DOCUMENT RESUME ED 379 090 PS 022 974 AUTHOR Young, Noel TITLE Caring for Play: The School and Child Care Connection. A Guide for Elementary School Principals, Child Care Professionals and School Board Officials. INSTITUTION Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, Toronto. REPORT NO ISBN-0-9698214-0-9 PUB DATE 94 NOTE 66p. AVAILABLE FROMEXploring Environments, c/o Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, 500A Bloor Street West, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1Y8 ($15; 20% discount on quantity orders of 25 ormore). PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Ancillary School Services; Boards of Education; Child Caregivers; *Day Care Centers; *Elementary School Students; Foreign Countries; Kindergarten Children; Policy Formation; Primary Education; *Program Development; School Administration; *School Age Day Care; *School Community Programs; *School Role IDENTIFIERS Canada; Ontario; *School Based Child Care Centers ABSTRACT Recognizing that child care located in the schools has many benefits, this manual was prepared for thoseplanning or implementing school-age child care partnerships for kindergartenand primary grade children. Reporting on programs inthe Ontario (Canada) area, the manual notes five issues that arecentral to developing such a program:(1) cooperation versus integration of care centers; (2) continuity and consistency versus diversity inprogramming; (3) supervision versus independence of the child;(4) targeting versus universality of eligibility; and (5) flexibility versusstability of service delivery. Section 1 explores how changes in demography are affecting children's out-of-school lives. Section 2reviews the implications of child care quality on children's learningand development. Section 3 describes the legislative andfunding framework that shapes the management of school-child care partnerships. Section 4 discusses how school boards can makepolicy and program initiatives so as to play a leadershiprole in responding to changing families and communities. Section5 analyzes operational issues that school boards and child care managers shouldconsider when implementing a school-based child care strategy.Section 6 summarizes the history of the partnership among schools,child care services, and recreation programs, which predates the20th century. Section 7 uses a holistic approach to present specificstrategies for organizing people, space, and materials. Section 8 presentsspecific strategies needed to foster effective partnerships inneighborhood schools. Work sheets, sample programs, and lists of resourcesare included. Contains a 137-item bibliography that includeshistorical sources, and archival and other primary sources.(TM) U 3. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Z;r1.,:e or Ed,e_auonal Rlarfn and hhh,sement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICi )(This documenthas peen reproduce° as 401 rM linedt rIn the beISOn or orgenilal.On .41111/1114111 Minor C.langeS nine been made 10 improve eoroductton °paw, Points or opinions staled in roes 00c u 'nen, do nor necessanlv represent OthCar IWO 7..-ve OEM position or Pol.CT :-F_PkiiS;ON TO REPRODUCE THIS 7.1 AWE& MA7ERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY The School and Child Care Connection -0 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" 4 AN PUBLICATION Caring for Play The School and Child Care Connection By Noel Young A Guide for Elementary School Principals, Child CareProfessionals and School Board Officials ( About the author Noel Young teaches Early Childhood Education in the Faculty of Community Services at George Brown College in Toronto. He has extensive experience with school-based child care (as a staff member, centre supervisor and finally as a child care program advisor with a Toronto-area school board). For many years, Noel has also been an active child care advocate and workshop leader, speaking extensively to educators and child care professionals throughout Ontario. He was one of the founders of Ontario's first school-age child care conference in 1989 and of Exploring Environments: A Newsletter About School-Age Child Care. 1994. Nod Young All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data LB 3436. Y68 1994 362.7'12 C94 931119-7 Young, Noel G. 1953 Caring for Play: The School and Child Care Connection a guide for elementary school principals, child care professionals and school board officials Main entry under tide 1. School-age child care - Ontario 2. School-based child are Designed by Artistic Licence. Illustrations by Kim Smith. ISBN 0. 