ISO 9001 2000 Certified The Kinderville Group is the world’s first group of private daycare centers and primary schools to be certified ISO 9002 (now 9001-2000) for the quality of our management and services. Quality care and education have always been a major preoccupation of the Kinderville Group.
Kinderville has developed and implemented an ISO quality assurance system in our operations.
A major factor contributing to Kinderville’s success is our recognition that the most important aspect of any organization is its people.
Program of Multicultural Education Multicultural education recognizes that all children enrich the culture of the classroom through the diversity of their origins, beliefs, values and first languages. As such, the Kinderville Program affirms the cultural pluralism which is the essence of Quebec and Canadian society.
Children have stories, songs, dances, art traditions, and celebrations, beliefs and values that are unique to their culture and experience. The teacher creates opportunities to integrate this rich cultural diversity into the curriculum and weave it into the fabric of everyday life to achieve the goals of empathy, respect and understanding that characterize cultural pluralism. Kinderville children and teachers explore ways to find common understandings and similarities among cultures; differences are viewed as positive contributions to society. In this way, the children are invited into the culture and the curriculum of the centre. An education which sustains and teaches to these ideals and values is a multicultural education. A sound multicultural education models an acceptance, respect for and prizing of all cultures in our pluralistic society. It fosters positive self-regard in one’s own culture and positive attitudes towards the culture of others.
The principles of multicultural education promote close working relationships among the school, home and community to provide mutual support. The use of positive role models from the community is an integral and valuable component for promoting multicultural education in our centres.
Nutritous Meals At Kinderville we are committed to serving nutritious, well-balanced meals and snacks to your children. By well-balanced, we mean that we serve foods from each of the four food groups daily—dairy, bread, meat and fruit/vegetable. Kinderville meals meet the recommended daily requirements for growing children.
At our childcare centres, children receive breakfast, a healthy mid-morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack. At the Kinderville Primary Schools and at the Summer Camp, we serve a hot lunch.
Meal times are happy times at Kinderville. We encourage children to participate by passing napkins, utensils and cups. A hot, nutritious lunch is served daily at our schools. We encourage meal time conversation and tasting new foods. Children are encouraged to help in “clean-up” activities after meal time.
Infants are fed on individual schedules according to parental preferences with formula and/or baby food provided by their parents.
Kinderville keeps parents informed through clearly posted menus. We encourage parent “get-togethers” which often include sharing meals with your children.
Communications We have to take advantage of all opportunities, formal and informal, to promote positive and open communication with parents. These are some of the ways we use to get information to parents.
Open-Door Policy
An open-door policy usually states that parents are welcome to come to the centre anytime unannounced. This policy communicates to parents that we welcome them at all times. Knowing we have such a policy helps to establish a foundation of trust and mutual respect.
Parent Information Pack
The parent handbook is an essential part of establishing a positive foundation for parent communication. The handbook informs parents of our overall program. It includes program goals, philosophy, enrolment policy and procedures. By addressing the issues openly, we are able to refer back to written policies when they needed to be enforced. This provides clarity for us and the parents.
Conferences
We meet with every family before enrolling a child. At the initial conference, we review with parents and guardians the parent handbook and the program philosophy, as well as collect health and medical history of the child. Conferences give us the opportunity to block out time specifically to discuss a child and his or her progress in our centre. We do our best to establish a system and schedule that works most effectively for us and the parents.
Written Messages and Notes
Whenever we communicate with the parents in writing, we do our best to ensure that the message is positive and legible. Problems are not communicated in writing. They are always discussed in person.
Daily Agenda
We write regular reports to parents on their child’s behaviour and activities. We also communicate out-of-ordinary information to parents. The Kinderville Agenda provides parents with information about how their child’s time is spent. This also becomes an educational tool to help parents with developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood.
Newsletter
Newsletters are sent out regularly to parents which include updates on special activities for the month, reports on what is being done by the children, and other pertinent information.
Parent Participation
Parents are invited to be guest speakers at various times during the school year. Parents can talk with the children about their career aspirations, cultural heritage and customs, and special hobbies. Or, parents can volunteer to help for a day, a particular activity or an outing. This is a way for parents to be involved and see their child’s day-to-day activity without primary responsibility.
Parent participation helps the parents understand what a normal day is like in the classroom. They will get an opportunity to feel a part of their child’s daily life. This helps many parents feel better about leaving their child at the daycare.
Parent Bulletin Board
We use the bulletin board to put a calendar of activities for the upcoming week, upcoming centre and community events, articles of interest, and other pertinent information. We also post requests, such as when we may need items contributed from home for art projects.
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