Media Release: Child Care Worker & Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day 2024
October 21, 2024 – The District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) encourages the community to recognize Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day on Thursday October 24, 2024.
CCW & ECE Appreciation Day is an opportunity to show support of the child care and early years profession and the educators who work tirelessly to support children’s well-being and engagement.
Child care and early years professionals are the foundation of a thriving community. Educators guide children to explore and engage with the world around them, creating experiences that cultivate children’s learning and development. The early years are a critical time in the development of young minds. We are thankful for child care and early years professionals and the role they play in creating a foundation for lifelong learning and guiding future generations.
Quick facts about the profession:
- Staff in child care and early years programs often include a mix of Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs), child care workers, cooks, and administrative support staff. All roles are critical to the success of early years programming.
- Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) belong to a regulatory body of professionals, The College of Early Childhood Educators. The ECE Act (2007), ensures protection of public interest and integrity of the ECE profession.
- Ontario’s licensed early years programs follow Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years, How Does Learning Happen? This guide lays the groundwork for programs to focus on four developmental foundations of: Belonging, Engagement, Expression, and Wellbeing.
- According to The Atkinson Centre’s publication, Canada’s Children need a Professional Early Childhood Education Workforce (2022), skilled educators contribute to children’s overall academic, behaviour, and health outcomes. Additionally, accessibility of early learning and child care increases women’s work force participation, resulting in gender equity in communities.
- To quote Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years, How Does Learning Happen: “Educators are competent and capable, curious, and rich in experience. They are knowledgeable, caring, reflective, and resourceful professionals. They bring diverse social, cultural, and linguistic perspectives. They collaborate with others to create engaging environments and experiences to foster children’s learning and development.”
The child care and early years sector has been hit hard by staffing shortages over the last few years. Between educators retiring or leaving the field for other career paths, there are simply not enough staff to meet the growing demand for child care spaces.
TBDSSAB is dedicated to supporting and investing in the next generation of Early Childhood Educators. In partnership with Confederation College, prospective child care and early years professionals can access bursaries, free pre-ECE certification, and a fast-track ECE program that honours prior learning experience. This past year, 12 students graduated the Fast-Track program with their ECE diplomas, with another 15 enrolled in September 2024. TBDSSAB also supported 61 first year students and 48 second year students enrolled in the Confederation College’s ECE program through our bursary program this fall. These students will play a key role in stabilizing the future of our child care and early years system.
We encourage families, children, and community partners to embrace CCW & ECE Appreciation Day with an open heart. Show your appreciation and support for child care and early years professionals in a meaningful way. A little bit of kindness and gratitude can go a long way to reminding our educators how much we value them.
Families looking for ideas to recognize Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day are encouraged to visit the TBDSSAB website for ideas and resources. In addition to a list of ideas to encourage children to take the lead in thanking the educator(s) in their life, families and community partners can access free resources to download, print, or share electronically.
For more information, please visit: https://www.tbdssab.ca/ccwad/
Quotes:
“Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day is an opportunity to show educators we are grateful for their dedication to our children. Anyone who we entrust with our children’s development should be held in the highest esteem. On behalf of the Board, thank you to child care workers and early childhood educators throughout the District of Thunder Bay for giving our children the tools to learn from the world around them.” – Brian Hamilton, Chair, TBDSSAB
“Early childhood experiences lay the foundation for what that child will grow up to be. If you start a conversation with an early years professional about children, you will quickly realize they’ve thought of every angle when it comes to how to engage and inspire young minds. It takes passion and skill for child care workers to do what they do.” – Ken Ranta, CEO, TBDSSAB