Choosing Childcare with Kids & Company

08/17/2018

The truest thing I’ve ever heard about having children was said by Elizabeth Stone, “making the decision to have a child is momentous. It’s to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” As if it’s not enough that your heart has grown legs and a personality of his or her own, you’re now expected to let that little heart go off little adventures while you head back to work.

Choosing childcare can be tricky for even the most seasoned mom. You’ve likely been exclusively caring for your tiny human for months and now you have to find someone you trust to help keep your little one safe, cared-for, and happy.

Kids & Company innovates the lives parents by providing high quality, flexible childcare, and innovative early learning programs for working families. Kids & Company offers a personalized curriculum including pre-literacy and reading, artistic expression, music, movement, science and exploration, and language through play-based learning. You’ll find sign-language, French, art and an array of innovative learning techniques present in each of the rooms.

I was lucky enough to visit the Mississauga Gateway Centre located at 85 Prologis Blvd., Unit 2 (right across from Cineplex Cinemas Courtney Park). I was immediately struck by how clean the facility is – it was nearly immaculate. I visited during nap time so the entire facility was very calm. The centre director Amy was so friendly and welcoming. When we popped into some of the classrooms where children were awake, they were clamoring to come see her and have her sit with them. That’s a great sign of the community and warmth at Kids & Company. You can tell Amy really adores the children in her care.

The rooms are spacious and staffed appropriately for the age groups. Kids & Company is keen on having their staff not only supervise the children in their care but actively engage and interact with the children. When I did my walk through, staff was on the floor along with the children playing with the objects and helping them learn side-by-side.

There are a couple of things that stood out to me as a mom:

1. I loved that the meals are made on site by their Kidco Kitchen. They have a set menu for each season that they rotate through so that they can cook fresh and local based on the time of year. Does your child have allergies? Do you follow a particular diet? Kids & Company can accommodate your dietary needs since they make all of their own foods!
   

   Freshly made smoothies and trail mix

2. Full-time, part-time, flex, and emergency care. Where was this when my kids were little? I love that Kids & Company has thought of every kind of working family. With the rise of many non-traditional work schedules, it’s so important to have options that work for you. You can choose to have your child enrolled full-time, part-time, even down to 1 day a week or every other week. It’s genius!
3. Mix and match your destination. All of the Kids & Company locations are designed similarly so that children can move from one facility to the next without feeling out of place. If you work in Mississauga 3 days a week and in Toronto 2 days a week you can have care out of both facilities to suit your schedule.
4. There are web cameras in each classroom so you can take a peek at your little one throughout the day for your peace of mind. Parents are provided with a secure log-in so only Kids & Company families access.

In addition to regular childcare, Kids & Company offers camp programs for school age children as well as birthday parties, and events.

There are Kids & Company locations across Canada with 2 in Mississauga and one opening in Brampton late 2018-early 2019. Don’t forget to check out https://kidsandcompany.com for more information about childcare for your little one!

Every child gets their own Kids & Company blanket personalized with their name!