Families of children with special needs don’t celebrate occasions like everyone else.  Christmas and the holidays in general can bring additional stresses and challenges to our unique situations which are already often challenging enough.  Our children require extra attention and extra preparation that can drain us before the holidays even begin.

This Christmas, our family is focusing on what means the most to us: Each other!  We are excited for the holidays!  We are excited for the lights, the magic, the excited face of our sweet little boy, the togetherness, the love, the joy, the remembering.  We will spend our time with the ones we love, embrace what makes our family so special, and celebrate in the true spirit of the season.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

At Little Tulips Family Child Care, we believe that every day is ‘Child Day’, but on November 20th, we recognize National Child Day.  National Child Day has been celebrated across Canada since 1993 to commemorate the United Nations’ adoption of two documents centered on children’s rights: the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The founding principles of the Convention include:

• Acting in the best interests of the child.
• Genuinely considering the views of the child in all decision-making that affects them.
• Ensuring children have the right to primary consideration in all economic, social, and political decisions, policies, programs, and expenditures that impact upon them.

There are many reasons to celebrate children, but most of all because children deserve to be recognized as important members of our community.

• All children have the right to an adequate standard of living, health care and to play.
• All children have the right to express their views about things that affect them and to participate in communities, programs and services.
• All children have the right to be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination.

By ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, Canada made a commitment to ensure that all children are treated with dignity and respect. This commitment includes the opportunity for children to have a voice, be protected from harm and be provided with their basic needs and every opportunity to reach their full potential.

As parents and child care providers, we have the ability to have a direct positive impact on the lives of our children. We take this opportunity to celebrate children, and raise awareness of children’s rights!

The early years last a lifetime. The first five years of a child’s life are the most critical time of growth and learning. In fact, 85% of the human brain is developed by the time a child graduates kindergarten. Research is showing that public investment in effective early learning programs produce benefits to children, families, communities and society that far outweigh the costs.

The Jimmy Pratt Foundation, The Margaret & Wallace McCain Family Foundation and Memorial University’s Harris Centre have launched a discussion paper and fact sheet on Early Childhood Education in Newfoundland and Labrador.

These two recent publications have sparked quite a bit of discussion among Early Childhood Educators in our province.  It is upsetting to know that Newfoundland has the poorest rated early learning services in Canada.  Surely, something needs to be done about that.

At Little Tulips Family Child Care, we take pride in the fact that we offer a quality, licensed and regulated, inclusive early learning program that focuses on children with special needs. We appreciate each child’s uniqueness, and provide individualized attention when introducing new experiences and promoting the development of new skills.

Here are the two recent publications.  Please read, share and discuss!

12 Things You Need to Know About Early Childhood Education in our Province

October 2013: Launch of Discussion Paper – “The Early Years Last a Lifetime”

It is never too early to start reading to your child!  At just a few months of age, an infant will enjoy looking at pictures, listening to your voice, and pointing to objects on the page.

Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world.  It introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way.  It builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills while preparing them to understand the written word.

You should definitely, absolutely, without any question read aloud to your children.

Reading together at home creates a special time for you to bond with your child, while at the same time helping to develop their lifelong appreciation for reading.

To support this important concept, Little Tulips Family Child Care is proud to be a member of the Scholastic Book Clubs!  We will be offering the Elf and SeeSaw (pre-school level) order forms to our families.

“Scholastic Book Clubs are bursting with books that make reading fun and rewarding!  There’s something just right for every interest and ability. Classic stories, award-winning authors, favourite series and characters, plus great seasonal selections – all at amazing prices!  When children get to read books they love, they learn to love to read!”

Happy reading!!

We all scream for Ice Cream!!

Young children learn by imagining and doing. The process of pretend play builds essential developmental skills; it promotes social skills, develops language and communication skills, and supports emotional development and self-expression.

We recently introduced our children to the Discovery Kids cardboard Ice Cream Truck!

We coloured some of the pieces, assembled the truck, coloured some more..               Our children have had hours of fun with this!  They were free to colour and decorate however they wanted, and then had fun pretending to sell ice cream (and pizza and cookies)!

The ice cream truck features an interactive dashboard and steering wheel, open windows, rear doors and side mirrors.  It is made from eco-friendly cardboard, so when we are all done with it, this Ice Cream Truck is 100% recyclable!

Children learn about the world through their senses.. by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing.  Sensory play contributes in crucial ways to brain development and is important for all types of learning. 

Multisensory experiences are beneficial to all young children, but are extremely crucial for children with special needs, such as sensory impairments and sensory processing disorders.  Sensory play develops creativity and independence, helps develop fine motor skills, provides an opportunity for imaginative play, and it is FUN!

We don’t mind a mess.. as long as the kids making the mess have a great time doing it!

What is in our Sensory Bin?   Sand, rice, paint, goop.. We change it up every few days to keep things interesting and keep our children curious!

We have a new addition to our playroom!

Our finished play space was almost perfect, but this bare wall was lacking something.  We wanted to bring another pop of colour into the room, and make it interactive for the children as well.  Our friend, Lori Reddy created an original drawing, which she then transferred onto the wall and painted.  This safari scene is full of unexpected textures and colours that our children just love, and will be relevant for many years to come.

Before : 

After :
Our children love to point to the animals and pretend-play with sounds and gestures!

Thank you, Lori!!

Total time to complete: 14 hours.   5 hours for design, 1 hour to trace, 8 hours to paint.

A happy, organized play space should be inviting, not intimidating.  It should be accessible, not limiting. It should be comfortable, not sterile. It is our responsibility to provide such an environment for the children in our care.  Children are no different than we are when it comes to learning.. if we are unhappy in our environment, we will not progress.

We have designed our playroom not only for our own tastes, but for the needs and desires of the children who play here.

Play is important for a child’s social, emotional, language, cognitive and physical development.  To see the latest research about play and learning, you can visit: http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/earlychildhood/power.html

We are thrilled to announce that we have had tremendous response and interest in our Family Child Care Home, and that all spaces are now FULL!
We will be keeping a wait-list for those who are still interested, so please continue to send in your inquiries through the Contact page.

Little Tulips Family Child Care is the type of child care environment we wish our own son could have attended and because of that we feel compelled to ensure that your children receive only the best that we have to offer.  We are committed to achieving the same goals and dreams that you have for your children, and are thankful for the opportunity to work with each and every one of them!

-Julie and Andrew

We are getting close to opening, and still have 2 full-time spaces available!
We have also had quite a bit of interest in part-time or after-school care.
If this is something you might be looking for for your child, please let us know!
We can try to make it work with everyone’s schedules!