The Age Group Pattern
The age groups are arranged in the following manner…

- The babies ages ranges from newborn to a year old.

- The toddler age group ranges from a year old to three

- And the preschool age group ranges from three years old to five.

The good thing about these daycare activities is that they are different from one age group to another. Loud reading activities are very good activities. This is a good activity even when you do this at home because it requires the use if an illustration book which when the child sees, he will identify the words phonetically. Written are more the focus of children in the higher age groups. This will also allow you to interact with the child as you can already ask them to identify in spoken language what these words are. The trick here is to transfer some of the reading process to your child. And soon, your child will start recognizing the forms of the letters and to some extent the whole word. And when she is familiar with a certain word, you can point at it everytime you two encounter that word.

For every age group, the year starts with the listing if what the child has accomplished and what are the behaviours the child has developed. Then you can follow this with another list containing the things that you can do to help your child develop and learn more. Then again, you should always remember that different children learn at different rates and that the age grouping is just a guide.

There are a few tips in doing these activities. First, you have to integrate the element of fun when doing these activities with your child. You can do this by being energetic and enthusiastic about the activities. When the child feels the fun in doing the activity, then the learning will follow naturally. Second, you can do some activities that are designed for a specific age group with children in other age groups. And lastly, it is important that you look for activities that will spark the interest of your child. Do not pick out activities that the child finds difficulty in doing.

See: How to start a daycare center

Related posts:

• The following is a list of activities which can help children The following is a list of activities which can help...
• A Home Daycare Can Save You Extra Money There couldn’t be any nobler job than in having one...

1) The first activity aims to help children focus their attention to sounds through words. In doing so, children realize that words consist of sounds. In the process, the children engage themselves in learning how to read as they match the sounds they hear to the words written. Remember that the benefit of doing this activity is that this can actually prevent problems in reading which may possibly occur in the future. The things you need for this activity include nursery rhyme books, a compilation of tongue twisters, a set of word games or a collection of silly songs.

The following suggested activities can be done with the children. Just make sure that they enjoy them.

• Say the name of your child and then ask him to say the words beginning with a similar sound. For example, if her name is Karelle, make her say words such as kite, key and kiss. If his name is Marcus, you can ask him to say words like mouse, man and mat.
• Every time you read your child a poem or a story, have him listen to the words and give him examples of words beginning with a similar sound. Then, let him do the same by asking him to think and give you another word beginning with the same sound.
• Read out a nursery rhyme like “Jack and Jill” to your child. Play with the words in the nursery rhyme by asking your child to make up word such as “Back and Bill” or “Pack and Pill”.
• Make up silly lines with your child using many different words all beginning with similar sounds such as, “Billy bought blue baby bottles.”
• Give two names that can be used to name an animal. Ask which of the two names starts with the sound similar to that of the name of the animal. For instance, which should be a dog’s name, Dino or Lino? Should the cat be named Candy or Dandy?

2) The second activity aims to make the child understand what a poem or a story is all about. In doing so, the child becomes a better reader as he learns how to connect his emotion with the words written. The things that you must have in this activity are stories or poems written from the viewpoint of a child and also props like puppets and clothes used in children’s play.

• Slowly read a poem to the child. Make sure to read it the words with feelings, making it seem like they seem important.
• If the child has a favourite poem, make her act out the poem while making different faces for the different emotions that the poem’s character feels. Make sure to give her praises after performing.
• Ask your child to perform a poem in front of the whole family. Allot a time when the whole family can sit down together. After the child’ performance, ask her to take her bow while everyone is cheering and clapping loudly.
• Make the child play with her imagination by asking her to create an original play based on a story she has heard or read before. Give her the help that she needs in looking for things like a stuffed toy, puppet or whatever she can use in telling the story. You can choose to write the words down, or if she already can, help her do so. Help her set up the stage for her play for friends and the rest of the family to watch.

