WELCOME!

Welcome to Twinkle Stars Private Home Daycare Services.  We are a non-profit organization, established in 1985, with a Service contract with the City of Toronto, and licensed by the Ministry of Education.  Twinkle Stars P.H.D.C. follows all regulations under the Childcare and Early Years Act (CCEYA) and the City of Toronto’s Operating Criteria.  We offer quality home child care services to both full-fee and subsidized families in the areas of Toronto, York, and North York.

OUR PROGRAM STATEMENT

Twinkle Stars Private Home Day Care Services’ mission is to provide safe, quality, licensed home child care for children from 6 weeks to 12 years of age. Our goals are: to promote children’s health, safety, nutrition; to support children’s sense of belonging and well-being, positive and responsive interactions among children and adults; to help children learn through exploration, play and inquiry: and to foster children’s communication and expression in all forms.

 We recognize and build on the strengths and connections of families and communities, and we are committed to support continuous professional development for all staff and home providers.

Our Program Statement is consistent with the Ministry of Education’s Policy Statement On Programming and Pedagogy, “How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years”, which is the guideline for our approaches in programming and pedagogy.  Through our policies and procedures, these approaches are implemented and monitored in all daycare homes. The goals and approaches to quality child care are implemented consistently for better transitions and experiences and outcomes for children.

The program statement is reviewed with all staff, home providers, their family members and volunteers, before employment, at least annually after the first review and at any other time when changes are made.  The implementation of the program statement will be monitored in accordance with the policies and procedures. The impact of our set out strategies is documented and kept on file.
 

Health, Safety and Nutrition

A safe, happy, stimulating and nurturing environment will help children develop and grow to their maximum potential. Children’s health, wellbeing and safety are our top priority at each home childcare location.  
 
Our policies and procedures are regularly reviewed with all home providers and their family members to ensure health and safety such as Safe Supervision of Children, Water Safety, Child Abuse Reporting, Serious Occurrence, Anaphylaxis, Sanitary Practices and Infection Control, Health/Illness, and Medication Administration. All home providers, their family members and back-up persons must have current Criminal Reference -Vulnerable Sector check and health assessment. All home providers are trained in Standard First Aid and Infant CPR. Home safety checks are conducted regularly by our home visitors.

Children who attend our full day home childcare program are offered two snacks and one meal.  School-age children who attend our program before and after school are offered a morning and/or afternoon nutritious snack. Our planned menus are consistent with the recommendations set out in the Health Canada’s documents “Eating Well with Canada Food Guide”, “Eating Well with Canada Food Guide – First Nations, Inuit and Metis”, and “Nutrition for Healthy Term Infants”.

Special diets, food intolerances or food allergies are respected and accommodated. We help children enjoy food and meal times by a variety of ways: Providing food that incorporate family and cultural preferences, setting good examples by having positive approach to new foods, pleasant table manner; encouraging interesting conversations, and modeling language related to food, drink and eating to support children’s communication development.

Play and Inquiry

We value children as individuals and view all children as competent, capable of complex thinking, rich in potential and full of curiosity which will make learning more effective and enjoyable for them.  Curious children love to ask questions and actively seek out the answers through play, communication and interaction with other children and adults. Focusing on children’s social, emotional, physical, creative, and cognitive development and their growing sense of self, our home childcare daily program which include indoor and outdoor play, nature walk, active play, individual play, group play, dramatic play, creative activities, and rest and quiet time are planned to provide environments and experiences for children to explore ideas, investigate their theories, interact with others in play and inquiry. Communication and expression in all forms are encouraged. 

 
Positive Adult/Child Interaction

We plan and create positive, caring and responsive learning environment, child-initiated and adult-supported experiences, in which each child’s learning and development will be supported.  All children are encouraged to interact and communicate in a positive way, learn to self-regulate and to be responsible for their own ideas and efforts. We believe in and practice positive communication and role-modeling as effective ways to guide children’s behaviors.

The following practices are prohibited in the daycare homes:  Corporal punishment, physical restraint, locking exits, using harsh or degrading language, depriving basic needs, and inflicting bodily harms on children.
 

Inclusion

Children have a sense of belonging when they feel included and safe in relationships with adults and other children in the childcare setting. We attune to the physical and emotional states of each child and responding in a warm and positive manner, planning for ways to support smooth transitions, supporting relationship between children as they initiate, respond, collaborate, celebrate and demonstrate care for others.

Our inclusion policy and procedures respect and support inclusion, meaningful participation, and a sense of belonging for all children. Individual needs of children are taken into consideration in our home child care settings with small-group learning environment. Our family environment aims for flexibility based on each child’s unique characteristics, abilities, and interests to ensure his or her needs are met.  Individualized support plan will be planned for each child with special needs in consultation with parents, home providers, home visitors, special needs resource consultants and any regulated health professional or other who support or work with the child to accommodate his or her special needs.

Family and Community Partnership

We believe that parents play a crucial role in the children’s well-being and growth. We foster communication and collaboration with families, and value their strengths, contributions, and unique perspectives. Parents’ participation in giving inputs, sharing information about the children‘s development, regular updates, and suggestions about the program are highly appreciated. These are done through our home providers’ communication with the parents on a daily basis during contacts, drop off or pick up times, through home visitors’ ongoing parent contact or in parents-providers-agency meetings. Parents can also participate in our program by attending meetings, workshops, fieldtrips, or other agency’s events. 

Our agency continues to establish positive relationships with community resource partners and invite local community members to contribute support to the children, their families, home providers and staff. 
 

Continuous Professional Development

We are committed to supporting continuous professional development for all staff and home providers. Ongoing training and support for our staff, home providers and individuals who interact with the children at the daycare homes are carried out on a regular basis through staff meetings, home visits, training courses, workshops, conferences, etc., in relation to continuous professional learning and self-reflection.

INCLUSION 

According to the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, “All individuals must be treated equally, regardless of their race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability.”  Twinkle Stars P.H.D.C. adheres to the policies of inclusion and non-discrimination.  It is our mandate to provide a culturally appropriate, racially sensitive and non-discrimination environment for all board members, staff, home providers, families, and children.

Our staff and home providers are committed to treating all children with respect and dignity.  Every child is special and unique in abilities and needs. Our program aims to ensure each child’s needs are met.  Individualized support plan will be planned for each child with special needs in consultation with parents, any regulated health professional or other persons who support or work with the child to accommodate his or her special needs.