If I Only Had One Thing
This year's recipients give us their desert island selections.
It's All in the Attitude
"I hope I will always have the ability to see the magic in learning. Not everyone is suited to be an early childhood educator, and more important than any training you could get is this love of the magic of learning."
- Tracy Doyle
"We saw examples of what creative management can do when we were in Ottawa. If you talk to Geneviève Provençal and ask her how she can do the wonderful things she does, one of the first things she tells you is how her supervisor supports her. We need more supervisors like that. Educators need a certain degree of freedom to be able to try new methods."
- Denis Archambault and Marie-Josée Portelance
"I feel privileged to be part of the À tire d'aile team. My colleagues are dynamic and full of truly wonderful ideas. I would be remiss if I did not mention the support and encouragement our director provides day after day and year after year. Many thanks, À tire d'aile."
- Geneviève Provençal
"I want to give kids a sense of security, a lack of worry. If I had an empty room and a bunch of kids, all I'd need is a tote bag of odds and ends and my imagination!"
- Pamela Blanchfield
"That parents understand how important it is to care for our children - what they can do to take care of their children."
- Elizabeth Kaye
Back to Basics
"A piano. With a piano you can lead songs, tell stories, get the children experimenting and exploring movement. Music is a wonderful thing."
- Rosemarie Klein
"A loft! A raised play platform with a ladder for the children to climb up and down and a railing so the children could play underneath and on top."
- Donna Huyber
"An art shelf stocked with glue, scissors, paper, paint, magazines. Everything we'd need to create wonderful art!"
- Tammy Gingras
"I'd go for those big hollow wooden blocks. The children can build castles with them, sit and climb on them, start all kinds of fun with them."
- Liz Reid
If I Had a Wish
This year's recipients remark on their wishes for themselves, their early childhood education settings and the children in their care.
Support and Recognition
"I'd love to see support systems for child care centre staff that would allow them to have their professional development days financially supported. I'd also like to see resources for families provided through child care centres - workshops, resource material and equipment."
- Tracy Doyle
"For daycare generally, we'd like to see more flexibility and individuality in the way it is governed and managed. You look at this year's recipients, and you see a lot of different approaches. These people prove you don't need the same approach for everyone."
- Denis Archambault and Marie-Josée Portelance
"I'd wish for some extra help running my day home. It's difficult to care for the children all day, then have to take care of the paperwork at night. The government makes new rules about playground equipment, for example, and then doesn't give any money or help to meet them."
- Elizabeth Kaye
"What I wish most in the world is for our society to reflect its family values and provide a constant presence and necessary support to its children so that tomorrow's society will be made up of people who are fulfilled."
- Geneviève Provençal
Material Needs
"I would love to be able to provide better wages for my staff. I wish I could provide children with what they need, too, not just material things at the centre, but that pair of winter boots, the swimsuit that would allow them to take swimming lessons, the extra pair of running shoes."
- Pamela Blanchfield
"I'd wish for a new building for our program, with everything all on one level and a good roof that didn't leak. And more farm toys for the children - good quality tractors and combines."
- Rosemarie Klein
"I'd wish for more outside toys - enough bikes, trikes, tractors and scooters that everyone could take a ride."
- Donna Huyber
"I'd wish for an outdoor play space that the children could explore and exercise in, with a log to climb over, a play fort, a dry creek bed and a little hill to climb."
- Tammy Gingras
"I'd wish for our own building, on a little hill where we could climb and slide. We'd have a view and could learn about compass directions, clouds and the weather, and lots of other things."
- Liz Reid