About Kids
Our Ambition
To redefine how children experience childcare by establishing a new, high standard and offering a fresh perspective.
To create an environment in which our Kids feel naturally at home.
Our 5 Educational Pillars
At Kids Childcare + Preschool we are kind; open-minded and good-hearted in everything we do.
From the Classroom to the Kitchengarden, we aim to connect with food and learn from it.
To grow stronger, smarter, and sweeter.
To take on the world with great gusto.
To cook up a sense of curiosity, creativity, independence and collaboration.
Welcome to Kids! A place to nourish children’s appetites!
- Blissful Beets
- Caring Carrots
- Mindful Mushrooms
- Adventurous Asparagus
Our Commitment to Kids
Dear Kids,
We promise to nourish your appetites by cultivating your curiosity, fostering your creativity, building your confidence and instilling you with a spirit of collaboration while you also become independent.
We also promise lots of hugs, fun and laughter!
Co-founder and Chief Kids Officer
For Parents by Parents
Areti is a parent of a young child who believed it was time to establish a new, high standard of childcare in Canada.
Their journey started with the idea to place the well-being of children at the centre of every business decision. They realized their ambition to co-found KIDS Childcare + Preschool.
Areti dedicates her time and life experience to the service of those for whom she cares and loves the most: children. She was born and raised in Montreal with an educational background in Health Sciences and Business Administration.
Mother to a smart and active young daughter and an aunt to several nieces and nephews, Areti understands the pressures, challenges and joys of raising kids, as well as the pleasures, fears and concerns that modern parents face every minute of every day.
While raising her daughter, Michaela, Areti worked as an English language educator at a daycare centre in Athens from 2015 to 2018. In early 2018, she decided to return to Canada because she wanted her daughter to grow up in the best country in the world and experience the beauty, education and opportunity that Canada gives its children.
Nutrition
Our love for healthy eating is rooted in our Mediterranean DNA. That’s why good food is a fundamental pillar of what we offer at Kids Inc.
We believe that food and nutrition are as necessary to a child’s development as learning and playing.
Our kitchengarden is as creative as it is nourishing.
We have created unique, delicious recipes that will be cooked fresh in our centres.
We understand the challenges that children with food allergies can face. And the worry that parents experience along the way. We won’t let food allergies get in the way of our Kids’ learning and fun.
Our nutritional promise is clear: healthy as can be and allergen-friendly—healthy, delicious recipes that were researched and created by Areti, are kid-tested, and parent and nutritionist-approved.
- Everything home-made from scratch in our centres
- Fresh, seasonal ingredients
- Allergen-friendly ingredients (Top 15 most common food allergies)
- Kid-tested and approved
- Parent-endorsed
- Nutritionist-certified
Educational Curriculum
We are an inquiry-based and learn-through-play childcare centre.
Our Educators/Superheroes use Canadian play-based learning and the Reggio Emilia approaches to facilitate learning, cultivate creativity, and help our kids develop their curiosity and confidence.
Children have an innate love of learning and are rich in potential. One of our primary goals at KIDS is to prepare our students to be lifelong learners from a very young age.
Children feel valued when they are allowed to assume responsibility for their learning. At KIDS, we will nurture each child’s learning journey through play and inquiry-based experiences. This approach forms a solid foundation upon which to build confident, curious and creative children.
Our students rotate through multiple learning environments including culinary, art, science, and dramatic play. This approach ensures daily exposure to STEAM-based learning for science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics while developing both problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Team
Our Everyday Superheroes are dedicated to ensuring the well-being of our Kids.
Our Chief Kids Officer, Supervisor, Program Director, Educators, Executive Chef, Advisory Board and Teaching Assistants give their everything every single day for our kids because we have their best interests at heart. Our one-team approach ensures that children are always at the centre of all our decisions.
Our Kids Research and Development team is always on the look-out for new ideas, concepts and suggestions.
What would you like to see in a childcare centre?
Kids
We have a program designed specifically for your child’s needs, whether they are an infant, toddler or preschooler.
