Those parents who have kids in a dayhome...

mummy2girls wrote: i am starting to plan for stuff i need to start getting for my dayhome... so far this is what i am plannign on doing. So being a parent looking at a dyhome would this be appealing to you..and what else do you think i shoudl add?

getting each child a cubby by the dorrway for thier shoes and such and above the cubby will be a individual coat hanger at thier level and above that will be a framed pic of each child so they know which is their cubby area

in the eating area a place for the kids to keep thier own cups and plates and such

Doing a newsletter each month which will include what brithdays are coming up, feildtrips, activities, an menu planning...

a carft area and a wall in the klitchen which will eb called the "art work wall" so they can hang up thier own pictures they do... I want to do this because i know hanign up thier art work means ALOT to a small child:)

once a month will be a special felidtrip where i take the kids somewhere special.. ill end up using my brothers mini van on those days...LOL

and when the parents come for a interview and see my dayhome i will give them a welcome package which will include... my resume and references, a craft item for the children, letters of recognition from previous familes... and when they come to see the dayhome ill have playdoh out fior the older kids to play so they are occupied and puzzles for the smaller kids

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Wow, I wish I could take Logan to you, Shelly. The only thing I would add would be a paper in the welcome packet that explains what the parent's responsibilities are. Like, what they have to provide, when payments are due, any special things that you would like to know about the children, etc.

mummy2girls replied:
thats a great idea!!!!!!!!

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Thank you. I am excited for you. This is going to be such a great opportunity.

luvmykids replied: Sounds great, you might also want to include your discipline policies in the welcome packet. I think ours said something like no witholding of food, drink, or bathroom privileges, no physical punishment, no humiliating or degrading punishment, etc. Also, how you handle it if a child bites, etc, what your general procedure for those situations would be.

I wish you lived here, you sound like what I've been looking for!

mummy2girls replied:
i very excited!

mummy2girls replied:
another awesome idea!!!!!!!!

mummy2girls replied: I also should make upa sick policy as well!

luvmykids replied:
Yes, and your health department probably has mandatory guidelines for that. Ours says if a child has fever, vomiting or diarrhea they can't be there or the daycare gets a fine if an inspector comes. I think it also said runny nose but she never stuck to that one.

Also, our daycare provider had a list of closed days, like what holidays she was closed and when she was closed for her vacation. It was nice knowing a year in advance when she was going, gave me lots of time to plan.

Also, drop off and pick up times too. And if you're late, it's x amount per 15 minutes or whatever.

luvmykids replied: Oh, and "incidentals", like if you want your child to wear sunscreen, you apply it before bringing them. Or if you want your child given medication, a release to do so, etc.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Maybe a policy on vacations (if they still have to pay if they are out for scheduled days, or what happens if you decide to take a vacation), policy on what you will do if you are sick.

Sounds like you are getting very prepared - I'm sure you'll do a great job!

CAMSMOM1 replied: Well Monica (luvmykids) & Kelly (Idahoboo) already stole my ideas! I was thinking the same thing Monica wrote.


Also, do you have sleeping mats for the children, and also play pins, ect. Are you going to have a seperate sleeping area, or convert the living room?

I remember you saying that the agency you are going through helps you write up your contract, and like Monica said, put every single detail...from your vacation, to two weeks notice, medication, discipline, late p/u charges, having a list of people who can p/u the child, sick policy, extra clothing, ect, ect. Also, at Cam's old daycare, she had a policy where you were not allowed to drop off or pick up during 12:00-1:30, because of nap times.

Also, in my program at work, not only do we provide a monthly newsletter, but a Montly Calender posted by the front door, off the activities we are planning/doing each day. And also our schedule is posted. This gives the parents a good idea of what activities their children are doing on a daily basis.

I think your daycare sounds like a wondeful place for children, and ITA, I would be waiting in line to have Cameron attend. I can tell how excited you are, how much you enjoy children, and you understand their needs & wants. I don't see you having any problem at all, in fact, I think you'll have parents on a waiting list before you know it!

Ann

mummy2girls replied:
yes i will have sleeping areas... i have jennas crib, a single bed mattress on the florr, my bed, jens bed and 2 playpens:)

Yes the ganecy helps set up the contract with policies of sickness, late pickups, etc etc etc... so they sign it and i have every right to take a child out f the parents go agaisnt it to a point where its unbearable and a everyday thing.

im pretty excited. this will be my little buisiness where i set my rules and i think because its something ive wanted to do from day one that it will be a very welcoming place for all!

