Southgate Medallion Tribute
Parent Newsletter-- May/June 2024
Coordinator Corner
Hello Parents and families and welcome to May! I hope you are all doing well.
Annual Survey
Thank you for participating in the parent survey. The agency always appreciates the time and effort you take to completing this and offering suggestions and feedback. Please find the results further in the newsletter.
Useful Information on Health and Safety for your child
At a recent sector meeting, an AHS health inspector shared useful information and links related to the field of health and safety. Please check out the resources by clicking on the links below.
Environmental Public Health
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/eph/eph.aspx
Procedure to follow in the case of a swallowed button battery, magnet, or object with lead
https://myhealth.alberta.ca/health/pages/conditions.aspx?Hwid=sig154413
The agency recommends that you do a review of any toys or equipment that use button batteries (small circular batteries) to ensure that the cover is closed and secure from children accessing the battery – if your toy is no longer safe, please dispose of it in the appropriate manner – in these cases prevention is better than cure
Subscribe to receive notifications on any recalls
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/subscribe
Be prepared for Summer
Now is the time to send bug spray, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, rain pants, spares to your child’s day home. Outdoor play is invaluable for your child, and to ensure they are safe and comfortable when they play outside it is important that they are properly prepared.
Have a wonderful May and June.
Emma Dajavs
Coordinator
Meet the Staff- Nancy Peterson
I previously worked with Southgate Medallion over 30 years ago.
After raising 3 children and working primarily in Property Management and Real Estate, I am happy to be back with Southgate Medallion in the accounts receivable department.
I completed my education here in Edmonton at Grant MacEwan with studies in the social sciences.
I enjoy the new opportunities that working at the agency brings me and getting to know the many
wonderful people and families along the way.
Article--The Joy of Cooking with Children
Cooking with children is a delightful and rewarding experience that can create lasting memories, strengthen family bonds, and inspire children to develop essential life skills. Involving children in cooking activities not only teaches them about nutrition and the importance of healthy eating but also enhances their creativity, confidence, and ability to work in a team. Whether you're making a simple snack or a complex recipe, cooking with children can be a fun and educational adventure for both parents and children alike.
1. Developing Essential Life Skills:
Cooking provides an excellent opportunity for children to develop a range of essential life skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. Measuring ingredients teaches them about math and precision, while following recipes improves their reading and comprehension abilities. Additionally, cooking nurtures critical thinking and problem-solving skills as children learn to troubleshoot and adjust if something doesn't turn out as planned. These skills promote independence and self-sufficiency, enabling children to become confident and capable individuals.
2. Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits:
Introducing children to the world of cooking empowers them to make informed choices about what they eat. By involving them in meal planning and preparation, you can educate them about the nutritional value of different ingredients and the benefits of a balanced diet. Children who participate in cooking activities are more likely to develop an appreciation for fresh, whole foods and are more open to trying new flavours and textures. This early exposure to healthy eating can lay the foundation for a lifetime of good nutrition and well-being.
3. Fostering Creativity and Imagination:
Cooking is a form of creative expression that encourages children to explore their imagination. From decorating cupcakes to designing colourful fruit salads, cooking allows children to experiment with different ingredients, flavours, and presentations. Encouraging their input in the kitchen sparks their creativity and gives them a sense of ownership over their culinary creations. These experiences can inspire children to develop a lifelong love for cooking and even pursue careers in the culinary arts.
4. Strengthening Parent/Child Bonds:
Cooking together creates meaningful opportunities for quality time and strengthens the bonds between parents and children. It provides a shared experience where everyone can contribute, collaborate, and have fun together. As you work side by side, conversations flow naturally, and a chance to share stories, traditions, and family recipes. The kitchen becomes a space for laughter, learning, and building cherished memories that will be treasured for years to come.
5. Age-Appropriate Tasks:
When cooking with children, it's important to assign age-appropriate tasks to ensure their safety and enjoyment. Younger children can wash vegetables, mix ingredients, or decorate dishes, while older children can take on more complex tasks such as chopping, stirring, or reading recipes. Providing clear instructions, supervision, and guidance is crucial to creating a positive and empowering experience for children in the kitchen.
Cooking with children is a valuable investment in their development, fostering essential life skills, healthy eating habits, creativity, and family bonds. So, roll up your sleeves, and put on those aprons, and embark on the delightful journey of cooking with your children. Together, you'll create not only delicious meals but also beautiful memories that will last a lifetime.
To do for Families
Down Town Spark
Kick off festival season with the hottest downtown art party. Downtown Spark runs for 10 days, starting at the end of May each year. Tell your friends; it’s free to attend.
We bring in art installations from around the world and energize the spaces near them with dance parties, concerts, dog parties, family-friendly events and a good old fashioned block party. Every year is different.
