How to Become an Early Childhood Educator in Ontario

If you are all about children, early childhood education may the career path for you.

Early childhood education in Ontario is studied at colleges and /or universities. Upon graduation of a 2-year college program, students receive a diploma in Early Childhood Education (ECE) which enables them to work at daycare centers as teachers with children from 0-12 years of age. It also gives them the opportunity to work in schools as assistant teachers.

In Ontario, there are university BA programs for Early Childhood Education as well. Attaining a degree in ECE enables a person to work as directors of daycare centres and in a variety of environments relating to children (such as government positions). Moreover, after achieving a BA in ECE, individuals may choose to go to teacher's college for one additional year to become teachers and work at schools, grades K-12.

Examples of Ontario Colleges that offer accredited/recognized ECE programs:
Seneca College
Centennial College
Humber College
George Brown College
Sheridan College
Mothercraft College (private college but fully accredited)

Please do not be fooled by the many private colleges that exist that are not accredited in any way and will not get you a job as an ECE. One example is Mountain College.

Examples of Ontario Universities that offer accredited/recognized ECE programs:
Ryerson University

Laws and Regulations for Home Daycare in Ontario

Home daycares in Toronto, Richmond Hill, Brampton, Mississauga, Markham, Barrie, Hamilton, and Ajax do not have many rules or regulations surrounding them. And this applies to the rest of the cities in Ontario, Canada as well.

Anyone can start and work at a home daycare, no formal education or qualification is necessary. Of course, a passion for working with children and some basic business skills won't hurt.

There is only one rule: the home daycare cannot have more than 5 children present at any one time, no matter how many caregivers are present or employed. This means that even if you choose to hire five teachers to work in the home daycare you can still only have a maximum of five children in the house, including your own children if they are under 6 years old. As a result, most home daycares are run by one caregiver who lives in the house with her family, as it is otherwise not financially worth it to hire extra help for only five children. Do not underestimate the level of difficulty when it comes to taking care of five children and still running a family and household, it can become daunting if you are not organized and have clear goals in mind.

The reality is, however, that there are quite a few illegal home daycares that have more than 5 children and hired staff. Although the caregiver may benefit from the profit right now, a neighbor's or parent's complaint to the Licensing Office will get an inspector to come in and see what is really happening in the daycare. If it is revealed that more than 5 children were being taken care of, severe fines and/or imprisonment may be the result.

If you'd like to start a larger daycare legally, there are various laws and regulations that you will need to follow. You will need to get your daycare licensed/registered before accepting more than 5 children. This is a lengthy process and requires time, proper financial support, and commitment. Usually a licensed daycare needs to be center-based rather than home-based because it must be located in a non-residential area to be eligible for a license. This greatly lowers the possibility of a licensed home daycare, as home daycares are usually located in residential and quieter areas.

Daily Report for Daycare

It is a good idea for the end of every day to provide parents with a daily report that will outline an overview of their child's day. Daily reports are very helpful for knowing what their child did and learned during the day, what and how much he/she ate, as well as the general mood and behavior of the child. It is also a vital tool for the caregiver herself for keeping track of what happened during the day, in case a parent calls in to ask.

Daily reports are commonly filled out at large daycare centers and having one at your own home daycare will most definitely boost up your rank.

Here are some wonderful daily reports available for download (.doc):

Infant Daily Report
Toddler Daily Report
Preschool Daily Report