‘Miss Janice’s Out of School Care’ relocates to Paradis des Enfants |26 November 2020
Earlier this month, the increasingly popular ‘Miss Janice Out of School Care’ programme moved to Paradis des Enfants from where it was previously located a few hundred metres away at Espace Building in Victoria.
The programme was officially launched in September last year to help support busy and committed parents by caring for their children through preschool and afterschool care.
Miss Janice Out of School Care programme looks after children between the ages of 20 months to 11 years throughout the programmes, starting with the youngest for the Stay and Play programme (20 months – 3 years).
Janice Houareau, founder of this programme, spoke of the conveniences of this strategic move ‒ one which brings about even more benefits for the children and their parents.
“The environment at our new location is more conducive to the children’s learning plan. Everything the children need is in the same space, including a comfortable learning space, child-friendly toilet and shower facilities, dedicated sleeping room, a kitchenette to teach them baking and a quiet, private garden which offers plenty of fresh air. I see a lot of potential here,” said Ms Houareau.
This allows the children to make the most of their learning as they’re able to be more independent. At the new location, children will have even more opportunities to develop independence and basic life skills, like putting their shoes on, getting their own drinks, getting dressed when their clothes are dirty from outside play, etc.
The child-friendly facilities and amenities mean that they also learn to use the cubicle by themselves and are able to get their bags, water and snack boxes on the low open shelves, all by themselves.
With the extra space to work with, the new sleeping room has been designed to promote quality resting time for the children. The room is free of books and toys which can serve as a distraction and is also part of an open plan which eliminates the door between the sleeping room and other rooms in the building.
The staff are able to keep a better eye on the children while they sleep and it also prevents situations where the children can get frightened if they’re unable to open the sleeping room door.
As from next year, Ms Houareau plans to take full advantage of this new space by introducing outdoor facilities and activities in the private garden.
“As much as I can, I want to provide a physical aspect to the programmes without needing to take the children to the playground. It will be safer for them as I will have proper and dedicated equipment installed for both learning and playing outdoors,” explains Ms Houareau.
“The outdoor garden space will also be created to develop different physical aspects of children, including coordination, as well as upper body strength and stability. This is important for developing fine motor skills which play a role in writing and other fine motor skills activities.”
For the long-term future, Ms Houareau plans to introduce and offer parenting classes to help educate, counsel and advise parents in different areas, including respectful parenting, nutrition, discipline, personal and social development, as well as play, as part of the children’s development.
For more information:
- Telephone: 2634 844
- Email: acroporasey@yahoo.com
- Website: www.missjanice.org
F.P.
Photo credits: The Creative Studio ‒ Seychelles
