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Ask An ECE

Welcome to the Ask An ECE question archive. This is the place for all your daycare related questions, as a Daycare Professional, Student or parent. All questions will be answered by a qualified Daycare Professional as thoroughly as possible.

Take a look through the previous questions listed below, and if you don't see the answer you need, ask us now.

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General (5)

This is the place to ask any question about Early Childhood education in general, such as daycare management, parenting or studying to be childcare worker.

I am considering opening up my own nursery school. I was wondering if someone could give me more ideas about how I would go about doing this. I learned about early childhood administration in college, but it has been a few years. Could someone give me some basic steps to move in the right direction?

Thank you for joining! I have started a thread in our forum section to deal with your question. This will allow other experts on our site to add their 2 cents and have you fill us in a little bit more with your plan.
Where are you located and what sort of building are you looking at? Will you be building form scratch or remodeling an existing building? Let's chat in the forum section!

http://www.askanece.com/forum/2008-11-18/opening-your-own-daycare

Hi there, this is actually a comment not a question. I just joined and I find it great to have such a site to go on. Thank-you so much.

Thanks so much for joining! We're glad to have you on board.

Come to our forums and join in the conversation!

If there is any content you would like to see, let us know. Suggestions are always welcome. We are also looking for members to write articles for the site.

i just graduated from Early childhood Education Apprenticeship at Seneca college and got my ECE Diploma I was just wondering when the school of early childhood education will be getting ECE's to pay for being a registered ECE i think they said it was going to cost 125 dollars is this true

It is true and it has already started! If we register by Jan. 31, the government will cover the registration fee ($75) and we will only have to pay the $150 yearly fee. So it is definitely worth registering earlier, then later.

Full information, as well as a downloadable application form are available here: http://www.collegeofece.on.ca/main.php?page_id=37&main_page=2

i want to know what do i need to do if i want to run a home daycare. I have my E.C.E and have over ten years experience. I want to only take in 5 children which i believe is under the limit to be required to have a license. But can i still make it a business and get a business name and business # to bring in house hold deductables when it comes time for income taxes.

It would definitely help to know where you are located. There are different rules in different states/provinces. Here is a great site (http://www.daycareresource.com/startyourowndaycare.html) to start with. Lots of books you can order to get yourself started.
I would highly recommend creating a business plan, even if you are not applying for a business loan. There are many free online programs to create your own.
I would also call your regional office and ask about the rules as they pertain to home daycares in your area. Some areas require you to be licensed which will involve some permits and inspections before you get started. Some regions do not require providers to be licensed.
Let me know where you are from and I can research some contacts in your area.

Hi There, I own my own early learning centre yet do not have my ece dimploma...I read something about an aprenticeship program you can do while working full time...my goal would be to replace my current director which has the qualifications but not much else...do you know of any accelerated programs for owners...online courses etc that would enable me to be the director of my own centre? Please advise Kind regards, Alex SOrry I wrote before about owning my own childcare centre yet not having my ece. I would like to replace my director who has their ece but not the other qualities required to run a centre. Is there an accelerated program that could allow me to work full time and take the course...a special owners accreditation process? Where would I find the apprenticship course website for something like this. Please advise. afell99@yahoo.com Thanks

I think your goal is a great one. Why pay someone else to do what you can do yourself? In Ontario, Seneca College offers an apprenticeship program that you can do part time while working full time http://www.senecac.on.ca/ece/ecef/. I know there are classes at Newnham Campus (Finch/404) and satellite classes in Durham Region. The training is great, but it takes a long time to get your diploma. If you are not located in the GTA, Loyalist College (Belleville) offers their entire ECE diploma via distance education http://www.loyalistcollege.com/programs-and-courses/online-distance-educ.... A great option to accelerate your learning if you have the time/discipline to take multiple classes at once and continue working. George Brown College offers a daycare management post diploma course, but you would require your ECE diploma to enroll.
If you are located outside of Ontario, let me know where you are and I can dig a little deeper into options in your area.
Keep in mind that to get Ministry Approval to be a Supervisor in Ontario, you need a diploma and 2 years experience. Would you be able to promote one of your qualified staff to "supervisor", still have them count in ratio and be on the floor, but do some admin work for you a couple of hours a week? They can be the required supervisor and you can still be the Owner/Director? Another option would be to apply to the Ministry for Director's approval while you take ECE courses based on your experience. It's a stretch, but never hurts to try.
I am glad you mentioned "accredited courses", please beware of career colleges that offer early childhood diplomas. Not all are accredited with the Ministry (diploma must be from an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology) and you could walk away with a very expensive and worthless diploma after all your hard work.
Good Luck!

Toddlers (1)

The "terrible twos" and related fun.

What are some important qualities to bring into a toddler program

I think that depends on whether your asking what a teacher needs to bring to a toddler room or what a program needs to offer?

Assuming you are talking about a teacher's qualities, I will answer as a supervisor and maybe one of my toddler experts can start a forum post to elaborate.

I would be looking for someone with endless patience, number one. Hands down. Loving and caring are big qualities to have, even more so then usual. This is a really tough age for kids. There is so much going developmentally. Strong programming skills. The teacher is likely to have to program for varying developmental levels. Our classroom starts at 12 months and goes to 30 months. That is a HUGE range of skills to work with. Going hand in hand with the programming skills is a very strong knowledge of child development. Personally I think experience is key too. I would be less likely to hire a new grad for my toddler room then say my preschool room. Because this age group takes just a certain type of person I think I would rather have someone who knows this is the age group they were meant to teach, as opposed to someone just starting out.