Incorporating therapies into our day-to-day activities at daycare is one of things that makes Hope’s Home so special.

Children with complex medical or developmental needs often have various therapies they need to do everyday to promote healthy development. In order to provide high quality, inclusive care – we staff Physical Development Consultants to help children with their therapies in a way that doesn’t segregate them from the rest of the children.

To learn more about this, our wonderful Physical Development Consultant, April, explains more about it.

What exactly is a Physical Development Consultant at Hope’s Home?

Inclusive daycare - Hope's Home edited

As a Physical Development Consultant (“PDC”), I work closely with the Developmental Workers. My daily goal is to make sure that our children with complex medical needs and developmental delays are equipped with the programs and plans they need to master new skills and participate fully in activities. Whether with adaptive equipment, a hand over hand assistance, or them building the skills to be able to dance on the floor with their friends, we aspire to give the child the maximum participation and incorporate fun therapies into their daily activities.

I am a Physiotherapist by profession, specializing in pediatrics for most of my career. I have been trained for some Neurodevelopmental Techniques of therapy and recently received a certificate of training for the Cognitive Orientation Approach for Individuals with Motor Difficulties.

A closer look at therapies.

The programs and goals we set to support the achievement of the child’s developmental milestones are in continuance to the goals of the parents and all the supporting professionals that are involved in the child’s life. The various therapies are decided upon by the specialized professionals and carried out by the PDC at Hope’s Home in an integrated way.

A list of outside professionals we work with:

Therapy Philosophies - Hope's Home editedIntegrating Therapies to make them fun!

After deciding on goals for the child, we work together as a team to translate them into different activities that are incorporated through play in their day-to-day fun. Ensuring that our staff are trained to adapt materials and help the child regulate emotions; and that tools such as switches to support communication and adapted equipment are accessible, is all an integral part of inclusion for Hope’s Home.

All of the therapies also occur in their classroom to allow other children to play along. This gives us more opportunity to educate and create that loving, caring, and helping relationship between typically developing children and children with complex medical or developmental needs.

Hopeful Stories

For example, when a child is in a standing frame they can happily do pretend play in the kitchen with friends. So even though standing for certain periods of time is considered part of their therapy, they are enjoying their time and therefore the therapy is incorporated in play.

A favorite memory was seeing a child in a walker playing eagerly with friends in the backyard. With just amount of challenge and support, he was able to let go of the walker and did his independent steps to catch his friends. And when you see a proud grin and friends proudly celebrating, you just know Hope’s Home made it happen.

Our Physical Development Consultants are an un-funded position at Hope’s Home. If you wish to help us out and ensure that our children are getting the best care possible by having a PDC on staff, please visit our donate page.

 

That’s why there is no place like Hope

Hope's Home - voted best daycare

We are so excited to announce that Hope’s Home Regina South has been selected as Best Daycare in Regina!

Consumer Choice Awards - Best Daycare Hope's Home Regina

The best part about the Consumer Choice Awards is that the recipients are nominated and voted on by YOU. All our lovely parents, donors, staff, volunteers, and supporters chose us. It makes all our hard work worth it, knowing that the community we serve believes in us, and our mission, vision, and values.

We are so proud of the work we are doing and we can’t wait to continue to provide these invaluable services to our community.

 

Thank you Regina! ❤️

Partner Painting - ideas for Early Childhood Educators

Implementing early childhood development activities is so important for our kiddos.

This month, some of our lovely Early Childhood Educators created a project based on sharing, turn taking, and how to be kind to your friends. Keep reading to hear all about it!

We started this kindness project by talking to the kids about emotions and what they can do to make their friends happy – using a thumbs up for being kind and a thumbs down for an unkind action. They have started to use this new language throughout their day’s interactions – it has been great to see!

We have seen incredible growth from this Kindness Project such as:

  • The kids helping each other get shoes on and off when we are going outside
  • Coming to an adult to tell us when they shared a toy with a classmate
  • The kiddos are asking their friends for a turn instead of the adults always intervening in situations
  • They are learning to negotiate for a turn with the toy in a friendly way

Some activities that have helped reinforce these kindness behaviors:

1. The Sharing Tree.

This is a tree the kids painted and put in the hall. We add hearts to it when they do kind things both at home and at daycare. The entire centre is taking part in this – it’s great! It encourages the kids to keep kindness in the forefront of their mind because they enjoy the reward of putting on a new leaf and watching the tree grow!

