Childcare Pick-up Authorization: Each parent or guardian must complete and sign a childcare authorization form for each child in your care. This form lists the names of all persons authorized to pick up the child. It details the name of the adult(s), their date of birth, their relationship to the child, and their contact information (address and home, work, and cell phone number). The form should also include a statement that says “Under no circumstances will my child be released to anyone other than the individuals named above, without prior written authorization”.

Field Trip or Activity Permission Slips: The field trip or activity authorization form, gives the children in your care permission to leave the facility or participate in a special activity that is outside of the normal daily routine. The field trip consent form should contain the location of the activity, the date and time of the activity, the mode of transportation involved (walking, car, bus etc.).  The field trip consent form should be signed by the daycare provider and the parent or guardian. It should also include a statement similar to: “I understand that the center will take every precaution and care to insure my child’s safety. Adults who will provide proper supervision and will exercise every precaution to avoid accidents, in accordance with the state licensing regulations will accompany visiting groups”.

Emergency Medical Authorization: The emergency medical authorization form gives you permission for a child to be treated by a licensed physician in the event of a medical emergency. Along with specifics of the care the parent’s will authorize,  the form should include the child’s physician, the physician’s contact information, the preferred hospital, the hospital address and phone number, the medical insurance information, the date of the child’s last tetanus (or DPT), and any allergies.

Permission to Administer Medication: Before administering prescription medication to the children in your care, you must have parents complete and sign a permission to administer medication form. This form  should detail the name of the caregiver authorized to give medication, the prescribing physician,  the name of the medication, the dosage, the dosage times, the date to discontinue administration of the medication, the route (oral, through the nose, etc.), storage conditions, and any special instructions. It should also include a space to note the disposition of the leftover medication (returned to parent or discarded), and the date discarded or returned.

Permission to Photo: Photography of the children in your childcare center requires parental permission. The permission to photo authorization form should include the different types of use and the option for the parent to approve or deny each type. The types of photography use include still photography to be given to current clients, photographs in bulletin boards or scrapbooks to be shown to prospective clients, photographs to be used on your daycare business’ website, or still photos in promotional materials. The permission to photo authorization should also include the statement: “I understand that it is my responsibility to update this form in the event that I no longer wish to authorize one or more of the above uses. I agree that this form will remain in effect during the term of my child’s enrollment”.

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• Billing and invoicing: Childcare software automatically creates invoices based on child attendance and the rates you have established. Daycare software then records and bills for child care and day care tuition charges. It also keeps track of fees for supplies and activities, co-payments, and family discounts. These invoices can be sent to clients on weekly, bi-weekly and monthly basis.

• Payment Processing: With the client’s authorization, quality daycare software will automatically process childcare tuition payments using the client’s checking or savings account or credit card information. The software then transmits the transactions and posts the tuition payment directly into your daycare business’ bank account. The software then automatic posts the payments to the client’s ledger. Electronic fee collection not only saves hours in paperwork, but also helps childcare business owners avoid bounced checks and late payments.

• Attendance Functions: Many daycare management software systems allow attendance tracking. With attendance tracking parents, employees and authorized pick up persons can sign in and out. This is integrated into the billing function as it uses this information to calculate fees. Childcare software can also execute attendance analysis, attendance summaries, and class summaries.

• Reminder Notices: Software can send out reminder notices for birthdays, immunizations, upcoming activities, late payment notices, staff training, low supplies. Also required information updates can be sent automatically to both administrators and clients as necessary.

• Employee Management:  For many daycare providers, managing staff information can be time consuming and can be hard to keep up with manually. Childcare software allows daycare business owners and managers to automatically track staff schedules, hours worked, vacation and sick time, training hours, and immunization records. It can also automate daily or weekly reminders for staff as necessary.

• Reports: Most daycare reports don’t need to be compiled by hand. Daycare software allows you to create a variety of reports, including attendance reports, absence reports, schedules, enrollment history, statements and email lists, report of fees paid daily total. It is easy to generating reports automatically with just a few clicks of the mouse.

• Data Entry: Filling out forms can be repetitive and tedious. Once you have registered the client and entered client data, software then saves that information allowing you to fill out forms simply and rapidly. Daycare software allows you select the form of your choice and then select from a list of clients. The software then auto -fills the information, saving you loads of time.

