Fall Fun

We have been having lots of fall fun at Miss Jessa's Child Care. 

We've been to the Farmer's Market to buy our own fresh veggies.

And to Cooper's Farm for the corn maze.

And of course, to Jungle Cat World - the kids never tire of going there and neither do we.

This Friday we're off to the Toronto Zoo again, too! 

And yet we still find lots of time for crafts and play and stories and trips to the playground, too. 

Miss Jessa's kids have a lot of fun - and so do Jessa and her helper, Tamara. 

We'd love to have your 2+ child(ren) join us! 

Give us a call at 905-240-5300 or email missjessas@gmail.com to arrange a visit. 

Full time days, before & after school care, evenings & weekends spots also available.

Subsidized day care

Miss Jessa's is now a licensed Wee Watch provider.

Which means that we have met all of their licensing requirements, passed reference checks & inspections of the premises, and get to do a whole lot more structured record-keeping :)

And which means that we can now offer care to Oshawa families eligible for subsidized day care support (as well as not instead of for those who are not, just so we're clear).

You can always check for available spaces here - but as of this writing, my M-F daytime infant spaces are full until at least February & March, and I only have one remaining space for a 2+ right now (another opening in November).

We do, however, have spaces to provide some evening & weekend care (yes, even for infants).

Summer Fun

Well, now that we're all moved in and set up in our new location at 574 Simcoe Street North in Oshawa, Miss Jessa's has a big back yard with lots of fun things to do right there. Climbing activities, water play and bubbles are all big favourites.

But we're still heading off to explore other fun places with the kids. Miss Jessa's has memberships at both Jungle Cat World and the Toronto Zoo so we get to both of those fairly often. We also get to the rocketship park in Whitby, and the splashpad and other assorted playgrounds in Oshawa as well.

And of course, once in awhile we stay inside and play in our well-equipped dramatic play, crafts or sensory play areas.

While we only have one full time 2+ space available for fall right now, we do have summer spots available for full time, part time or occasional care - and yes, we do weekends and/or overnight care. Give us a call at (905)240-5300 to book a tour or arrange a spot. 

Emergency/last minute care available when space permits.   

Moving

Moving is SO much ~fun~

 

Way too much like work for me!

 

But things are getting sorted and packed and we will be ready to start providing care in our new location starting on Monday, May 16.

 

Can't wait to get everything set up and organized over there. Really looking forward to having a back yard!

 

There are so many great ideas for outdoor spaces on Pinterest. We've already scored some climbing equipment and slides - but also looking at building a water wall, and maybe a music wall. And ...and...and.... !

PA Day

Bubble painting at Miss Jessa's child care services in Oshawa

Friday was a PA day so both of our wee ones brought sibs for the day :)  We had lots of fun - bubble painting, playing Avengers. There are always lots of fun things to do at Miss Jessa's.  Our dramatic play includes a kitchen, work bench (with the ever so popular safety vests), and a market stall/puppet stage among other things. There are lots of building toys - blocks, marbleworks, and so on, that the kids put to all sorts of imaginative uses.  And of course, we have lots of games, craft materials, and especially books.

 

The kids' favourite activity of the day, though, was probably our outing to the park. Kai is back!!! Kai is a puppy that we look forward to seeing when we go to the playground - but her owner has been away for a bit, so we've missed her and were very happy to see her again.

Excitement!

We've found a new place!!!!

 

Miss Jessa's is moving to a new address.

 

Still in Oshawa - but with a much better (&bigger) space, a great location and best of all, a fenced in back yard!!!!!!!

 

SO excited!!!!!!  

 

We've been collecting all sorts of cool outdoor play ideas on Pinterest - and now we're actually going to have room to do them!

 

 

 

March Break

Well, the weather didn't co-operate for most of March Break - but aside from that, the kids had a great week at Miss Jessa's.

The highlight was our trip to Jungle Cat World...although I think if you asked any of the kids what they liked best, it was probably the playground.

Not THAT different from the playground we normally take them to, really - but llamas and peacocks and geese wandering around do add some excitement. Even though we cut our trip short because of the weather, we got a great deal on a yearly membership, so will definitely get back there on a nicer day.

Of course, we did lots of other stuff too. Arts, crafts, sensory & dramatic play - we keep busy at Miss Jessa's!

This week's favourite new addition was probably the balls. Picked up 100 of them and they were used for all sorts of fun sorting, counting and gross motor play. And for dumping. Lots and lots of dumping all over the floor :)  Great fun!

If you are looking for quality care for your 2+ yo child in Oshawa, why not give us a call at 647-300-5687? I still have a couple of spaces available and would be happy to have you come by for a visit.

I am a registered ECE, with lots of experience, excellent references, & reasonable rates - and I would love to meet your wee ones.

Happy Monday

Watching what she's doing!

I like having extra kids here!

I can almost reach!!

Car watching.

Emergency/last minute care

Did you know that Miss Jessa's Child Care Services also offers emergency/back up/last minute care?

If space permits (up to a maximum of 5) I am happy to provide last minute care for those times when your day care plans fall through for one reason or another.

Call or text Miss Jessa at 647-300-5687 to check availability.

End of the Month Update

It's been a busy month.

Got my day care all set up the way I want it - well aside from I'd kind of rather it were somewhere else entirely, but that's another story - and we have kids.

