Childcare & Daycare
Reggio-inspired early learning center on Bayview Street in Steveston Village, where the day runs on art, music, gardening and yoga rather than worksheets. There is an optional meal service, and it is small enough that staff know every family.
Reggio-inspired means something specific rather than something vague, and it is worth understanding before joining a list. The approach treats a child's own interests as the starting point and the physical environment as part of the teaching, so a day at With Our Own Two Hands runs on art, music, gardening and yoga rather than worksheets. That suits some children enormously and leaves some parents wanting more structure. Both reactions are reasonable.
Anyone who has hunted for childcare in this city knows the rest of the context. Waitlists get measured in months, and the search starts long before the space is actually needed, which makes the decision less comfortable than any brochure suggests.
The Bayview Street address puts the center in Steveston Village, which for a small child is a genuinely good place to spend a day. The waterfront, the boats, the boardwalk and the dyke trail are all minutes away, and the village is flat and walkable in a way most of Richmond is not. There is an optional meal service, and the center is small enough that staff know every family, which tends to be what parents care about most once they are actually in.
Ask about the waitlist early and plan further ahead than feels reasonable. Parents in this part of the city are commonly on two or three lists at once, and the ones who start when a pregnancy is announced rather than when parental leave is ending are the ones who end up with a choice.
In the Steveston neighbourhood of Richmond.
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Other childcare and daycare centres and nearby businesses in the Richmond directory.
Licensed group-in-home center on Geal Road in Steveston, taking 30-month to five-year-olds in a small, multilingual setting. Running since 2010, it pairs Montessori materials with standard early childhood education practice.
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Licensed infant and toddler daycare on a quiet west Richmond cul-de-sac, taking children from roughly two months to three years. It blends Montessori materials with play-based early childhood practice in mixed-age rooms, 8:30am to 5:30pm.
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Licensed play-based programme on No. 3 Road for three- to five-year-olds, including a supported development stream for children who need extra help. Inclusive by design and a long-standing fixture in south Richmond.
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Long-running licensed Montessori center on St Albans Road, operating since 1994, for children from 12 months to school age. Infant, toddler and three-to-six classes, with English, Mandarin and French woven through the day.
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Licensed infant-toddler and group childcare on Mellis Drive in East Cambie for ages one to five, with separate rooms for under-threes and preschoolers. Inclusive, play-led programming in a bright purpose-built space off Cambie Road.
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Newer Steveston shop specializing in raw and frozen diets for dogs and cats, plus treats and supplements. A short walk from the Bayview Street shops, so it fits into a village errand run rather than a trip out to a big-box store.
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