9698214 -0 -9 This book has been published with the assistance of a grant from the Child Care Branch. Ministry of Community and Social Services to Direction 2000: Developing Community Daycare. DIRECTION 2000 4 TABLE OF Corm-1rEmirs Introduction 1 5. The Mechanics: Operating Issues for School Boards and Child Care Managers 23 Finance and Lease Issues - Tenure 3 1. Changing Lives and Lifestyles - Access Families Need Child Care Caretaking The Economic Benefits of Meeting the Child Care Challenge Safety Guidelines Profile of Innovation: Transportation Policies Sundowners Daycare and Resource Centre - Windsor Strikes and Labour Disputes Assessing Community Needs Facility Design Procedures 2. Caring About Quality Care 9 6. The School and Child Care Story 27 Where Are Ontario Children When School Is Out? 1850-1900: The Early Years Good Care/Bad Care Does It Make a Difference? 1900-1920: The Turn of the Century - When a child is in self- orsibling care The 1920s and 1930s - When a child is in the careof an adult The 1940s and 1950s The Ecology of Child Care Quality Starting Over: 1960-1980 The 1980s: The Day Care Decade 3. Rules and Regulations... Dollars and Sense: The Public Policy Framework 13 7. Providing for Play 37 Child Care As an Essential Community Service Space to Play Ontario'. Child Care System Who does what? - A home base Who pays for what? - Sharing space - Direct public funding - Outdoor play space - Regulations the Day Nurseries Act Friends to Play With - Ocher regulatory requirements Material for Play - Home Child Carc Organizing Time: Avoiding the Hurry-up and Wait Syndrome School Boards and Child Care - Following the school year - Profile of Innovation:Clinton School age Day Care - Toronto Caring for Play The Role of Adults Recreation and Child Care - Building a communityof parents - The role of child carestaff For children of kindergarten age 4. The Role of School Boards 17 - Staffing child care programs for school-age children A Vision of Collaboration - Staffing child care settings Child Care Policies and the Board's Strategic Plan - Part-time staffand professional development Developing 1`,.licies and Procedures Encouraging Independence and Autonomy - Child care .dvisorycouncils Intermittent supervision Responsibilities of School Board Staff Observing Children's Play at School and Child Care - Superintendents - Principals 8. Managing the Connection: Neighbourhood - School-child careco-ordinators Schools and Child Care Centres 51 Select sg the Operator Shared Goals Planning Together Conditions of Occupancy Paying for Play The Child Care Budget _ Professional Development Initiatives - Pr -gram affordabilityand flexible enrollment policies Profile of Innovation: Hamilton, North York - Building a team and Halton Boards of Education Critical Dates Conflict Management Parent Communication Youth Leadership Family Studies and Co-op Programs - Confidentiality Communication Strategies Behaviour Management Looking Ahead: The School Board as Child Care Operator Child Abuse Children with Special Needs Putting It All Together The Local School Child CareAgreement Conclusion: When Communities Care 59 For Additional Resources 60 Bibliography 61 Acknowledgements 64 Introduction 3% 41WELCON,t0 he schooltaild care tptiltectiothis simple common sease:-... .---- '. ) As thernand for cam gunfawfiating soluens to these (/hen almost 20 percent oichildren in some Communities problems has become an increasingly urgent task for educators come to school without breakfast one or more times a week' and child care professionals. At the sane time, both parents and and more than 40 per cent of six- to 12-year-olds go home to politicians are recognizing the benefits this care being located an empty house at the end of the day,2educators must in schools. Fortunately, the school-based child care strategy is inevitably be concerned about the care and well-being of children well supported by a growing body of Canadian research. during out-of-school hours. Moreover, an impressive number of pilot projects in a range of It is no longer possible to say, as 19th-century school officials Ontario communities are helping to chart the way. did, that teachers are responsible for children only "as long as This manual has been prepared for everyone involved in they can see them." Such rigid divisions of responsibility planning or implementing school/child care partnerships. between school and out-of-school services such as child care Focusing on the care of kindergarten and primary school-age have outlived their usefulness. While schools remain responsible children the majority of participants in school-based care for activities outlined by the curriculum, we now recognize that it promotes a flexible range of care and recreation services under learning occurs on a continuum, starting in infancy and the umbrella of a school-based community program agency. including experiences