Archive for the ‘Family Day’ Category

Questions to Ask When Looking For A Day Care

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Questions to Ask a Day Care

A lot of you out there are really wondering what kind of “educated” questions you should be asking when choosing the right daycare for your child. It’s probably one of the most important decisions you will make, making the wrong choice for your child could amount to a inconvenience or a life threatening disaster.

There are many questions to ask a daycare, and over the years I’ve met all kinds of mothers . Some of which are very organized in their search and others who are not sure of what they want. I’m here today to help you make some choices and hopefully give you a better understanding of what the child care profession is all about.

First of all, you need to decide whether you wish to attend a family childcare or a group childcare. Each type of daycare has it’s own set-up and arrangements. Here’s a brief summary:

Family child care normally has one caregiver who is the owner of the childcare. There is no teacher turnover, and the environment tends to be small with a variety of ages present together in one environment. A family childcare center is usually out of the providers home. Sometimes in a basement, or separate room in their house, or perhaps the second level in a home.

Each family daycare has its own set of rules, and regulations. When choosing a provider be sure to understand what his/her policies are.

When choosing a family daycare, your relationship (based on trust) is primarily with one provider.

Sickness is usually less than at group childcares. Less children=less sickness.

Group centers have all children separated according to age. For example all babies are in one room, toddlers in another, etc.

Group centers tend to have a professional environment. Bright lighening, commercial equipment. Family daycare’s are based in a home like environment.

Group centers may or may not have large enrollements. Some group centers are small with 20 or more children and others may have enrollment of 250 children.

Group centers may or may not have consistant providers. Depending on age groups, staffing issues, etc.

Group centers are directed by “directors”. The director staffs all rooms, is supervisor for the teachers, and oversees all problems that may arise.

Groups centers can involve well known corportations. Kindercare, Children’s World, La Petite, to name a few.

Those are just a few distinctions between the two types of choices you may have. It’s up to you to decide which one you feel most comfortable with. Once you decide, then you can go from there in choosing the right group center or family day care.

Here are some questions to ask a daycare:

1. For each childcare that you visit be sure to bring a pad of paper and pencil to write down your notes, questions, feelings.

2. When looking for a childcare centers to visit, ask for recommendations from your friends, call your local resource and referral agency ( number located under childcare in phone book), listings in your newspaper, phone book, bulletin boards in your community, local schools.

3. Don’t base your thoughts about a childcare over a phone conversation. Give the center a chance by visiting them and meeting those who work there.

4. Collect all information regarding policies for a center. Make sure you are aware of all rules, and regulations.

5. Rely on your gut feeling. If you feel that you would not be happy, chances are your relationship would not work out in the long run.

6. Check any reports that are posted from the licensing bureau. Find out what infractions the center has received.

7. What are their emergency polices?

8. Do children look happy? Is the environment clean? It’s ok to have toys laying around, but are those toys sanitized each week to prevent sickness.

9. Who will be taking care of your child? And what happens if that person becomes ill?

10. What if my child become’s ill? What is your policy?

11. What type’s of accidents have you had where you have had to call the parent?

12. How many years have you been in childcare? Are you licensed? What is your education? What types of classes have you taken for child care in the past year? Are you CPR certified?

13. How long have your current children been enrolled here?

14. Do you provide references from parents?

15. And most of all do you trust that provider? Do you feel that the provider is loving, level headed, energetic, and generally loves all children?

16. Do you see children’s art work on the walls?

Most of all take your time making a decision, and don’t base your decision on price, fancy equipment, and convenience.

Your choice should be based on finding a provider who especially loves children.

Blessings To You,

Christine Groth
Christine@instantdaycareprofits.com

(c) CG Groth Inc.

$90,000 per year running your own daycare? Find out what you don’t know about starting your
own daycare at http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com
Christine Groth author, mentor, of 6-weeks-Instant Daycare Profits Home Study Course.
Get a free 6-part newsletter on how to start a daycare. Go to http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Family Day | No Comments »

Why Starting A Daycare Is The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

Who ever thought that starting your own daycare could allow you to stay home and make $90,241 a year from the comfort of your own home.

Just think about this for a minute.

Get up in the morning invite 7-8 kids to your house Monday thru Friday, have fun, teach pre-school activities, read books, eat lunch, take a nap, play little more, go home.

That’s about what the day involves, but you need to think further. You are a business owner now, which means you can write off items on your tax return. How about things like furniture, cars, or utility bills? These are items you need anyways regardless of any business or job you might have.

Pretty cool, right?

Another thing to remember is all the personal work you can get done in your home while running your daycare. I always found naptime to be very productive.

So while your kids are sleeping, you can be getting your chores done by folding laundry, making dinner, phone calls paperwork, etc. State agency rules state that you need to be within hearing and sight of your children. So why not get a little of your work done while they sleep?

