Hello Everyone! Sorry I have been out of touch for awhile! I am back now and you can once again expect regular posts. An issue that is on a lot of people's minds right now, is child care in the summertime. There are several issues that face both parents and child care providers when faced with summertime. Let's look at the parent issues first.
Parents either have their children in care year round, have them in care only during the school year, or have them in care only during school vacations. Parents that have school age children who are now out of school for the summertime (or soon will be!) face the unique challenge of what to do with their kids over the summer. Kids under the age of about 12 or 13 shouldn't be left alone all day every day during the summer while parents work. But it can be difficult to find care for the children over the summer. Many churches and daycare centers offer special summer programs that are made for a little bit older children and include frequent field trips and outdoor activities. These are great for many families, but they can also be very costly. Because these programs include at least weekly field trips, they usually run families at least $300 per month for one child. Sometimes parents can find a home daycare that has summertime openings. These are usually less costly options but many times they aren't as activity packed either.
For child care providers this provides a unique opportunity to make some extra money over the summer. You can establish a child care that will provide summertime care for school age children with lots of fun activities at a reasonable cost. For more ideas on what to include in such a situation, see my new article on ezinearticles.com entitled Running a Summertime Home Childcare.
There are two dilemmas that childcare providers face during the summer months. The first is what to do with the extra kids you inherit during the summer months. More than likely you have your own school age children that are home during the summer. This adds extra children into your count. You also may have children that you normally have for before and after school care that suddenly need part or full time care during the summer. Again, your number ratio is affected by these kids. So, what do you do? First, I would contact your licensing bureau and explain your situation. Most bureaus are understanding about these situations and will either grant you leniency on your numbers for the summer months or will have some suggestions on how to handle the situation. Also, you can speak with the parents and let them know about your dilemma. Some parents may be able to alter their summer work schedule to help you out. The second dilemma you face is what to do to keep all of those kids active over the summer. Summer care needs to look a little different than care during the rest of the year. Plan outdoor time at least twice a day. Schedule some extra fun activities. Plan a couple of field trips. Again, for a more complete list see the article referenced above.
All in all summertime offers unique opportunities for child care providers to broadent their horizons and expand their business. Take advantage of it! For some fun ways to spend your time, see the list of my favorite child care products above this posting! Happy summer!
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Conducting Parent Interviews is Essential for Child Care Providers
As a child care provider you will spend your day caring for other people’s children. This may sound ideal, since you get to send them home to their parents at the end of each day. However, many new providers are so eager to bring in new families that they don’t take the time to do proper interviews before signing on new clients. This can lead to a multitude of problems down the road that can be avoided with a sit down interview prior to contract signing and a trial period with each new family.
It may surprise you to find out that many parents searching for care for their children don’t request an interview before placing their children in care. There are a few reasons why this may happen. First, in some areas child care services are very scarce and parents are willing to take almost anything that comes along so that they can work and provide for their family. They assume that if other people are bringing their children to the provider for care then the provider must be fine. Secondly, parents are sometimes in a huge hurry to find child care for their children because they are starting a new job or because other child care arrangements are no longer available. So again, they take the first opening they find. Third, parents may know other families that bring their children to that particular facility and are happy there, so they assume that their children will be happy there as well. This is a case of a family choosing a provider based solely on reputation. Throughout my nine years of being a child care provider, I had several instances in which parents called up and were ready to bring their children without ever visiting my home or meeting me! Since this does happen, it is the responsibility of the provider to insist on an interview before agreeing to provide care for a family.