3) The third activity makes the child aware of the people important for him. Also, it can give him an overview about how one thing can lead to some other thing in the story. The first few of the suggested activities will more likely be enjoyed by younger children. As a child gets older, the activities in the latter part might be enjoyed by him more. Just keep making him do the first activities while he still enjoys doing them.

• Tell stories about your family and about others close to your family. You might capture your child’s interest more if you put the stories in books then you can add old pictures.
• Relate to your child your own childhood stories which can includes what happened on a particular birthday party or on an out- of- town trip.
• Let your child take his turn by also telling you stories on things that happened during special occasions like birthday and holidays.
• If you take a trip somewhere, create a journal where you and your child can write down your experiences. Add up photos of these experiences. You can pass on all of these to the next family generation. These trips don’t have to be out of town as they can even be at supermarkets or parks.

4) This last activity improves your child’s ability to both read and write. Here, you will be needing art materials such as drawing pencils, coloring materials, a pair of scissors, a yarn, a writing paper, a construction paper and a cardboard.

• Write together with the child. By watching how you write, the child learns to write better too. Make her understand that writing is very useful.
• On making birthday cards or just lists, let your preschoolers sign them her own way, even when they just scribble.
• Put up a message board in the kitchen for the whole family. Offer to be the one to write down his notes there. Make sure that she gets to read the notes for her.
• Have your child tell you stories which you can write down for her. Clarify to her the things that you do not understand.
• Push your child to start writing her name while you practice with her. Remember that at first, maybe the only thing she can write is her name’s first letter.
• Help your preschooler write thank you letters or just simple notes to friends and relatives. Convince them to write back to your child.
• By the time that he is already in kindergarten, your preschooler will start writing words based on how he hears them. For instance, if he hears the word friend, she might write it as frn or haf for the word have. Make him read what he wrote. You don’t have to mind the spellings yet since he can learn them later on.
• Help her in organizing longer stories by asking her questions.
• Compile your preschooler’s writings as books. Glue her drawings and her writings on sheets of construction paper. Using cardboard, make the cover for every book and then design it. Punch a hole in the sheets so you can bind her book using a yarn. Don’t forget to write a title for every book and your child’s name as the author.

All these activities aim to build the language skills of your children. But remember that there still are a number of ways to further your kid’s learning.

Related posts:

• Activities you should do in a daycare center My Books’ Home This is an activity for children from...
• Develop The Love Of Reading In Children As a parent, you would always want to ensure that...
• Daycare Center – Reading Aloud to Children In the revolutionary review “Becoming a Nation of Readers” of...

People, specifically parents, find this option advantageous because of different reasons. They think that relatives and friends will provide more sincere and secure care for their child. Also, they believe that these people will instill good family values to their child. Constraints like tight schedule and budget, problems on transportation sometimes lead parents to choose this kind of option.

Regulations in this kind of child care differ from state to state. Criminal history screening like child abuse checks, clearances, and minimal safety and health trainings are sometimes required by some. However, many have no strict regulations on this child care option.

2. Family Child Care. Child care provider’s home is the setting for this option. Sometimes, parents seek for referrals from trusted friends before availing of this. Parents find this beneficial for their child because of the environment that is home-like it offers and smaller number of children in it.

Compared to the option earlier described, states are stricter when it comes to regulation. Requirements are necessary like conformation to certain set standards on safety, nutrition and health; trainings before child care and alongside with it; passing certain inspections; and checking of criminal records.

3. Home-based Caregivers. In this child care option, caregivers stay in the home of the child to be taken care of. Examples of caregivers are housekeepers and nannies. Parents having several children find this more practical because one caregiver manage to handle them. They also find this option better because it is more convenient and they have more control on the safety, security, and caring to their child.

Some states apply minimal regulation on this type of child care, especially the placement agencies for home-based caregivers. Some also require subsidies for the caregivers, and also checking of criminal records, securing of clearances, and undergoing safety and health trainings. But most of the states do not pose regulations for this option.

