Testimonials

To Whom it May Concern:

My family has worked with Celine Lacoste and the Calgary French Montessori Day Home since 2013 — when our first daughter turned one. Through the years we have added two more children to our family unit, and Celine has seen us through all stages of our children’s development.

Celine and her staff continually impress us with their commitment to high-quality child-care and education. The facilities are always clean and organized and there are a variety of toys and materials with very thoughtful emphasis on cognitive development. The food provided is nutritious and varied, which has helped our children gain appreciation for many types of cuisine. The education curriculum covers a wide variety of subjects, mixing both academic and practical applications: in addition to reading, language and math skills, my children have learned about gardening, cooking, and cleaning. The effectiveness of these methods is demonstrated by the academic success of my children in school as well as their social attitudes of courtesy, respect and helpfulness. This program centers on early childhood education through structured methods and is not for those families who prefer a “learn through play” approach.

Celine herself has proven to be a passionate and dedicated businesswoman and educator. Although managing the logistics of her operation requires-what I can imagine is-a grueling amount of attention, she is always aware of my children’s individual needs and regularly communicates with updates and suggestions for their learning; moreover, Celine seems very much in control of the day-to-day operations of all her locations and keeps her staff accountable. Celine is extremely responsive to any concerns that have been raised and implemented actions where necessary.

Throughout the years, Celine has demonstrated a willingness for flexibility and a desire to help where she can. So far, she has offered services for before and after school care (including homework), bus pick-ups and drop-offs, and preschool transportation. Most recently, Celine took on coordinating much of my children’s virtual learning during the pandemic school shutdowns. In this case, she and her staff worked through the assignments as well as coordinated the virtual meetings. Doing this relieved me of a lot of stress.

To summarise, we have a great deal of respect for Celine and the Calgary French Montessori Day Home. We entrust them with our children and recommend them to any family who wishes to place their children in an environment focused on education and social responsibility.

I was asked for my opinion on the advantages/disadvantages of the Calgary French Dayhome (run by Celine) versus the other private school based on firsthand experience with both. My eldest son, Euan, started with Celine at the age of 6months and we were very happy with his infant care. Our second son started when Euan was just over 2 years old so we initially favoured having both boys at the same site. Because of this, Euan remained at an infant location and we failed to consider the extra learning that would come with Euan moving to one of Celine’s older-child Montessori locations and thus, we enrolled Euan into the private school for the 3-year-old class (he was 2 years, 9 months when he started at the private school). We only recognized our error in the month before Euan started at the private school because Celine moved him to one of her older child locations (since he was then toilet trained) and he began to do many Montessori activities and to learn at a rapid rate. He was learning to write and doing many activities in the Montessori program and was very happy and engaged. In retrospect, had we known how much he would be learning at the Calgary French Montessori Dayhome, we would not have moved him to the private school. That said, our experience with the private school was good in many ways. The teachers were excellent and the structure of the day was similar to primary school so that might help with the transition to school. He didn’t have a lot of specific teaching but there was lots of signing and art and gym and he was also happy there. There was little progress education-wise between the 3 year and 4-year classes. Because of this, we did not enroll our second son (nor our next child) at the private school. Several other aspects of the private school were less than optimal. Firstly, there was less French spoken in the school and playground than at Celine’s. The teachers were all very good at speaking French to the kids but the teachers’ assistants (who spent a lot of time with the children) were quick to respond in English. This frequent English was probably an attempt to be kind and helpful to the children but it led to a reduction in Euan’s French fluency. Very few of the children at the private school were Francophone so little French was spoken in the playgrounds. Also, while at first, it appeared that the costs were similar, I had not considered the extra holidays in the private school schedule (one week in October, 1 week in February, 2 weeks at Easter). Trying to find daycare doing those extra weeks were stressful and added significantly to the costs (as did the hourly after-care fees). I also found the other parents much less amiable than those I had encountered at Celine’s, many were very pretentious and I did not feel welcomed in their cliques (having not attended private school in Calgary myself). Ultimately, Euan enjoyed his time at the private school but his brother (who stayed at Celine’s) had more knowledge of writing his name, basic maths, than did Euan when they each started in kindergarten so we feel comfortable having kept our third also with Celine for the educational value but mostly because it is a more friendly and family-oriented environment.

Dear Sir/Madam,

My two sons, Zachary and Kaspar, have been enrolled full time in the above reference
dayhome, under the supervision of Celine, since the fall of 2013.

I remain extremely satisfied with the services provided which have been very professionally
delivered, as a result, I am comfortably providing this professional and personal reference for
Celine and the French Dayhome services that she provides.

