I have added this page to give you some useful information about in-home child care . Whether you are thinking about starting your own home child care , currently run an in-home child care or are looking for an in-home child care for your child, it is my hope that you will find this page useful in your decision making process.

 This is one of two sites that I have posted with the intent of helping would be providers or current providers. The other page is here---> "Provider's Helps Page."

 Starting your own home daycare is not too hard, but there are several things to keep in mind, and I hope this will be a guide to help you. Providing in-home child care is a daily challenge. Most women choose this profession to be home with their children. If you have children, being able to stay home with them is a major benefit, but there are still some factors you should consider before making the decision to start an in-home daycare.

 One of the first things to consider is the nature of your job as an in-home child care provider. Your job will be to take care of other people's children to care for ALL their needs and wants to include: feeding, changing diapers, teaching, redirection and playing with them every day. If you do not have the patience to do all of those things consistently and cheerfully every day, maybe child care is not for you.

 You are responsible for paying your own taxes, buying all your supplies and enforcing your policies. You must find out from your state what the laws are in becoming Licensed or Registered or how many children you can have without going through those processes. Being self employed can be rewarding, but also, bears a lot of responsibilities as well. You will need to find medical insurance if you do not have a spouse or if your spouse's employment does not off insurance. You either need to train yourself to do your taxes (get a hold of Tom Copeland's Tax information books-Redleaf press) or hire a tax Accountant who is familiar with Child Care expenses.

 The hours are long and burnout is not uncommon. You will most likely be alone all day with no adult interaction. Your house may be messy most of the time, and your furniture, carpet, etc. will take more abuse than just your children would give them. I am not trying to discourage you, but you need to think about all of these things for your own benefit. Make this a family decision. It affects the entire household.
 If you are prepared for what you are about to do, then you will be able to do a great job and enjoy yourself too! I started by telling you most providers started because they wanted to be home with their own children. At some point the idea of this being a career kicks in. When you reach that point, You will no longer be "just" a mom who just wants to be home with their own children, but a Professional. On my "Helps" page you will find an article discussing just that subject. "The Stages of Being a Child Care Provider."

 If you are considering placing your child in a home child care you have a big responsibility to find the "right" person. When you do, I believe your child will benefit from the "homey" environment, smaller group size, and consistent care given by one person throughout the day instead of a number of different providers. This will also help you in getting the most accurate information about your child's day and development.

The information I provide will help you to realize what your home child care provider is going through. It will also give you some good ideas about an in-home child care program. There are several "curriculums" that are for sale that may be especially helpful. If your provider isn't doing an activity with the children at least a couple times a week, I would strongly encourage you suggest it! It may also help you when looking for a home daycare to know what could be offered and to ask questions about what will be done each day. Again my "Helps" page has information for the parent as well in helping you choose a provider.

Will you take after school children? (If you have a baby yourself you may really want to think about whether you want to take another baby. If you have worked in a daycare center and are familiar with dealing with more than one baby at a time you may be ok, but it is very difficult to handle two or more babies at a time, especially if one is fussy!) Remember, the more restrictive you are the more you may be limiting your potential clients. Many people have two or more kids, and one of them will probably be under one year old. You need to find a balance between accepting a wide enough range of children and what you can reasonably and comfortably handle each day.

What will your hours be? Think about this one! You need to be realistic about people's work hours, but 6am-6pm or later is a very long day!

What will your rates be? Will you charge by the day? week? hour? How will you charge drop-ins (drop-ins are those unexpected children you may decide to take at the last minute to help out a parent or a fellow provider, and may not stay for very long)?

Call local providers in your area and see how they are charging. Hourly, flat rate; by age or all ages charged the same; have full time rates or have both full time rates and part time rates; flat fees for drop offs or higher hourly rates.

Will you accept part-time children?

Will you give a discount for siblings? (For example 5% off total weekly bill)

Will you have a late charge? Most daycares charge $5 per every 15 min. the parent is late after closing time. When setting your rates, I suggest calling daycare centers and other home daycares in your area to get an idea what the going rate is. Rates are vaired not only state to state but town to town and even certain areas seem to be able to charge more than other areas.
Also, take into account any special training or skills you have that relate to daycare. You will have to be CPR certified. You may be able to charge a little more than other home daycares if you can offer more than they can. the more you can offer the more you will be valued in this profession. Take all the training you can. Join Associations to meet with your peers.

What will you provide for the children? Breakfast? Lunch? Snacks? Remember to ask the daycares you call what they provide and again, you may be able to charge a little bit more for providing extras. A hot nutritious lunch is a nice touch, and parents won't have to bother fixing a lunch for their child every day. Check your area for the food program who services your town. If you use the food program you will be reimbursed for a portion up to the whole meal, depedning on your area and your income.

