1. Welcome mums and/or dads!

2. What we stand for – our mission  happy babies! An open house: – open communication with our parents Check out our website please! – Information sharing – Provide social emotional, parenting and medical support Keep up with changes/ the latest in the area of child care Make your baby feel safe: try to have a regular childcare assistant for him/her every day

3. Our company’s structure Barbara Vrijdags Director Babyhome Katrijn Leempoels Childcare assistants Villa Trees Steyaerts Iris Tomzack Childcare assistants Kabouterberg en kabouters Nele Lapiere Veerle Bruyninckx Lore De Cooman Childcare assistants Peutertuin Emilie De Poorter Ilse Brison Childcare assistants Grootpark Karolien Slagmolen Childcare assistants Marina De Greef educationalist Kristien Brosens Management assistant

4. This is how we do things… 6 Different day care centers: Kabouterberg – kabouters Villa Babyhome Peutertuin Grootpark

5. Slightly different way of working Kabouterberg: structured mixed-age groups Peutertuin: – one mixed age group / other groups semi-mixed Villa: same-age groups Babyhome: same-age groups Grootpark: – one mixed age group/ others semi-mixed

6. What’s the difference exactly? Mixed age- groups: – baby’s form one group along with todlers, they stay in the same group untill school – They have a team of max 4 childcare assistants Semi-mixed: – Baby’s and todlers up til the age of 18 months form one group with a childcare assistant – Todlers from 1,5 years and up form a group with a new childcare assistant Same- age groups: – Baby’s of the same age stay together untill they start school, they have one childcare assistant during all those years

7. What do you think? How do you feel about our way of working? Do you feel your baby is happy in his/her group? Do you prefer same-age groups, semi-mixed, mixed groups?  Questionnary in October  In coorporation with Prof.Dr Ferre Laevers from CEGO  Target: one way of working in all the day care centers by summer of next year

8. Need to know We try our absolute best to provide a regular childcare assistant However: People sometimes get sick People get pregnant People want to work less People retire…  Sometimes you will find there are substitutes who take care of your child in cases like these

9. We would like to ask you this… Provide play-clothing that may get dirty So children can play outside without our childcare assistant worrying too much

10. We would like to ask you as well… Don’t bring you child to the day care center when it’s sick! Your baby should be free of fever for as long as 24 hours before returning to daycare To protect your child: sick children need time to rest and recover To protect other children To protect our staff: so we can provide continuity in our care We do not administer medication, only medication to lower a fiever, with a written agreement from parents and doctor We call parents when your child is not feeling well, please come to your daycare center ASAP

11. What’s a day like for your child? When you drop your child off quite early (before 8 a.m), you will find your child stays in a group with children from different “families” (units) until all our staff is present (different work shifts). This is “de vroege”.

12. An ordinary day for your baby Round 8 a.m. they go to their “classroom” and stay there during the day with their regular childcare assistant With our baby’s, we try to follow their day rythme from home and let them sleep and eat when they need it

13. Toddlers’ day… Toddlers have a more structured day: playtime till 11, then lunch, (ALMA provides our meals) then nappy time till around 2 pm, playtime again, snacktime round 15: an apple a day… ;-) playtime till mum or dad arrives… Round 6 the children who aren’t picked up yet, gather in one room, we call this ‘de late” More of all this later.. Please, try to arrive in time, not after closing hours!

14. How was my child’s day? If you pick up your child in “de late”, you may not have the chance to talk to its’ regular childcare assistant every day  How to know how your childs’ day was then?/ how he/she is doing in general?  Diary (heen en weer boekje):  is filled out with usefull information:  Diapers update, sleep, feedings, anekdotes…  Please write down important/fun things …  “Look, I’m growing up”: how is your child developping?

15. If ever you should worry… wether your child is developping well Wether your child is feeling happy in the nursery wether your child is ready for pre-school Wether your child is ready for potty training Or you have other questions about parenting/ The well being of your child… Please let us know! Contact your manager of the nursery, ask for an appointement with Marina- Our educationalist, or make an appointment with me.