Messy Hands Early Learning Center
Messy Hands Early Learning Center is a licensed family child care center serving the families in Port Coquitlam. At my center I care for children 0-12 years old. The engaging curriculum is built upon the children’s strenghts and their interests, and consists of a balanced combination of explorations and inquiries. These are often initiated and lead by the children, while teacher-guided activities help expand the children’s learning. This way of hands-on teaching requires careful observations and reflections from the educator in order to encourage and carefully guide the learning in the classroom.
My main goal is to provide a home-like environment where children feel safe and supported, and are provided with uninterrupted free play time. I believe that this allows them to explore their environment with confidence and encourages them to learn about themselves and their community. As an Early Childhood Educator, I would support all children in learning how to make and to keep friends, how to express their feelings in a healthy way and how to use different tools and strategies to manage their emotions in challenging situations.
I understand that choosing the right child care center for your child and family is one of the hardest decisions you will have to make. Being a mom of three myself, I know how it feels to be away from your child, to worry throughout the day if they are tired and hungry, or happy and cared for. At Messy Hands your child will always feel loved and safe. I recognise that parents know their child the best and I always strive to build trusting relationships with the families I work with, based on mutual respect and collaboration.
Messy Hands Child Care Program
All children
are unique and they all grow and learn new skills at their own pace. I strongly believe that children learn best when the adults in their lives recognise their individual learning styles and are able to adapt the physical environments and routines to their specific needs.
Messy Hands has seized on the opportunity to include French as part of the daily activities with the children, thus providing a foundation for French language development taught in French immersion schools. We are conveniently located between two French Immersion schools – Kilmer Elementary and Mary Hill Elementary.
The child care center provides home-like environment with a lot of natural, open-ended and sensory materials. We have an Art studio separate from the classroom where a vast variety of materials are available to the children at all times. The in-depth exploration of different art mediums and the long term projects give children the opportunity to learn new ways to express themselves, and become critical thinkers and problem solvers, qualities that are the foundation of better readiness for school.
The Early Childhood Educator
As an early childhood educator, I always challenge myself to find new experiences to share with the children. l support learning by providing activities and materials that are age and developmentally appropriate and that children find engaging. I completed an Early Childhood Education program at the Burnaby Continuing and Community Education, focused on studying and implementing the ideas and theories of the Reggio Emilia approach. I have also completed the Inclusive Practices Diploma course work. I have a French High School diploma. Some of the other certificates I hold are Child Cooking and Nutrition, Food Safety, Effective Classroom Interactions, Emergency Child Care First Aid etc. Last but not least, I also have a clear Criminal Record Check by the Ministry of Justice.