But remember you cannot do your chores while children are awake and present. This would qualify as poor child care practices.

I just wanted to give you some pointers as someone who’s been there!

Next, we will talk about working at home while raising your children.

I started my daycare when my twin daughters were both 1 years old. It was great because Alex and Caroline loved having other kids over to play.

The two “momma’s girls” got out of my hair and became preoccupied with their friends who came over to our house. To them, it was just one big party. I still remember the day when a family of 2 boys came over and my daughters played. Their favorite thing was to run around the living room with a gigantic yellow blanket over their heads.

In essence, the whole thing worked out pretty well. I made money, my daughters had fun, I supplied a great service, and at the end of the day, the laundry was folded and there was food on the table.

Amazingly, it cost me very little to start my daycare. Most of the toys were my daughters’ or gifted to us by friends. Birthday parties were a great way of building my business. Invite all your friends and relatives, make a meal, and you’d be amazed at all the gifts that come flowing in! People love to buy toys and clothes for little girls.

I also began frequenting my local Goodwill store. I bought a lot of almost new toys, books, games, puzzles for next to nothing. I also shopped rummage sales. It also helps to ask parents for a donation of toys or items they are not using in their home. You’ll be surprised by how many Christmas gifts never make it out of their boxes! Tell your parents that you would love to use these items and put them to use.

Want to see the proof in the pudding that I really made that kind of money? Go to http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com to download my free 6 part newsletter on how to open your own daycare. Christine Groth is a author and mentor of 6-weeks to Instant Daycare Profits Home Study Course.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Family Day | No Comments »

Family Day is September 25 – Have Dinner With Your Kids!

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Remember the good ole’ days when families sat down at the table and ate dinner together? With this new millennium lives have gotten so busy and frantic, that sitting down together as a family at least several times per week is a luxury. The National Center on Addictions and Substance Abuse (CASA) has declared the fourth Monday of September as Family Day, a day to eat dinner with your kids!

Research finds that the more kids eat dinner with their families the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Children tend to be healthier, have positive social skills and perform better in school. Having dinner together as a family provides time to communicate with each, find out what kids did that day in school, and discuss family issues important to everyone.

This year, mark your calendar and plan Family Day on September 25 with your children. Turn off the television, put on the answering machine, and plan a nutritious meal that everyone can participate in making. During dinner, ask children to describe their day at school, what they did after school, and if they have any special activities are coming up. After dinner, play a board game to help kids practice reading and math skills or go outside for a little physical fitness.

Here are some tips to make Family Day a habit that is practiced all year long:

  • Include kids in planning a menu for family dinners (lunch or breakfast too)
  • Include kids in preparing, serving and cleaning up the meal
  • Turn off the television (or anything with a screen) during the meal
  • Turn on the answering machine for the phone during the meal
  • Let everyone have a turn talking about his or her day and activities
  • Plan a game night instead of watching television
  • After dinner, take a walk or ride bikes as a family outing

Having family dinner with your children on a regular basis is a special tradition that kids will always remember!

As a mother, grandmother, and child development professional, Nancy Johnson, shares over 20 years experience working with children and planning activities on her website, Creative-Child-Activity-Notebook.com. Check it out for more school age child activity ideas including party, outdoor, holiday, nature, and child learning activity ideas.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Family Day | No Comments »

September 16 is Stepfamily Day!

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

In the United States, and perhaps in other countries as well, September 16
has been designated as “Stepfamily Day”. A day dedicated to the stepfamily. A day to honor all the StepHeroes out there who choose every day to be parents to ALL the children in their lives.

What will you do to honor your family on this special day? Some communities have
picnic celebrations planned. Some blended families choose to spend the day
together, as a family, without any electronic devices on for the whole day.
Other stepfamilies go to a favorite place with friends and play together. And
the vast majority let the day go by as any other day and miss the chance to
honor themselves for all the effort and hard work it takes to make a blended
family work. Why? Because they do not even know this day exists for them. They
are not aware of all the resources out there for them. They believe that they
are the only ones who are experiencing what it is like to be in a blended family
and they feel all alone.

This could be a great opportunity to reach out to other step and blended
families in your community. What would it be like to arrange a spontaneous
pot-luck, where you invite two other families you know who are also blended, and
ask each of them to invite two blended families that they know. Have some
activities planned for the different age groups of children, and plan to meet at
a location that can accommodate you all (one of your homes; a nearby park or
playground; a community center; ). This doesn’t have to be fancy and you do
have to spend a ton of money. In fact, you can have each family bring one of
their favorite games to play, and see what you discover – how many are the same?
How many are different? Which ones have never been played? Which ones are the
ones everybody knows and has? Spend the day connecting and being with others
who are blending too.

