Infant Program

Our infant program offers a warm and nurturing environment for up to 6 babies (between the ages 4 weeks and 22 months) in a spacious 18 foot by 26 foot (648 sq foot) carpet-free hardwood floor area. Please note: Infant spaces are filled 12 to 16 months in advance - please book your spot as soon as possible.

Our staff focus is on responsive care and attending to your child’s individual needs. The two early childhood edcuators provide a variety of age-appropriate activities and learning materials (i.e. art, story time, music, sensory exploration, large motor play, and small motor play). The infants day includes a balance of quiet and active periods both indoors and outdoors.

Our Learning Environment

To best get an idea of a child's experience with Dreams, and to answer some of your questions, please check out the following links:

• Our Early Childhood Education Learning Centres
• Our Early Childhood Education Philosophy
• Our Dreams Menu
• Our Hours, Fees, and Location

Communication with Parents/Caregivers

Because infants are not able to tell you how their day was, staff communication with the parent/caregiver is vital. In this spirit, the educator records your child's daily activities on a communication board (see below) in the infant room:

As you can see, our board summarizes your child’s daily activities including:

• number of bottles consumed
• how much food eaten
• number of naps and the length of each
• when diapers were changed
• daily educational activities
• and any other comments about your child’s day.

Also, please feel free to provide our staff a record of your child’s daily routine, likes and dislikes, or some handy notes that will help us know your child’s needs and preferences.

Early Learning Framework

We program based on the Early Learning Framework, which broadly fits within these four cornerstones:

1. Well-Being

A sense of well-being is important for all human beings in all facets of their lives. A sense of well being results from the satisfaction of having basic needs met - for physical needs such as the needs for warmth, hunger, and physical safety. But well being also means that the human needs for tenderness, affection, and recognition from others are provided for.
Early Learning Framework

2. Exploration and Discovery

Infants have a natural curiousity about their world. Using all their senses, children explore sounds, colours, shapes, and patterns. They listen to language, and touch everything they see -- exploring to discover what it feels like, what it tastes, does it move? Sensory stimulation -- such as touch, vision, sound, pain, taste, smell, and temperature -- affects the structure and function of the brain during early life.
Early Learning Framework

3. Expression and Communication

From birth, children use a wide variety of means to express their needs, frustrations, joy, ideas, and thoughts to others. As parents and caregivers respond to babies' cries, infants learn that there is an aspect of social interaction and information exchange to their communications -- and thus are integrally linked to emotional and social development.
Early Learning Framework

4. Social and Personal Responsibility

Young infants begin to develop a sense of their own identity through their interactions with their parents, caregivers, and peers.
Early Learning Framework

Infant Videos

Infant Room Graduation

After completing the infant program, parents/caregivers receive a book/portfolio made by the educator. This book will be filled with documentation, pictures, art samples, and information about your child’s experiences and development while in the infant room. In fact, the images on this page have come directly from different children's portfolios.