Bonie Boisvert knows child care. A mother of four herself, she worked in daycares for 15 years before taking over Grandma Gooch in 2002. She named the centre after her daughter, who earned the nickname with her grandmotherly ways. “She was very much like a little grandma,” Bonie recalls. “We would go camping and she would wipe off her boots, knock on the door and come in and have tea.” Bonie tries to instill a family atmosphere into the business, even hosting field trips at her home in the country. She set up an acre with grass and a sand pit, letting the children explore nature in a safe environment.
It's great to be a kid at Grandma Gooch Daycare. Children go tobogganing in the winter, take swimming lessons in the summer and have the chance to unwind with colouring and story time. The kids also get to visit the zoo, the museum and Fort Edmonton. And because of the centre’s location in St Albert, there are schools, parks, playgrounds and nature paths nearby.
