A local day home owner has been awarded for having the most outstanding commitment to quality child care and child development in the province. Claire Daoud, who runs Miss Claire’s Dayhome and who nearly had to plead her case before the development appeal board last summer to operate her business after a neighbour complained about potential traffic it might bring, was one of nine recipients. There were 40 nominees for the award. Award recipients were judged based on their excellence in a number of areas including innovative programming, inclusive practices, collaborative partnerships and promising practices. “I get to meet so many amazing child care workers around the province, and see the life-changing difference they make for kids and their families,” said Danielle Larivee, minister of children’s services. One of Daoud’s innovative programs is called the Rainbow and the Heart which teaches preschool aged children empathy, social skills and how to recognize emotions in other peers. “(It’s) giving them the tools so that when they move on to kindergarten and in schools they’re already capable of discussing and talking,” Daoud said, which she hopes will create more communicative and emotionally apt students while reducing bullying. Daoud said her goal for programming is also to cater to each child’s needs and personalities. “We want to put them into this program where everything is structured, everything is pre-planned. But sometimes all the children need is to get in touch with who they are and allow them to express themselves,” she said. “I have a little girl, for her it came across as creativity. I just gave her a canvas and some paint and all of a sudden she was blooming, she was able to express herself in her way.” She also implements French during circle time and story time. “It was important for me to offer that option for them,” Daoud said. The children Daoud cares for range between 18 months and seven years old and on any given day she could be responsible for six kids. Daoud has years of experience being a child care giver. Growing up in Quebec she said she used to always want to be a child’s book author. She later completed a diploma with a focus in early child care education. “I was very curious to see how the development of children progressed into becoming the little people that they are,” Daoud said. Daoud’s programming has been recognized in the past, although not under her name. Back in Quebec, her home province, she once helped operate a large-scale, 65-kid daycare, which was awarded for its excellence in child care.
