Child Care FAQ's

• What are preschool activities and why are they important?
• What is the difference between a preschool program and the preschool activities offered by my family child care provider?
• Why is child care so expensive?

Preschool activities include (but are not limited to):

• Science - cooking, nature exploration, water play
• Art - painting, textures, playdough, drawing
• Games - co-operative play, turn taking
• Building - blocks, lego, construction
• Dramatic play - dress up, pretend
• Themes, dinosaurs, weather, transportation
• Songs - finger plays, rhymes, stories
• Kindergarten readiness - circle times, recognition of colours, letters, numbers and shapes, story time

Preschool activities are important to the development of a child because they promote socialization, co-operation, encourages curiosity about the world and prepares them for the concrete learning atmosphere of school.

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The activities themselves are similar but the environment in which they are presented is different. Family child care is a multi-age environment whereas preschools have a group of children that are the same age. The adult to child ratio in family child care is 1:7 and preschool is 1:10. Preschool activities are offered throughout the day in a child care facility. Preschool programs are usually offered 2-3 days per week for a 2 hour period each day.

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Child care fees pay for a service. Like all costs for service, fees charged are designed to cover the expenses incurred to provide all the ingredients to produce the service. The business of child care must include the following expenses:

• Rental of child care space
• Maintenance of the facility
• Liability insurance
• Business insurance to cover replacement of equipment and toys
• Professional development for the child care provider (s)
• Food and beverages for the children
• Cleaning supplies
• Developmentally appropriate toys, books and equipment
• Art & craft supplies
• Office supplies
• Membership fees for professional organizations
• Cost for substitute child care providers or assistants
• Salary and payroll expenses for the child care provider
• Vehicle - business insurance, fuel, maintenance

Child care services, for the most part, are operated as a private business. Licensed child care facilities are governed by provincial government legislation that restricts the size of their business. There is no room for expenses to be offset by an expansion of services to more clients.

It is also important to note that for sole proprietors, long work hours (50+ per week) and low wages with no benefits are often a reason cited for closing a facility.

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