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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-06-11, Page 3Feature GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11:1986—PAGE 3 Due to the forthcoming marriage of our son, Art's Landscaping will be closed µ the following hours. 4... ego - Saturday June 14 open until noon Sunday, June 15 CLOSED Returning to regular hours Monday June 16 We apologize for any, inconvenience .. this may have caused. ateit A 046 ...AAA , LANDSCAPING 166 Bennett St. NURSERY & GARDEN CENTRE Goderich 524-2645 Adam Russell, Jason Brown, Robbie Corrigan and Scott Corrigan make full use of the playground equipment at the K Day Care Cen- tre on sunny days. Parents of the 80 children who use the centre say their kids love day care. It's a place where they learn educational skills, how to obey rules, how to share and how to get along with other children. And, it's an essential service for the town's working parents, they say. (photo by Susan Hundertmark) Parents say day care is essential • from page 1 Barb Allen says she can't do without day care for her four-year-old son especially since she's gone through five babysitters in the past 10 months for her 19 month old son. "My four-year-old just loves day care. March Break is just awful because he counts the days on the calendar until he can go back to day care," says the Grade 1 teacher. She says her son has learned about hibernation, migration, songs, rhymes, finger games and how to behave politely. "The intellectual stimulation for him is great. He can tell you about things that Grade is can't tell you. He's really ready for structured learning now," she says. Allen 'says the beauty of learning at day care is it's not structural but incidental. "They do things like count the maple trees on a walk. I don't think the kids real- ly realize they're learning when they do," she says. With the percentage of working women in society today, Allen says that she can't believe day care would not be regarded as a necessity in Goderich. "Maybe we should turn babysitting over to the men for awhile " she says. "It's no fun leaving the kids crying at the window in the morning. But, Ryan doesn't want to leave the day care centre when I FEATURE REPORT come to pick him up." Allen says she doesn't mind if the price for day care goes up. "I'm not looking for how much it costs. I'm looking for quality," she says. Brenda Russell agrees. The postmaster. of the Hensall post office whose husband Mark works at Champion Road Machinery in Goderich says the K Day Care Centre is the perfect spot for their son Adam. "We're both professional career people who don't associate with couples with young children so the centre givesAdam a peer group. There's no TV there so he's not coming home hyper," she says. Russell says Adam has visited the fire hall, the race track and the dental hygenist. He knows about nutrition, has a love of books and knows all the Christmas carols by heart. "He's three -years -old and at dinner one night he picked up his meat and said, 'This is protein you know.' The day care workers are not doing housework like babysitters do," she says. Russell says the 'day care centre workers are so important because they're our children's first teachers who will shape their attitude to learning. "They are professionals and their work is like a calling to them. They are shaping the future of my child. Our children are our most important resource," she says. As far as concerns about subsidizing day care goes, Rus3ell says society already subsidizes many social programs in - eluding old age pensions. "If we can keep the old ones, I hope we can keep the young ones," she says. And, she says that women are foo vital a part of their working communities to stay at home .with their children if they don't choose to. "This woman supported a husband for two years while he stayed home to look after our child and paid off a mortgage. I've been a vital part of my community and it's not worth me throwing away the rest of my life to stay home for five years to care for my child." "Good day care is an essential part of life, just as essential as oldage pensions. Not many families are cutting it on one in- come these days," she says. "More and more women are in the workplace and those who say day care is not a necessity are going to have to wake up." Women Today tells task force farm families need child care BY SHARON DIETZ Farm families along, with their urban counterparts are finding the need for child care is critical, Women Today told a federal task force on day care which held hearings across the country earlier this gpring. "We recognize there is no one universal solution to the need for child care in the >'ural and farm situation and we 4cknowledge that parents have a respon- iibility to provide care for the children they choose to have," Fran McQuail, president of Women Today told the task rce. " There are, however economic and 4ocial factors that have drastically chang- qd our social fabric, particularly in the rural areas, over which we as individuals Have limited ccontrol and this has altered the