Ping Ruth: home daycare questions

Thanks for being willing to entertain these questions. Only answer to your
comfort level.

1. Can you outline a typical day?

2. What is your emergency backup plan, for a child who needs medical
attention, for example.

3. What sources do you use for activity planning inspiration?

4. Have you had difficulties with parents who consistently do not pay on a
timely basis. I have heard other providers complain about that.

Thanks!

Stephanie

"Stephanie" wrote in message
...
: Thanks for being willing to entertain these questions. Only answer
to your
: comfort level.
:
: 1. Can you outline a typical day?

This is an example of my schedule, and does not include everything we
do, of course, but gives a decent sampling of a typical day...

Child Care Schedule

7:30 Open
~ Free Play Blocks, Dollhouse, Toy Kitchen, Water
Table Toys, Easel
~ Daily News News, Conversation, Seasons, Months, Days,
Weather, Personal Info
~ DEAR Time Stories, Quiet Reading
~ Clean up/Toileting/Wash up
~ Snack Time Children help, prepare, pass out, and clean
up
~ Activities Various curriculum related activities
such as coloring, cutting, pasting, painting, play dough, songs,
poems, books, learning videos, discussions
~Outdoor Play Backyard play, ride on toys, hiking, walking
in the neighborhood, sandbox, bats, balls, hula hoops, gardening,
various swings, season appropriate activities
~ Clean up/Toileting/Wash up
~ Lunch Children help, prepare, pass out, and
clean up
~ Nap/Quiet Time
~ Toileting/Wash up
~ Snack Children help, prepare, pass out, and
clean up
~ Activities Dance & movement, musical instruments,
tumbling & big blocks, dress up, flannel board, string & lace,
magnets, puzzles, blocks, duplos, legos, potato heads, popoids,
counting, alphabet, shapes, colors, outdoor play
5:30 Close

Math calendar, blocks, beads, sewing cards, outdoor
play, puzzles
Science hiking, blocks, planting, bubbles, magnets,
magnifying glasses, water play, sand box, science kits
Art cutting, pasting, crayons, paints, clay,
markers, easel
Music CDs & tapes, videos, musical instruments, self made
instruments, singing, piano
Language all day in every way!
Literacy books, puppets, role playing, calendar, computer


: 2. What is your emergency backup plan, for a child who needs medical
: attention, for example.

Emergency Procedures
1. In the event of a power or heat loss, provider will alert
parents immediately if the season and weather are such that prolonged
loss will negatively impact the quality of care.
2. In case of fire - provider will use the closest exit and leave
house with all children to meet at the oak tree in the rear of the
house.
3. In the event of a minor medical emergency - provider will alert
the parent(s), and make child as comfortable as possible until a
parent or emergency contact can arrive.
4. In the case of an extreme medical emergency for child - call
911, alert parent(s), alert emergency backup person if necessary,
remain calm and make child(ren) as comfortable as possible until
EMT/Police, parents and/or emergency backup person arrives.
5. In the event of a natural disaster, provider will transport the
children in minivan and evacuate to the Cunningham School on Edgehill
Road, which is the appropriate bomb shelter for the area.

: 3. What sources do you use for activity planning inspiration?

I have many friends who are educators and very willing to share their
strategies and information, as well as a plethora of websites that are
chock full of ideas for almost anything you can imagine. More often
than not, if I am looking for a new idea, I will just plug the key
words into google including the word 'preschool' and voila! More
information than you could possible use I also take as many
courses as I can fit into my maniacal schedule, generally aimed at an
area where I think I need bolstering or freshening.

: 4. Have you had difficulties with parents who consistently do not
pay on a
: timely basis. I have heard other providers complain about that.

No, not in many, many years, although it used to be an issue in the
beginning before I had really crystallized my business strategies.
For the last five years, I have required that my clients pay me on
Monday morning for the week ahead. Of course, as you get to know
families, you can be a bit more flexible, but I find it is best to
ease up than tighten up

: Thanks!

Anytime!
--
Ruth

Just a quick question and a few comments -

Ruth - I think you've mentioned before that your program is more geared
to 2-4 year-olds, rather than infants. Is that true? Because that
schedule is very close to the sort of schedule ds' pre-school uses. It
is *very* different from the small home-based daycare he used to go to,
which was more like being in a home environment, where dcp would take
the kids on errands, etc. Which is a lot of why I switched him, fwiw.
If his home-based daycare had been more like yours, I doubt I would
have felt the need to switch him, but he definitely needed more
structure than he had been getting. I had picked our home-based
daycare when ds was an infant, and was concentrating on the one-on-one
interaction and homey environment, so it *was* a plus in the beginning.

Btw, I've often thought that your daycare sounded incredibly wonderful,
and if you were near me, I would have loved to use you!

(I did just switch dd, 16 months, to ds' pre-school/daycare, because I
think dcp was getting a little burned-out, and her level of care was
slipping, alas. I'll admit that some of it was also for my
convenience, as to why I didn't seek out another home-based daycare,
since I'm (mostly) happy with the pre-school, and didn't want to do yet
another major search, plus this way I get one pick-up and drop-off.
Also, dd was already familiar with the school and teachers a little
bit, since she came with me for pick-up, and we concentrated on getting
to know her new teacher for about 6 weeks before we made the switch.
Even so, this week has been stressful on her, but I know that is to be
expected.)

Irene