Early Childhood Educators
KFL&A Public Health works together with child care and preschool programs to provide a healthy environment that meets requirements provided by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Education.
Requirements and guidelines for licensed child care centres
Licensed child care in Ontario is regulated by the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014
Immunizations |
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To meet licensing standards and legislated requirements, child care centre operators must ensure children who are not in attendance at school (e.g., infants, toddlers, and preschoolers) have up-to-date immunizations prior to registration and from time-to-time thereafter, unless otherwise exempted. A copy of the child's immunization record, or written exemption, must be maintained by the child care centre, and a copy must also be forwarded to KFL&A Public Health at the time of registration, and each time a child's immunization record is updated. In the KFL&A area, the Medical Officer of Health requires that children are immunized against the following diseases according to Ontario's Publicly Funded Immunization Schedules:
In cases where a child cannot be immunized due to medical reasons or due to conflicts with the parent's religious or conscience beliefs, please contact KFL&A Public Health. KFL&A Public Health offers immunization clinics throughout the year. Child care pass programThe immunization child care pass program is an optional program available to all licensed child care centre operators to help ensure immunization records are up-to-date prior to registration. When a family registers for child care, the operator provides them with a copy of KFL&A Public Health's Registering for Child Care Form. Families are referred to either their health care provider, or a KFL&A Public Health Immunization Clinic to have their record reviewed. After review, the family will be provided with a green or yellow pass to be returned to the child care operator. The green pass indicates the child is up-to-date and the yellow pass indicates that immunizations are still required or an updated record is needed. Annual child care centre immunization reviewAs required by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, each year KFL&A Public Health reviews the immunization records of all children who attend a licensed child care centre in the KFL&A area. Parents or guardians of children with incomplete records are provided with written notification. Required information must be returned by the one-month deadline written on the notification. To help keep our records as up-to-date as possible, KFL&A Public Health asks that child care operators report a list of children no longer attending their centre routinely, when applicable, by using the Child Care Discharges form. Child care staff and volunteer immunizationChild care workers are at risk of exposure to communicable diseases because of their contact with young children. Child care workers are also capable of transmitting diseases such as flu or whooping cough to young children. Licensed child care staff and volunteers in the KFL&A area must have up-to-date immunizations before starting employment. Child care operators may use the Child Care Staff and Volunteer Pre-Employment Immunization Form to complete this process. Immunization requirements specific to child care staff and volunteers include:
The following forms are available in the Educator Portal:
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Inspections |
| Public health inspectors from KFL&A Public Health inspect all licensed child care centres in the KFL&A area. Public health inspectors work with child care centre operators to ensure they follow safe food handling and infection control practices. Review the inspection results of child care programs in the KFL&A area. |
Infection Prevention and Control |
Physical activity |
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Under the Child Care and Early Years Act, child care centres must meet requirements in the following areas:
Having a policy in your setting will ensure children get regular, fun opportunities to move, play, and explore: check out our Growing Little Sprouts program to get started. Resources:
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Nutrition |
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Under the Child Care and Early Years Act 2014, all licensed child care settings must provide meals, snacks and beverages that meet the recommendations in:
KFL&A Public Health will work with you to improve the eating environment in your centre and will assist with revising and developing a healthy eating policy through the Growing Little Sprouts program. Find more information about Growing Little Sprouts in the Educator Portal. Resources:
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Speech and language |
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Early childhood educators, teachers, and educational assistants support children's communication development every day. Speech, language, and early literacy development are key areas to prepare children for school entry and to succeed in later life. Early Expressions is the system of partner agencies in the KFL&A area that provides speech and language services to children and their families from birth up to the end of junior kindergarten. |
Dental health |
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When our mouths are healthy, our bodies and minds are more likely to be healthy, too. To help young children continue their path to healthy living, KFL&A Public Health Dental Program offers dental screening and fluoride varnish to licensed childcare centres and other provincially funded child programs, such as EarlyON Centres and School Readiness programs. A dental screening, done by a Registered Dental Hygienist, can help detect early tooth decay or other oral health concerns and help those with little-to-no access to dental care. Parental or guardian consent is required, and parents can choose for their child to participate in the dental screening and fluoride varnish, or dental screening only. Contact KFL&A Public Health Dental Program to learn more about how your centre can participate KFL&A Public Health offers many dental services for children aged 0 to 17 years, including:
Visit our dental screening and fluoride varnish programs webpage for more information. |
Resources
- Print resources for early childhood educators - KFL&A Public Health - A variety of posters, pamphlets, flyers and booklets for early childhood educators.
- Print resources for parents, guardians, and families of children in early childhood education - KFL&A Public Health - Various print resources for families of children in early childhood education.
- Educator Portal - KFL&A Public Health - several forms are available for early childhood educators. A login is required. For a username and password, please contact Child and Babytalk.