Our Philosophy

At Société de la Petite Enfance de l’École Entre-lacs, we believe that:

·      Children are unique individuals, each growing and learning at their own pace.  Children will be respected for their own personality, culture, and developmental level.  Children are entitled to a safe environment and opportunities to enhance and foster their social, physical, intellectual, and creative development. We value each child’s individuality and welcome diversity.

·      Families are entitled to be involved in a meaningful way in their childcare experience. The family deserves to feel included and have the assurance of quality care for their children.

·      Staff is entitled to a working environment that recognizes and respects their training, skills and commitment to the childcare sector.

·      Société de la Petite Enfance de l’École Entre-lacs enhances the lives of the children, their families, and the community by providing a caring, supportive, and vital community service where everyone is welcomed as being capable in their own ways.

What makes us unique

Our practices are oriented and guided by the interests of the children present and we are strong supporters of learning through play. We reinforce the importance relational safety. Our employees are informed and stay up to date in the field of early childhood research. Our post-modern practices aim for an holistic approach where collaboration between people, material and environment come together. By offering many living inquiries to the children, we offer a space aligned with the re-conceptualizing views of the early childhood field, where knowledge is co-constructed under a collective pedagogy, focused on ethical and democratic inclusivity. Here, children can experiment, explore and investigate in ways that are relevant and meaningful to them. We offer opportunities that enhance and deepen their relationships with the land and community. (British Columbia, 2019). We encourage critical thinking for the children and our educators. Our employees are inspired by many practices that reflect a competent image of the child like the work of Loris Malaguzzi (Reggio), Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf), Lisa Murphy (play-based learning advocate), Dr. Mine Conkbayir (early childhood educator / neuroscientist), several doctors from the Neufeld Institute (Dr. Neufeld, Dr. McNamara, Dr. Lapointe) as well as other great world leaders in early childhood education (Rae Pica, Maggie Dent, Peter Gray, Peter Moss, Glenda MacDonald, Bruce Perry, etc.).

This is a children’s place, and we move at the children’s pace(Murphy, 2020, p.46).

As early years professionals, our educators are committed to follow the fundamental principles of the ECE BC Code of Ethics.  

Early Childhood educators of British Columbia. (2021). Code of Ethics. 7th edition, Vancouver, Bc, Canada.

Murphy, L. (2020). Lisa Murphy on being child-centered. St. Paul, MN, USA; Redleaf Press.

Province of British Columbia (2019). Early Learning Framework. Ministry of Education and Child Care