May. 2024
Edmonton Ukrainian Festival
UFest, Edmonton Ukrainian Festival, is a celebration of Ukrainian culture, food, music, visual arts, crafts and dance. This two-day event brings together people of Ukrainian heritage, as well as attracts audiences of many diverse cultures.
May. 24 and 25 Borden Park Free Entry.
Southwest Edmonton Farmers Market
“Since 2011, the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market has been bringing the best local farmers, bakers, artisans and buskers to the heart of Terwillegar. Our market is run by members of our community who are passionate about creating a gathering place to enjoy friends, neighbours and the beautiful products from our region. We are an Alberta Approved Farmers' Market and part of a large network of high-quality farmers' markets across the province.”
Every Wednesday from May 15th – October 9th from 3:30pm to 7:30pm
Terwillegar Recreation centre.
Annual Parent Suvery- Results and Comments
Thank you Parents for taking the time to participate in our survey- we appreciate the feedback we recieve and strive to use it to help improve our services to you in the future.
Parent Comments from this April 2024 Survey:
(Parent comments in regular print, Agency responses in Bold)
Positive Comments
-Everything Looks good to me.
-My child's educator is the Best I have ever come across with. She does the job with so much diligence and I will choose her over and over. Well done Kelly-Ann
-Overall I have a great experience and I am totally at ease at my work with my kid staying at the dayhome.
-Thank you!! We appreciate the care that we receive for our children!
-Great Service
-Everything is good
-I am really satisfied with my child's look after, and the way he enjoys really makes me rest easy.
-Excellent Service
-Amarjeet's day home is really good and I am really grateful to her as after my daughter started at her I see much more positive improvement in her development so I would like to thank once again Amarjeet and you agency for helping me with my daughters journey and I will definitely recommend Amarjeet to other parents as well for sure.
-I am really happy and satisfied with my experience with Southgate Medallion
- Anchala is a wonderful person to leave my kid with. She take appropriate care and i am really happy with her service.
-our dayhome provider, Meeka, is absolutely wonderful!
-we lover Prabha. She takes such good care of our boys and treats that as if they were her own. We are very thankful for her.
-Meeka has been wonderful. We are impressed with the care she provides for our son. we would recommend her to any parents looking for a dayhome.
- I'm very happy with my educator Sreelatha and recommend her to every parent I know :)
- I am extremely pleased with my sons progress under Arpana's care. He has become a confident and quick learning child. He eagerly looks forward to spending time with Arpana and his friends. I highly recommend Arpana and she treats her son like her own child. I am grateful for her consideration in informing us whenever she introduces a new food to my son, and even sends us pictures of the ingredients to ensure our comfort. overall we are delighted with Arpana's care.
- overall we have been happy with our service provider
-satisfied with the dayhome educator
-good service
-my sons dayhome has an excellent educator! He feels like home when he's there.
-I am really happy with the care my daughter is getting from Miss Dhanya. Thank you
- everything is good I appreciate that
-I am happy with this dayhome cause my baby is doing great and learning so much new things and activities. I want more musical activities for my kids and my baby loves music and dancing
-We have been happy with the agency, as well as Bimala, for the short time my daughter has been in the dayhome. we are very happy to get occasional photo updates throughout the day, and when our daughter brings home pictures/crafts she made.We feel that our daughter is comfortable and happy at the dayhome
-we are so happy to have educator at kids dayhome. she provide best fresh meals daily and plan for daily activities as well
-Satisfied with agency and our home educator
-Sobia is wonderful
-Thank you
-Prabhjeet is very caring and gives attention to all the details
-I'm still very new to the dayhome and agency, but Mehnaaz has been exceptional and her care for my son has been positive for his first experience in childcare.
-more outdoor time would be great... even going for walks to the playground etc.
-:)
-you guys are doing an awesome job. We absolutely love Namhee!
-Irene is wonderful with my daughter and she really loves being there
-I love the care which she gets from her teacher.
Thank you for your positive comments. The agency is always thrilled to hear that parents are satisfied with the care their child receives.
Comments related to Outdoor Time
-I am happy with the overall care provided to my child. Would just like them to have more outdoor time. My child does complain on a regular basis about not going outside that day.
We encourage our educators to play outside 2x/day. please let your educator know that you would like to see this happen regularly- feel free to ask for pictures of the outdoor play and activities done on a daily basis.
-I feel like the limits on weather are a bit restrictive. I think children could be playing outside a little bit more often than they are.
Alberta Health Services make strong suggestions about when children should be going outside and not. there are many factors that effect this- Smoke, air quality, temp. etc. We encourage you to discuss with your educator why the children were not able to go outside on a certain day.
Comments related to Back Up Care
-If my provider is not available to watch my little one, there should be an available backup care provider to refer to the parents as an alternative option for them.