Investing in daycare software is a straightforward, prudent choice for daycare businesses. With the many time and money-saving features of childcare software, business administrators can become more efficient and reduce unnecessary busy work.

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Daycare for software businesses usually include fee collection programs that will dramatically reduce the time and effort you  would normally spend collecting and processing payments through electronic funds transfer (EFT).

There are three ways that quality child care software may process payments:

• Recurring ACH (Automatic Clearing House) transactions: These are bank to bank transactions. Payments are automatically deducted from the client’s checking or savings account and deposited then into your daycare’s business account.
• Recurring credit card transactions:  Here, the client’s credit or debit card is automatically charged on a recurring basis.
• Point of Sale Transactions (POS): POS transactions allow you to process payments through a credit or debit card swipe on-site.

When you set up the software, every family will have a ledger. The daycare software stores and manages a complete history of charges, deposits and payments for each family. Additionally, most childcare software programs contain a feature that allows automatic billing to charge balances due for an individual family or all families at once to create a batch of payments. You can simply request payment with a few clicks of the mouse and the data is transmitted for processing. The payments are then automatically recorded on the family’s ledger.

What if some clients choose not to participate in automatic electronic funds transfer to pay tuition and fees?  Daycare software is still a useful tool. Many daycare software programs will automatically send bills, reminder notices, and late notices. This saves you the hassle, time and energy.  Childcare software also has the ability to generate a variety of reports to help you communicate with parents regarding child care center fees and payments.

Advantages of Automated Payment Collection:

Studies have shown that the use of childcare software with electronic billing and electronic payments increase successful payment collection by 90 percent or more. Some key advantages of automated payment collection are:

• Timely, Accurate, and Efficient Payment Collection: Daycare software has the ability to enhance cash flow. Billing software promotes a more reliable cash flow because it reduces the occurrence of late payments and bounced check fees and in so doing also reduces collection issues. When daycare business use electronic billing and automatic payment collection, the financial aspects of the daycare business run more efficiently and accurately.
• Improves Customer Service. Your clients will appreciate automatic tuition collection because it saves them time and energy. Most families will be pleased that they pay tuition fees securely and conveniently. The happier the client, the more clients you retain. As well, satisfied clients tend to spread the word; happy clients (word of mouth) are a great marketing tool.

Daycare software is a wise investment that will simplify your daycare administration functions thereby enhancing your daycare business and satisfying the clients you serve.

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While this study doesn’t apply to preschool aged children, as a daycare provider it is still important to know the hazards of using food as a reward and how using non-food rewards.

Hazards of food rewards

When you reward or bribe a child with food, these same children may continue to reward themselves with food later in life. When children are rewarded with treats, they unfortunately associate these treats with happiness or being good. Studies show that associating food with with good behavior or bad behavior has long-lasting effects on children’s food preferences and their eating styles. It also may contribute to overweight and obesity.

“Rewarding children with unhealthy foods in school undermines our efforts to teach them about good nutrition. It’s like teaching children a lesson on the importance of not smoking, and then handing out ashtrays and lighters to the kids who did the best job listening.” Marlene Schwartz, PhD, Co-Director, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University

There are many significant advantages of giving children Non food rewards.  Non food rewards set a foundation for healthy attitudes toward food. Non food rewards do not impede a child’s development of natural hunger cues. Recognizing kids with respect and verbal appreciation are superior motivators than rewards of food.  Non-food rewards (like praise and privileges) can also be less expensive than food rewards. In addition studies show that children actually prefer non-food treats! Just ask.

Enforcing policies

Did you know that in some states (Alabama and the District of Columbia) where food rewards for children are prohibited?  There are also many states that discourage rewarding good behavior or performance with food. If you firmly believe in prohibiting food rewards in your daycare or childcare business, be sure to communicate this with staff and parents. Make sure your policies are clear and well documented in your child contract and reiterate your stance when clients sign the contract.

