News & Upcoming events

Support Workshop for Families
We are about 15 months into a world-wide pandemic - how are you doing? 

With funding from the Mayne Island Assisted Living Society (MIALS), we are offering a counsellor-led support workshop for parents and caregivers of children on Mayne Island. 
Sunday, May 30th
10am-12pm 
Online via Zoom - please register ahead of time by emailing us at miearlychildhood@gmail.com

The workshop is free to attend. If you are not already a member of MIECS, please consider signing up to support our efforts - $5/individual, payable by etransfer to miecsbook@gmail.com. Thank you!
 
This 2 hour workshop will allow parents to take a breath, acknowledge the challenges, and recognize the accomplishments within their families. There is no human being or family who is not affected by sudden or ongoing stress or trauma in some way. We will consider individual differences in styles of coping with stress or grieving, and identify the techniques that can support us and help us to support our partners and children.
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Flash Gallery! An example of the beautiful and brilliant artwork of the daycare children.
Mayne Island Early Childhood Society has officially received Charitable Status and can issue tax deductible receipts for contributions! If you are looking to donate this year, we welcome your support! Your gift will strengthen current programs and build for the future of families with young children on Mayne.
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Mayne Island Early Childhood Society
2020 AGM Report from the Co-Chairs
 
It is with ongoing amazement and shock at life’s turn of events that I offer this summary of the past year. We have faced giant obstacles and celebrated wonderful successes since our last AGM. The story of young families on Mayne continues to evolve and I am proud of the sense of centrality that MIECS has had in this growth. Over the past year we have seen more than half a dozen new families move full-time to our community; hired three new staff to help on our team; adapted and expanded our daycare programming; made major headway on our vision for a Mayne-Island-built facility dedicated to families; and advanced the profile and viability of our organization.
 
However; we have also seen the grievous effects that COVID has had on childhood, family and community life here on Mayne. In the shadow of these tremendous human hurdles, we have seen these impacts reflect on the financial health of MIECS. Strangely, it seems that it’s the best of times and the worst of times for our organization.
 
We all miss each other so much and long for the days where our children can stampede around together with breezy giggles. It has never been clearer to me how crucial a breezy giggle stampede is for a healthy and prosperous community. It touches everything – social, emotional, economic, political, spiritual – it is a sign of well-being. We are working hard to get it back and have grown resilient in its absence. We see glimmers of it in the daily operations of our wonderful daycare, but it is not enough.
 
Structurally, our society has hit a groove operating under a committee framework, each with established terms of reference. Our childcare, building and programs committees have each prepared separate reports for our annual meeting. The finance and human resources committees have been the unsung heroes. To the board members and volunteers who have been involved with these groups, we owe thanks for keeping things running smoothly. Of course none of this structure could be supported without our tremendous administrative staff. Lyn Barber our bookkeeper and Kaley Varty our daycare manager…these women deserve awards for their dedication, skillfulness and incredibly fancy footwork. I also want to acknowledge Jenn Beavington, our outgoing daycare manager who kept her cool and acted with poise and presicion when the pandemic hit in March.
 
With so much support from volunteers, several sources of funding, and community partner groups we can be incredibly proud of our work navigating an extremely complex regulatory environment, adapting to ever-changing needs, and keeping kids happy and safe. We are so lucky to have this beautiful place to raise our families, and are ever-inspired by nature’s ability to restore its balance. It is my hope that our balance will also be restored, and the coming year for our organization will be truly its best yet.
 
As we are now a charitable organization, we have developed some easy ways to donate via paypal, e-transfer or regular cheques made payable to the Mayne Island Early Childhood Society. I hope you will consider supporting our hard work.
 
Sincerely submitted,
Meaghan Feduck
 Co-Chair
2020-10-20: Check out the floor plan for the Family Place!
Check out our Family Place updates, updated Sept. 28, 2020



Mayne Island Early Childhood society

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