Promoting your business. Here is a good time to discuss "Naming your Child Care." If you live in a large city and think of putting your name in the phone book, keep in mind that they list in alphabetical order. The same holds true in the want ads. Having a name for your Child Care business sends the message that you are a business not a babysitter. You may also want to design a logo to also help promote your name in your area. I was recently on a field trip with my kids and saw others providers and their kids wearing "The Other Mother Child Care" T-shirts. This does 2 things. It identifies your place of business to others and it makes it easier to spot all your kids if they are wearing the same color shirt. Very smart idea!

If you're having trouble getting a response you might want to consider making up "flyers". You could put them up in local busineses' laundry mats, or school bulletin boards. I put up flyers with my business card stuck in them. Looks nicer that the dog tagged flyers I have seen at grocery stores.

Be prepared before you place an ad because you will be "interviewed" when people call in response to your ads. Don't sound unsure or uncomfortable when you tell people about your program. People will make quick "judgments" about you, so be polite and positive! The first few phone calls may be rough and nerve racking, but think about how each call went, make notes if you need to and learn from any mistakes. I learned a long time ago not to make hasty decisions. Take all the information and let it sink in, get their phone number and call them back. REMEMBER: This is your business! You do not have to take every family that comes along. Keep in mind you are in charge of other peoples children, so it does matter who you take into your home. You want a nice balance. I am not talking bout discriminating! You interview the family, do not let it be just them interviewing you.

I suggest you talk about your policies with the parents and if at all possible plan a meeting within a few weeks after they have started at your daycare. You need to let them know your policies are very important to you as this is your income! It seemed to help if I asked them to think about their own jobs and what would happen if their bosses didn't follow the same basic policies. This will also make it easier to enforce your policies down the road once you have established a firmer relationship with the parents.

Think about all aspects of your daycare when setting your policies. How much notice do you require for sick leave, vacations, switching days or hours etc.. What will happen if you don't receive the notice on time? Will you accept sick children? How much will you charge for each of the above situations? What will you do if someone bounces a check on you? When are payments due? What if someone is late? It is hard to change policies once things get under way. Sometimes you may consider something to be obvious, but include it in your policies anyway! I send home a whol packet about my child care which includes a "curriculum" of daily activities and my policies. Again most of these things can be found on my helps page or my policy page.

You should make sure all your medications, cleaning supplies and sharp cooking utensils (yes and even saran wrap...rough edge could cut) are well out of reach. You should also have a nice play area with plenty of toys, blocks, puzzles, crayons, scratch paper etc.. If you will be accepting babies or children who nap, you should have an area for that as well. You may have to require parents to bring playpens or floor mats for their children to sleep on if you do not have those facilities. Some states require to have the nappers up off the floor, not even using a mat while others say a mat or cushion is fine. I charge a one time registration fee which I use to buy new mats. The mat becomes part of the Child car if the child leaves. If I have enough mats I buy a new age appropriate toy to be used by that and the other children.

I have a seperate room for the Child Care and although they use the whole lower level of my home it is nice to be able to puch things in a corner when the children leave. If this is not possible, then you will find a way to have a bit of normalicy in your home during off hours. This may be one of those points you may wish to relay to your spouse.

It is also nice to have a labeled place where the children can put their bags, coats, etc. when they arrive at your house in the morning. It is also very beneficial to have a yard for the children to play in outside. In some states your yard must be fenced in with a self-latching gate. (This means if you open the gate it will automatically close and latch by itself.) A sandbox is nice as are plenty of "outside" toys.



You might also want to call your home insurance carrier to see if they recommend adding any extra insurance to your policy due to running a home daycare.

Don't forget to document everything in case of an audit! Keep all receipts for products you buy as well as for your income. That means keep ALL receipts. Anything you do to your home which doubles as your business is tax deductable. If you buy gifts for your children and the day care children play with those toys (ie. a ninetendo) then a portion of that expense qualifies. If you buy gifts for you daycare children those too are tax deductable.



You should develop a "re-direction plan" with the parents based on what they do at home and keeping in mind that things may need to be a little different due to the number of children in your home. For example, a few "games" may be ok at the child's own home, but not ok at yours because of the number of children around.

Establishing a routine is handy as well. If you structure your days to be fairly consistent, then the kids will be better able to follow your instructions and rules. Consistency is also important for children because it helps them become more comfortable and secure when they know what to expect each day. but be flexable too...keeping mind that these are kids and things will come up...don't let them throw you into a tizzy.



The other important point to keep in mind is having your job in your home. It is fairly difficult for some people to live where you work. You will not be able to do any housework during the day (not including the lunch dishes and cleaning up with the children when they are done playing). If you are married you really need to talk to your spouse periodically about the frustrations each of you experience due to the daycare. If your spouse has work hours that are "unconventional" (for example works nights or weekends) and therefore is home some days you work, the stress can be even greater. He will have to put up with lots of children in the house, a fairly consistent mess throughout the day, and not having you as available as you would be if you were not doing home daycare.

I hope this does not come off as being negative, home daycare can be a wonderful career, for some people! It is NOT for everyone! It is one of the only jobs you can do at home and still be basically focused on your children too. Is it fun??? I'll say!
Good Luck

Stephanie
House of Hugs Owner