Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 27/05) - Go to Kid's First Development Centre and you can witness first hand the demand for daycare in Yellowknife.

Esther Legler, a supervisor at the day care, has one child in her arms, three more calling her name and a room full of sleeping babies to contend with after taking a nap.

There are five licensed, full-time day cares in Yellowknife. Kids First: Capacity 27 Wait Time: Babies, 6 months Older kids, 2-5 spots available Garderie Plein Soleil: Capacity 28 Wait Time: 3-6 months Montessori: Capacity 34 Wait Time: 2 years Northern Tykes: Capacity 60 Wait List: Babies, 20 families Older after school, 96 families Yellowknife Daycare: Capacity 64 Wait Time: 3 years Average Price of Daycare in Yellowknife: $656 per month for babies $607 each per month for 2-5 children Dayhomes in Yellowknife: 32 Capacity: Each can have 8 children, including the children of the operator. Daycare staff-to-child ratios: 1-12 months 1:4 13-24 months 1:3 2-5 years 1:8 5-11 years 1:10

Even while dealing with a finger painting accident, she loves her job.

"It's simple. I love babies and I love children," said Legler, who has been in the child-care business for a year.

Kid's First is the only daycare in Yellowknife with vacancies - only because a large group of four and five year-olds will soon be graduating - but has no space for children under two.

The five licensed day cares have 213 spots available, but some applicants have languished on the waiting list for three years.

With a high demand for places and a low supply, the cost of day care in Yellowknife is going up.

The Yellowknife Daycare, the city's largest with 64 spaces, confirmed that next year it will likely raise its price from a below-average $630 a month.

The wait time with Montessori Society is more than two years long.

"There was somebody who phoned me, looking to register their child (when they were pregnant). I said to wait until you have your baby," said Bonnie Stevens, a teacher at the Montessori school.

There are three other licensed day cares in the city, but they are not week-long, full-care services where children can be dropped off every day by working parents.

The Ndilo Done Nedcha-lia G'ha Enitl"e Ko is a non-profit, no- charge program for First Nations children with speech, language and behaviour challenges.

Yellowknife Playschool offers half-day programs twice a week.

Weledeh Four Plus program offers education with fun, teaching students about colours, shoe-tying, shapes, and nature.

Unlicensed dayhomes - those without the services of a certified early childhood educator - are available all over Yellowknife to fill the gap left by licensed day cares.

"A dayhome is more like just taking care of babies," said Legler. "At day care, we have more activities for education."

Cathy Yurris started a dayhome 10 years ago because she wanted to stay home with her children.

The Yurris home is registered with territorial government and inspected annually by the fire marshall and a early childhood specialist.

It doesn't have a name, and Yurris jokes that if it did, it would be called Seven Little Monsters Dayhome.

She loves her little monsters and they learn from each other. "You can notice the kids from dayhomes that have little babies. They play with them, teach them and you can see it in the way they treat other children," said Yurris.