Day in the lifeJuly 29, 20262 min read
What a rainy Tuesday actually looks like
People ask what the children do all day. Here is one ordinary Tuesday, written down as it happened, including the part where nothing worked.
Read itNow accepting enrolment
A small dayhome where your child is known by name
Licensed family child care in Calgary. Six children, one caregiver, and enough room in the day to notice when someone is having a hard morning.
- Weekdays
- 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM
- Licensed
- Alberta approved
- Group size
- Six children
- Licensed Family Child Care
- Alberta Approved Family Day Home
- Level 3 Certified Administrator
Hello
Hi, I'm Angela
I have been caring for other people's children in my home for years and I still think it is the best job going.
The dayhome runs out of the lower floor of our house: one open playroom with a reading corner, a sensory table, an art easel, and a world map that covers most of one wall. Six children at most. That limit is set by the province, and it is also the reason I can tell you at pickup what your child actually did all day instead of handing you a photocopied form.
I hold a Level 3 certification, which is the highest of Alberta's three child care certification levels, and the dayhome is licensed through the Calgary & Area Alberta Family Child Care Association.
What the days are built on
Small on purpose
A licensed family day home is a different animal from a centre. Here is what that difference buys you.
Six children, mixed ages
The older ones read to the younger ones and nobody gets sorted into a room of thirty. Siblings stay together.
Licensed and inspected
Alberta Approved Family Day Home, monitored through the Calgary & Area Alberta Family Child Care Association. First aid current, home inspected, references available.
Food cooked here
Two snacks and a hot lunch, cooked in the kitchen upstairs. Menus rotate week to week, and allergies get planned around properly from the first day.
Outside every day
Park walks, the yard, puddles in spring. Calgary weather permitting, and our threshold for permitting is fairly generous.
Programs
Care for every stage
Mixed ages under one roof, with the day shaped around what each child needs.
Up to 19 monthsInfants
Own sleep schedule, own pace. Babies here follow the rhythm they came in with rather than a group timetable.
What the day looks like19 months to 3 yearsToddlers
The busiest stretch. Toddlers get room to move, materials that survive enthusiasm, and help learning to wait a minute.
What the day looks like
3 to 5 yearsPreschool
Longer projects, early printing, and the skills that make the first week of kindergarten easier.
What the day looks likeKindergarten to age 12Before and after school
Breakfast, the walk to school, and a landing spot at the end of the day with homework help if wanted.
What the day looks likeHow we learn
Play first, and the rest follows
Play-based learning has been used as a marketing phrase often enough that it has stopped meaning much. In this house it means something fairly literal.
Children arrive already trying to figure things out. My job is to put good material in front of them and then mostly stay out of the way. Cutting practice on a paper face because a three year old wants to give it hair. Playdough when hands need something to squeeze. The map comes out when someone asks where Grandma flew to and it turns into forty minutes on oceans.
Letters, numbers, and printing show up too, mostly through the alphabet wall and a lot of repetition disguised as games. Children heading to kindergarten leave able to write their name, sit for a story, put on their own boots, and ask an adult for help. That last one matters more than people expect.
A day here
The rhythm children can count on
Predictable enough that a two year old knows what comes next, loose enough that a good idea can take over the morning.
6:30 to 8:30
Arrivals and breakfast
Doors open, coats go on hooks, and anyone who has not eaten sits down for breakfast. Quiet play while the house wakes up.
8:30 to 9:00
School run
The school-age crew heads out. Everyone else helps push the wagon to the corner and back.
9:00 to 9:30
Circle and snack
Songs, the calendar, weather, and whatever anyone urgently needs to tell the group. Fruit and something to drink.
9:30 to 11:00
Open play and project time
The long stretch. Art, blocks, dress-up, sensory table, books. This is where most of the actual learning happens.
11:00 to 11:45
Outside
Yard or a walk to the park. Weather has to be genuinely unpleasant before we skip it.
11:45 to 12:30
Lunch
Hot lunch at the big table. Everyone helps set up and clears their own plate.
Out and about
The walk is half the point
Most days we get out. The younger two ride in the wagon, the older ones walk and take turns holding the handle, and the park at the end of the block does the rest.
Rain gear lives by the door. So do sunhats, mittens, and a spare set of everything, because Calgary changes its mind about the season roughly twice a week.
Gallery
Have a look around
Faces are covered on every photo published here, at each family's request.
Licensing
The paperwork behind the fun
Alberta licenses family day homes and then keeps checking on them. That means scheduled and unannounced home visits, current standard first aid and infant CPR, a criminal record check with a vulnerable sector search, and written policies covering illness, medication, emergencies, and how children are guided when things go sideways.
You are welcome to read any of it. Ask at your visit and I will hand you the binder.
Journal
Notes from the dayhome
Occasional writing about how the days go and what tends to help.
New familiesJuly 15, 20262 min read
Settling in: what the first two weeks are really like
The hard part is not usually day one. It is day four, and then again around day nine. Here is what to expect and what actually helps.
Read itLearningJune 24, 20262 min read
Why the map stays on the wall
It was supposed to be temporary decoration. Two years later it has caused more conversations than any toy in the house.
Read itCome see the place before you decide
Visits take about half an hour. Bring your child, look at the playroom, and ask the awkward questions about screen time and sick days. You are under no obligation either way.