Why is an interview so important? There are several reasons. First, you don’t know this family and they don’t know you. The parents may sound wonderful on the phone, but you may meet them and find out that your phone impression was way off base. As the old adage says, first impressions mean a lot. You need to physically SEE these people before you agree to care for their children. Remember, you may spend the majority of your day with their children, but you will have to deal with the parents at least twice a day as well. Also, you absolutely must meet the children before you agree to care for them. Surprisingly, you can often get an accurate read on a child’s behavior and temperament in that first interview. Some children may arrive and be shy and quiet, but after a few minutes they will start to interact with other children and you should be able to get a good read on their behavior. It is true that some personalities clash, and you need to make sure that you can get along with the children you care for. One word of caution: even if you do know a family from the community, you still should meet with them formally as a child care provider before agreeing to care for their children. You never know what you may learn about a family in an interview. The second reason that an interview is necessary is to show your facility to the family. You need to make sure that they are ok with the way you have your facility set up before they bring their children to you. Third, you need to conduct an interview to review your contract and other required forms with the family. Your contract is your guide book on how your facility is run. You should sit down and discuss each contract item with the parents and also discuss each other required document so that there are no surprises. Legally, it is extremely important that you fully explain each document to make sure that parents understand what they are signing. Just like any other signed document, your child care contract and supporting paperwork are legally binding documents once they are signed. An interview can help to ensure that this is a good child care match for everyone.
So, how do you conduct an interview? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or formal. I used to think that interviews with new families should be done after daycare hours. If that is the only time it will work, fine. However, I now feel that it is best to have the interviews during the day when you have other children present, whether your own or someone else’s. Choose a time of your work day when the children will be occupied and not need too much of your attention. Avoid meal or snack times, craft times, and nap time. You want a time when the new children can play and interact with the other children and you can observe while talking to the parents. I also recommend that you ask both parents to attend the interview if both parents will be involved in drop off and pick up. That way there are no surprises. I usually start the interview with a tour of the facility- the entire facility. That means that even if there are areas of your home that will never be used for child care, you still should show these areas to the parents. You want them to feel comfortable that your entire home is a safe, clean, and nurturing environment for their children. Specifically point out features in the areas used for child care, such as the eating area, the bathroom, nap areas, etc. Once the tour is over, take a few minutes to get the new children started playing with the others and sit down nearby with the parents. Start by going over the contract, since this is what brings out and answers the most questions. Discuss rates, hours of operation, schedules, meals, drop off and pick up, everything! Also review all other forms. Check to see if they have questions. Make sure you ask them about their typical drop off and pick up times so you can make sure they fit with your schedule. Also, be sure to provide the parents with a form to fill out about their child. Include areas for sleep habits, food or other allergies, medications needed, previous daycare experiences, fears, likes and dislikes, anything you need to know about this child to provide the best quality care. I would recommend spending at least 30 minutes talking with the parents while observing the kids playing. If you see behavior issues in this time, discuss them right away. If the parents are ready to sign the documents when you are done talking and you also think this would be a good match, make sure you reiterate that all children are accepted into care on a two (or four) week trial basis. That means that if either party is unhappy with the arrangement in that time they can cancel immediately without penalty. This gives everyone a little breathing room.
Being a child care provider is the ultimate in customer service positions. You spend long hours each day dealing with children and the people who care the most about them, their parents. You need to conduct an initial interview for the sake of everyone involved. Better to be safe than sorry!
It may surprise you to find out that many parents searching for care for their children don’t request an interview before placing their children in care. There are a few reasons why this may happen. First, in some areas child care services are very scarce and parents are willing to take almost anything that comes along so that they can work and provide for their family. They assume that if other people are bringing their children to the provider for care then the provider must be fine. Secondly, parents are sometimes in a huge hurry to find child care for their children because they are starting a new job or because other child care arrangements are no longer available. So again, they take the first opening they find. Third, parents may know other families that bring their children to that particular facility and are happy there, so they assume that their children will be happy there as well. This is a case of a family choosing a provider based solely on reputation. Throughout my nine years of being a child care provider, I had several instances in which parents called up and were ready to bring their children without ever visiting my home or meeting me! Since this does happen, it is the responsibility of the provider to insist on an interview before agreeing to provide care for a family.