Step and Blended Families that choose to make this kind of effort are always
amazed at the rewards that happen unexpectedly. Oftentimes, they enjoy the
experience so much that they decide to make it a monthly event, with a different
theme each month.

Are you finding yourself excited and elated by this idea? Or are your first
thoughts those of resistance or dread? Notice how your mind is responding to
this idea. Is it coming up with all kinds of reasons why you could not or would
not or should not do this? While all those reasons may appear to be valid,
chances are they are not necessarily true. Our minds have a way of keeping us
from trying or doing anything that is different or out of the ordinary. This is
a natural, healthy defense mechanism designed to keep us safe. The problem is
that what we perceive as safe is often just what is familiar. The unfamiliar is
then deemed to be unsafe, when the reality is that it can be very safe, fun,
fulfilling, and full of new possibilities.

Emily Bouchard co-authored the ebook Conquering Conflict with her husband Darryl. In the last two years alone, the Bouchards have helped over 3500 people change their lives through their coaching, trainings, and resource-based website, http://www.blended-families.com They travel throughout the U.S. and Canada leading workshops for couples, families, communities, professionals, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to better communicate in their personal and business lives.

Emily Bouchard has over twenty years of experience in working with children, teens, couples and families. She earned a B.A. with honors in an individualized major in Child Development from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington.
For more information, visit their website or email Emily at emily@blended-families.com

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Family Day | No Comments »

Family Day

Monday, September 1st, 2008

You’ve seen it. You’ve heard about it. God willing, you haven’t experienced it first hand. But we have all been subjected to the violence in our streets and wonder what can be done. Every major philosophy and every major religion that I know of and certainly the bible that I know says that light dispels darkness. This will be the basis of my ideas that I will set forth in the coming months. I believe that the good people of our fair city have been driven indoors by the fear of the bad people. You hear that it is time to take back out streets! But no one seems to know how! The bible also says that “perfect love casts out fear”. If we are to get over our fear, then we must love. Who may you ask? Well I’m not going to ask you to love the murderers and drug dealers. That is God’s job.

I’m asking for all of us to love the most important things in our lives! Our children. How do we keep our children safe? Be where they are. Or know that there are responsible adults where they are. At all times! Is that possible? I say yes. In the coming weeks and months I will give you concrete examples of how we used to do it when I was young and how we today can do the same. It will involve all of us. But there is safety in numbers. We will not get rid of the murderers and drug dealers. My hope is to drive them underground and under the rocks they came out from. With your help we can.

Alan “Bud” Speaker

Alan “Bud” Speaker has lived in an urban setting for almost all of his life. Raised a little girl there and hopes to help others to do the same. He hopes to prove the adage that “The pen is mightier than the sword”.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Family Day | No Comments »

How to Find a Child Daycare Center

Monday, August 11th, 2008

It’s a daunting question for many parents, new and old. Some of you are first timers with a brand new baby in your home and others of you have several children. All in all you have decided it’s time to go back to work and find a child daycare that meets your beliefs.

But the question is what are your beliefs on what a good child daycare should be?

This is something for you to definitely think about, for you to find a good child daycare you need to determine what kind of environment you most definitely feel comfortable in.

Here are some of the questions you should be asking yourself before you venture out in looking for a child daycare center.

1. Do you feel more comfortable with a family child daycare or a group child daycare? Both are very different. A family child daycare is usually run by one person who is the owner, and usually out of someone’s home. A group child daycare is usually out of a commercial building with staff on hand. Children are divided according to ages. For example all babies are in one room, all toddlers in another, and so on.You get the idea. Family child daycares usually mix all ages together, but family daycares are small- only about 8 children per center. Group centers can be very large. Perhaps up to 250 children in one center.

2. What is the policy of the child care center? Be sure to ask what there rules are regarding sickness, time off, vacations, paid holidays, emergencies. Make sure that you are clear on what these policies are; be clear on what the child daycare center is expecting of you and vice versa. Many times this is how parents and child daycare centers get into disagreement. Not over the actual childcare provided but over the policies established by the center.

3. Do you trust the provider who will be taking care of your child? If you don’t trust the provider chances are you will leave the center. Also understand that child daycares aren’t perfect. Anytime you leave your home you take the risk of error. I’m not trying to protect the child daycare center, but people do make errors and understand that children will be children. They will argue, get dirty, hit their friends and so one but realize that they are learning and this is their nature at such a young age.

I think that the above questions are so important in asking yourself. Realize that choosing a child daycare center is an important decision. Children need consistency and stable loving relationships- this is so much more important then fancy toys and big buildings.

Christine Groth, has helped hundreds of women open their own family childcare centers. An author and mentor she has developed a mentoring system that guarantees their success in small business. To receive her free 3 part newsletter, go to http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Family Day | No Comments »