Carter Early Learning Centre
Welcome to Carter, a place of learning and growing for children ages two to twelve, located in the lower north corner of Bethel Mennonite Church. Our purpose is to support young families to be engaged, contributing citizens by providing excellent care for their children. Bethel opened the centre in 1974 as a community ministry which continues in close partnership with Bethel and Harrow School.
Message to Parents
At Carter we provide a loving, inclusive family like place where we work in partnership with you the parents to provide your children with a vibrant learning and growing experience.
We provide care for children:
ages two to five
from 7:15 - 5:45 Monday through Friday and
ages five to twelve
7:15 - 9:00 and 3:30 - 5:45 Monday through Friday
7:15 - 5:45 on all school closure days Monday through Friday
Kindergarten and school-aged children attending Harrow School walk to and from school together with one of our educators.
To provide a natural family like setting children of various ages remain mixed for the better part of each day.
We consistently meet the required trained educator ratio as well as the required preschool ratio of one staff to eight children and school-age ratio of one staff to fifteen children, always striving to enhance this ratio to ensure excellence in providing early learning and care.
Our educators are committed to providing a fun and relaxed atmosphere in a play-based program in which children feel free to explore, play and learn. The indoor learning space invites engagement in creative, pretend and educational activities while the outdoor spaces emphasize nature exploration and care for the environment. To learn more about our program and curriculum please click here.
A hot lunch program (optional) is provided to all children present over the lunch period.
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Mission, Vision and Values
Mission
Our mission is to provide high quality childcare and education in a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment which supports healthy childhood development. Our team members work in collaboration with parents and neighbourhood community stakeholders to achieve optimal outcomes for children and extending to the larger community.
Vision
Our vision is for a community where all children are safe, respected, loved, and encouraged to develop to their fullest potential. This will strengthen the foundations for learning, behaviour, health, and future success as productive, engaged, contributing citizens.
Values
Compassion
Trust
Respect
Inclusion
Quality care
Lifelong learning
Collaborative partnerships
Our mission aligns with the Indigenous sacred teachings of trust, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth, all working together to address growth and development of the whole child.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge that we are on Treaty No. 1 Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and on the Birthplace of the Métis Nation and the Heart of the Métis Nation Homeland.
We further acknowledge that we reside with our Bethel Mennonite Church neighbours in this building and honour and share the values embodied herein, embracing inclusivity of and harmony among all who encounter Carter, including diverse races, cultures, religions, gender identity and sexual orientation.
Governance
Carter was established from the onset as a charitable, not-for-profit organization, managed by a Board consisting of parents, community and Bethel Church members. We are provincially licensed, following all current best practices and strive toward excellence well beyond these requirements. As we are a publicly funded organization the Board reports to the Early Learning and Child Care Provincial office who assess and monitor the budget and the annual required independent audit.
In 2010 the centre initiated a name change from Carter Day Care to Carter Early Learning Centre, aligning with the vast growth in research and knowledge we now have in the importance of development in the early years as a foundation to all future learning and life success.
Centre history
Carter Daycare Centre Inc. was established in 1974 by Bethel Mennonite Church, at the forefront of the many programs opening at that time. It was at the start of the creation of the entire Provincial Government system and Carter was one of the first two centers to receive government funding. The center opened as a 30-space preschool program and was entirely staffed by Bethel Church members and volunteers from Mennonite based organizations. Furnishings were primarily provided by volunteer prison inmates. While housed in the then existing parsonage on the church lot Carter offered a kindergarten program in the Bethel Church building for the first number of years. Carter has now been in close partnership with Harrow School, collaborating to support families in the area.
Carter relocated in 1980 upon completion of the Bethel Place building and resided there until 1992 when the centre once again relocated into the existing facility in the lower level of Bethel Church, now licensed for 32 preschool children and twenty-five school-aged children.
Philosophy
We are committed to providing every child with a sense of belonging, connectedness and worth in a family like environment that offers love, valuable learning experiences, beauty and nature. Our acknowledgment of the whole child aligns with the four aspects of our being, mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.
We believe children are valuable citizens in their own right. We view children as competent learners with brilliant intelligence. We see our role as educators to provide, in partnership with their parents, every opportunity for each child to explore, discover and learn, each in their natural pace, ability and according to developmental level.
Curriculum Statement
At Carter Early Learning Centre learning is play based. There is no replacement for learning through play. It is a child’s most natural route to understanding the world around them. While the large blocks of play times seen in the daily schedule reflect this view we value equally the tremendous learning potential during all routine times.
Built into the daily schedule are the routine moments essential for self-care and good health, such as hand washing, nap and meal times. Within the large blocks of scheduled play times children choose from a wide variety of opportunities to play in groups or alone, to play actively or engage in quieter activity.
At Carter we follow an emergent curriculum approach to early learning. In this way we respect the educational value of children’s play and the learning and development that is deeply ingrained in moments of play. Our educators are dedicated to gathering documentation through close observation and discernment of children’s play, interactions and questions. The environment is the third teacher in this approach for it is the avenue to providing materials and activities in learning centres that respond to the documentation reflecting children’s interests at any time. Learning is richer and more meaningful when curriculum is intentionally created around children’s curiosity at the moment. The children’s learning is made visible to all who enter by postings of children’s work, and also very importantly the Learning Story visuals posted regularly by the team. These stories reveal the learning trajectory of a particular topic or theme reflective of the children’s interest that has been closely explored through planned curriculum and can be about anything at all. Here parents get to see what their children have been up to, what they have learned and what they have as individuals brought to the learning.
A variety of thoughtfully arranged learning centres are accessible to the children at all times;
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Art and Creative
To encourage sensory exploration through various materials and mediums enhancing appreciation for beauty and expanding the imagination.
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Literacy
To promote the joy of words, language, reading and writing, development of fine motor skills to manage tools.
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Music
Where children learn to recognize and appreciate diverse sounds, participate in singing and explore musical instruments.
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Mathematics
Where materials and tools provided enrich the exploration of concepts such as matching, categorizing, geometry, measuring, numeracy and counting, problem solving
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Blocks
Where children further explore mathematic concepts of shape and size, physical elements of gravity and balance, and where much cooperation and collaboration with friends promotes teamwork.
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Science and Nature
Where children can observe closely and explore nature for example, rocks, wood, feathers, ant farms, properties of water, learn about ecosystems and the importance of care for our natural world.
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Social Studies
Planned opportunities through which children learn about their immediate surroundings and community, learn about the people in it and those around the world.
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Physical Indoor and Outdoor Play
Where children learn about and challenge their bodies, develop gross motor skills like coordination and balance and build, enjoy nature, space and fresh air.
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Daily Living and Pretend Play
Where children can act out and learn to understand familiar roles (ex. parents, family, adult work) using dress-up clothes, dolls, play kitchen and other home furnishings.
