Nanny in Halifax, Nova Scotia

I love working with kids and am looking for a family in need of a part-time, occasional babysitter in the Halifax area. Between full-time nannying, casual babysitting and volunteering in various positions at my church, I have over 10 years of childcare experience. I come fully certified with Standard First Aid, CPR-C as well as a lifeguarding and swim instructor licence. I worked as a nanny in Ottawa for 2 years, providing child care for two families on a full-time basis. I looked after four children in two separate homes. I maintained a nurturing, stimulating and loving environment for two 5-year old girls, a 2-year old boy and an 18-month old boy. I organized daily outings to libraries, parks, beaches, pools, museums, festivals and playgroups. Daily, I creatively thought out activities and crafts for all children to participate in, as well as planned nutritious lunches and snacks and assisted in meal preparations for dinner. Daily clean up after children (toys, dishes, floors, laundry) was also maintained by me. I was always available and used very often for after-hour care (evening and weekends-including entire weekends, while parents were travelling). Aside from nannying, I gained much of my child care experience from growing up as the neighbourhood babysitter. I babysat for many of the families for an 8 year period. I was hired by one neighbour to be a travel-nanny of sorts. I accompanied her and her 3 children on their trips to the States and looked after the children both during the day-long car rides there and back as well as during the entire vacation. I did this for about 2 or 3 years until her children became old enough to handle on her own. I was also hired by another neighbour of mine as a summer day-time nanny. I spent 4 months taking care of her two kids both in the home and on daily outings, to the park, swimming, camps, museums, adventure parks, etc.. We had a blast exploring new places and doing things we had never done before [like the CN Tower! :) ] It was one of the most rewarding summers of my life and definitely ranked high on my favorite jobs. Over the last 10 years, I have also volunteered at my church in many different positions working with children as young as 6months to high school aged kids. I was a Sunday school teacher for 2 year olds, leading Sunday morning programs, was a small group leader for grade 6 girls and later was a co-leader of an after-school group for high school teens. I also have invested my time in many organizations that work with kids (4 months of summer camp one year, weekend volunteering with street children, foodbank outreach programs). During the summers of high school, I also started my own business teaching children (& adults) how to swim, as I have all of my lifeguarding, swim instructor and standard and emergency first aid courses completed. Prior to that, I worked at a private swimming pool for a number of years while I was in high school gaining much experience working with children with physical, mental, and learning disabilities. While it may have been challenging at times, I loved every day of it and wouldn't have traded that experience for anything, it taught me how to think outside of the box and taught me many skills in adapting lesson plans and teaching strategies to children of varying abilities. With my qualifications and experience working with children in many different environments and settings, I feel I would be a great asset to any family looking for childcare that is both safe, secure and fun. I have always loved my work with kids and have always strived to give them as positive and as joy-filled of an experience as I had with the wonderful babysitters in my life growing up.