- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Pennsylvania Babies
Poll: What do you love about your daycare?
I'm either going back to work soon(I've already started a bit part-time) or I'm going to start my own in-home daycare.
I have a huge list started, but I figured I'd ask to see what is important to everyone. I know it differs with each family, so I figured I'd ask to get an idea of lots of wants/hopes for daycare for your family:) That way I have ideas for what to make sure I cover and provide and/or get a better idea of what to be looking for if we start looking for one for our two children.
-What are your favorite things about the day care that your child attends?
-What were the most important things that you were looking for when you were looking at different day cares?
-Are there any random things that you've heard of that other day cares do that you think are just great ideas in general that you'd love as a parent?
Obviously I'd be an in-home option and I'm only looking at 1-2 children max in addition to my own, so it would definitely be a less structured than a center, but I'd love to think of ways that I can incorporate things that parents love about lots of places while providing a truly home-like option for families that want that for their children.
Some of the things on my list so far of things to figure out or things that are already set that I can communicate to parents:
-Sheets for parents with little ones nap times, diaper changes, food/bottles eaten, maybe potty training?
-Offer of a preschool curriculum/structured learning of some sort depending on ages
-Food and diapers included and mostly organic or natural
-Figure out some sort of part-time option since I know that's really
hard to find without paying for a full time spot. Maybe an hourly or
daily rate, hours set 1 week ahead of time with a minimum $$ amount
that needs to be spent each week
-figure out what to do about illnesses
-little to no tv except for the occasional movie
-No pets in the home
-walking distance to two parks and we have a fun backyard
-non-smoking home
-CPR/First Aid Certification
-very familiar with breast milk care and more than open to having mothers come to nurse your baby at any time you'd like to
-cloth diapers very welcome
-paypal payment option if parents would like that
-write a general philosophy for parents to know that we're on the same page with not letting babies cry, positive discipline for older children, etc.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Poll: What do you love about your daycare?
We chose our center because:
1) it's close to home, so either of us can drop off or pick up.
2) breakfast, lunch and two snacks were included
3) they offered part time care. You can do MWF or TR
4) It's located in a retirement home, so the kids do lots of interactive activities with the residents
5) frankly, I only looked at centers because in putting a newborn in daycare, I wanted him to be with other newborns and not be trampled by bigger kids. Also, we needed the stability of a center, since DH and I both have jobs that sometimes can't be rearranged if a sitter is sick or on vacation.
ETA: I think your list is very good, and I think you've given a lot of consideration to what parents want. I like the paypal option, and I like that you're nursing and cloth diaper friendly, which I found many places to be.
I'd also come up with your list of holidays and vacation days.
Some fun things that I appreciate at my center are family days, like a fall party at Paulus Farm with a hayride and a summer picnic. They also do movie nights and book nights where kids can come in their PJs and watch a movie or have story time. They do a Thanksgiving feast with parents and a Christmas pageant. They also do special things like inviting grandparents in for Grandparents Day and make special crafts for all the holidays.
And they also offer additional care days, like this Saturday they did a "holiday shopping day" where some of the teachers came in and watched kids from 9-1 for $20 per child.
One thing that you'll have to consider is the insurance aspect, since you're going to have injuries in your home, this is unavoidable, so you need to protect yourself.
Hope that helps get you started. Obviously you can't do the same things as a center, but small things like grandparents day and a Christmas Shopping Morning or Date Night would be really special to promote!
I know I don't have a child in daycare yet, but I spoke with over 40 people and visited quite a many homes, so I'll give you my two cents anyway!
We only looked at home based daycares, but found that we preferred homes that offered a more structured setting similar to a center.
The things that I love about our home-based daycare:
-uses a curriculum with daily motor/learning activities, crafts, sign language, spanish occasionally, etc. The area is set up to allow kids to explore/play on their own, but still structured.
-Daily meals and snacks
-CD and BF friendly
-Open door policy
-Set holidays, PT/FT rates, accepts flexible spending accounts
-licensed/certified
-fenced in yard, close to parks
-detailed contract outlining schedule, activities, behavior policy,etc
-individual pack n/play for each infant/toddler for naps (max 2) where sheets are changed every other day
-we love the lady, most importantly!