CAMSMOM1 replied:

So what did you think of my ideas on a monthly/daily calender & schedule?

kit_kats_mom replied: That sounds great Shelly. I LOVE my sitter and here are some of the things she's done.

She gave me a thin binder with copies of her schedule, contracts, permission slips for transportation, explination of the "interim" sitter (the lady who comes over occasionally to watch the kids if one of the sitters kids has a dr appt). She also has a two week rotating meal plan and she offers breakfast, lunch and two snacks. a sample day is: milk, eggs fruit/fruit juice and ritz crackers/mac & cheese, fruit and water/juice and cheese cubes. The binder also included contact info, references etc and a schedule of the "theme Thursdays". For example, pajama day where all the kids wear pj's & they do pj themed things, Teddy bear picnic day etc.

As far as her house, the only thing I really cared about is that it was clean, there was a safe area for the kids to play indoors and a safe area outside for them to play. She also doesn't provide The thing that I found most helpful was that she had a set schedule printed in the folder and that she didnt' allow for much TV at all. She let them watch a movie after clean up and before the parents got there (maybe half an hour) and one show in the mornings during drop offs. She had a craft each day *K's fave is Tuesday...painting day!.

good luck, it sounds like you are off to a great start. Let me know if you'd like me to send you a copy of any of the stuff I have from her. Maybe it would help. PM Me....it may be tomorrwo before I can get to it. Crazy here today

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Shelley - I agree - a calendar is great. You can put days on it like:

bring a favorite toy to share day
wear a piece of specific colored clothing
pajama and movies day

I would also draw up a nutrition plan. At the daycare I take my kids to, there is always the weekly menu posted - the ONLY reason I look at it is that I don't want to feed my kid the same meal twice in a day. But seriously - make it in advance, and either post it so the parents can see, or make them a copy.. make it all cutesy like - parents love that. Well, at least I do.

I personally like to see in my sitters floor level cupboards - or else I'd like to see a safety measure so that the kids don't get into them. Like - do you have Comet under your kitchen or bathroom sink - and can a child get to it? Knives in that block on the counter... I personally check all that stuff, I'm sure other parents might.

I like seeing a room for the kids. If it's the basement, I'd most likely do up all the walls in nice kid-friendly colors to brighten up the place. I'd also have high placed shelves to keep the toys I wouldn't want them to play with all the time out of reach. Makes for easier clean-up... heh heh

At one sitters, we had to provide one of everything for our kids, including toothbrushes abd toothpaste, sunscreen, tylenol, bug spray, diaper cream, wipes etc etc etc and she labeled them with our kids names. Our other sitter made us sign a paper (well asked us.. lol) saying that we didn't have to provide meds etc... but that we agreed that the same meds bottle was used, diaper cream etc...

Also, we were given a list of stuff that she always keeps at her place. Extra undies, extra socks, running shoes, extra gloves or mittens, and extra hat, change of clothes and other things like that.

The kids sleep on small matresses, and we bring crib sheets on monday, which we bring home and wash on the fridays.

We used to get a newsletter at our old sitters - and I liked that... it told us the birthdays of the other kids, had a little craft to do at home, little jokes etc... now, we get a notebook. It's like a school agenda - but it's made for daycares. It holds the day's comments. It has like 3 or 4 drawings, repeated a few times in size.. and the correct one is colored in in regards to how well the child ate, their mood, how well they behaved etc etc.. it's really nice. Costs under 10$, and we had to pay for it.

I hope that helps a little... I have a copy of a contract (ETA - I meant contract AND questionnaire) my old daycare provider gave me when I wanted to fire my gorilla sitter. I translated it into french to - so I have both. Let me know if you'd like to see them... DH can scan the english version in and I can send it to you.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Shelly - I wanted to add - most parents do not expect more out of a sitter than they could do themselves. For me - that includes: no junk on the floor, kitchen decently clean, no garbage lying around, and healthy meals.

That's pretty much it. If it's safe for the kids, it's good enough for me.

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention in my other post - I loved loved loved getting a sample chart of what the sitter was oging to be working on during that week or that month - stuff like if they're learning letters, or shapes, or counting to 10 etc... then I knew what I could ask him about at home, and we could work on it then too.

ediep replied:
yes thats what I was going to add...put speifics becuse some parents idea of "sick" is completely lethargic and some parents idea of sick is stuffy nose.

jasons school policy is no vomiting or dirrreah for 24 hours, no fever for 24 hours,

coasterqueen replied: I haven't read the other responses yet, so I apologize in advance. All your ideas are great!

