Archive
Everything we have written, since 2010.
All 60 posts in one place, grouped by year. The early entries are shorter — we were learning how to do this too.
2026
12 postsDecember at daycare: celebrating without favouring one tradition
Our rooms include families who mark Christmas, Diwali leftovers, Eid planning, solstice, and nothing at all. Here is how December actually works when you refuse to pretend everyone shares the same calendar.
Centre News2 minEdmonton Novembers: when dark arrives before pickup
By mid-November the sun is gone before many parents leave work. That changes naps, moods, outdoor time, and evenings — and pretending it does not helps nobody.
Edmonton Family Life2 minHalloween at daycare without the meltdown
Costumes, sugar, and a room full of excitement are a lot for a three-year-old. Here is how we run the day so the fun does not flatten everybody by 4 PM.
Activities & Crafts2 minSeptember hits the whole family, not just the school-age child
When an older sibling starts kindergarten or grade one, the toddler at Ideal feels it too. Here is what usually shifts in the first three weeks of the school year.
Parenting2 minAugust is the reset before the busy season
Before backpacks and early alarms return, use August to fix the boring things: labelled gear, updated contacts, sleep schedules, and one honest conversation about the autumn routine.
Parenting2 minAcademic Pre-Kindergarten in Mill Woods: what it actually is
We were approved this year to run a structured Academic Pre-K program three mornings a week. Here is what happens in those two hours, and why we think it is worth carving out.
School Readiness4 minA summer of small trips: how we use Mill Woods with young children
Sakaw Park, St. Richard Park, the library, and the fields around Millhurst Plaza. What a summer of walking-distance outings looks like, and why we rarely get in a vehicle.
Edmonton Family Life3 minThe first two weeks: what settling into daycare really looks like
Your child will probably cry at drop-off. That is not a sign anything is wrong. Here is the honest week-by-week, and what actually helps.
Parenting4 minReading to a toddler who will not sit still
If storytime lasts four seconds before your two-year-old walks off, you are not doing it wrong. You may just be doing it like an adult.
Early Learning3 minHow an allergy-aware centre actually works
What happens between you writing "peanuts" on a form and your child eating lunch safely every day for three years.
Health & Safety3 minWhat out of school care should feel like at 3:30 PM
A seven-year-old who has been at school since 8:45 does not need more school. Here is what we think the after-school hours are for.
Child Development3 minYes, we go outside in January
Edmonton winters are long and we do not spend them indoors. What we send children out in, what we do not, and how to dress a toddler for minus twenty without losing your mind.
Health & Safety3 min
2025
3 postsPicky eating: what we do at the lunch table
A four-year-old who eats three foods at home will often try a fourth here. The reason has almost nothing to do with the food.
Nutrition2 minWhy we do not send home a folder of worksheets
A completed worksheet proves a child can complete a worksheet. Here is what we send home instead, and why we think it tells you more.
Early Learning2 minAlberta childcare subsidy: the practical version
Not the government explainer. What subsidy actually means for your monthly invoice, what we need from you, and the deadline that catches families out.
Edmonton Family Life2 min
2024
3 postsTantrums: what is actually happening, and what to do
A two-year-old on the floor of a grocery store is not manipulating you. Their brain has genuinely run out of capacity. That changes what helps.
Parenting2 minScreen time under five: a realistic take
The guidelines say almost none. Real life says otherwise. What actually matters is not the number of minutes.
Parenting2 minSharing is not a skill a two-year-old has yet
We ask toddlers to share constantly, and they cannot. What we use instead, and why the queue works better than the lecture.
Child Development2 min
2023
3 postsGetting ready for kindergarten in Edmonton: what actually matters
Reading is not on the list. Here is what Edmonton kindergarten teachers actually wish children arrived able to do.
School Readiness2 minNaps at daycare, and why your child sleeps here but not at home
The most common question at pickup. The answer is usually about the room rather than the child.
Parenting2 minLoose parts: why the best toys are not toys
A basket of bottle caps, corks, and fabric scraps will outlast any plastic toy in the room. The reason is worth understanding.
Activities & Crafts2 min
2022
3 postsWhen to keep your child home: the illness rules, plainly
Nobody enjoys the 7 AM judgement call. Here is our line, why it sits there, and what happens when we call you.
Health & Safety2 minBetter questions than "what did you do today?"
Ask a four-year-old what they did and you get "nothing." Ask a different question and you get twenty minutes.
Parenting2 minFine motor skills: fifteen things to do at the kitchen table
The most underrated area of school readiness, and the one you can improve fastest with things you already own.
Activities & Crafts2 min
2021
3 postsSettling an infant: what to expect in the baby room
Leaving a baby is different from leaving a toddler. What the first fortnight looks like, and what we need to know about your routine.
Child Development2 minRisky play: why we let children climb higher than you might
A child who has never been allowed to take a small risk cannot judge a large one. How we think about the difference between risk and hazard.
Child Development2 minWhy routine does more for a young child than variety
Adults find repetition dull. For a three-year-old, a predictable day is what frees up the attention to learn.
