Welcome – Parents, Teachers and Caregivers

Hello and welcome to Baby Bonjour! This page has been created to provide information on child care, education, bilingualism in Canada and other fun things to parents, grand parents, teachers, caregivers or any other person with an interest in children and education.

Shaz-Marie with her husband and son.

Shaz-Marie is a certified French Immersion teacher with a 15 month-old son. She has more than 15 years’ experience in child care and education. Her family is passionate about children. Her mother has operated a Licensed Family Child Care facility for 27 years, her sister is a certified Child Care Substitute, her sister-in-law is a certified Early Childhood Educator and her mother-in-law has been heavily involved in the BC Head Start program and is currently the Director of the Children’s Development Centre in her community.

Shaz-Marie is passionate about teaching and learning and cares very deeply about providing her son the best possible start. Through Baby Bonjour, she hopes to share some of the valuable information she has learned as a parent, teacher and caregiver and to share in the joy that is raising a family. She is an eager student of life and is always looking to learn from the people she meets and the experiences she has.

She invites you to follow her in this journey as she explores family-friendly activities and community resources, shares her knowledge and experience as an educator and searches for answers to the many questions that arise when raising a family. She encourages you to share your questions and experience as well and hopes that you will find Baby Bonjour to be a reliable and valuable resource.

Child Care in BC – What does it look like?

According to Statistics Canada, 54% of children aged six months to five years were in child care in 2002-2003, an increase from 42% in 1994-1995. In British Columbia, there was an even greater increase of more than 13%. Child care is becoming a necessity for two-parent families who must work to maintain their lifestyle.

In 2002-2003, more than 70% of two-parent families in Canada had both parents either working for pay or studying, up from 66% in 1994-1995. It could be said that it is commonplace for both parents to work or study and for them to use child care.

The most common choice for child care in Canada is care in someone else’s home by a non-relative. These are Licensed Family Child Care facilities, License Not Required daycare and Registered License Not Required daycare. In 2002-2003, this comprised more than 1/3 of all child care in Canada. There are; however, many options for a parent to choose from in our province.

• License-Not-Required (LNR) Family Child Care: The maximum number of children in care is 2 or 3 if a sibling group, other than the care provider’s own children (birth up to and including age 12).
• Registered License-Not-Required (RLNR) Family Child Care: The maximum number of children in care is 2 or 3 if a sibling group, other than the care provider’s own children. Registered with the Child Care Resource & Referral Program. (Birth up to and including age 12)
• Licensed Family Child Care (LFCC): The maximum number of children in care is 7, including the care provider’s own children under the age of 12. No more than: 3 children younger than 48 months old and, of those 3, no more than one child younger than 12 months old or 4 children younger than 48 months old and, of those 4, no more than 2 children younger than 24 months old.
• Licensed Group Child Care: Not more than 12 in a group (children under 3 years of age).
• Licensed Group Child Care: Not more than 25 in a group (children 30 months to school age).
• School Age Child Care: Not more than 20 to 25 children in a group (kindergarten up to and including age 12).
• Preschool: Not more than 20 children in a group (30 months to school age), care for not more than 4 hours per day.
• Multi-Age Child Care: Provision of care to children of various ages in a group setting child care setting.
• In-Home Multi-Age Child Care: Provision of care in licensed family setting to children of various ages to a maximum of 8 children.
• In Child’s Own Home: Care in the child’s own home. Children in the family.*

“Types of Child Care.” Childcarechoices.ca. Child Care Resource and Referral 2006. Web. 4 July, 2011.