Why is an interview so important? There are several reasons. First, you don’t know this family and they don’t know you. The parents may sound wonderful on the phone, but you may meet them and find out that your phone impression was way off base. As the old adage says, first impressions mean a lot. You need to physically SEE these people before you agree to care for their children. Remember, you may spend the majority of your day with their children, but you will have to deal with the parents at least twice a day as well. Also, you absolutely must meet the children before you agree to care for them. Surprisingly, you can often get an accurate read on a child’s behavior and temperament in that first interview. Some children may arrive and be shy and quiet, but after a few minutes they will start to interact with other children and you should be able to get a good read on their behavior. It is true that some personalities clash, and you need to make sure that you can get along with the children you care for. One word of caution: even if you do know a family from the community, you still should meet with them formally as a child care provider before agreeing to care for their children. You never know what you may learn about a family in an interview. The second reason that an interview is necessary is to show your facility to the family. You need to make sure that they are ok with the way you have your facility set up before they bring their children to you. Third, you need to conduct an interview to review your contract and other required forms with the family. Your contract is your guide book on how your facility is run. You should sit down and discuss each contract item with the parents and also discuss each other required document so that there are no surprises. Legally, it is extremely important that you fully explain each document to make sure that parents understand what they are signing. Just like any other signed document, your child care contract and supporting paperwork are legally binding documents once they are signed. An interview can help to ensure that this is a good child care match for everyone.
So, how do you conduct an interview? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or formal. I used to think that interviews with new families should be done after daycare hours. If that is the only time it will work, fine. However, I now feel that it is best to have the interviews during the day when you have other children present, whether your own or someone else’s. Choose a time of your work day when the children will be occupied and not need too much of your attention. Avoid meal or snack times, craft times, and nap time. You want a time when the new children can play and interact with the other children and you can observe while talking to the parents. I also recommend that you ask both parents to attend the interview if both parents will be involved in drop off and pick up. That way there are no surprises. I usually start the interview with a tour of the facility- the entire facility. That means that even if there are areas of your home that will never be used for child care, you still should show these areas to the parents. You want them to feel comfortable that your entire home is a safe, clean, and nurturing environment for their children. Specifically point out features in the areas used for child care, such as the eating area, the bathroom, nap areas, etc. Once the tour is over, take a few minutes to get the new children started playing with the others and sit down nearby with the parents. Start by going over the contract, since this is what brings out and answers the most questions. Discuss rates, hours of operation, schedules, meals, drop off and pick up, everything! Also review all other forms. Check to see if they have questions. Make sure you ask them about their typical drop off and pick up times so you can make sure they fit with your schedule. Also, be sure to provide the parents with a form to fill out about their child. Include areas for sleep habits, food or other allergies, medications needed, previous daycare experiences, fears, likes and dislikes, anything you need to know about this child to provide the best quality care. I would recommend spending at least 30 minutes talking with the parents while observing the kids playing. If you see behavior issues in this time, discuss them right away. If the parents are ready to sign the documents when you are done talking and you also think this would be a good match, make sure you reiterate that all children are accepted into care on a two (or four) week trial basis. That means that if either party is unhappy with the arrangement in that time they can cancel immediately without penalty. This gives everyone a little breathing room.