traditional ways of providing child dare." . Women Today is an active women's. organization in Huron County which recognizes the need for support and ad- vocacy work delivered from a women's (perspective as well as the need to provide ihformation and resources on women's health and political issues. Members ,ap- peared before the task force when it held hearings in London in May. The first factor which affects a family's ability to provide full time child care at home is the econo 'c situation in the far- eling community said McQuail. Com- modity prices have en so low for the past , five years and int est costs so high, that women are replacing the hired man on the farm or are going out to work off the farm in ever increasing numbers. This creates a deed for child care which they normally Would have provided on the farm. This economic squeeze is not improving, said McQuail who works on the farm part ' Qtime and off the farm part time: The Mc- uails averaged $15 1 ss per lamb sold this spring than in 1985. Secondly, the ba k up family network Which once existed th the grandparents dr other relatitfes just down the road, is not fbund frequently anyniore. They are just as likely to be living in Toronto or out " West, said McQuail. If they are on a neighbouring farm, they are probably in a similar economic bind With the woman Working as well. n The families and children who are pre- sent have access to the three day care cen- tres in Huron County are exceptions, Mc - Quail told the task force. Apart from the difficulties of getting their children to the centres due to distance and fears of rising costs, they are pleased with the quality care their children receive. There are some limita- tions in the present facilities for otter parents, including lack of care available for children under two and the difficulty for shift workers with the varying opening and closing hours. McQuail said most feel these problems can be solved. McQuail stressed there is a lack of awareness on the part of municipal coun- cils as to the need for day care centres. The K Day Care Centre in Goderich open- ed last year after the two women operating the centre initially approached the town council for assistance in establishing a municipal day care centre. They were told there was no need for a day care centre in Goderich, since the council felt the nursery school for preschoolers, which held two hour sessions each morning and afternoon, was adequate. , The women eventually opened the day care centre on a private basis with the help of the local Kinsmen Club, but there are no subsidies available because council would not become involved. The centre is operating at full capacity, but there are many families who cannot afford the fees, because there is no subsidy program available. McQuail cited several situations which indicated the critical need for day care for farm families - the difference between a safe environmentand a hazardous one for young children. More neighbourhood child care centres are required, she said, because many parents drive more than half an hour to get their children to a cen- tre and then back again, involving time and gas expense. Specialized infant care should be available in existing centres which do not take children under the age of two. One centre has limited space for two to three year olds. Hours should be extended at existing 1R) centres with reasonable overtime rates.' When a woman has to work overtime, the day care centre still 'closes at 5:30 p.m.. There is a charge of $2. for five minutes at one centre and $1. a minute at another. The same problem exists for women who start their work earlier in the day than the centre opens. Some women start a 7 a.m. shift before the centre opens at 7:30 a.m. A housewife with several pre-school children has not had the opportunity for a Turn to page 7 • Board expects physical education to be ministry's next priority ' CLINTON , - Huron County Board of Education members anticipate that physical education in schools will be the next main thrust the Ontario ministry of education and the local board is taking a closer look at the cirriculum needs. At their June meeting, board members approved a report on physical education, prepared by a committee headed by J. Mann, principal of Turnberry Central Public School. The report looked at goals, teaching methods and safety procedures for Grades 1 to 8. It also outlined lesson topics and lesson plans for all grades. As well, Mr. Mann's report recommended the purchase of the Scarborough Board of Education curriculum packages on physical education, and proposed the idea of a resource teacher concept to introduce the program and assist teachers in its implementation. The Huron Board of Education may buy the program outright, or prepare their own curriculum based on material developed by the Scarborough .. Board of Education. Great Gifts at Great Savings G !setae;:. P on PE lave Crearr 300 ml Ot?'111 free $159 Kodak Tele Isc Camera Outfit $4995 Embassy Video Cassettes T120i VHS. $469 Your Friendly Neighbourhood Drugstore Pharmacy 14 SHOPPERS scums 000E*104 524.7241 I WE DELIVER OPEN SUNDAYS