1. To provide an environment that is inclusive and multi cultural. All children at Alligator Pie must feel that they are cherished, loved and respected for who they are. We celebrate diversity.

2. To establish a partnership with each child and his or her family. This partnership is based on mutual appreciation, respect and consideration. Parents are the experts of their children and within a spirit of collaboration their values and aspirations will be engendered into the caretaking of their child.

3. As young children are vulnerable to the influences in their environment, I will strive to be a model worthy of imitation. I will endeavor to provide your child with examples of gentle encouragement and acts of kindness which in turn lend to values of respect, tolerance and genuine caring.
   
   
4. At Alligator Pie we will encourage your child to explore alternatives, examine consequences, consider options and make decisions. Making choices forms one of our programs goals because we believe that permitting the ‘practice’ of making choices is critical in human development. We believe that even at an early age when children choose for themselves they experience the quality of self determination! Further, when children are given practice in cultivating decision making based on justice and respect for human dignity the chances are great that they will sustain this insightful ability and make future choices which are pro social and forward thinking.
   
   
5. At Alligator Pie we believe that integral to the healthy development of the child is the need to build a strong foundation of love for the environment. In the summer months we establish two gardens to care for: one a vegetable and the other an herb garden. Once our seedlings are planted- weeding and watering become part of our daily rhythm. We extend our environmental vision by offering a naturalist program and a green space clean up in the spring.
   
6. We endeavor to provide practical experiences for children that develop the whole child. We teach children how to prepare food using child size equipment. The way in which food comes to our table and shared is a theme thread through the day. We are committed to using and teaching children about whole unprocessed food. The concepts of locally grown and organic gardening are the ‘core’ methodology we engender in our summer ‘growing curriculum’.

7. Instilling values and ethics is more than a goal it is a principle. The values and behaviors which we believe are important to nurture and encourage are: respect, caring, kindness, tolerance, acknowledgement of personal space and boundaries. We also teach children about bullying and pack type behavior and stress the need to be accepting and kind to everyone.

8. Our curriculum reflects the social, mental, spiritual, physical, intellectual needs of your child. Our goal however is to make all learning fun and within a natural context of play. We believe that play is the work of children therefore we will provide your children with the very best materials and toys to meet their growing curiosities. Free play fosters creativity, good will and cooperation social skills that will only benefit you child as he or she enters the public school system. During free play children are encouraged to play independent of adult participation and direction.

9. We will strive to stay current with emerging childcare practices. The staff at Alligator Pie will work to continually provide the very best care for your child. We will continue to educate ourselves with seminars, reading, conferences and course work. We identify with the need to continually evolve, evaluate and consider our practice.

10. We will support: our community elders, multicultural experts, other professionals and artists and pay them well to share their knowledge with the children.  We will bring our community members into our program to teach children the value of our community and all the invaluable resources people have and bring which makes our City of Whitehorse the wonderful place that it is.
    

Child Guidance Mandate of Alligator Pie

Intrinsic to the social, emotional and intellectual development of your child is their ability to choose. We believe that children given the opportunity and support to choose make healthy choices which foster good will to others and an internalized sense of well being.
At Alligator Pie we encourage your child to explore alternatives, examine consequences, consider options and make decisions. We factor into all of our activities ‘choice’. We believe that permitting ‘practice’ in the ‘process of choosing’ is critical. The ‘options of choice’ are in keeping with the developmental needs and ages of the children in the nursery. A child as young as eighteen months can assert the following choices in a play day:

• Which toy to play with
• Which coloring crayon to apply to their paper
• Which book to look at
• Which musical instrument to play

A three or five year old can make more advanced choices and uses communication more effectively to achieve a desired outcome;

• Conflict resolution
• Realizing different endings to puppet shows or story books
• Who will be played with and what will be played (children usually assign roles and plan aloud before the actual ‘action’ to play takes place.
• Accepting leadership roles with ease such as directing the band or teaching others a finger play

The values and behaviors which we believe are important to nurture, encourage and role model are; respect, caring, kindness, tolerance and acknowledgement of personal space and boundaries.

We believe that even at an early age when children choose for themselves they experience the quality of self-determination! Further, when children are given practice in cultivating decision making based on justice and respect for human dignity the chances are great that they will sustain this insightful ability and make future choices, which are pro-social and forward thinking.

… A note on Food in General

Please do not send chocolate, sugary foods or candies on special occasions. Given the programming at Alligator Pie some parents have been upset that these kinds of treats have been provided to their children without consultation.

The way in which food comes to our table and shared will be a theme “thread” through the day at Alligator Pie. As the warm weather approaches and our seedlings poke their heads over the pots the children anticipate the appearance of our first organically grown vegetables.

Bread and other baking will slowly give way to salad dressings and fresh fruit tarts.
At Alligator Pie our food preparation time jostles with fun, creativity and unusual extravaganzas. The children will learn a lot about the foods they grow and how to prepare them in the kitchen. Food preparation fosters in children a fantastic sense of accomplishment and well being. It has been my observation that children of all ages love helping out in the kitchen. From time to time the children will give a hand in the setting-up and cleaning up before and after meals. The children will bring the food they prepare during the day home so that it is shared with family and friends.

At Alligator Pie we are committed to using whole, unprocessed foods. Our soups, stews, custards and sauces are all homemade. The children are served organic and or locally grown fruit, vegetable, eggs, meats and bread most of the time. Our intention is to offer as many organic food products as possible at Alligator Pie however; there are times when this is not optional. Most of the deserts and baking will be prepared on site but some of them will simply be bought from one bakery or another.

The holidays and seasons will be reflected in the foods we prepare.

We do not accommodate allergy supplementation during our baking time. If your child is allergic to wheat, dairy or eggs they will still assist in food preparation. The child and parents can mutually decide whether foods prepared will go home to share with the family. This course of action is presented as an option because not everyone in the family may share the same allergy or food sensitivity.

Birthday Celebrations

At Alligator Pie we believe every child is special therefore each child’s birthday will be celebrated with a cake and singing. (This however is not the case during the school year. School age children do not have a birthday celebration due to time restrictions.)The children are encouraged to select a favorite meal for lunch on their birthday.

Should your child’s birthday not occur during the work week (or during the period of holidays) please advise me as to whether you would like your child’s birthday celebration on the preceding Friday or the following Monday.

We will not celebrate your child’s birthday if they are not in attendance over the summer months.

Meals and Snacks

We do provide all meals and snacks. Our monthly rotating menu will be posted in the kitchen. The children do have some input into the menu, as they need to like the foods that they are eating! Additionally, as we are aware that young children are continually developing new taste buds I try to keep my foods simple and not too spicy.
At Alligator Pie we offer this food service to establish consistency and equality. If due to complex food allergies your child is unable to eat the food we are providing – I will take care to establish that at least the presentation of the food is like that of the other children.

Well-balanced – large hot meals are served at the lunch meal to help support and accommodate the busy schedule of our parents. Children are encouraged to try all new foods, and are not required to eat foods they dislike.

Good table manners are insisted upon. We listen attentively while people talk. We chew with our mouths closed. We say please, thank you and ask to be excused from the table.

Dessert after our lunch meal usually consists of the following: ice cream, popsicles, freezies, fruit tarts, and fruit with whipping cream. If the children express that they don’t have room in their tummies for their lunch they are then not offered one of the above desserts. In lieu of dessert the children are offered sliced organic fruit.

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