Childcare Centres

Find child care and early learning programs in your area, including those with a quality rating. Learn more about how to pay for child care, including Keystone STARS subsidies.

Some centres provide long day care, while others offer occasional or family (also known as in-home) care. Family and in-home care can be a great option for parents who need regular, predictable schedules or have limited availability to take off work. They may also be a good option for children who have special needs.

Preschools

High quality early learning and child care are essential to children’s development. They can improve outcomes, narrow achievement gaps and convey long-term benefits for children.

The Y’s research-based curriculum is designed to teach preschool children the skills they need to succeed in school and life, using a developmental framework that fosters independence, creativity and critical thinking. It also includes opportunities for social-emotional learning, so children can learn to be resilient in the face of challenges.

This qualification is for learners who want to progress into employment working with children aged 0-5 years in an Early Learning and Childcare setting. This includes nursery nurse, child minder and preschool assistant roles.

Kindergartens

Kindergartens are preschool programs, largely for five year old children, that prepare students for primary school. They may be half day or full school day programs.

During the pandemic, educators in kindergartens became more aware of how to adhere to social distancing during activities with children at home and encouraged parents to practice similar behaviors. They also arranged flexible periods of time for children to pursue free play and group activities.

Educators also developed play materials to send to parents with instructions and guidelines for use at home. These varied slightly by kindergarten but included things like video clips of teachers reading picture books, ideas for science experiments at home and tips on encouraging ‘exploratory play’ (play that is child-initiated, open ended and spontaneous). Kindergarten educators also hosted online sessions with children where they communicated with them via computer while they played. These activities also helped support the emotional wellbeing of children when they were at home. Cache level 3 and Early learning centres