Child care professionals share a commitment to improving society by creating dynamic and nurturing care environments for Australia's youngest learners.
Read this month's Child Care Person in the spotlight April Lorrie from April's Angels Family Day Care in Queensland
April Lorrie - April's Angels Family Day Care QLD
AL: My name is April Lorrie Rutter, aka Apwil, Apple and various other forms of the same sounds. I am 46 years young and the sole proprietor of April's Angels Family Day Care at Forest Lake Qld.
I am a Family Day Care care provider registered through the Brisbane FDC Scheme. As a family day care care provider, I work in a sole carer situation. I do however, work very closely within a small network of like minded and goal oriented care providers in my area. I currently have 26 children on my books however only nine of them attend weekly, the remainder are occasional or vacation care children.
This is my second stint in FDC, I first began when my son, now 24 years old was a toddler. I operated for two years at that time but had to take a long leave of absence when my family grew by three little girls almost overnight; their arrival meant that I was at full capacity with just my children. So I spent the next several years nurturing and watching them grow.
Many years and careers passed including fashion design, floristry, retail, customer service roles and a management position in the finance industry. Six years ago, I was looking to reclaim my weekends, my youthful outlook on life and to do something for which I held great passion. So this time with maturity and experience on my side I went about restarting my FDC business.
In the past six years I have cared for around three dozen families totalling 79 children, studied and completed my Cert III Children's Services. I've attended PSCQ training sessions and conferences and make certain to attend as many in-service training and professional development courses as I can. I have pulled together a strong network of friends and colleagues within the industry and strive to help them achieve their goals as well as my own.
C4K: What attracted you to a career in child care?
AL: I really believe that it is a privilege and an honour to be involved in someone else's growth and development. I've always been drawn to jobs where I could use my teaching and mentoring skills in a very positive and nurturing way. What better job than child care to practise my skills and share my love of nature with inquiring minds.
C4K: What does a typical day look like for you?
AL: On a typical day I wake and prepare baby's bottle, warm the older children's beds and greet my first arrival at 5:00 am, I greet the other early arrivals at 5.30 am, (the older children hop straight into their beds for a little extra sleep). Baby and I snuggle together under a blanket for his bottle and share the sunrise. 6:30 am brings another arrival, breakfast preparation and feeding follows, making lunches and morning tea for the children, at 8:00 am we leave to pick up one family, deliver schoolies to three local schools, pick up the final two daytime children, returning home by 9:00 am when children have 20 minutes self selection play whilst I again bottle feed baby.
When baby is settled, I begin the morning session where we work to an emergent curriculum: music, dance, singing, rhyme, literacy and numeracy games and some outdoors play time until morning tea at 10:00 am. After that we resume the morning programme extending on those topics and activities which proved most interesting. Lunch is at 11:30 am during which we discuss topics brought forth by the children, we explore different food items. In the last minutes of lunch I read a story.
After story time, it's time for toileting, nappy changes and a snooze. At this time baby wakes for his lunch, after his lunch I give him appropriate hard foods to massage his gums and quickly clean and clear away lunch mess. Playtime and tummy time follows for him. He then naps from 1:00 pm til 2:00 pm, in this time, I vacuum and mop floors, clean the toilets and hand basins again, prepare afternoon tea and baby's 2:30 pm bottle.
At 1:50 pm I wake everyone, toilet and nappy change each, load the car and we leave for our first school pick up at 2:30 in a neighbouring suburb. At school we have a 15 minute wait, the children play on the playground equipment whilst I feed baby his bottle. Our next pick up is 2:45 at another local primary school, 3:00 at the next and then home for afternoon tea, games, time in the Monkey Room, drawing, play dough etc until parents begin arriving between 3:30 and 5:00.
At 4:30 I prepare dinner for any late stayers, 5:00 is clean up time, I vacuum again and put away any toys that have been left out. Two or three times a week, my partner who is also a FDC care provider brings his late children back to my house for dinner. We share the work load in the evenings to lessen the rush. We sit and have dinner with the children, play a game or two, read stories, brush teeth. Our day ends when the last child has been collected between 6:30 and 7:00. We then catch up on planning, observations and programme analysis. It's a long and busy day but it works for us and the families we serve.
C4K: What makes April's Angels unique?
AL: I offer an emergent curriculum which includes fun and education excursions and outings. My environment is predominantly a self selection space with a separate dedicated nursery room with toddler beds and cots for sleeping.
Recently I created the "Monkey Room" a soft environment where the floors and all toys and furnishings are soft so that the children have an indoor area in which they can tumble, jump, roll and explore their senses. All toys and equipment in the Monkey Room have been selected for their sensory qualities and educational opportunities. The ceiling is decorated with jungle vines, plants and flowers and several species of ape.
When I created this area, I wanted it to be a fun physical area with great sensory stimuli at every level as well a place we could all sit and discuss environmental issues such as endangered species and world conservation.
Health and wellbeing is very important part of our day and the children are offered fresh nutritious and fun food each day. When planning the daily menu, as well as considering the nutritional needs of each child, I also try to incorporate a multi-cultural aspect to the menu.
