Edmonton, Canada pre-school or nursery school..?

Question

I'm looking for any pre-school or nursery school preferably in Millwoods. I tried looking online but no luck.

thanks.

Answer 1

I certainly sympathy with your situation , Finding suitable daycare in this city can be a very frustrating experience. Given our economy with the influx of new people moving into the city and the shortage of caregivers the number of available spaces are at a all time low.

Online was a good place to begin though there are other places you can check. Try finding the Edmonton Examiner as it has a child care section. Any prospective places should without saying be throughly investigated to ensure that your child will be left in a safe, reliable atmosphere. Check with the other parents their feelings about the place and also with the BBB (you can do it online: http://hurdman.edmontonbbb.org/search.html)

The Citizen's Action group can be reached by dialing 211. There are a wealth of information and may be able to supply daycares who are taking new admissions.

The telephone book is another place to look - start by calling those schools and centers which are close to the area you are needing. I suggest phoning them and asking if they have available space and if they do make an appointment to go in and speak to them. By going in person you cal also get a tour of the place and it enables you to observe how the staff interact with the children.

If you or a friend or neighbor belong to a church maybe asking those parents who have their children enrolled in the nursery programs may be of assistance. Many community centers have mom and tot programs and you would find that many of these moms either have full or part time spots at many of the schools.

The idea is to find places where moms and children hang out and ask them. They will usually be able to give the ins and outs of the schools their children attend. Look at what elementary schools are in your area because many of them also incorporate pre-schools in the same buildings.

The other thing is to look for private daycare - these you will mainly find in the local newspaper. Please check these out throughly and ask to see their license and ask how many children they have in their care because those numbers are regulated by the city. Ask for a police check - they should have no problem supplying you with one to look at - make sure it's current.

Something you may want to ask is if the pre-school or nursery has online monitoring. This would enable you to check on your child whenever you wanted to. Many parents seek this kind of option because they know exactly what their children are doing at any given time as they can log onto the site.

www.kijiji.ca has tons of ads (usually private care spaces) advertised. You can also place your own ad for free looking for daycare - your phone number or personal information is not advertised and contact is only via email.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Probably depends on the child, I know some children who hate messy play and you could send them to nursery in cream cashmere and they would still be pristine at the end of the day. My child loves messy play and destroys all clothes (multiple sets a day). I buy bags of second hand clothes from NCT for nursery use, and buy beautiful and more expensive clothes for weekends. Messy play is an important part of learning. I do feel that some damage could be prevented by ensuring the children wear smocks when painting or eating though.

Answer 3

Your best bet is to pick up a local newspaper and look in the classifieds. Especially this time of year, pre-schools with openings often post them there.

You might also call the local elementary schools and churches and ask the office for names of pre-schools in your area.

Best of luck to you!