Types of nonfood rewards

Privileges as Rewards: Choosing an activity, going first, sitting next to friends, selecting a book or record, helping the teacher, free time, extra time with a toy or in dramatic play

Group rewards: Extra time outside (recess), field trips, playing special games or watching a special movie, free choice of activity at the end of the day, special theme days

Social Rewards: Acknowledgment for a job well done like words of thanks, praise, and special attention or ceremonies

Gifts: Stamps, stickers, bookmarks, books, balls,  playing cards, magnets, shoelaces, bubbles, modeling clay, bracelets, rings, necklaces, coloring pencils, markers, stencils, erasers, pencil cases, coloring books

Recognition: Trophies, rewards, plaques, ribbons, special letters home.

It is also wise to use a points system in order to provide larger rewards like gift certificates, games, toys, and larger outings like sporting events. Points can be accumulated individually or as a group and may later be redeemed for prizes. Ask children in your child care center about the types of non-food rewards they prefer. Also remember that positive reinforcement goes a long way in reinforcing good behavior.

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Types of Daycare Businesses Eligible for Daycare Food Programs

Who may participate in CACFP?

• Eligible public or private nonprofit child care centers
• Infant centers
• Care centers that provide care outside of school hours
• Head Start programs
• Other institutions which are licensed or approved to provide day care services may participate in CACFP.

What if your child care business is for-profit? If your child care business is for-profit, the business must receive title XX funds for at least 25 percent of the children enrolled or licensed capacity (whichever is less).  Your for-profit child care center may also be eligible if at least 25 percent of the children in care are eligible for free and reduced price meals.

Qualifying organizations receive cash reimbursement for serving meals to enrolled children and adults that meet Federal nutritional guidelines. The CACFP can assist with State and federal meal reimbursement for the number of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and supplements served to enrolled children. Meals must meet the USDA minimum meal requirements. These meals are then reimbursed at rates based on the child’s eligibility for free, reduced price, or paid meals.

Daycare Food Programs Benefit Daycare Businesses

Participating in the CACFP helps enhance the diets of children up to the age of 12 by providing them with nutritious, well-balanced meals. According to studies, the CACFP develop s good eating habits in children that will last through later years. Studies also show that children who participate in the CACFP program have higher intakes of vital nutrients and fewer servings of fats and sweets than children in non-participating care.

Other benefits of participating in the CACFP are that your daycare business may receive:

• Food donations
• Technical assistance for food service operation program management, and recordkeeping
• One time start-up funds for your daycare home in some cases

Daycare food program Record Keeping

The CACFP requires the following records in order receive benefits:

• Facility license
• Enrollment form signed by a parent
• Daily menus including quantity served
• Daily attendance
• Number of meals by type served to enrolled children each day
• Verification of children’s eligibility category
• Civil rights data.

As a daycare provider, it is wise to invest in childcare software in order to keep track of the records necessary to receive food program benefits.

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Consider the following resources for free and for cost daycare and preschool forms:

Free Daycare Forms

Supporting Providers:  Free forms, pintables, articles, and much more for your daycare business. Forms include business forms, registration forms, contracts, policies, reports, logs, health and medical forms, and authorization forms.

Step By Step Childcare: Step by Step Childcare provides free accident reports, accounting reports, sample brochures and flyers, business cards, contracts, daily reports, and daily schedules.

The Daycare Lady:   A wealth of free daycare business forms in Microsoft Word or PDF format, organized alphabetically.

Tiny Treasures Child Care: Here you will find a free financial contract, illness policy, discipline policy, daily schedule, notice of animals on premises, and character analysis record form.

Child Fun: Provides field trip permission slips, daily reports, medical forms, application form, and a sample contract.

Brown Bear Educare:  parent registration forms, medical forms, accident/incident reports, illness reports, baby and toddler daily reports, health care policy and disaster plan.

Child Care Lounge:  Great sample forms for daycare businesses such as permission to photograph, parent survey,” welcome to preschool” and  “please donate” letter, late payment notice, accident report, termination notice, and daily report sheets.

For Fee Daycare Forms

OwnADaycare: When you purchase Pro Package the you receive 40 custom daycare business forms that match the included website templates along with 10 additional commonly used daycare forms.

Child Care Village: With membership, you will receive access to 20 different customizable business forms. This includes introduction to new parents, enrollment forms, attendance forms, health and safety records, permission slips, and financial record keeping forms.