4. Child Care Centers. Centers providing this type of child care cater to a much larger number of children. Parents who choose this kind of care believe that there is a higher level of safety and dependability because of greater state inspections and regulations and the integrity of the center. They also believe that learning will be better facilitated by greater number of staff, equipments, space and organization of activities.

Licensing, which depends on the state, is required to child care centers based on safety and health standards.

When it comes to evaluation of the child care provider your child is into, there are a set of criteria you should consider to gauge its quality. The criteria are listed below.

For general evaluation:
• practices on discipline
• enjoyment of children
• fulfillment of children’s needs for comfort
• license and conformation with regulations
• openness to surprise parent visits
• suitability of your child

For the evaluation of the caregivers:
• interest on caring for the children
• ability to reach out to the child’s level
• amiability
• quick accommodation of the needs of children
• safety skills like first aid, CPR, and others.
• education and training
• ability to cope with varying interest of children
• openness to questions and readiness to answer such
• reporting of the child’s progress
• openness to parents’ involvement
• acceptable staff-child ratio, whose standard is set by local experts

For the setting evaluation:
• conducive atmosphere
• manageability and safety of area and equipment
• enough space for all the activities

For the evaluation of activities:
• balance of activities
• appropriateness of activities to different age groups
• supply and safety of equipments

See: How to start a child care service

No related posts.

Unsafe Daycare Center Facility
Safety and security are two of the most important things in a daycare center. You have to be able to make sure that the location of your daycare is perfectly suited for children and that your daycare center would also be a good place where children can play around.

Is it Necessary to Get License for your Daycare?
Is it necessary to get license for your daycare? The very obvious answer is definitely yes. Although getting a license for your daycare center has both advantages and disadvantages, there are still far more advantages to it. Your daycare center can only be successful when you apply for a license. Remember were in this business to provide quality childcare, and to have longevity (no burnout).

1. Daycare license can protect you from several types of legalities.

2. Safety is of greatest importance to your daycare center. Promote the right rules and regulations for your daycare center.

3. Rules and Regulations for daycare licensing promote quality daycare.

4. Rules and regulations are there to protect the parent and their children. Parents who find providers who are licensed have greater trust in them.

5. Some states require you to be licensed to collect state aid payments or be a member of their food program- this equal’s more money for you.

Many providers do not have daycare licenses and do operate with numerous children in their care and from daycare licensing standards are over their numbers even if they had a license.

License is really important. It is especially important for you to know that the success of your daycare center actually rely on the quality of the services that you provide. Not only this, you daycare center needs to be able to pass or even surpass the standards set by your prospective clients and customers altogether as this is one thing that can determine the success of your business.

See: How to start a daycare center

Related posts:

• Avoiding the Biggest Mistakes in the Daycare Business Everyone who starts a home-based daycare business is always full...
• Daycare Center Licensing The first thing one must have before opening for business...
• Licensing Your Home Child Care If you are just new to the business of operating...

Trust no one. Most daycares are operated and owned by more than one person. To defray the cost of investment, someone who is thinking to put up a daycare business will automatically look for a partner. But there have been misfortunate cases that one embezzles what you two have painstakingly earned leaving you nothing but a burden to carry alone—that is tax debt. Technically, both of you will be liable for the tax debt but since your partner has already run off with the money, you are left alone to take care of your business’ tax debt. Now, how will you be bale to this if you do not have the money to settle your debt? How will be able to sustain your operations and keep the business?

Here are some things you can consider:

* Because you do not want what happened and with the reason that you have been the victim for having such an irresponsible partner, your tax debt can be lowered. Businesses which have been a victim of embezzlement or theft are given leniency by the IRS such as in the removal of your penalties. But since only 20 percent up to 30 percent can be deducted from your tax debt because of the removal of penalties, you are still mandated to pay for the rest of your tax debt.

