Grace Church on-the-Hill - Child Care Centre

Within our nurturing walls, you will find staff dedicated to educating young children and giving them a lifelong love of learning, developing independent work habits, and inviting social collaboration.

The strength of any great school is drawn from the school’s community: dedicated teachers, hard-working director, devoted parents, and most of all, enthusiastic children.

Grace Church Daycare is in its 16th year of operation and we take great pride in our commitment to continually providing top quality childcare to the community. Serving children aged 3 months to 5 years, we offer a safe, nurturing environment that fosters independence and a positive attitude towards learning. Our caring and friendly staff is highly qualified with many years of experience in the field of Early Childhood Education and imbued with a love of education.

We have been nominated - by parents - and have been awarded The City of Toronto’s Certificate of Recognition for 6 consecutive years. We are truly honoured to be recognized for providing outstanding and exemplary service to children and families.

Our staff ensures that every child’s day is a pleasant balance of quiet and programmed activities, suitable for the child’s age and stage of development. Every class is set up invitingly with bright, child-friendly furnishings, age-appropriate equipment and activities.

We are here to support your family and invite you to join ours.

If you wish to learn more about Grace Church Daycare, please contact me at 416-932-3502 and arrange a mutually convenient time for information and tour.

We look forward to seeing your family at Grace Church Daycare.

Grace Church begins its program in the infant room. The infant room is for 10 infants aged 3 months to 15 months. There are qualified Early Childhood Educators and childcare assistants in the room. The child to teacher ratio for the infant room is 3:1.

The program in the infant room centres around individual needs and flexible schedules. This is important, as we know that infants do not all automatically follow the same routine.

The daily routine makes time for quiet and active play, mealtimes, sleep time, and community walks. As infants learn through their senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell), this becomes a major consideration when planning activities. Independence and autonomy are also encouraged at each stage of the infant’s development.

Parent communication is very important to all of us. In the infant room it is of particular importance when you consider that a lot of the baby’s first experiences can also be the parents’ first experiences. Our infant room Staff is trained and has had lots of experience in discussing infant milestones and challenges.
Infants busy in sensory play

To further our knowledge about an individual infant’s development, we use the handy tool of observation. Observation assists teachers to see the child as an individual and also helps in setting goals for the infant’s development and strategies to reach these goals.

All the infant room Staff are trained in Infant and Child CPR and First Aid, and their skills are updated annually.

Please click HERE for more details about the Infant Room programming, physical space, equipment, activities, and Infant looking through a mailbox routines.

Junior Toddler Program

The Junior Toddler program is offered to children 15 months to 2 years. This program is an excellent opportunity to separate the walkers from the crawlers in the infant room. It is also designed to prepare the younger toddlers to further develop their skills in a more structured and challenging environment.

The Junior Toddler program is based on a “Child-Focused” approach. Positive learning in all developmental areas is stressed through the use of consistency and more importantly from cues given by the children themselves and their interests. To ensure that each child’s needs are met, individualized as well as group programming is planned each day.

The Junior Toddler curriculum is comprised of the following components of child development with some of the associated teaching tools:

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

SELF-HELP DEVELOPMENT

The major goal of the Junior Toddler Room Curriculum is to provide an atmosphere that facilitates creative play, exploration and experimentation. A “hands-on” approach to learning is of utmost importance. Since learning is not something that can simply be handed down, every effort will be made to develop it through children’s personal experiences – in other words, by I love pasta!
having them do things themselves.

Click HERE for more details about our physical space, activities, and routines.

Senior Toddler Room Program

Grace Church Daycare offers a Senior Toddler Program for children 2-3 years of age. The program focuses on fostering independence, socialization, and language development. The Senior Toddler daily program provides activities that enhance the children’s self-worth, encourages self-help skills, is cognitively stimulating, and promotes independent thinking.

The Senior Toddler Program staff consists of 3 Early Childhood Educators and 1 Childcare assistant. The ratio is 1 teacher to every 5 children, with a group capacity of 16 children. Many of our teachers also have additional education and frequently update their knowledge by attending courses and workshops. All the teachers are trained in Infant and Child CPR and First Aid, and these skills are updated annually.

A walk on a rainy day

The Junior Toddler curriculum encompasses all the areas of development for this age of child. These areas include:

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

FINE AND GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT AND SENSORY AWARENESS

COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-HELP SKILLS

Putting baby to sleep

Click HERE for details of our learning areas and opportunities for your child’s growth, as well as daily routines and physical amenities.

Preschool Program

The preschool program is designed to provide a nurturing and safe environment for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 4 years. The classroom has space for 16 children and the teacher/child ratio is 1:8. The preschool room staff consists of 2 Early Childhood Educators and 1 Childcare Assistant.

In the preschool program, an atmosphere is created to focus on the whole child. We strive to provide individual care and understanding to every child in our program. The fostering of social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development are all principal concepts of healthy child development. Our objective is to promote each preschooler’s growth and broaden their experience in their relationship with the world around them.

Preschool dramatic play

The program reflects diversity and celebrates individuality. We encourage our children and parents to add to our program by sharing their cultural and personal experiences. We believe that a partnership between staff and family is key to a preschooler’s growth, development, and positive daycare experience.

The preschool curriculum consists of the following developmental areas:

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

MATH EXPERIENCES Learning the alphabet

ART AND SENSORY PROGRAM

FINE AND GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

The preschool classroom is located in the Grace Church Daycare Senior School, which opened its doors in September 2002. The senior school is part of the Grace Church Daycare expansion process due to increased interest in the centre and its programs and also to accommodate a huge waiting list.

The classroom is bright and airy, with many colourful murals on the surrounding wall space.

Click HERE for more details of our programming, routines, and our activities.

Preparing Easter baskets

Junior Kindergarten Curriculum

Grace Church Daycare offers a Junior Kindergarten program for children entering into their 5th year. The program focuses on preparing the children for entry into Senior Kindergarten the following fall, and also to give them the social skills necessary for joining the new and much bigger community of the school system.

The Junior Kindergarten program is staffed by two Early Childhood Educators and comprises two groups of 7 children, aged 4 – 5 years. One classroom is located in the Senior School Section of the daycare and one in the Junior School. The program was opened in September 2001 and was made possible due to the increasing demand for such a program and also to accommodate the centre’s growing waiting list. The classrooms appear small but provide ample room for the small group enrolled and are brightly decorated and furnished. All necessary learning areas are available to the children at all times.

The Junior Kindergarten Program is designed to help the children broaden their base of information, form concepts; acquire foundation skills and a positive attitude toward learning.

A variety of learning expectations are set out for each child. These expectations include developing skills in literacy, mathematics and science.

Due to the small size of the class, the children receive ample individual attention in the development of the required skills. Each child is individually programmed for, outlining the child’s particular strengths and challenges.

The program is based on a “Child enriched, Child focused” approach, with learning in all developmental and intellectual areas being based and formed around the children’s interests and desires.

Please click HERE for more details about the Junior Kindergarten curriculum, routines, and activities.

Welcome to the Grace Church Daycare Centre!

Junior Toddler Program

Senior Toddler Room Program

Preschool Program

Junior Kindergarten Curriculum

References