Full time Monday to Friday kids, even. One started this week, and another is starting soon, and as an added bonus, she's bringing her big brother along part time too. So between him and my other part time 2+ little charmer, that fills 3 of my spots.

Still got two though!  If you're looking for high quality care for your 2+ child, I'd be happy to hear from you. 


You can email me at missjessas@gmail.com; message me via Facebook, or give me a call at (647)300-5687.

We have lots of fun at Miss Jessa's!

Weekend Update

No kids this weekend - first one since I opened Miss Jessa's ... so I headed off to Brampton to spend some time with my cousin instead. Went to her hockey game where she did a great job of warming the bench and (wo)manning the doors (she plays goal and they take turns - as usual when my Mom goes to a game, it wasn't her turn). And then we went to a late show. Where I got carded!!!!

Enjoyed the movie. Did not enjoy coming out after midnight to discover that my battery had died. Again. Stupid thing does not like the cold. Not even a little bit.

So we called my uncle who came and got us. Would have boosted the car but we couldn't find the battery in his and by that time it was after 1 am and nobody cared that much. Could have called my auto club, I guess - but yeah - after one a.m. and darn cold and who wants to sit in a parking lot and wait?

So we left my car there and went home to their place; got it started this morning (much easier to find battery hookups in the light when you're not freezing and tired!) and headed back to Oshawa in time to make it to Z's birthday party.

Off to play laser tag.

What? You thought a no kids weekend would actually mean no play time? Where would be the fun in that?  I like my kids - even when I'm not being paid to take care of them; of course I go to their birthday parties when I'm invited :)

Another busy weekend

Well, we had another busy weekend at Miss Jessa's Child Care Services this weekend, with kids coming and going, and a hockey tournament in Aurora thrown in for good measure. Our team made it to the final game but lost to London.

Alphabet finished

Here's my Avengers alphabet! Really happy with how it turned out.

Decorating - Avengers Alphabet

Another Busy Weekend

Yet another 5 kidlet weekend this week....all schoolagers this week, no wee ones.

Lots of running - not only providing childcare, but also running kids to and from hockey practices and all that fun stuff.

It's a good thing I have an assistant (aka my sister). She has also worked in a day care centre, so has her first aid and CPR and criminal record check and all that good stuff. And food handling certificate which is good because while I'm doing the hockey thing, she's handling the food.

If you're looking for a weekend off at some point, feel free to drop me an email at missjessas@gmail.com and - assuming I have space available, would be happy to accommodate you.

Once we get to five full time M - F kids, I'm likely to be less available on weekends - or at least not EVERY weekend... but for now, we're having fun.

Why Miss Jessa's Child Care Services?

So... just in case anyone is wondering why we chose to use the name Miss Jessa's even though even when I was working in day cares, I really didn't much care whether the kids remembered the Miss or not - not my rule! ... it is because that is how my little people mostly refer to me.

So...this makes it easier for them to find me if they or their parents had an inkling to do that.

So, Miss Jessa's it is :)

The logo is kind of sort of part of that as well - anyone who knows me and googles my name will know that they've come to the right place as soon as they see a zebra. I like zebras, and I started buying zebra print things long before they became so ubiquitous, actually. I have a lot of zebra stuff now...and many of my most treasured things are gifts from little people who thought of me when they saw something cool in a zebra print.

Truth be known, the zebra thing started way back when I got my cat.... his full name is actually Zebra in a Snowstorm. He's white, with just a trace of very light zebra-ish stripes on his forehead...so yeah... zebra in a snowstorm worked.

And yep, I do have cats, and chinchillas, too.

So smoke-free, yes, of course... but no, not pet-free, at least not as long as I'm operating out of my current location. But, assuming no allergies, it seems to work quite well, actually. The kids and Zebra get along just fine, and everyone that comes to the house - big peoples, little peoples, whichever, enjoy the chinchillas. Chinchillas are pretty awesome pets... dumb as can be, but that just adds to their charm.

Setting up a home day care

So, I've had a busy week or two. Once the decision to open my own home day care was made, there was a lot of work to do - in a very short time, given that as soon as I told people that I was doing it, I had bookings.

Our place was a little bit full of big people things so the first big task was to clear all that stuff out and make room for little people stuff. I had more than enough kid stuff that I have amassed over years of working in child care centres... just needed to make room for it.

So, we did.

And then it was off to Ikea for some storage solutions for toys and games, baby furniture, and so on. The plan was to stick to the necessities I would need to get started, but well... you know.

They had this way cool tool bench that was on clearance and it needed to come home with me.
And no dramatic play centre would be complete without safety vests, right? Right. Yeah, we bought those too








And I had found an awesome play kitchen that makes noise and everything for my dramatic play centre, so I HAD to buy the pretend food and stuff. And anyway it's way cool, cuz when you take the fish apart, it's got bones inside. Yes, of course I had to try it all out. Quality testing, you know.













Also found a market play centre that can double as a puppet show stage..... and maybe just a ~few~ other things.

Somehow we managed to fit everything into my car and get it home.

And then we got to work setting it all up in the very short time that was remaining before my first kids were showing up.

It was a bit of a rush, but we pulled it off and had everything ready for our first little visitors.

Who so far all seem to approve.

We're having a lot of fun at Miss Jessa's Child Care Services these days.

Come play with us, why don't you! If you are looking for high quality home day care for your wee one(s) please email me at missjessas@gmail.com.