Daycare Hotline: For one low fee, you can purchase 34 important daycare forms including Attendance Forms, expense and income ledgers, mileage logs, statements, permission forms, daycare contracts, interview checklist, authorization forms, accident reports, announcement form letter, calendar template, daily schedule, meal planner, mission statement, and emergency authorization forms.

Child Care Paperwork: offers a survival package which includes daycare forms. When you purchase the package you will receive a Day Care Forms, Contracts and Policies Package. You will also receive five videos that show you how to fill in 12 forms that could be complicated. The package also includes a daycare business plan template.

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Hours of Operation: List the days and hours your child care center will be open for business.  Also detail any holidays you will be closed or any other days that the child day care center will be closed, if applicable.

Fees and Payments:  State the fees per week or month. Be explicit about whether or not sick days, holidays and vacation days are paid days. Some things to consider and disclose: When are weekly and month fees due? What are the consequences if fees are unpaid? (Termination? Suspension? ) How much will you charge for returned checks? How many returned checks will you allow before the client must pay in cash?

Arrival and Pick-Up Policies:  State your cut-off times for pick-up. Establish your late fees for late pickups. Also explain that only pre-authorized persons may pick up a child and that verbal and written permission must be received before a child may be picked up by an unauthorized person.

Illness Policies: Your contract should include a statement that explains when a child is too sick to attend daycare and how long the child must be symptom free before returning to daycare. Also detail your procedures for your course of action when a child becomes sick in daycare. You will also need to have a separate medical consent form in place. Also note what by time the parents must notify you if their child will not be attending daycare due to illness.

Withdrawal and Termination: What are the grounds for termination? What type and length of notice do you require for withdrawal from your daycare center? List that information in this section.

Damages: Sometimes children purposely break household items, toys, and other child care equipment. Who will pay for damages beyond the normal everyday wear and tear (when a child purposes to cause damages)? Your contract should be explicit about who will shoulder the burden of damages and repairs.

Toy Policies: Are children allowed to bring their own toys to your daycare center? What about other personal items of comfort like pillows or stuffed animals? State your policy here.

Potty Training and Diapering Policies:  In this section, detail whether or not you potty train and what your potty training philosophy might be. Do you supply diapers or pull-ups? Is there an extra fees associated with potty training? Do you allow cloth diapers?

Subsidies:  Does your childcare center participate in federal government programs that offer daycare subsidies? If so, state that any fees that are not covered by the subsidy are the parents’ responsibility and that fees are payable in advance on the first of day of the month.

The client (parent or guardian) and the childcare provider must sign and date the form.  Give a copy to the client and keep copy for yourself.

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Liability Insurance: Liability insurance will protect you in the event you are sued for damages. These damages could include child injuries, pet injuries, accidents, personal injury (libel, slander), damage to your own property, and damage to the property of others. The amount of coverage depends on the particular policy you select. There are other types of liability insurance to consider such as sexual abuse and liability insurance, child abduction liability, special events liability (fieldtrips, fundraisers, etc.) and corporal punishment. Daycare liability can be stand alone or an endorsement on your homeowner’s insurance.

Accident Medical Insurance:  Accident medical insurance is insurance that pays children’s medical bills if they are injured at your facility or during activities you sponsor and the child has no insurance coverage of their own, or their bills exceeds their current medical insurance coverage. Markel Insurance Company contends, “You can think of Accident Medical insurance as a goodwill gesture—by paying a child’s medical bills now, you may be able to avoid a lawsuit later”.

Health Insurance: You may want to provide health insurance for your employees. Many of the basic health insurance plans for employees are those in which your employees directly reimbursed a fixed amount for the services they use most frequently like doctor’s office visits, urgent care, diagnostic tests, hospitalization, and emergency room treatment.

Worker’s Compensation: Many states require that you purchase worker’s compensation insurance if your daycare center has employees.  If you do not have worker’s compensation insurance you may be punished with fines or imprisonment. The good news is that workers compensation premiums are tax deductible as a business expense.

Daycare Business Insurance Resources:

Daycare Insurance Agency Websites

Day Care Insurance Services, Inc.

Morgan & Associates, Inc.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance

Castle Rock Agency, Inc.