Our Infant Program is designed to care, nurture and stimulate infants cognitively through individual routines, physical development and health, language and social emotional learning.
Our Toddler Program is designed to be an interactive experience between the classroom, the centre as a whole and our custom-made and unique Kitchengarden. Toddlers will experiment with food ingredients, learn to count, formulate sentences, discover their musical, artistic and theatrical abilities, differentiate between their emotions and learn about the world around them. Our caring staff will work with Toddlers to help build the foundations of their physical development and health, language and literacy, creative arts, mathematics, social emotional development, science and social studies.
Our Jr. Preschooler Program is rooted in research that proves that children at that age learn best through play and inquiry driven approaches. Our Kitchengarden, the classroom and the playground are fundamental elements of how they’re learning through play and exploration.
Our Sr. Preschooler Program is designed to set our kids up for success so that they thrive and excel in kindergarten. Our Kitchengarden, the classroom and the playground help enhance and solidify life skills, advanced learning and preparation for our Kids’ next chapter.
Our Principles
The Foundation of KIDS
The founding principle of Kids Childcare + Preschool
(φι-λό-τι-μο)
filos – timi
(friend) (honour)
Filotimo is the subculture, the cornerstone and founding principle of Kids Childcare + Preschool.
It is to give to others without asking or expecting anything in return.
Putting others or the greater good before yourself. It involves a sense of courage, self-sacrifice, and honour. In short, doing something with filotimo means you are doing something right and honourable even if it is against your own self-interest.
Areti & Dimitri were born to Greek immigrant parents, the term “filotimo”, was enshrined in them by their respective parents and grandmothers from a young age.
No other language has a word for this uniquely Greek term.
A composite and complex constellation of positive values involving decency, dignity, respect, honesty, truthfulness, sincerity, hospitality, generosity, kindness, empathy, courage, humility, reciprocity, philanthropy, compassion, honour, love.
It is a sense of duty and personal sacrifice.
We, as parents, try to give to our kids all the things we never had, yet we should also focus on giving them what we did have.
Putting others before yourself.
It is in all of our DNA.
- Owner and operator-managed.
- Connecting food and cooking with learn and play each and every day
- Unique design concepts of transparency and innovation
- Using technology to connect with parents and provide secure centres
- Kitchengarden experience for kids and parents
- Highly diverse and nutritious culinary experience
- Allergen-free food menu
- Committed and Experienced Educators (aka: “Kids Superheroes”)
- The “smile index” is high within an atmosphere of happiness
- Children love to come to school every day and know they are valued
- Staff are passionate about children and love to be around them
- Play is integral to learning as well as social, physical and emotional growth
- Children build confidence, resilience and empathy
- Kids have a safe space to take risks and tackle unfamiliar challenges
- Children are inspired to be creative, curious, adventurous and inquisitive
- The environment is the third teacher
- A safe home away from home
Integrity
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Our role here is to protect and nurture children, and we take this role very seriously.
Safety
It is extremely important that children feel and remain safe and secure at all times.
Professionalism
We are committed to competence, reliability, professional appearance and demeanor.
Excellence
We commit to do our best to provide outstanding childcare services.
Creativity
We value unique and original ideas. We strive to foster creative spaces for children to learn, discover and create.
Openness
We value openness, sharing, and listening. We are receptive to change or new ideas committed to continuous improvement.
Respect
Respect is due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others. We value and respect diversity. We strive to have the utmost respect for all people’s cultures, backgrounds and religions.
Sustainability
We believe in sustainability, both on social and ecological level. We believe in commitment to social justice and equity. We have concern for the environment and maintain a commitment to sustainable development.
Fun
Last but not least, we seek to create an environment that allows children, our team and parents to have fun.
- Cultivating Curiosity
- Encouraging Creativity
- Building Confidence
- Instilling Team-spirit
Children have a lifetime to be adults; we encourage them to enjoy their childhood with playful, interesting and developmentally appropriate activities.
We create opportunities for exploration, creativity and use of imagination. Growth and development are unique to each individual and are sensitive to each child’s time clock.