Early Learning2 min
2020
3 postsTeaching handwashing to people who eat sand
Hygiene routines in a room of twelve toddlers, and the version of them that works at home.
Health & Safety2 minWhat ten minutes of music does for a room
Songs, rhythm, and movement are not filler between activities. They do specific developmental work that is hard to get any other way.
Early Learning2 minLabel everything: practical advice from the lost and found box
A short, entirely unglamorous list of things that make daycare life easier, learned from years of unclaimed navy mittens.
Parenting2 min
2019
3 postsWhy the toy kitchen is the most important thing in the room
Pretend play looks like the least educational corner of a preschool room. It is doing more developmental work than anything else in there.
Early Learning2 minMoving up a room: how we handle it
Changing rooms means a new educator, new peers, and a new routine all at once. Here is how we stagger it.
Child Development2 minWater play, and making the most of eight warm weeks
Edmonton gives you a short window. What we do with it, and the simplest water setup worth having at home.
Activities & Crafts2 min
2018
3 postsBiting: why toddlers do it and what we do about it
The phone call no parent wants, from either side. Biting is common, developmental, and manageable.
Parenting2 minGrowing something with a three-year-old
A pot of radishes teaches patience, responsibility, and where food comes from, and survives a short Alberta season.
Activities & Crafts2 minWhat "licensed" actually means in Alberta
Ratios, inspections, staff certification, and record-keeping. The unglamorous machinery behind the word on the sign.
Health & Safety2 min
2017
3 postsRaising a bilingual child: keep speaking your language
Families are still told to switch to English at home to help their child. That advice is wrong and it costs something real.
Child Development2 minWhat actually gets eaten out of a lunch box
Practical lunch box building for young children, from someone who sees what comes back uneaten.
Nutrition2 minFire drills with toddlers, and what else we practise
Monthly evacuation drills with a room of two-year-olds, and the other emergencies a centre plans for.
Health & Safety2 min
2016
3 postsToilet learning without a battle
Readiness signs, what we do here, and the single most important rule: do not make it a contest.
Parenting2 minSensory play with things from the kitchen cupboard
Rice, pasta, oats, flour, and shaving foam. Ten sensory activities that cost almost nothing.
Activities & Crafts2 minOutdoor time is not the reward for finishing the activity
Some settings treat going outside as a bonus. It is a developmental requirement, and it should never be a consequence.
Child Development2 min
2015
3 postsChoosing a daycare: what to ask, and what to watch
A tour will show you a clean room. Here are the questions that tell you something a clean room cannot.
Parenting2 minWhat we do instead of discipline
No time-outs, no naughty chair, no reward charts. What replaces them, and why it works better.
Parenting2 minWhat happens when a six-year-old plays with a three-year-old
Age-segregated groups are an administrative convenience. Mixed-age play does things a same-age room cannot.
Child Development2 min
2014
3 postsBlock play is early mathematics
Symmetry, balance, fractions, and spatial reasoning, all happening on a carpet with a box of wooden blocks.
Early Learning2 minSeparation anxiety is a sign of secure attachment
A child who cries when you leave is demonstrating something healthy. Understanding that makes the doorway easier.
Child Development2 minWhy our art does not all look the same
Twenty identical paper plate snowmen look impressive on a wall and teach a child almost nothing.
Activities & Crafts2 min
2013
3 postsWhen a new baby arrives: what we see in the room
A new sibling shows up in a child’s daycare behaviour before it shows up at home. What to expect and how to help.
Parenting2 minScience with a three-year-old, without buying anything
You do not need a STEM kit. You need a question you do not immediately answer.
Early Learning2 minReading the same book for the fortieth time
It is agonising for you and it is doing something specific for them. Here is what.
Early Learning2 min
2012
3 postsThe thirty seconds at the door
Drop-off and pickup are short and busy, and they are where nearly all parent-educator communication actually happens. How to use them.
Parenting2 minGross motor development, and why it precedes handwriting
Core strength built by climbing at three is what allows a five-year-old to sit and write. The connection is not obvious.
Child Development2 minStarting out of school care in September
A six-year-old starting after-school care has a specific set of worries, and most of them are logistical.
School Readiness2 min
2011
3 postsWhat a day in the preschool room actually looks like
Hour by hour, from the 6:30 AM arrivals to the last pickup. Not a curriculum document — the actual shape of a day.
Early Learning2 minThe two-minute warning: the smallest change with the biggest effect
Most difficult moments with a young child are transitions. One habit prevents a remarkable share of them.
Parenting2 minWhat to say instead of "good job"
"Good job" is automatic, harmless, and does almost nothing. Small changes make praise genuinely useful.
Parenting2 min
2010
3 postsWhy we started writing this
The first post. An explanation of what this is for, and what we hoped it would answer.
Centre News2 minPlay is the work, not the break from it
The single idea underneath everything else we do, and why "just playing" is a misdescription.
Early Learning2 minTwenty years in the same plaza
A short history of the centre, the neighbourhood around it, and the families who keep coming back with their second and third children.
Centre News2 min