ABC Magic Family Child Care - Family Child Care

My son was with Shahnaz for 2 years and has thrived under her care. She provided wonderful education to prepare him not only for school but for life in general. He is an excellent eater and sleeper, and is advanced when it comes to language and cognitive skills which Shahnaz has played a large part in. She is very in tune with the children's emotional states and is very good at communicating effectively with children in the manner that works for them individually. I highly recommend her for any child.

My son was in ABC Magic for 1.5 years. There are some pros to Shahnaz’s daycare: She is very clean (which was reassuring during Covid), it’s small group of children, she provides a lot of structure, she teaches good habits and independence, she knows the needs of children, and I had no doubts my son was safe in her care. Overall, however, it was not a positive experience for our family. Some of our biggest issues centered around her contract. Parents must sign a one-year contract and provide twelve post-dated cheques with a heavy deposit. She takes 4 weeks paid holiday each year. This spring she gave us less than a month’s notice that she was taking all four weeks at once, leaving my husband and I scrambling to find childcare. She also has 10 paid sick days in her contract – and she uses every day. She states that if the daycare needs to close (such as when she’s sick) she will make her best effort to find a substitute - this never happened. Rather, it was when I picked my son up at the end of the day that she would tell me she was unwell and closing the daycare for at least a day. As parents who both work full-time, this put us in challenging situation. In addition to the above, I could tell that my son didn’t really enjoy the daycare. Even after a year, he often didn’t want to go inside. I am a public school teacher and my son was always the first was at the daycare because I had to be at work early. Another parent who dropped off their child after mine, informed me that almost every morning when they arrived, Shahnaz would be speaking on the phone to friends and family overseas, and my son would be playing by myself. I find this behaviour unprofessional and unacceptable. Not to mention I was paying more for daycare than anyone I knew. Lastly, Shahnaz could be abrasive in her communication, and we left some conversations feeling uncertain about her character. Although this daycare may be suitable for some, it was not for us.

In our first meeting, she made a promise about an easy but important thing for us. She had too much of a rush to get a deposit three months in advance. We paid 1800 CAD, but after getting the deposit, she behaved very impolitely and she didn’t keep the promise. I couldn’t imagine someone who works with kids could lie so easily. I met her one day outside of the daycare while she was taking care of two kids. She was very tough and dictatorial with the kids. One of the kids was so stressed. I prefer to lose my money, but Shahnaz won’t take care of my kid, even for one day.

My kids have been with Shanaz at ABC for several years, and we couldn't be happier to have found a structured, loving and fun daycare for them to grow. Above all, we know that our children are in a safe and nurturing environment with Shanaz, and the Day Care has provided us with lots of advice both emotional & practical for the health of our children.