Our core values C.A.R.E.
“Friends for Life is a starting point for your children that will lead them into a lifetime of friendships as they grow up together in our communities.”
Caring and Nurturing
Active Supervison and Safety
Respect and Appreciation
Explorative and Reflective
Message from the Owner
As I reflect back on the years of Friends for Life, I feel a great sense of accomplishment and gratitude. In 2005, I was expecting my first child, Kennedy, and found myself looking for childcare in our community of Hatchet Lake. As wait lists were quite extensive at that time, I saw an opportunity for our community and opened our doors on September 1, 2005. My daughter was only 2 months old and I had a vision that when she started childcare, she would be making “Friends for Life”. That still holds true as some of my daughter’s best friends today were our babies at Friends for Life in 2005.
We have certainly experienced a lot of change over the years. We first started with 16 families in Hatchet Lake, and have since expanded operations to the communities of Upper Tantallon, Halifax, Dartmouth, East Hants, Beaverbank, and Truro with a total of 595 families!
We are a licensed private operator regulated by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Philosophy
At Friends for Life, we appreciate the mixed emotions you have when transitioning your child into care. This is a significant milestone in a child’s life as well as a difficult time for parents. We will ensure that our dedicated, qualified Educators help make this transition a smooth one so that when you need to be elsewhere, there will be no worries. We believe that Friends for Life is a starting point for your children that will lead them into a lifetime of friendships as they grow up together in our community. First and foremost, we will provide your children with constant supervision in a safe, educational, and a fun environment! Together we will enhance your children’s learning and stimulate their development so that they can be the best that they can be! As Educators, we believe that children learn best through play, role modeling, and imitation. It is through these best practices that our children will develop a sense of curiosity, which will lend them the opportunity to explore and utilize the world around them through their senses. It is through our warm, inviting, and joyful atmospheres that our children will excel through our programs. Our daily programs are based upon the children’s interests however, our Educators will provide some structured activities while encouraging responsibility and fostering independence among them. Our inclusive, emergent, and developmentally appropriate curriculum will allow our children to experience a love for all learning. Friends for Life will embrace all children and encourage our families and communities to come together and join us in our learning experiences.
Vision
Through Support for our Educators, on their lifelong journey of learning, specifically in relation to Nova Scotia's Early Learning Curriculum Framework; Capable, Confident, and Curious, we continue to grow at FFL. Our growth consistently leads way to our vision: to holistically promote healthy growth and development for our students and families by way of the values we place in our Guiding Principles of CARE and our Image of the Child. We aim to provide an inclusive and developmentally appropriate environment where learning combines a balance of student and teacher led, small and large group, indoor and outdoor activities. We wish for our students to have opportunities to build on their own experiences and interests and that they are able to celebrate their diversities in a culturally responsive ambiance. Relationships with our families, the community, our Government, and outside resources to the field of Early Childhood is of top priority for FFL, where we practice on-going communication and welcome family/guardian participation, especially as it relates to play based learning and the activities and invitations being fostered throughout our programs.