Some of the most useful advice we can give parents has nothing to do with child development. It comes from the lost and found box, which by March contains roughly forty unclaimed items, thirty of which are navy.
Label everything
Every item. Coat, boots, both mittens, toque, snow pants, water bottle, lunch container, indoor shoes, blanket, spare clothes, the soft toy that comes to nap.
Twelve children in a room means a lot of identical clothing. A labelled item comes back; an unlabelled one goes into the box. Contents of the box are donated to the Salvation Army every two months, so do check it.
Iron-on labels or a laundry marker both work. Write it somewhere you can find again — inside the collar, on the boot tongue, on the mitten cuff.
Two of everything that gets wet
One pair of mittens is not enough. Neither is one pair of socks. The first pair will be soaked within twenty minutes of going outside, and a child in wet mittens has a miserable morning.
Indoor shoes that live here
Boots come off at the door, all year. A pair of indoor shoes that stays at the centre solves this permanently and means a child is never in socks on a wet floor.
Clothes you do not mind ruining
Paint, glue, mud, sand, and food. A child who is worried about their clothes does not take part properly, and we would rather they took part. Send the older clothes.
Do not send valuables
Toys, money, jewellery, anything precious. We cannot take responsibility for lost or stolen items, and more importantly a special toy from home creates a sharing conflict that ruins somebody's morning. Comfort items for nap are the exception — those live in the cubby.
Also please check pockets and backpacks. Small hard objects from home are the most common source of choking hazards in a room.
Tell us about changes
New address, new phone number, a different person doing pickup on Thursdays, a parent travelling, a new baby, a bereavement. All of it is useful.
The pickup one matters most: we will not release a child to someone who is not on the authorised list, which means an unannounced grandparent will be standing at the door while we ring you. Add them to the list in advance — it takes a minute at the front desk.
Read what comes home
Permission slips have deadlines, and a child without a signed slip cannot go on the trip. There is no way around this and we hate having to enforce it.
Arrive before 10 AM
Drop-off before 10:00 is a requirement rather than a preference. The morning programming, the outdoor block, and the lunch count all depend on it, and a child arriving at 11 has missed the part of the day that sets them up.
Full practical details are on the FAQ and in the registration package.
