are the changes to staff to child ratios really that drastic? A: Yes. Yes, the changes to age groupings, ratios and group sizes are really that drastic. Overall, the ratio changes place younger children in larger groups with fewer educators. Many educators will know that children's interests and needs vary widely depending on their age. We also know there are hardly enough moments in the day now to balance meaningful engagement and experiences with children and other resp...Continue reading

RisingUp Story #22, Logan I am a mother of two children (5 years and 2 years) and aside from the occasional city-run morning play group, I have essentially had them both home with me full time. That was until the eldest started school last year. My husband and I are both creatives and basically support the four of us on a single income (and a meager one by any standard). I am lucky in that I didn’t have a career I was obligated to rush back to after having my kids so there... was no immediate urgency to secure childcare. It would have been more than helpful to have been able to find affordable part time care, but it felt like subsidies were only awarded to those already in full time employment. This put me in a catch 22, as I couldn’t afford to take on work without the promise of guaranteed, subsidized care - because as a chef I would have earned less than the hourly rate charged for the daycare spot. I’m not suggesting that child care is not worth the expense, but who can afford it says a lot about what our society values. I am lucky that I have been and am still happy enough to be home, and that we live modestly enough that we can afford for me to do it. But honestly it was (and still is) hard. It's especially difficult because I feel it would have been beneficial for my kid to have had the opportunity to blossom during that sustained time away from our home in a caring environment with early childhood educators. --------- This is not good enough. Families should not have to be lucky enough to afford child care for their child. No family should feel pushed out of the system. We need to do better for children, families and educators. The Federal government announced plans to build a national child care system. Ontario needs this. Children, families, and educators deserve this. We need Ontario to work cooperatively with the Feds Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care. https://www.childcareontario.org/risingup

Q: Will changes to qualification requirements negatively impact RECEs in Ontario? A: Yes. Yes. The proposed changes to qualifications will negatively impact RECEs in Ontario. Currently the proposal will: - remove requirements for RECEs in Kindergarten and School Age groups,...Continue reading

RisingUp Story #21, Sydney We all know that childcare is a field that you go into because you love it, and not because you're looking to make a lot of money. I feel like that's an inside joke in the childcare field. To make the ends meet while I was working as a classroom assistant, I got a second job. I worked with a beer company to earn extra money and make ends meet, something that was fun and easy and took very little training to do. So I had two jobs, both wildly differe...nt. But my work in the childcare centre definitely required much more of me. The really ridiculous thing was that I made $5 more per hour (before tips) to serve beer then I did when I was entrusted with 10 toddlers' wellbeing. There's something very wrong with that picture. If you look at our current government though, I guess it makes sense. This government is so busy spending millions on breaking contracts with The Beer Store so they can put beer into corner stores and making it "more accessible", they conveniently have no money left to fund our hospitals, our educators and especially no money to put into our childcare. It's more than just frustrating. It's insulting. --------- What Sydney has experienced is far too common. We know the work of early childhood educators is valuable, and we know that our current market system does not always provide decent work and pay for educators. This is not good enough. We need to do better for children, families and educators. The Federal government announced plans to build a national child care system, and we need to raise our voices to ensure decent work is at the core. Ontario needs this. Children, families, and educators deserve this. Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care. https://www.childcareontario.org/risingup

Wonderful collection of moments from Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day yesterday.

