Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Songs, painting and excursions outside are part of the day at Wildflowers Childcare, with activities as near-to-normal as possible with COVID-19 protocols in place.
Wildflowers reopened on June 8 as part of Phase 1 of the province’s relaunch strategy.
Lisa Daniel, childcare services manager for the Municipality of Jasper, said she started plans to reopen when the announcement was made in May, but extra funding was needed because of new stringent health requirements.
"There's more cleaning, and we needed more staff for the ratio," she said.
"We could only have cohorts of eight kids and two staff members per room when we first opened. There are five rooms in the [facility], we just had three open at that time."
Now there are three cohorts of eight - a total of 24 children. In addition to Daniel there are six staff members, including child development assistants, workers and supervisors.
There was a noticeable learning curve presented when the pandemic was declared, Daniel said.
"At first we were a little concerned. It was a little daunting at first, but staff and parents have embraced the requirements. It's a more day-to-day routine now,” she said.
Each morning, Daniel and a staff member go over a checklist with parents when they bring their child or children in, check temperatures, ask if they have had symptoms related to COVID, or have been in contact with someone with COVID, and if they've travelled out of the country.
Even with all the measures to take, Daniel said it's good to have the facility open again.
"Some parents needed to get back to work," she said, and added, "It's getting the children back into a routine.
"And we missed them. It was so nice to see each other, but also the staff were excited to see the children, and the children were excited to see us and be back."
Before the reopening, people kept in touch through Facebook.
"Staff was filmed singing songs, reading stories," Daniel said.
"It was a great way to keep connected, something positive we could do to keep everyone connected."
Wildflowers Childcare accepts children from birth to school age. A typical day for the youngsters includes singing songs and doing art exploration - painting and gluing - individually. Materials are changed and disinfected between uses.
Depending on their ages, the kids go for walks around town, looking for rocks and other interesting items. They visit their plot at the community garden, watering and picking vegetables.
In July there were 27 children enrolled at the daycare facility and there are 32 signed up for August, Daniel said.
Staff members are busy with the Summer Fun Program as well, following public health guidelines.
The facility used to be open from 7:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. but it changed to an 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. schedule because of the new restrictions.
"We will increase our hours when [COVID] protocol changes," Daniel said. There's a waiting list. "We've been contacting families who were registered in March, they're first. Then we go to the waiting list."
Daniel noted enrolment will increase in September from 32 to more than 40. That number is still below the number of children at Wildflowers Childcare pre-COVID, when there were 76 children registered.
COVID-19 has changed the protocol at the childcare facility, and so has provincial government funding. As of July 31, provincial grant funding that allowed all parents to pay $25 a day per child for care no longer exists.
"The new government has made a different plan," Daniel said, "an increase in child care subsidies to low income families.
"The regular price - $62 per day - is changing some people's minds as to whether they need child care. COVID is a factor and so is the new price."
Life is definitely not the same as it was before the pandemic, but Daniel and the staff are making the time at Wildflowers Childcare as enjoyable and educational as they can.
"There's a lot of things we have to do differently," she said.
"But for the most part, we've been able to do the stuff we did before the pandemic.
“We're lucky to be open and delivering the service. It's great to be back."
