At RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Patrick, we believe in creating a caring and inclusive environment where every child is valued, celebrated, and supported in their learning journey. Our dedicated Preschool 1 team works together to ensure each child feels safe, engaged, and inspired every day.

Our day begins with Crishteen, who opens the classroom and greets the children with warmth and positivity, helping them start the day with comfort and confidence. At 8:00 AM, Charmaine joins us, bringing her energy, creativity, and passion for play-based learning. Shortly after, at 8:30 AM, Manisha adds her gentle and nurturing presence, further supporting the children’s sense of belonging. To complete the day, Raj closes the classroom, providing consistency and care while supporting both children and families from 9:30 AM until 6:00 PM.

Together, our team is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion by honoring each child’s individuality and building strong, respectful partnerships with families. We warmly invite you to share your traditions, stories, and experiences with us. Your contributions help create a rich and meaningful classroom environment where children can see themselves reflected and celebrated.

Over the past week and a half, our Toddler 2 team has been busy preparing and thoughtfully organizing our brand-new program room at RisingOaks | St. Patrick’s. With the arrival of new toddlers, our goal has been to create an environment that feels safe, welcoming, and stimulating; a space where every child can explore, discover, and grow at their own pace.

Our Toddler 2 program is guided by three dedicated Registered Early Childhood Educators:

-Nancy (RECE), Cileena (RECE), Deborah (RECE)

Together, we are committed to creating meaningful experiences, supporting each child’s development, and fostering a strong sense of belonging for children and their families.

On our bulletin board, families will find each child’s monthly individual learning story, capturing their unique interests and milestones as they develop. We have also added visuals to support children’s self-regulation and communication, including the Four Zones of Regulation and sign language posters, which help empower toddlers to express their feelings, needs, and choices as they learn new ways to communicate.

Our room is divided into areas designed to support all developmental domains for toddlers aged 16 months to 2 years:

Creative & Expressive Play:

At the art table, open-ended craft materials invite toddlers to explore colors, textures, and tools. Whether they are making marks with crayons, gluing, or experimenting with different media, toddlers are developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and early literacy skills as they begin to represent their ideas visually. These experiences foster independence and confidence, allowing toddlers to express themselves freely.

Sensory & Messy Exploration:

In our sensory area, children are encouraged to dig into goop, paint, water, and other tactile materials. These experiences not only stimulate curiosity but also provide opportunities for toddlers to explore cause-and-effect, experiment with problem-solving, and practice self-regulation as they navigate new sensations. Messy play also strengthens finger and hand muscles, laying the foundation for future writing skills.

Manipulative Play & Problem Solving:

Open-ended materials such as cars and trains on tracks, magnetic sticks, and tweezers with small objects encourage children to practice concentration, persistence, and coordination. These activities promote early math concepts such as spatial awareness, sequencing, and cause-and-effect, while also refining fine motor control. For toddlers, using tweezers to pick up objects builds the pincer grasp, a critical skill for later writing and self-help tasks.

Dramatic Play & Social Learning:

In the dramatic play area, toddlers are provided with cultural dress-up clothes, puppets, and baby dolls. This space supports imaginative thinking, social-emotional learning, and language development as children take on roles, mimic real-life routines, and connect with diverse perspectives. Dramatic play is also a way for toddlers to practice self-regulation and build early social skills such as sharing and turn-taking.

Light & Discovery Play:

Our light table provides endless opportunities for experimentation with translucent objects, paint, and sensory mixtures. Toddlers engage in scientific inquiry as they observe how materials change under light, noticing patterns, shadows, and reflections. The nearby mirror shelf enhances this exploration, offering light-up shakers, glowing balls, and reflective surfaces that captivate toddlers’ curiosity while supporting visual tracking and cognitive development.

Looking Ahead:

As we welcome each child into Toddler 2, we are excited to see how they will make this space their own. Each carefully planned area supports the foundations of learning through play, encouraging toddlers to develop independence, self-regulation, problem-solving skills, creativity, and a love for discovery.

