What attracts you to a home daycare?
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Anonymous
| Brownies are acceptable treats once or twice a month. 100% juice is recommended by the USDA. |
Anonymous
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Things I'd want to know that I did not easily locate on your website:
- how many providers? if it's just you, what's your plan for when you are sick? how often do you close? (the fact that you mention a need for backup care in the first paragraph of your contract is concerning) - how many children do you care for and in what age range? - what is your facility like? outdoor space? seperate nap area? - can you post some parent reviews or offer references upon request? |
Anonymous
But juice every day is too much. USDA recommends that juice only be served once or twice a week. |
Anonymous
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I'm guessing that 5pm pick up is the biggest reason people aren't calling you. While you're okay with making an exception when needed, most people would need a 6pm close time every day. Most people get out of work at 5pm, it takes a while to get back to the neighborhood & pick up the kid.
To your original question, an in-home was appealing to us because it was personalized, my child really was incorporated into the family (DCP's teenage kids really doted on the kids in her care), there's a greater level of flexibility in terms of timing, food, schedules, diapers, etc. Our provider was well versed in how to handle breastmilk and happy to store a bag of back up milk in her freezer. She also was open to learning to cloth diaper and worked with us on early potty training. Healthy food is also a major perk, IMO, of an in-home daycare. Home made food, real ingredients. I would not be a huge fan of juice - really unnecessary, I'd rather just stick to milk & water. |
Anonymous
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Do the references to "school dropoff" and "school pickup" in the daily schedule mean there are kids you go drop-off/pick up at local schools? There was one in-home I rejected as soon as I found out that she would be dropping off/picking up her own kid at school everyday while carting my child around. (I would have been okay with if it had been a walking trip - but not with my kid being driven around.)
You don't seem to mention (at least not where I could see) whether there are other full-time care providers and how many kids are in your care - this was the first thing I wanted to know when I was interviewing home daycares, since I did not want a solo provider. |
Anonymous
And what do you propose a daycare provider do about her own child because you dont want snowflake"carted" around? I have taken child care children to school and activities and had to cart my child along for the ride. Its okay for that but not for yours? You need to remember that is why most child care providers are providing a service to parents while it enables her to stay home with her own child. |
Anonymous
As a childcare provider myself who is on the USDA food program, the menu NEVER shows a brownie on there and hasnt. If a child in my care has a birthday and a parent wants to bring a special treat, they can, however I make sure my kids have their USDA approved snack first, then they can have the treat. |
Anonymous
What does this have to do with the OP? Seriously, any chance someone has to knock an in home provider trying to do right and someone will do it. 
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Anonymous
I am the childcare provider who wrote above comment about the brownies. I would like to know what USDA menu you are following because to my knowledge, there is only ONE menu available we are given to follow and a LOT of stuff on your menu is not on the USDA menu. This may be one issue with parents. The time is definitely another. I tell my parents I am open 7am to 7pm, however it is only to be used by those who need it, not extended hours just because I am working that late. Some parents do not understand I have a child who may come in at 7am and leave by 4, but another may come in at 9 and need to stay until 7. Lastly, from reading parents feelings here and on other boards and groups. They dont seem to like their kids in a car going anywhere. I realize it is personal preference, however I would never consider taking my kids as far as you do on a field trip. In the past I used to do Reston zoo, the DC zoo, museums, etc. THE furthest I will do now is the DC Zoo, but to actually drive on the beltway to go to Reston or leesburg, not happening. Traffic has become a BIG issue these days and I personally do not want to take the risk with going that far. Again, to each his own but that may be one reason you arent getting kids. I take my kids now within a 5-7 mile radius from home and thats it. |
Anonymous
Are you the OP? I sure hope not... Daycare providers need to arrange care for their own children. Yes you have a family, but you also have a job. |
Anonymous
| Way too much information on your website. That would turn me away. Edit it down or have a portion of the website just for current parents. To me it reads like a ton of rules and a big part of why I liked in home care centers was because its more like a family. There are rules of course but part of the website feels like a lecture. IMO |
Anonymous
No i am not the OP. I AM a daycare provider and glad I have WAY more understanding parents/clients than those on this forum. Yes, I have a family. Why should I have to find someone else to do something I am quite capable of doing myself? I chose this occupation in order to juggle both work and my family and I do quite well at it. but then this isnt about me. |
Anonymous
| Well, that's precisely why a lot of people aren't interested in home providers who have children in the home. I'm not interested in a SAHM who wants to charge premium rates so my kid can tag along while she runs errands and cares for her own kids. I'm interested in a professional, and professional home daycare operators I've met limit car trips to pre-approved field trips. |
Anonymous
Exactly. I am the PP who posted about not wanting my child carted around. My home daycare provider's kids were long out of the house and she treated her daycare like a full-time job, not something she squeezed in around her kids' schedule. The angry DCP posters are free to balance their work and family as desired so long as they are upfront with potential clients about that balance. |
Anonymous
Not the PP you're quoting, but I happily used an in-home provider for my child until she was ready for preschool and my provider's children took the bus to & from school. When my provider needed to take one of her children to a Dr's appt, she arranged for a substitute and let us know ahead of time who it would be, at what time, etc. She had 3 children of her own and cared for 3 additional children during the day. It would not have been practical for her to try to drive all three daycare kids around with her to Dr's appointments, to pick up her own kids from school, etc. She would have needed a 7 seater car and I imagine some kind of special license. The situation that you describe, in which 1-2 daycare children are driven along to pick up & drop off the provider's children from school, would only be feasible if the number of daycare children under the providers care were one or two. That may not even require a daycare license, depending on the state, but if it's a full in-home daycare at capacity with at least 3 children, more likely 4-6, then what you describe really wouldn't even be an option. |