The Rural Voice, 1989-12, Page 54Give
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Mary Ann
Kirkconnell and
(right) Nora
Hicks, a private
home childcare
co-ordinator.
The children in Kirkconnell's
program are not farm children, but
rural children. And at the Kirkcon-
nells' they learn about life on a farm.
"They learn that Holsteins give milk.
On a farm, there's lots of room to play
outside and there's always something
to do. Other children are good
socialization and stimulation for our
own children, too," Kirkconnell says.
Another answer to rural child-
care is a standard daycare centre in a
nearby town. But distance, transpor-
tation, and finances limit a farm
child's access to these programs.
Sandra LeGear, supervisor of the
Happy Hearts Day Care Centre in
Owen Sound, says there has been an
increase in the number of rural chil-
dren attending the centre. "I would
say that in the past four years, the
number of rural children has risen at
least 25 per cent," she says.
"The two obvious reasons are that
many people are moving to the coun-
try and that more rural (not necessarily
farm) women are working outside the
home." Community and Social Ser-
vices subsidizes 13 spots at the Happy
Hearts centre. The are no farm
children in this program.
It seems that farm families are still
caught in the middle. Those who need
childcare have three main choices: (1)
to get hired help for the field or for the
house, (2) to take the kids to the field
or to the barn when both parents must
work, or (3) to leave the children in
the house unsupervised. These
alternatives, particularly for families
with young children, tend to be either
too costly or unsafe.
And at issue is the safety of
farm children. The summer issue
of Farmsafe, published by the Farm
Safety Association, focused on the
issue of safety and the farm child.
Since 1979, 67 children under the age
of 15 — the majority of them under
10 — have been killed in Ontario farm
accidents. Almost half of the total
farm fatalities were children under
five years of age.
What is needed by the average
farm family is a system of farm
childcare that is available on short
notice. High school girls who could
be on call would be an excellent
source of farm childcare, particularly
in the busy summer months. Or farm
women or other responsible adults
could take turns being on call in a
farming community.
Another possibility has been
suggested: subsidized childcare for
farm — not just rural — families.
Two ways to accomplish this are:
(1) to provide subsidized childcare
programs in farming communities, or
(2) to pay the farm wife a subsidy to
stay home and care for her own
children in her own home. Subsidi-
zation, of course, puts farm childcare
into the political arena. But better
provisions for childcare on the farm
would go a long way toward improv-
ing safety — the most important issue
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