Markel Insurance Company

Daycare Insurance Guides

Family Child Care Legal and Insurance Guide: How to Reduce the Risks of Running Your Business by Tom Copeland, JD and Mari Miller [Redleaf, 2004]. This guide is specifically for child care providers to help them with insurance planning and strategies to reduce their daycare business’ risks.

The Business of Childcare: Management of Financial Strategies by Gail H Jack [Delmar Cenage Learning, 2004].  This guide covers a wide variety of financial strategies including how to comparison shop for different types of daycare business insurance.

Consult with the local licensing, regulations, and laws by state to find the insurance requirements for childcare centers.

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When you are already ready to apply, you can now call up your licensing and planning department. It is important to know if they will allow you to open your own day care in your vicinity. Cases happen when people never really bother to ask and will then discover they have to close their business because of zoning bylaws. Of course you do not want this to happen to you.

If you have been allowed to do as you planned you must now proceed to your nest step. There are community colleges which offer courses on Early Childhood Education and Child Development. You will need these so that you will know how to deal with the children. There are certain departments which require you to take additional courses on child care so you need to comply with them. They may even recommend you to a school which offers a course suited to your needs. Besides from these educational courses, you need to obtain your own Child CPRS and First Aid Certificate. You should have your own since children are prone to accidents. It is important that you know how to take care of them in such events. Contact Red Cross and they can offer you with the proper training.

Get an insurance right away. You will need insurance for your business. Contact your insurance company and get an insurance that will include your business You need to insure your business and the children who enroll in your child care facility so make sure that you get the proper insurance.

Make a plan for your day care facility. It is very important to have an organized flow of daily activities for your day care. Make a set of policies which you and your staff will follow to ensure that you are running your business smoothly. You must be able to budget your time every day to ensure that the children are learning from your day care. You should make the most of each day with a number of activities that you have planned. From playing, studying napping and eating, each activity should have a schedule. A more organized day care will make it easier for you to reach your daily goals. You might want to refer to the internet since there are a lot of tips there which will help you in running your day care properly.

As the owner, it is important that you take care of your finances very well. You should have a financial plan that will make sure that they money you shell out will not be too much. Take note of all the expenses that you will need. Try not to make them too expensive. This will only cause you to incur losses rather than profit. So make sure that you monitor these things well. Planning your finances well will also help you in charging your customers. You don’t want to charge your customers with high fees because they might choose a cheaper day care. Make sure that you are charging the right amount for their services. This is why you need to make sure that your finances are really calculated.

You should be able to set up your day care facility depending on the number of children that you plan on accepting. You should be able to provide the right amount of free space for each child. If your day care is too crowded, you should rearrange the day care so that everyone has his own room to move. Besides from the space, you may need to ensure that your day care is safe for the child. The corners should be covered and sharp things should be kept away from them. This is very important since children are very explorative, you need to protect them from all the danger that they are exposed to.

When you are ready for operation, you need to make sure that you advertise your day care facility. You need to let the parents know that you are there to help them take care of their children. Do what it takes to let them know you exist. Post flyers, online, newspaper and bulletin ads about your day care. You do not have to spend so much on these things, just make sure that you are using effective advertising methods. You day care facility will make it big in no time.

See: How to start a daycare business

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Choose day care center wisely. Since you would be putting the care and security of your child in the hands of ‘strangers,’ it is important to choose carefully which day care center you will place your baby into. Make sure that the child care center you selected is highly reputable in giving child care and it has no any record of child abuses. Choosing the right day care center for your child is critical since this is where your child will learn communication skills, social skills through playing with other kids, and basic skills in math and English. Make sure that in day care your child has enjoyable and fun experiences.

Find some balance. You can make up for the time you leave your child in day care through slowing down the process of getting your child ready in the morning. While preparing for your breakfast, try to build much closer relationship with your child through talking to him, telling him short stories, and by just hugging and frequently kissing him while telling him how much you love him. Explain to him why you need to send him in day care and why you need to work. Tell him all the nice things he will learn and experience in day care. If he loves to sing, then sing with him. Also, tell him jokes as you both of you laugh together.

When it’s your time to drop your child off to the day care center, give him something that is special for him, like his comfort food or his favorite stuffed toy. It will not only make your child happy but it will also give him a sense of security while he is in the day care center.

See: How to start a childcare center

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