Being a child care provider is the ultimate in customer service positions. You spend long hours each day dealing with children and the people who care the most about them, their parents. You need to conduct an initial interview for the sake of everyone involved. Better to be safe than sorry!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tax Tip Number Six
Hi Everyone! Time for the next tax tip! This week's tip involves record keeping. One of the most important things you need to keep track of as a daycare provider is the income you earn. This not only affects your taxes, ubt it also affects the taxes of your daycare parents. As a licensed child care provider, you are supposed to keep a sign-in/sign-out book for your child care business. As the parents drop off their child each day they sign the child in, including the time of drop off. When they pick up their child each day, they sign the child out, including time of pick up. It is really important to have the parents put the times for drop off and pick up for two reasons. First of all it useful for you when calculating either how much they owe you or how much you made that year. Secondly, it is helpful if there is a dispute between you and the parent regarding how much is owed or whether a child attended care that day. Having said all of this, I strongly urge you to keep an additional log of hours and income. There are three reasons this is a good idea. First, you can compare the sign in book with your other record to make sure they both agree. Second, you have double records to show parents in case of a dispute. Third, you have double book keeping to show the IRS in case of an audit. My suggestion is to keep a calendar handy. I always kept one hanging on the refrigerator, but you can use a pocket calendar or a wall calendar. As parents drop off each day, take a second (that is all it will take) to put down the drop off time. Do the same thing as parents pick up each day. Then if there are discrepancies between the sign in book and your records, you will be sure that your calendar is accurate and should go by that. Finally, I recommend giving parents a receipt each time they pay you. I used a generic carbon receipt book (available almost anywhere)which gave me a copy to keep and a copy for parents. Most of my parents admitted that they threw away their receipts since I gave them tax records for the year, but I gave me one more way to keep track of my income. So I always had three ways to triple check my figures for my income for the year. It was also a great way to keep track of figures for families that may quit care before the end of the year. You will always be able to go back and check these record keeping devices for accurate tax figures. Happy record keeping!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Top Four Things You Shouldn't Do When Starting or Running a Home Daycare Business
I’m sure this sounds like an unusual title! But there are several things that you should know that you shouldn’t do when starting and running a home daycare. I ran a very successful home childcare business for nine years, so these tips come from the voice of experience!
The first “don’t” of home daycare is don’t take on every family that calls looking for care for their children. I know is it tempting when you are first starting or you have a vacancy that you really need to fill to accept children from any and every call that comes in. What you need to remember is that you will have to spend many hours a day with these children and you will have to deal with the parents on a daily basis. You absolutely must have a face-to-face interview with every family (including children) before you agree to take them on. This will allow you to get a feel for the children’s behavior and the personality of the parents. If you have reservations after meeting them, you should probably turn them down so it doesn’t lead to a difficult situation later on. It is necessary to actually like and enjoy the children and families you work with in order to run a successful home daycare.
The second thing you should NOT do in starting and running your childcare business is do not allow parents to run the show! This is your business and you are in charge. If you let them some parents will try to dictate everything from your daily schedule to the format of your contract! Only you can decide how to best structure your business and you need to be firm with parents about this. It is certainly going to happen (trust me) that parents will make special requests. It is up to you to decide which ones to honor and which to refuse. Don’t worry about losing clients because you can’t or won’t honor a request they have made. The way you run your business should complement your personality, lifestyle, and the needs of your family. So you need to make business decisions with those things in mind. If a parent chooses to go elsewhere for care because you can’t or won’t honor a special request, then it is probably best that they do.
A Third no-no in running a successful childcare business is structuring every minute of the day. Most children come to daycare looking to have fun. I have found that the children prefer large chunks of time set aside for unstructured playtime. They want to be able to choose which toys to use and what activity to do. The best thing for you to do is provide them with a wide variety of activities and toys and allow them to make choices of what to do and when. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have a daily schedule. You need to provide a consistent schedule so children know what to expect. But within that schedule allow at least a couple of large time chunks for unstructured playtime.
The final thing you shouldn’t do is you should NOT let your home daycare run your life. This is very important! If you are able, it is best to have a designated daycare area. That leaves the rest of your house to be, well, your home. If you can’t designate a daycare area, you need to be firm with the children you care for regarding rules for clean-up and areas in which they are allowed to play. If you have children of your own it is essential that they don’t feel that everything of theirs is also used for daycare. Let your children choose a few special items that cannot be used by the daycare. Also, make sure your daycare children clean up everything before they go. Otherwise you and your family spend your family time doing daycare clean-up. Be firm with parents regarding pickup time and write a stiff financial penalty into your contract for late pickup. You need to end your daycare day at the same time each day, just like you would in a 9-5 job. Don’t let daycare take over your home or your family time.
