Kayleigh McEwan: Intergenerational learning in the community

Year: 2018 – Province: Ontario

Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Kayleigh McEwen

Educara Montessori Child Care
275 Tartan Drive
Nepean, ON K2J 3T1

Telephone: 613-702-1116
Website: https://educara.ca/

 

Type of setting: Child care centre for children ages 18 months to 5 years

When planning the child care centre she founded in 2017, Kayleigh McEwan decided to co-locate it with a retirement residence. Doing so meant that the centre could benefit the surrounding community and she could do intergenerational activities with both the children and the seniors.

Philosophy of care

Kayleigh takes a whole-child, whole-community approach to early childhood education, leveraging the benefits of the Montessori approach and working with each child one on one each day. Children learn with traditional materials, while caregivers focus on creating calm, caring relationships and engaging in eye-to-eye conversation.

Support of child development

  • Places intergenerational activities at the heart of her program: children bake and make barbecue sauce for Father's Day with their grand-friends, count food bank donations, play games and tend the community garden (with veggies going home and into the retirement home kitchen, which provides meals and snacks for the centre)
  • Provides a stimulating and engaging learning environment for all children: sensory and practical life materials are switched out every two months, based on use and interest, so the classroom remains an engaging place; Montessori materials for math, language and culture are typically left out year-round, since each child develops differently in these areas
  • Employs developmentally appropriate responses to behaviour problems: for example, children struggling to control their behaviour sit at the peace table and play with sand or rake a stone garden to calm down; sometimes, two children use the table to find a solution to a disagreement
  • Emphasizes the diversity of the local multicultural population, and respects and celebrates each family's heritage and culture

Involvement with parents, families and the community

  • Ensures regular communications to parents, including daily personal updates and information sheets in drop-off/pick-up area, regular Facebook posts and a detailed bulletin that goes home twice a year
  • Encourages parents to join intergenerational activities, including a large community potluck at the end-of-year concert
  • Responds to family emergencies with offers of weekend and after-hours child care

Rave reviews

"[Kayleigh's] empathy, compassion, and love for our children have allowed them to flourish in the earliest of their formative stages. While her calm, thoughtful, and patient approach has created an environment of discovery where students are able to learn about themselves, their peers, and the world."

Parents