Rady JCC's David and Ruth Asper Early Learning Centre 's Marks its First Anniversary-Lots of Successes

It is the first anniversary since the David and Ruth Asper Early Learning Centre opened. Gayle Waxman, Executive Director of the Rady JCC says that she is thrilled with the way the David and Ruth Asper Early Larning Centre has worked out. "We are so pleased with how well the David and Ruth Asper Early Learning Centre has done. The centre was filled immediately and the children and staff settled in very quickly. We are fortunate to have incredible staff who under the leadership of our Director, Eleo Caporalini, have implemented the same high quality program we offer at the Kaufman Child Care Centre. It is very rewarding to see the centre and the children are thriving. We are grateful to the Aspers, the donors and the family for making this happen.”

Westland Construction was the general contractor for the Early Learning Centre project and the architect for what Waxman describes as this 'great space' was Calee Gushuliak from Architecture 49, and Grant Van Iderstine was also involved in a supervisory role.

"The Centre has been so appreciated by families and it has met every single expectation...The building is very functional space that allows our staff to easily implement the early learning program," she says.

Eleanora Caporalini, Director of Child Care Services at the Rady JCC added that the space in the building has worked out very well and that everyone is pleased with its design, including the outdoor play area.

Caporalini recently participated in in an intense one week training at the Reggio Emilia International Study Group in Italy with a selected group of only 5 Directors from JCCA [ the Jewish Community Centres Association of North America] in North America. " I was the only one from Canada in that group, " she said, noting that there were were more than 400 educators from all over the world who participated in training. (Educators came from Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, United States, England, Netherlands, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Japan Vietnam, Katar, Colombia, and Bangladesh.)

As Caporalini explained the Reggio Emilia approach to early learning education was founded by Loris Malaguzzi, and is based on several principles:

. Children’s multiple symbolic languages: this means that the children construct their knowledge and are able to represent their understanding of the world in different ways.

. The environment as a third educator: educators organize environment rich in possibilities and provocation to explore and problem solve in small groups.

. Educators that design the curriculum based on children’s interests and their hypothesis.

. Documentation of the learning process as a tool for the educators to search innovative ways and trends in education and also to make the learning process visual for the families and the community.

When I asked about the ongoing need for more daycare spots, Waxman answered that "Our main c