Our sitter also gave us a whole welcome booklet that includes late payments, hours schedules (flexible hours if needed), her policies on disciplining (which I really liked), sample schedules of the kids days, vacation policies, etc, etc, etc. I could ask my sitter if it's ok to scan and send you hers if you want.

Also our our dayhome our sitter has a toothbrush for every kid and they brush their teeth after snacks and lunch. I REALLY liked this.

Oh and what always helps me and for some reason my sitter hasn't been doing this lately is a BIG monthly calendar displayed so I could look at it quickly before I left that day to see what's coming up. SHe already sends home newsletters, notes, etc but when you are in a hurry sometimes looking at that calendar really quickly is very helpful.

Our sitter has a fenced in front and back yard. Course the back yard is for the dogs, the front yard is for the kids....she has a MASSIVE front and back yard, so the space is not an issue. I don't think you have to have this, though, but I think a fenced in yard was pretty important to me, whether it's big or small.

I also get a daily sheet sent home with the girls that tells me how many bottles Megan has had, times she had them, how many ounces she drank at each sitting, the times and length of her naps, how many bm's and wet diapers she had, what she ate as far as solids, any new discoveries for her day (saying new words, sounds, etc, etc), any new little things Terri noticed about her, when Kylie napped, what she ate for lunch, and how many time-outs Kylie got. I requested all these things because I'm her parent and I feel I need to know what's going on during their day since I can't be there to know myself. This sheet is VERY important to me and I was providing them to her. I would go have a whole tablet of them printed off, but she later started doing it herself. She had never done this with other kids she had...she only does it for mine since I requested it.

Oh and our sitter has a summer "fee" of $100 per kid for those kids who actually can participate (not babies) and that's for all their summer activities. She gives us a summer packet including the months calendars and what's on schedule, a list of items I need to send to keep there all summer (swimsuit, swim diapers, lotions, hats, sunglasses, extra change of clothes, etc, etc, etc). At first I groaned about this fee, but it makes sense. I'd charge it too, lol.

JP&KJMOM replied: Everyone here has the same ideas as me but I just wanted to add one thing. The first daycare that JP was in the teachers had us bring in over sized t-shirts for our childern to wear on paint days or anytime they were doing "messy" things. She even put them on the kids during luch so that their clothes did not get food on them. I though tthis was a great idea and was alot easier on her than anything else like smocks.

Good luck to you.

mckayleesmom replied: I think everyone gave great advice. I just want to give another bit of advice...not nessessarily about what you do with the kids during the day...but just something that peeves me off when I see certain daycars. My kids have yet to go to daycare, but I do sometimes look at them in passing...I HATE when I see daycares who's playyards are really close to the road. What if somebody crashed and the car went through the fence and the kids were playing at the time? That scares me. I don't know if you have already found a house yet Shelly, but if you haven't...don't put our daycare next to the road

mummy2girls replied:
sure that would be awesome!

mummy2girls replied: Thank you so much for all your advice ! Im goign to print this all off and use them! If you think of anything else feel free to tell me:)

MommyToAshley replied: I read most of the posts, and everyone has added the things I was going to say.

So, I will give an honest opinion. I am not sure I would like the "field trips". I am sure you are a safe driver, but I would not want anyone but myself driving Ashley. Ashley will go on field trips next year for preschool, and I plan on driving her to and from the destination myself. I am probably more paranoid than a lot of parents, but just thought I would offer my 2 cents.

Sounds like you have a good plan and it will be an exciting move for you ... good luck.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
We get little slips of paper (like a few weeks ahead of time) telling us the intent to go on a field trip. It's then up to the parent to decide if they want the child to go or not, and if it's the whole day, the child has to stay home with the parent. No child is ever taken out of the daycare by the providers to go into a vehiclefor any reason, without written consent from parents. Not even to go to the store and get groceries. Walking is a different story.

I am worried when someone other than me or dh "puts my child at risk" so to speak - because I feel that if something wre to happen, in my mind that person would be the one responsible...even should the tragedy be out of that person's control. But, I can't leash my kids in the backyard... and in only a few years, they'll be wanting to bikeride around the block on their own.... so I do let them go on most of the field trips... on the comdiion that I get pictures... and to see the delight on their faces as they hold, for example, a baby chick...is worth the worry, because I don't have the option of takiung them myself.