Sharing tree - ideas for ECEs

2. Partner Painting.

Partner painting is where the kids are put into pairs to paint a picture, but they only have one art tool. This encourages them to use their sharing and negotiation skills to take turns creating their art. This helps build on the skills they are already learning while promoting team work as well.

Partner painting - ideas for ECEs

3. Fill the Bucket.

An activity we haven’t started yet, but plan to, is Fill the Bucket. This will visually demonstrate to the kids how doing nice things will make themselves and others feel better.

 

That’s why there is no place like Hope.

Hope's Home COO Leaving

Nicole Cook has been with Hope’s Home since the early days of the organization.

Nicole Cook

She’s watched it grow from the little home daycare in Jacque’s house, to seeing the organization expand across the province. For 14 years, Nicole proved to be an integral and irreplaceable team member as she guided Hope’s Home as our Chief Operating Officer.

It is a very sad day for us as we announce that Nicole’s last day with Hope’s Home will be January 15th as she has accepted her new role as the Associate CEO for Cowessess First Nations Chief Red Bear Children’s Lodge. It is the first Nation in Canada to assert its jurisdiction under the Bill-C92 Canada Act. Nicole will be part of the management team for the Chief Red Bear Children’s Lodge as a liaison between programs, operations, and overall development. After 14 years with Hope’s Home, Nicole is expanding her leadership skills and taking her extensive experience to continue to support and care for her number one passion – children.

Nicole came to Hope’s Home in October 2006 as a mom looking for childcare for her son Ethan. She then became an LPN in Hope’s Home and grew in various leadership roles until she became the Chief Operating Officer in 2013. Nicole has incredible vision and a knack for turning innovative ideas into reality. Her love for finding efficiencies has helped ensure the viability of a fast-growing non-profit organization, that strives to meet the never-ending needs and community demand with limited resources. She has provided oversight and leadership in the areas of finance, human resources to the day-to-day operations of nursing and early childhood education.

The 14-year journey at Hope’s Home has been filled with joy, heartache, perseverance, loss, laughter, tears, frustration, growth, challenges, and huge success! Well done Nicole for your contributions to the children, families, and staff of Hope’s Home.

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children. The warrior, for us, is the one who sacrifices him(her)self for the good of others. His(Her) task is to take care of the elderly, the defenceless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity.” ~Sitting Bull.

Hope's Home COO Leaving

Hope’s Home will not be the same without Nicole, but we are so excited and proud of her for taking on this new endeavour and excited for what the future holds. We know she will join this new organization with so much spirit and strength, just as she did with Hope’s Home.

We love you so much.

Best wishes, and good luck,

Your entire Hope’s Home Family.

Child smiling through window

Happy New Year! 🎇

 
Before we leave 2021 behind, we want to take a moment to reflect on the year.
 
2021 was another year of unique challenges as we continued to navigate the pandemic, putting our kiddo’s health and safety as our top priority. We are proud of our ability to remain open during the most critical parts of the pandemic to support parents and families. We’ve had plenty of highs and lows navigating the storm, but we have done it together.
 
One of those high points was delivering brand new accessible vans for our Regina and Prince Albert Supportive Living Homes. None of which would have been possible without Affinity CU, Prince Albert Canadian Tire and a generous personal donation. ♥
 
We finally came back with a blend of in-person and virtual events for Swinging with the Stars in both Regina and Prince Albert, and hosted our 8th annual Charity Golf Tournament in Prince Albert. It feels SO GOOD to be back, in whatever capacity we can manage!
 
Above all, we’ve kept our kiddos at the center of everything we do. We show up every day for them. To see them learn, grow, hit milestones, celebrate their success and allow them to teach us about life from their perspective. We are reminded daily that each child is unique and requires different support than the child next to them. We show up for the lightbulb moments, and for the hard days too.
 
To our staff. You are without question the backbone of Hope’s Home. You are there every day. You understand our kiddos, you fight for them, you make sure they are included in their community and you love them as your own.
 
To our kiddos. You are the reason we show up every day. You teach us so much about life. You are our inspiration and our light on the hard days. You always give us a reason.
 
Thank you 2021. For the good and the bad, and all of the in between.
 
Look out 2022, we’re coming for ya! 🍾
 
#hopeshome #diversity #inclusion #inclusivechildcare #inclusivedaycare #yxe #ypa #yqr #warman #nurselove #eceappreciation #newyear2022 #newyears