The school-age 2 children have been enjoying playing with the new toys on the after and before school shelf. They have been exploring and trying new games like CVC Blender and Tinker Builders, as well as familiar games like Spot It, Lego, and magnets. Over the past two weeks we have taught each other about ourselves through group games like heads up seven up, mystery wink and tag games outside. We have done this by forming groups with each other and having laughs together and through conversations to figure out what the children have in common.

A common interest among the children in before and after school has been enjoying sensory play with sand, slime, fidget toys, and beads. This interest started when I saw the children in both groups always taking out the sensory fidget toy bin and playing with the toys in it. I expanded this interest by providing some different sensory play activities in the program. Sensory play fosters cognitive growth, language skills, problem-solving abilities, and fine and gross motor skill development. We can continue to do sensory activities during our time together in the program.

Welcome to our new St. Patrick’s location!

We’re thrilled to welcome families to our newly opened infant classroom at St. Patrick, a warm and nurturing space designed with, care, and love. Over the past two weeks, our amazing infant team: Shefali, Tai, Bea, and Shannon; have come together to transform a blank canvas into a place of comfort, curiosity, and connection.

Each educator brings a unique perspective and passion for early childhood education:

Shefali joins us from Punjab, India, inspired by her family of teachers. She’s excited to begin her journey alongside your little ones, fostering growth and joy every step of the way.

Tai (short for Taiane), originally from Brazil, feels privileged to be part of this vibrant community. She looks forward to supporting each infant's learning and development with warmth and intention.

Bea (Phuong Anh) is from Hanoi, Vietnam and has lived in Canada for nearly seven years. She’s excited to collaborate with her fellow educators and create a space where infants thrive.

Shannon, a long-time educator with over 20 years of experience in infant, toddler, and preschool rooms, brings a wealth of knowledge. She also serves as the Centre’s health and safety representative and supports in the kitchen when our cook Seyi is off.

Together, we set out to create an infant room that feels like a second home. We thoughtfully designed cozy corners for quiet moments, sensory-rich spaces to spark curiosity, and open areas for movement and exploration. Each handcrafted touch reflects who we are, as a team that values intentionality, creativity, and the power of connection. When the infants began visiting for the first time, the real magic began. Some children observed quietly, others confidently crawled or walked into the space with wonder in their eyes. 

Paxton enjoyed the feel of the sensory toys while his brother Gunner showed off his amazing drumming skills. Vihana stretched out her hand to feel new textures, exploring a sensory moment. She also enjoyed pulling the toys out of the bucket completely on her own as the bucket sat sideways. Jason showed us his balance, sitting, while exploring the soft toys in our toom. Rhyett smiled as he found a soft toy in the cozy corner, clearly feeling the warmth of the environment. Rhyett was curious as he explored a colorful shape sorter. He grasped and investigated it, exploring its texture and function. Later, he picked up glowing heptagon shakers, shaking them eagerly, clearly fascinated by the movement and sound. Bea wondered whether it was the sound or the glowing lights that captured his attention. A beautiful example of infant inquiry in action. Habiba tried out the lunch table chair and got to experience her fire fire drill. Wyatt was exploring his interests in cooking as he explored the role play kitchen, dishes, food and sink. Wyatt discovered how to get the sink to come out and the sound it made when it hit the floor. Maria came looking fabulously dressed for the occasion in a gorgeous dress and a beautiful bow headband in her hands.  Outside Remy, Rhyett explored going down the slide...wee! What fun.

Their families shared routines, preferences, stories, ask questions, share insights, and observe their child’s early engagement with the space. These interactions helped foster trust and mutual understanding, laying the groundwork for strong partnerships. We began to build deeper understandings of each child. 

As educators, we loved discovering that the whole team enjoys messy play, and felt energized by the opportunity to align practices and pedagogies. Seeing the infants' smiles and witnessing their first connections in the space reassured them that this is just the beginning of meaningful learning and relationships. We recognize that creating a safe, warm, and engaging environment is a collaborative effort. The room feels like a second home not only because of our educators’ hard work, but because of the openness of our families and the curiosity of our children. These moments affirmed our intention: to create a space that invites exploration and wonder.

We are excited for the journey ahead. To witness our infants grow, explore, and learn within a space that reflects who they are and what they need. Each milestone, each discovery, each smile is a reminder of why we do what we do.