Cooks Child Care Centre
The Cook’s Child Care Centre boasts four spacious and sunny activity rooms furnished to meet the needs of children 12 months to 13 years.
In a nurturing, loving environment, we support your child’s development of confidence, self-regulation, expression and curiosity through responsive and respectful interactions, learning centers, creativity, exploration, music and play.
We encourage your child to observe, question and discover. We guide and inspire your child to develop an awareness of their own and the feelings of others. Your child learns that they are free to make safe and respectful choices. Flexible programming like ours prepares your child to utilize their intellectual and creative abilities in future learning tasks.
Each activity room is filled with activity centers geared to the interests of the children (books, drama, science, music, etc.). Our goal is to encourage your child to learn through play, explore, and be adventurous, curious and creative.
We take pride in knowing that the early childhood educators and support staff are knowledgeable, qualified and caring. Our employees are dedicated to this profession and continue to grow and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of the families we serve.
Program Goals
- Encourage social skills (mutual respect, sharing & turn-taking, manners)
- Promote self-help skills (sitting and using spoon and cup at the table: putting on and taking off shoes)
- Encourage healthy habits (washing hands)
- Positive self-awareness
- Independence and self-regulation
- Fine motor skills (tidying toys, puzzles, holding utensils, colouring with crayons)
- Gross motor skills (climbing, kicking, throwing)
- Recognizing colours/basic objects
- Stimulating speech by repeating and modeling
Location Features & Hours
Open Monday – Friday, 6:00am – 6:00pm
- Air-conditioned, bright activity rooms
- Large, fenced outdoor activity areas
- Just 2 blocks from beautiful Victoria Park on Lake Ontario
- Close proximity to the heart of downtown Cobourg
- Minutes from the 401, train station, and library
Victoria Park Child Care Centre’s has the ability to arrange for our staff to pick-up and drop-off children at C.R. Gummow Public School and to escort children to and from the St. Michael’s Separate School bus that stops at our driveway.
Indoor Activity Areas
Our indoor activity areas are on the first and second floors of our centre.
A large partition wall separates our toddler and preschool activity areas on the first floor. The space is bright and cheery. The environment is busy and exciting. Washroom/toileting areas are readily available to allow the transition to toilet-training to be easier.
Toys and learning tools available are geared to the interests of the children.
Outdoor Activity Areas
Our outdoor activity areas are fenced for safety and security reasons.
The junior space is equipped with a fun Tykes treehouse with a massive sandbox surrounding it, a paving stone path for endless play on riding toys (trikes, cars, wagons, etc.) a climbing structure with slide that is secured to a rubber protective surface, and many outdoor toys and materials to manipulate and enjoy.
The senior space contains an incredible climbing structure, a sandbox, a paved path around the outside of the activity area for riding equipment, having an exciting soccer or ministick hockey game, and much more!
During inclement weather, activities may be brought indoors to encourage imagination.
Our outdoor play spaces are inspected daily, monthly and seasonally by our program staff and annually by a certified playground inspector.
Fabulous Lunches and Snacks
Cook’s provides nutritious daily lunches and snacks prepared on-site at our centre.
Food preparation staff working in our centre hold valid Food Handlers Certificates. The menus follow the Canada Food Guide standards and are reviewed and approved regularly by the local Health Unit’s Dietician and during the Ministry’s annual licensing inspection.
Children’s food allergies, food limitations, and special diets are given consideration on an individual basis. If a child is unable to eat any of the menu items being prepared for the day, the family is responsible for providing a replacement. For consistency, we ask that the family provide an alternate menu item that is similar to the meal item being substituted (Example: if a child is vegetarian and cannot eat the beef barley soup, it is expected that the family will provide vegetable soup for the child).
Our centre-based programs’ menus rotate on a 5-week basis. Our summer menu runs from June to October and the winter menu runs from October to June.
Each menu offers some favourites plus some interesting textures and tastes. We are always open to suggestions for menu ideas!
Age Groupings
| Room | Ages | Educator:Child ratio | Max # children | Proportion that must be qualified employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Floor | ||||
| Toddler | 12 – 30 months | 1:5 | 15 (3 may be 12 – 18 months) | 1/3 |
| Preschool | 30 months – 6 years | 1:8 | 24 (5 may be 18 – 30 months or 44 months – 7 years) | 2/3 |
| 2nd Floor | ||||
| Room 1: 2 options | ||||
| Preschool | 30 months – 6 years | 1:8 | 24 (5 may be 18 – 30 months or 44 months – 7 years) | 2/3 |
| Kindergarten | 44 – 7 years | 1:13 | 26 (5 may be 30 months – 6 years) | 1/2 |
| Room 2: 2 options | ||||
| School-age | 68 months – 13 years | 1:15 | 15 (3 may be 44 months – 7 years) | 1 |
| Preschool | 30 months – 6 years | 1:8 | 14 (3 may be 18 – 30 months or 44 months – 7 years) | 1/2 |