We strive to always ask for parents if they require backup care when an educator is away. Always let your educator know you would like backup care. Every educator has a phone list of all the other agency educators that is updated monthly and sent out to them.
Comments related to Donation Drives
-would like to know more about donations drive
Our agency values the importance of giving back to the community and nurturing this community involvement in children too. In the past our donations drives have supported the Terra association, the food bank and other agencies. Your educator will notify you when the next donations drive will be. If you have any suggestions please reach out to your consultant and the agency would be happy to consider this.
- Overall I trust my provider to be giving my child good wholesome meals but I don't get a lot of information about what is eaten outside of meals. It is not a problem for me, its just something that I couldn't answer as strongly agree. I can probably ask my provider for that information.
-I honestly don't know what my child eats at the dayhome but I trust its good
- At this moment I do not know the menus being offered to the children. I am providing most meals as my child has allergies, but i would like to lessen the meals I pack.
All meals (including snacks) that are fed to the children are posted in an excissible place for parents to see. Please ask your educator to point out where that is.
According to our terms and conditions, Educators are expected to provide the meals for all the children. Please discuss with your educator and make a transition plan to have her provide the food for your child, with an understanding that due to some allergies there may be a few items she asks you,as a parent, to provide.
Comments related to Billing, Payments and Subsidy
- I wish I received monthly billing updates
-It is still shocking to me that you haven't been able to sort a more timely payment system out. I get mad just thinking about it. I pay a number of none profits monthly and they all manage to withdraw on the first of each month. So does the daycare that I also use. The subsidy calculation in an excuse.
- Any updates/changes regarding subsidy or free structure change would need to be communicated to parents in a timely fashion.
We have taken this suggestion into consideration and will be implementing a new system called Timesavr. It will be up and running fully by September 2024 and will allow parents to see their billing information. The agency foresees that this will streamline our billing process and allow for earlier billing dates and direct withdrawals.
-Take out payments on time. that would be great. Better communication with parents regarding payments, grants also would be wonderful. this agency has gone downhill so much since my other children went through it.
We are implementing new practices to allow for faster billing and direct withdrawals. It will allow parents the ability to view their payment amounts and their credits for subsidy and the affordability grant. We are not able to communicate with subsidy on parents behalf- parents have to be the ones to contact subsidy.
-I was a client of my childcare provider prior to the joining the agency. The provider was always above standard and I appreciate them very much. I have seen no change or benefits to the care my child received since joining the agency, only more paperwork. The only benefit I have seen since joining the agency is qualifying for subsidy.
We are happy that your educator has been and continues to be focused on maintaining high standard in her care. We urge all our educators to set and reach ongoing yearly goals to help them provide the best care they can and improve in all areas, even ones they are strong in.
Comments related to Educator Communication
-I am glad that baby is comfortable and happy at his dayhome. I really like seeing the pictures and videos sent by the educator of him during the activities and outdoor time. we would like to see sometime when they eat and take naps too. If that's allowed. Would love if there are more physical activities too.
Please communicate these requests with your educator, definitely pictures of meal and rest times can be shared.
- I find communication from our provider isn't always the best. I often have to ask about new marks and scratches. I don't know what they eat in a day. We often get short notice about upcoming days off, but our provider is willing to help us find alternate care.
Please discuss this with your educator and if needs be, your consultant. Educators should always be letting parents know of any bumps and bruises, even if minor.
Please see past replies regarding asking your educator to point you in the right direction for the posted daily menu.
I am happy with our current dayhome but would like a bit more information on how the week went with my child. We do get general updates on the educators site and updates if our child is struggling, which is good .But a little bit on what she learned or who her friends are, stuff like that, would be helpful. although i never thought to ask.
Please ask your educator to share more about the day and all other information you would like to know. Educators can share this info at pickup, through private messages with parents or through many other written ways.
-I wish I got more communication regarding my child via pictures, and activity reports. I got pictures and reports for the first month, than it stopped.
Please ask your educator to start this again and let her know what exactly you would like her to share with you. We have a sheet called "all about my day" that you can ask your educator to fill out.
Comments Related to Parent Workshops
-I would like to join a parent workshop from the agency
We have offered and will offer in the future workshops for parents. However we also share with parents in the newsletter and via emails, information about workshops that we think may interest the parents.
Comments related to Consultant Feedback
-I would really appreciate receiving feedback from my dayhome consultant after each visit, specifically tailored to my child. It would be wonderful to have observation focused on my child's behavior and activities, rather than general comments about all the children in the dayhome.This way, I can better understand how my child is progressing during their time there. thank you.
Thank you for your suggestion. Consultants strive to send personal emails after at least half the visits, on months when they are not filling out a lengthier Children's Family Service reports.
FINAL NOTES...........
Holidays
May 20, 2024- Victoria Day
The office is closed on May 20,2024 please call the emergency phone: 780-245-3097 in case of any emergency.