Over the period of a month, children have the opportunity to try many different tastes and textures through food from around the world. Recently my angels have enjoyed Lebanese, sushi, Turkish pizza, various Italian dishes made from homemade pasta, German, Polynesian, Indian, Indigenous American, Bush foods, French, American, English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean food, just to name a few.
At every opportunity I like to offer the children the chance to explore a new food item: How does it feel?, Taste?, Smell?, Is it heavy?, Juicy?, Hard?, Soft?, Is it sweet or sour?, What does it look like inside? Does it have any other names? Where does it come from? Where are its seeds? Carrambolla (star fruit) was very popular, pomegranate not so much!
I often take the children on excursions to see how and where foods grow, and when possible I arrange for them to pick their own. We also have a herb and vege garden which the children helped plant and we include our own harvested foods into meals.
The children enjoy regular kitchen science and edible art. I encourage group discussion about the importance of making healthy choices, the nutritional value of particular foods and the tragedy of waste and about those who are less fortunate than we are.
April's Angels boasts the largest collection of recorded multi-cultural and children's music in the industry as well as a 700 book lending library and more games and toys than any child could play with in a year.
My children have access to musical instruments and costumes from around the world and enjoy all manners of movement and dance. Boredom has no place at April's Angels. The children are always involved in the planning of everything from what to have at lunch to the day's activities.
Imagination is encouraged to the max, I believe that dreamers are our scientists, artists, builders and leaders of tomorrow. As I write this the two, three and four year olds are building a television set so that the dolls and bears can watch the cooking presentation, Miss Four is dressed in chef's attire and decorating a cake, Mr Three is wearing an apron and pirate hat whilst serving taste tests to the audience, and Mr Two is explaining the proceedings to a toy giraffe.
C4K: What are the advantages of working in child care?
AL: For me there any many advantages, I love working from home, my clientele come from all walks of life so I am meeting people I probably wouldn't if I were working in say an office or a factory.
There are infinite fresh beginnings, with children growing up and moving on and new babies and toddlers joining the group. I love being a part of the learning process of some great little people.
C4K: What are the challenges of working in child care?
AL: I think change is probably the biggest challenge, as it comes from all directions all the time, however, I suppose it depends on how you look at it. Very often one person's challenge is another's opportunity for positive change. Currently I hear my colleagues worrying about the upcoming changes to Early Learning, I am of the opinion that we should always strive to meet worlds best practise and if this initiative brings us that much closer then I'll do what I need to do to make it work for me and my families.
Last year my Family Day Care operation was chosen for Quality Assurance Validation, it was my first time. During the validation visit, I kept wondering when the stressful part would begin, however it didn't happen.
I was graded at High Standard having missing one marker for 100%. High due to my not having sign language as a personal skill, something to work on for next time!
I spent a lot of time, energy and printer ink making certain that I addressed every QA principal and indicator, I knew my scheme's policies and the child care regulations back to front. My partner did some amazing photo work for me to show evidence of indicators and the spirit of April's Angels. I had no intention of passing with less than high, as that is the standard I try to reach each and everyday in my work in family day care.
I honestly believe that if a carer or centre staff continually work towards the very best standard and outcome, remain flexible to change and keep an open mind and outlook, then challenges will be more easily managed. I don't believe in waiting for a problem and then fixing it, foresight and proactivity are my best tools.
C4K: What advice would you offer someone looking for a career/promotion in child care?
AL: I regularly interview prospective carers. Experience has led me to ask a few simple but soul searching questions:
- What is your motivation for this choice of career?
- Do you like children, and why?
- What can you as a carer bring to the table for small children?
Make certain that you give 110% to each day and every child in your care. If you really only like babies and not toddlers or older children perhaps look into other areas of infant work, like puppies and kittens, babies grow up and shouldn't be left feeling discarded when they have outgrown your love and affection.
If I were to speak to every other FDC care provider personally I would express to her/him the value of networking. This industry can be somewhat isolating and burn out is an issue which we all need to be aware of and work to avoid. Having a network of colleagues whom you can share ideas, resources and some social time will greatly improve your chances of avoiding burn out, as will it improve your business's growth and profile within your community.
Never be afraid to advertise! Yes you may get hundreds of calls for one vacant spot, but you may also put 99 more children on your wait list and/or share them within your network.
Since advertising with CareforKids.com.au 18 months ago, I have had in excess of 300 calls from families enquiring about care. I've directly helped several with spots with me, and have helped even more find spots with other carers within my network.
In some cases, I have helped new carers fill all their spots before they have even opened their doors for business. In one case, a mum rang, I didn't have the two spots she needed so I referred her to a newly beginning carer; shortly after the same mum referred her sister to me, again I couldn't offer the three days she needed but had a one day spot and knew a carer who could provide the other two spots, and another carer who could accommodate the twin infants, the story goes on, but how it stands today is that between three carers we share the two families which include six children. Mum has the care she needs, our spots are full, the children are given lots of social interaction and as we are sensitive to siblings' needs for togetherness and autonomy, we programme play dates around each child's social needs.
Always remember, it isn't easy for parents to share their children with a stranger, accept that you have been chosen to be a very important person in their child's life with honour and give their child the very best you can in every way. Indeed it does take a village to raise a child.
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