Daycare center owners in Quebec drew their curtains and boarded up all their windows Monday afternoon to “protect” young people from the eclipse, they who were forced to keep their doors open.
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Photo provided by Garderie Éducative Peekaboo
“I do not understand that the Ministry of Family left us open, but that they did not provide us with any material to protect the children,” lamented in an interview with THE Newspaper Silvia Romero, from Les Petits Poussins Bleus Daycare in Montreal.
Silvia Romero, from Garderie Les Petits Poussins Bleus in Montreal, confined the young people in her establishment between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. today. She took the opportunity to let them take a nap and do crafts.
Photo provided by Silvia Romero
The latter, who has 32 children under the age of five under her wing, went out of her way to prevent them from staring at the eclipse between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. In particular, she blocked her windows with garbage bags and confined the little ones, even if it was not “ideal”.
At Garderie Les Petits Poussins Bleus in Montreal, the children did this eclipse craft and inside the establishment to stay safe.
Photo provided by Silvia Romero
The educator recalls that several schools in the province closed Monday to protect the eye health of children. Many experts have also reminded people in recent weeks not to stare at the eclipse without adequate protection. Otherwise, the retina of the eye could be permanently damaged.
“We only went out in the morning. In the afternoon, it was too risky. We did indoor workshops and a nap with the young people. I suggested to parents to come pick up their children before the eclipse or after,” said M.me Romero, several of whose educators worked overtime Monday.
Too young for glasses
The owner of the Garderie Les Petits Poussins Bleus admits that she would have preferred to remain closed during the astronomical phenomenon, like several schools in the province, to keep the children safe.
Portrait of Silvia Romero, from Les Petits Poussins Bleus Daycare in Montreal.
Photo provided by Silvia Romero
“We kept our doors closed during COVID, I don’t see why we couldn’t do it during the eclipse too,” underlined Silvia Romero.
Bianca, supervisor of the Garderie des finches in Longueuil, mentions that her 80 young people under the age of 5 also stayed in the shade during the afternoon.
Curtains closed and children inside during the eclipse at the Garderie des pinsons de Longueuil.
Photo taken from the Facebook page named “Garderie des finches 2017”
“A lot of them stayed home to watch the eclipse or their parents came to pick them up at dinner time. We closed the curtains to our premises and everyone stayed inside. Even if we wanted to give them glasses to look at the Sun, they don’t really understand at two years old,” she said.
Observed… on a screen
Fabiana Letti, supervisor of the Peekaboo Educational Daycare in Verdun, said the children were also confined to protect their eyes.
The Peekaboo Educational Daycare has organized safe activities so that young people can still benefit from the phenomenon, as we can see in this photo.
Photo provided by Garderie Éducative Peekaboo
“A lot of parents were working Monday and they were very happy that we remained open. Personally, it didn’t bother me, the parents will pick them up after 4:30 p.m. and they have been warned,” explained Mme Letti, who left the establishment around 3:30 p.m. to admire the total eclipse.
She adds that her young people, all under the age of 5, were however able to watch the eclipse through a screen on Monday afternoon.
Note that they will perhaps be lucky enough to be the year when the next total solar eclipse will occur in Quebec.