Montessori school planned for Grace Church

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This article was published 20/12/2021 (1392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The R.M. of Headingley council approved a request to use Grace Community Church as a daycare/Montessori School at its Dec. 14 meeting.

The request came from Asma Jafri, who currently runs a daycare out of her home and needs more space.

“Children need other children,” Jafri said. “They want to play with others. They want to talk with others. They love to learn from each other.”

Chay Stratton, the children and community pastor at Grace Community Church, said there’s a need for daycare in the Headingley area.

“For a lot of parents and families, they need the extra support,” Stratton said.

Stratton said the church was home to two daycares a year ago — one operated by the church itself and another run by a provider who was renting the space. Both were full.

The new daycare intends to lease the space Monday through Friday and will have room for four infants, six toddlers and 27 pre-school children — with a maximum of 37 spots in total.

“(Parents) need somebody who can take care of their kids that they can trust,” Stratton said. “There’s a lot of important things I think that come with daycares.”

She emphasized how important daycare is from a developmental standpoint — it gives young children socialization skills and early education.

“We obviously support and work with a lot of families,” Stratton said. “So we see the importance of daycares in our communities, especially with families going back to work.”

Jafri said she shared Stratton’s sentiment.

“A child’s mind is very mathematical and scientific. They need something for their sensorial development and something for their language development,” Jafri said. “When the child is staying at home, they can not access those things usually.”

Jafri used cutlery as an example. In her daycare, children not only learn how to walk and talk, but also how to use forks and knives in a safe environment.

Stratton emphasized that the idea is still in its early stages, and she doesn’t know when it will officially open.