I agree that you have a really good list started so far. As pp mentioned, I think you would need to be licensed or insured to protect yourself and the children you are watching. Also, having a detailed contract with preset vacation days, when payments are due, etc is important. As far as illnesses, all places that we interviewed had a very strict policy that a child can't return until he/she has been fever free without the aid of a fever reducer for at least 24 hours. They also can't have any diarrhea, etc.
I can tell you the many things that we didn't like after meeting with people:
-not a child friendly environment: absolutely no space to stimulate kids, not enough toys, etc.
-too many pets (like 7!) - obviously this wouldn't be a problem for you
-child napped either in basement or upstairs, not where the provider seemed to spend most of the time. Legally, they are required to check in every 15 minutes during naps, but still...
-no clear space for where child napped. One lady admitted that she just puts the infants back in their car seats for their naps.
-absolutely no sense of a schedule/planned activities. We didn't want the day to be overly structured, but some structure is good for kids!
-dirty house. Yes, this is a home daycare, but a dirty home is different than a scattered, child/played home
-no snacks/meals included.
-some people wanted ridiculous holidays off plus a lot of vacation leave, above the average amount and without a lot of prior notice.
-programs where TV was included everyday, beginning and end of day. I agree that an occasional movie is fine.
We may have been overly picky, but I wasn't willing to settle until we really found someone that we were comfortable with and trusted 100%. I absolutely love the person that we chose. Although it will be hard when I go back, I'm hoping that because I already feel like I have a close relationship with her that it will make the process easier. I may have our contract electronically. If you're interested in viewing it for ideas, just let me know and I can send you an email.
GL!
Here are the things that I like about my sitter:
She is very close to my house.
She sends me pics and text msgs about Olivia if she is doing something funny, or cute and that means SO much to me.
She provides her crib sheet and all of her toys and her wipes. The only thing I take for her is diapers, formula and food (because she is doing jar food).
She has a gated area for Olivia to crawl in so the bigger kids won't accidentally step or fall on her.
She has tons of patience.
I really feel like she loves Olivia. I know that she gets alot of attention there. Which is probably because she is the only baby, but still I love that I really feel like she treats her like her own kids.
If she has a fever from teething, I can still bring her and she will give her any medicine if she is sick (which thankfully she hasn't been yet).
She has a fenced in yard for the kids to play.
She can multi-task!!!!!!!!!
Olivia attends a traditional daycare 2 days a week and then "in-home" 3 days. What I love about the daycare is:
I didn't really look too much- our daycare has a great reputation.
I also love the in-home. Olivia is there with another little boy. The "sitter" is just so loving and sweet. She also does alot of creative activities with them (with the 3 yr old more that Olivia).We chose our center because:
-They offered part time care, we were able to choose the days we wanted (I chose TWR)
-It was close to home
-meals were included (this is out the window now since E has allergies)
-price was right
-overall, we got a great feeling about it and felt comfortable
I like it even more now than I did in the beginning because.
-They made a lot of changes to the infant room ... more structure, seasonal and developmental activities & evaluations, more availability to toys, the ladies never stop moving to tend do the babies, clean the room (esp now during flu season), etc. I rarely ever see them sitting unless they're feeding/rocking/playing. They are engaging and interacting with the babies not just meeting their needs (eat, diaper, sleep).
-The ladies in his room really enjoy the children. They look like they're having a great time.
-They accept cloth diapers and have been WONDERFUL about me going in to nurse E when he was refusing everything else. They're fantastic about making sure E doesn't get anywhere near foods that he hasn't been exposed to or is allergic to. They keep crumbs off the ground under the table and that is tough with little ones.
-I like the family activities that they offer. The center has fundraisers, gatherings, etc.
-They also have things like a photographer that comes in a few times a year to do fun pictures, breakfast with Santa, etc.
Good luck to you & your plans! You're such a motivated person!
TTC since Jan 07. Dx with PCOS Jan 08