Village Treehouse Childcare
126 Wilson Street E. L9G 2B7 Ancaster, ON, Canada

Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day is here!! I would like to take a moment to thank all of our wonderful Registered Early Childhood Educator and teaching staff. We are so lucky to have such an amazing group of people that give their all to this profession day in and day out. This year especially has not been easy and yet everyone comes in and does the best they can to provide a fantastic program full of learning, inquiry, exploration, play, and sometimes just plain ol...d silliness....because let’s face it we all need a good laugh sometimes. Thank you for facilitating thinking, asking questions, and just getting down and dirty with the children. And thank you for even after a long day taking time out for reflecting and think how to better provide for the kids in our care. Words cannot express how grateful I am to work alongside these wonderful human beings and we could not do all this without them. Happy ECE Appreciation day!! Have you thanked a Registered Early Childhood Educator lately? Leave comments below to help show how our staff what you mean to them See more

Here is a picture of our Junior Preschool library area. Here you will see the children’s daily sign in page, photos of each child, all of the current days books( we have to switch every paper book in the classroom daily), our class hermit crab Jeffrey and some other items to make this area comfy and welcoming. We particularly love the small child size couches, what could be more inviting than those? Reading should not be presented to the children as a chore, or a duty. It should be offered as a gift.- Kate Dicamillo

We have been open nearly 3 months since the forced closure in March. Our job has changed so much. Many think I didn’t sign up for this. As Registered Early Childhood Educators we choose this field because we enjoy teaching young children. We attend school, learn about child development and get a diploma. No one could have prepared us for what we are going through now. We have seen new policies and guidelines come and go and come back. We are now have to wear masks and gogg...les or face shield and wonder how will the children see and recognize our emotions if they cannot see our faces. We are cleaning so much more and worry if we have cleaned enough or if we forgot anything. We are worried about sending children home with only a runny nose due to our policies placed upon by Public Health and the Ministry. We are worried about parents becoming frustrated with us everytime we call to report a symptom of ill health and the child now needs to leave. We are the faces parents see when we enforce these policies when they are frustrated and can be the faces they direct their frustrations too. We are worried what this misplaced anger will do to our mental health. We are concerned about viability of this job with the policies set out by Public Health and the Ministry and worried when funding that has been promised to us isn’t arriving. While we understand these policies are in place to keep everyone safe, it can become hard enforcing these guidelines. We are worried that we might not be enough. We are worried that the snuggles, hugs and comfort that are instilled in us to provide will put the children and our own health at risk. We are sad parents cannot come into the building to talk with their child’s teacher or to see the rich environments we are providing for the children. We are worried about our own health and what happens if we call in sick. We worry about seeing our own family and friends because we work with children, see multiple parents and see the staff. We are worried that understaffing results in room closures. We understand the hardships parents and families are going through and are trying to do everything we can to help out. Even with all these worries the staff at Village Treehouse stick it out day in and day out. I am so proud to work with such dedicated staff who truly love what they do. These months have been tough but we have been tougher and are working very hard to keep things as ‘normal’ as possible. It is also comments like these that make everything worthwhile. These comments bring a smile to the staff faces and make the staff sit back, reflect and take a breath knowing the parents appreciate everything we are doing and reminds us why we do this job. Shirley, Stephanie, Kaylee, Patti, Hailey, Ashleigh, Suki, Kurt, Colleen, Mohit and Bailey See more