How to Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Your Daycare
A policy tells your team what your daycare is committed to doing. An SOP tells them exactly how to do it, step by step, the same way every time. Ontario Regulation 137/15 under the Child Care and Early Years Act requires specific written policies outright, but the detailed procedures are left to each licensee to define in their own SOPs. Build them well and a new hire can follow the same routine a five-year veteran would, even on their first day. Policy vs. SOP: What’s Actually Different A policy is the rule and the reasoning behind it. An SOP is the checklist that makes the rule happen the same way every time, regardless of who’s on shift. Most licensed programs have the policies — they’re required for licensing — but far fewer have turned them into SOPs specific enough that a brand-new staff member could follow them without guessing. Why the Regulation Leaves Room for Your Own SOP Sleep supervision is a good example of how this works in practice. Ontario Regulation 137/15 requi...