RisingUp Story #20, Emily *Content Warning - Pregnancy Loss 2016 was a very hard year. It started off with being hospitalized for weeks due to an outbreak in the childcare centre I worked in, without pay due to a new policy of earning your sick days throughout the year. During this time, I had to continue to pay for my youngest child care costs. It was so stressful, I didn’t know how we would get through it, but we did.... I was so happy and grateful when we had some good news - I was pregnant with my second child! We were so excited to welcome a new member of our family into this world, something we wanted with our whole hearts. At my three month ultrasound, I found out that my child was not going to make the appearance we had already started planning for. I lost my baby. The floor fell out from under me. What could ever be worse than this moment. I quickly found out, according to centre policy, this was not a medical issue and they told me (with sympathy) that I needed to buck up and continue to work as normal. I was encouraged to be back to work as soon as possible, meaning, the next day. Foggy minded I went about my work day only being able to think about what was happening inside me. The heavy bleeding a constant reminder. There was a reason my administrator expected me to be at work, there was not enough staff or supply to be able to keep the centre open without me coming to work. To add to this, no policy acknowledged a miscarriage as a loss until 16 weeks gestational. In those moments, I was stuck between my feelings of responsibility to the children and the program, and my responsibility to myself. I know my administrator cared, I know she didn’t know better but that doesn’t make this ok. The following week I was booked for a post-miscarriage surgery. There was no one able to cover my shift so I was asked to come into work the morning of the surgery and leave on my lunch to make it in time, the assistant supervisor would cover the afternoon. I was so shocked I didn’t even push back I had used all my strength to get through the past week, my tank was empty. I was back to work 48hrs post-surgery and life went on. That’s how I remember my lost child, with stress, unacknowledged sadness, and feeling like just another cog in the wheel. In a sector that is so full of women, I know I’m not alone. I know other women are out there in silence, going to work through the tears, the bleeding, the sadness. It’s not easy to share this story, it still feels as if it was yesterday. But it’s past time we acknowledged women’s health in child care, ensured access to paid leave, and build a system so that this story doesn’t happen to another woman. Enough is enough, this needs to stop. --------- Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care. https://www.childcareontario.org/risingup

Today's the day! It's Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day. Show everyone that you are Rising Up for Child Care with our profile frame!

We need to hear from you! Part of appreciating ECEs is recognizing and valuing their knowledge and experience. This is something we take very seriously. Your voice matters and you should have a say in changes that impact our sector. On October 2, the Ministry of Education released Proposed Regulatory Amendments resulting from its 5-year review of the Child Care and Early Years Act. Submissions/feedback on these amendments is due by November 20th. Many of the proposed amendme...nts would be detrimental to the early years and child care sector and the profession of early childhood education, and are not in the best interest of children, families, educators, or the future of the sector. Together with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) we have launched a survey to hear from you. We encourage all educators, operators, child care providers and allies to take 10 minutes to have your say and share in your networks. Your voice matters. The survey will be open until November 2, 2020: https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSdKGJU2FALMJSZ2d9/viewform

Happy Early Childhood Educator and Child Care Worker Appreciation Day!! We know how important the work you do with young children and families is, and we know that every day you deserve respect, recognition, decent work and professional pay. We are so proud to Rise Up with and for ECEs, child care staff and providers every day! We are celebrating tonight at 7pm with a Virtual Rally - there's still time to join! Register here: https://www.aeceo.ca/virtual_rally_for_ccwecead

RisingUp Story #19, Lori I joined the early childhood education and care sector mid-way through my career in non-profit leadership. I don’t have an ECE credential myself, but deeply appreciate the important work that ECEs do with children and families. I am in awe, each and every day, at the determination, passion, dedication and drive of early childhood educators and others working in this sector. They truly go above and beyond to create a sense of belonging for children and... families and to help each child thrive. Running a child care centre is complex and sadly pits child care fees paid by parents against educator wages. In doing so, educators end up subsidizing the true cost of child care with their low wages. Despite this, we aim to continually invest in our team. In 2014 we celebrated that we had finally met our pay equity targets but wait, those targets were set in 1994, so was it really something to celebrate? With support of our board of directors, we’ve worked hard to improve compensation and to provide decent working conditions for our team. Despite the many gains, there is still much to do and that’s why we are Rising Up for Child Care to build on the recognition of child care as an essential service and to demand action from provincial and federal governments. It’s only when we have a publicly-funded system that we can truly make strides towards ensuring that child care is affordable for families AND provides professional pay and decent work for educators. On this Child Care Worker/ECE Appreciation Day, let’s reflect on the critical role of educators in supporting children’s learning, development, health and well-being. After all, everyone depends on someone who depends on child care. It’s a family issue, an economic issue, an equity issue, a children’s rights issue and a workforce issueit’s time to #ReconstructChildCare. --------- Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care. https://www.childcareontario.org/risingup