starting a childcare
-
Friday Freebie – Starting a Child Care Program
Happy Friday! Are you still in school? Do you work year round? For those of you who are enjoying summer break, I hope that you’re having a great time. For those of you who don’t get a summer break, I feel your pain – but there is something about summer weekends that makes them even better than weekends the rest of the year, so enjoy them! Today’s freebie is a little bit different than what I usually share on Fridays. This business workbook is for those of you who have ever considered starting a child care program of your own. The pages in this workbook will walk you through the…
-
Using your local Child Care Resource and Referral
I promised posts this week that will help you save money and find resources for your preschool and child care programs. In my opinion, there is no greater resource than your local Child Care Resource and Referral. According to Child Care Aware there are over 400 Child Care Resource and Referral offices across the US, and while they all offer slightly different services, many of their offerings are similar. For example, at my local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) they help families locate child care programs that meet their needs, offer professional development trainings and technical assistance to child care providers, provide programming for parents and families, and run…
-
Evaluating your child care business
This week I’m focusing on tips for child care business. Yesterday I shared some of my favorite online resources, and today is about taking a minute to step back and evaluate. Looking critically at your own program can be a difficult thing to do, you either see the hopes and dreams that you have for the program or you see everything that is going wrong. That’s what happens when we’re too close to a situation. Luckily there are some research-based tools that can help you see exactly where you are so that you can create clear action plans towards your goals. The Program Administration Scale is designed to be used…
-
Resources for Child Care Businesses
When I first started thinking about running a child care program I knew that there was a lot I would have to learn, but I had to idea how difficult it would be to find the answers I needed. There are all kinds of resources available if you want to learn more about child development, and even more ideas for planning lessons for preschoolers, toddlers, and infants, but helpful resources for the ins and outs of running the business – not so much. A big part of my job right now is working with administrators, I help them navigate our state’s quality rating system, but I also offer a ton…
-
Starting a Child Care Center – Location Location Location
On Tuesday I shared business information that you’ll need to consider is you want to start a childcare program, today is a little more fun, it’s all about selecting a location. First and foremost, you’ll have to decide how large your program is going to be. If you are the only teacher for 7 or 8 children, then you might choose to run your program out of your home. On the other hand, if you’ll have a staff of 6 teachers and 50 students, then you’ll need a much larger space. Licensing regulations define the amount of square footage required per child, as well as the teacher to child…
-
Starting a Child Care Center – Business Aspects
In 2013 I had the opportunity to start a child care program with some talented teachers. Our center has been open for a little over a year (it took us about 6 months to get licensed and running) and I’m at the point where I feel like I finally have things figured out! When we first got started we were all familiar with childcare and licensing, but the business piece was all new. I taught myself most of what I needed to know, and I still learn something new everyday. I’ve had a number of people ask my advice on starting their own child care programs, so I thought I’d…