Home childcare can be a rewarding profession or it can be a nightmare. By keeping in mind and following through with these four ways NOT to run a home daycare, it is much more likely that you will create a successful and fulfilling business.
The first “don’t” of home daycare is don’t take on every family that calls looking for care for their children. I know is it tempting when you are first starting or you have a vacancy that you really need to fill to accept children from any and every call that comes in. What you need to remember is that you will have to spend many hours a day with these children and you will have to deal with the parents on a daily basis. You absolutely must have a face-to-face interview with every family (including children) before you agree to take them on. This will allow you to get a feel for the children’s behavior and the personality of the parents. If you have reservations after meeting them, you should probably turn them down so it doesn’t lead to a difficult situation later on. It is necessary to actually like and enjoy the children and families you work with in order to run a successful home daycare.
The second thing you should NOT do in starting and running your childcare business is do not allow parents to run the show! This is your business and you are in charge. If you let them some parents will try to dictate everything from your daily schedule to the format of your contract! Only you can decide how to best structure your business and you need to be firm with parents about this. It is certainly going to happen (trust me) that parents will make special requests. It is up to you to decide which ones to honor and which to refuse. Don’t worry about losing clients because you can’t or won’t honor a request they have made. The way you run your business should complement your personality, lifestyle, and the needs of your family. So you need to make business decisions with those things in mind. If a parent chooses to go elsewhere for care because you can’t or won’t honor a special request, then it is probably best that they do.
A Third no-no in running a successful childcare business is structuring every minute of the day. Most children come to daycare looking to have fun. I have found that the children prefer large chunks of time set aside for unstructured playtime. They want to be able to choose which toys to use and what activity to do. The best thing for you to do is provide them with a wide variety of activities and toys and allow them to make choices of what to do and when. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have a daily schedule. You need to provide a consistent schedule so children know what to expect. But within that schedule allow at least a couple of large time chunks for unstructured playtime.
The final thing you shouldn’t do is you should NOT let your home daycare run your life. This is very important! If you are able, it is best to have a designated daycare area. That leaves the rest of your house to be, well, your home. If you can’t designate a daycare area, you need to be firm with the children you care for regarding rules for clean-up and areas in which they are allowed to play. If you have children of your own it is essential that they don’t feel that everything of theirs is also used for daycare. Let your children choose a few special items that cannot be used by the daycare. Also, make sure your daycare children clean up everything before they go. Otherwise you and your family spend your family time doing daycare clean-up. Be firm with parents regarding pickup time and write a stiff financial penalty into your contract for late pickup. You need to end your daycare day at the same time each day, just like you would in a 9-5 job. Don’t let daycare take over your home or your family time.
Home childcare can be a rewarding profession or it can be a nightmare. By keeping in mind and following through with these four ways NOT to run a home daycare, it is much more likely that you will create a successful and fulfilling business.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Childcare Information Management
Managing all of the information for a childcare business can be a real headache! I used to keep paper files on all of my kiddos that contained contracts, enrollment forms, medical forms, immunization records, emergency forms, and on and on! When you add in information like the food programs and tax records it can be a nightmare! I have finally found a daycare management software that I love and that truly made my life easier when it came to record keeping. It allowed me to store most of my information electronically, saving me lots of space! It also allowed me to easily make changes to contact information, etc. without requiring new forms each time. That saved me a lot of time and hassle! One caution about storing information electronically, ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR DATA! That way in case of computer problems you don't lose all of your data! Also, you should really keep relevant contact information at your immediate fingertips, so if you arene't a person that has your computer on and ready all day you may want to keep a list of contact information either with your calendar or with your sign-in book so you have it ready in a moment's notice. I highly recommend this daycare management software and I'm sure you will find it as useful as I have! Just click the link below to check it out! Good luck!
Click Here!>
Click Here!>
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