NEFDHA-approved family day home educators implement Flight: Alberta's Early Learning and Care Framework — the official provincial curriculum framework for licensed early learning and child care. Flight is play-based, child-led, and built around three core dispositions: Play, Participation, and Possibilities.
What is Flight?
Flight is the early learning curriculum framework adopted by Alberta Children and Family Services for every licensed child care setting in the province — daycare centres, preschools, out-of-school care, and family day homes alike. Rather than prescribing a rigid set of activities, Flight gives educators a shared language and a set of guiding principles for how young children learn best.
The framework rests on the understanding that children are mighty learners and citizens from birth, that play is the primary way young children make sense of the world, and that learning is most powerful when it grows from a child's own interests, relationships, and everyday experiences.
The three core dispositions
Play
Play is treated as a fundamental right and the primary mode of learning. Flight encourages educators to provide rich materials, time, and space for spontaneous and sustained play — not as a break from learning, but as the learning itself. Block construction becomes early engineering. Pretend kitchens become social negotiation. Sensory bins become science.
Participation
Children are recognized as active contributors to their day, their environment, and their community. Educators invite children into decisions — what to explore, how to solve a problem, what to make for snack — and treat those choices as real participation in learning. This builds agency, confidence, and the social skills that carry forward into kindergarten and beyond.
Possibilities
Flight asks educators to see possibilities in every moment — the developmental learning hidden in a meal, a walk, a conversation, a disagreement at the sensory table. The framework rejects the idea that learning only happens during a formal "lesson" and instead trains educators to surface and extend the learning that's already happening.
What this looks like in a NEFDHA day home
A typical day in a NEFDHA-approved family day home flows naturally between child-led free play, educator-led small-group experiences, outdoor time, meals shared as a group, and rest. Educators document children's interests and developmental milestones through what Flight calls learning stories — short written reflections, often paired with photos, that explain what a child was exploring, what they were figuring out, and what next steps the educator might offer.
Concretely, that means in any given week your child might:
- Build elaborate block structures and revisit them across multiple days
- Help cook lunch and learn measurement, sequencing, and food curiosity at the same time
- Take neighbourhood walks that turn into informal nature studies (counting, naming, observing seasons)
- Engage in messy sensory play — water, sand, paint, dough — that builds fine motor control and self-regulation
- Have books read aloud daily, with conversations about story, predictions, and feelings
- Practice early literacy and numeracy through play, song, and routine rather than worksheets
- Spend extended one-on-one time with the educator, who knows your child as an individual
Educator qualifications
Every NEFDHA-approved family day home educator meets — or exceeds — Alberta's regulatory requirements for licensed family day home programs:
- Early Childhood Education certification. Minimum Level 1 ECE certificate; many educators hold Level 2 or Level 3 diplomas.
- Standard First Aid and Infant/Child CPR certifications, kept current.
- Criminal record check, including the Vulnerable Sector check, updated regularly.
- Ongoing professional development in Flight implementation, child guidance, nutrition, and inclusion — coordinated by NEFDHA's child development consultants.
- Monthly monitoring visits from NEFDHA consultants to support quality, share resources, and document compliance with the Family Day Home Standards Manual for Alberta.
How parents see the curriculum in action
Because Flight emphasizes documentation of learning, parents in NEFDHA day homes get regular insight into what their child is exploring. Some educators share photos and learning-story updates via apps or messaging; others use printed reflections at pick-up; many use a combination. The shared language of Flight means the conversation between educator and parent is grounded in real developmental thinking — not just "she had a good day".
When children transition to kindergarten, the developmental language and habits built through Flight transfer directly. Flight is the same framework Alberta's licensed daycare centres and preschools use, so the move into school-based early learning is continuous rather than abrupt.
Frequently asked questions
What curriculum do NEFDHA day homes use?
NEFDHA-approved educators implement Flight: Alberta's Early Learning and Care Framework. It is the official provincial curriculum framework for licensed early learning and child care across Alberta — adopted and supported by Alberta Children and Family Services.
Is Flight a play-based curriculum?
Yes. Flight is built around three core dispositions: Play, Participation, and Possibilities. It centres children's natural curiosity and treats everyday experiences — meals, outdoor walks, sensory activities — as moments for developmental learning.
How is Flight different from a structured preschool program?
Flight is intentionally flexible. Rather than prescribing daily activities, it asks educators to align learning with each child's own interests and developmental stage. The framework supports both structured experiences (group circle time, literacy, music) and emergent, child-led exploration.
How are NEFDHA educators trained in the Flight curriculum?
All NEFDHA educators must hold a minimum Level 1 Early Childhood Education certificate, with many holding Level 2 or Level 3 ECE diplomas. NEFDHA provides ongoing professional development on Flight implementation and monthly home visits from a child development consultant.
Ready to see Flight in practice?
Visit a NEFDHA-approved family day home in your neighbourhood. Every educator can talk you through how they apply Flight day-to-day, share examples of learning stories, and answer questions specific to your child.