As I mentioned to Mme. A, to have a native French-speaking, Montessori-trained teacher providing after-school care, food, guided self-study some days of the week, will really relieve the pressure I feel to support my daughter through her French Immersion experience. The fact that she is located in Marda Loop is a big bonus. In the past few years, I have tried other French tutors that have advertised and still advertise on that bulletin board at school, and my experience with Celine as a tutor has been far superior to others in terms of quality and value. So I will be sending my daughter to her after-school program next year.

Hopefully, this can help a lot of William Reid parents. Good luck!

Our children were at the Calgary French Dayhome for 5+ years. They started as toddlers and grew into the older classrooms and we found the care and instruction to be very beneficial for our boys. The caregivers were very loving and kind yet ensured that an understanding of rules was followed. We liked the diversity of French accents and backgrounds to give a broad experience and the Montessori programming was excellent to challenge their young minds. Celine has a beautiful voice and our boys love to sing which I'm sure is partly a result of being at the French dayhome . Our boys attend a francophone school and were well-equipped with the necessary language skills for a successful transition. We were very happy to have sent our boys to the Calgary French Dayhome.

Happy Summer

Our son has been attending the Calgary French Dayhome since 2016, when he was 1 year old. Our daughter has been attending since 2018, when she was 1 year old. We are so happy to have found a place where our children spend their days both growing academically and having fun with their friends.

Both of our children have grown tremendously in their ability to speak French (we are not native French speakers in our home, but wanted our children to grow up with this skill). We are always so impressed to hear them conversing fluently with their teachers at school and continuing to practice their French at home without prompting from us! They have learned how to write the letters of the alphabet and spell simple words, recognize numbers and can both write and read them, and have even developed skills in adding and subtracting. They have also had opportunities to practice fine and gross motor skills, put on an annual Christmas concert that rivals just about anything out there, and most importantly, have fun.

This year we made the choice not to enroll our son in kindergarten due to Covid. I do not regret this decision at all. I am a teacher and I am familiar with the curricular outcomes for kindergarten and can say that he has still been able to meet the outcomes of the program of studies, even though he has not been in school. I feel confident that he will be prepared to enter grade 1 in the fall. Our kids love their teachers and feel safe and welcomed by them. I would recommend the Calgary French Dayhome to anyone and would be happy to answer any further questions you may have about this wonderful facility. If we hadn't made the decision to move out of town, our kids would be continuing to attend, without a doubt.

My reference

Choosing a daycare is a stressful experience - location, staff, availability, there are either too many or too few options. Regardless of the different choices, I have only good reports from our experience at the Calgary French Dayhome. My older son, Euan has now been attending for over 2 years (started at 6months of age) and my younger since 8 months of age. Euan speaks and understands French which I know will be a great value to him. Both boys are happy every day as they are dropped off. Euan asks to visit Amel or Celine when he isn't there on the weekend. The staff are consistent in speaking French to the children which I know is good for their cognitive development. Most importantly, all of the staff that I've met over the last years have been wonderful. We have observed kindness and gentleness, but still appropriate discipline. The kids are also fed well (both of my kids have been exposed to varied and healthy diets at their time at the dayhome). Celine has been excellent at providing activities that challenge Euan and help with his development. I honestly don't think my boys could have thrived better anywhere else.

I wanted to thank you again for the amazing care you have provided for C. He has loved every single one of his caregivers, and I am astounded by his development over the last year. I have no doubt that he will be able to fully integrate into the French system in the coming months and that he will be able to communicate with his grand-mère en français! I can see how passionate you are about the service you provide and it is reflected in every one of the little brilliant minds that takes part in your Dayhome programming.

I wish you so much continued success in the coming years. If you ever need a sounding board regarding business matters please do not hesitate to reach out. I also invite you to use the above for testimonial purposes 🙂

I couldn't believe it, but the other day I dropped C. off in the morning and while I was standing inside he promptly walked over to the chalkboard and drew this little character (see attached). At home he only ever draws scribbles so to see this masterpiece was in my mind a testament of the inspiration that is generated in your program!

Warmest regards and wishes

My wife and I had the pleasure of sending our 2 children to Calgary French Dayhome for almost 3.5 years. Our oldest son started at the "baby house" at only 7 months old and our youngest started at around 10 months. They both progressed through the "baby house" and on to Maison Rouge and Bleu. At each stage we had amazing caregivers who loved our children, provided wonderful playful environments and taught them so much. Both our boys are native english speakers but were understanding and speaking french fluently much quicker than we could have imagined.

Any issues we ever had during our 3.5 years were minor but addressed quickly none the less. We both had very challenging schedules and Celine was more than willing to help us where they could. This often meant going above and beyond. Leaving the environment and people at the dayhome was one of the most difficult parts of moving. Celine and her staff have our highest recommendation and we will be forever grateful to the part they played in raising our young children.

Sincerely,