* After you have already settled your tax debt, you should look at other means on how to avoid extra expenses in the business so that it will easier to pay your tax debt next time. Consider shifting to a home childcare business. You can save more money when you operate your daycare business in a home setting because you will no longer be spending much on equipment, among others. Your operational expenses when you run the business home-based will be cut down significantly.

* You can utilize your home resources for your daycare business and vice versa. You can save a lot because the two will actually be helping each other. You can also claim a part of your daycare business income to subsidize your expenses for food and mortgage.

By doing these, you have not only saved your business but you can also continue to give services to the children whom you truly acre for.

See: How to start a home daycare

Related posts:

• Daycare Home Business: Regulating Your IRS Every individual who is able to spend one whole day...
• Never Allow The IRS To Take Advantage Of Your Home Daycare Business The common belief is that the IRS looks at small...
• Daycare Activities That You Can Do At Home A Simple Introduction To Child Care At Home The activities...

What should a daycare contract stipulates
It is essential that when you draft a contract, you clearly set out the terms and conditions that apply when parents hire your services, the policies that must be religiously abided, procedures, and charging. Simply put, your contract must comprehensively state who are the parties involved, what services your business can and will render, at what price the services will be charged, duration of the contract, and how the stated services will be executed. Your contract should be clear and scrupulous to avoid misconceptions. This can also help you avoid complaints from parents who may not have understood your terms clearly.

Knowing what a contract must stipulate is important when you are drafting it. Initially, your contract must be based on your company’s mission. The specifics on what enrolments forms should you require, the number of days or hours that care will be provided, the needed supplies, and your policies on trial period and termination of services. In some cases, there are children who by some reasons can not adapt to the daycare environment and parents do have any choice but to opt out from the contract. This should be well taken care of in your contract.

Other important details that are often missed out when drafting a contract for daycare include: opening or operating hours, penalties for late payers, holiday closures, maximum number of children catered, ratio of staff to child, insurance, and license. Having knowledge on these details would save you from potential chaos.

Having specified your policies on these details, you can now draft your payment conditions. Spell out the particulars on how much you would charge, when the payment is due, what services are covered, non-attendance, onset of holidays, modes of payment and to whom payments should be given, your stringent policy on late fees, rate policy, and deposits or reservations terms. Detailing out on this matter can unbelievably save you from trouble! Money can be such a stressful issue between childcare providers and parents.

You can also include a general section in your contract that deals on matters pertaining to different rooms, programs offered, policies on why toys should be left at home, meals, changing of nappies, and policies on drop off-pick up routines. Some contracts may also incorporate your behaviour policy. This indicates what you do and what you don’t in certain situations. In toilet training for example, you may point out that parents’ role working together with your staff is really important.

A usually recurring and considerable big problem experienced in perhaps any daycare center is illness. Be clear in your policy for sickness and health of the children you care for. You surely do not want to be blamed for a child who goes sick while at your care, do you? Your policy on this matter should indicate the actions that you will employ when specific signs of illness will be observed. Naturally, having a contagious child roaming around your daycare center should not be the case. State that you will inform parents when a child is sick and that the child should be immediately picked up at a certain time frame. You should have a policy on medication administration for this including parents signing out a form.

Communication is a vital aspect in the relationship of the parents and the daycare provider. It is then important that you specify policies on how you could have an openline communication with parents and when meetings should be conducted. You might consider scheduling a regular chat with parents every night or an appointment may also be encouraged as needed for a more in-depth conversation about the child’s wellbeing. Another effective way to create a healthy communication line with parents is through the conduct of annual meetings. Doing this can patch up transgressions as soon as possible and can bring a deeper understanding of how each parties feel.

Being knowledgeable on what your contract should and must consist will save you from a lot of trouble. The contract will be an evidence that you have been specific in how your daycare center works in the first place.

Tuition rates for your daycare center: Ways in how you can institute
How much do you have and should charge parents who will hire your childcare services? There is this most important factor to consider—it would be on how much time parents want to leave their child for care.

Here are ways on how you could set up your pricing:

* Research on current trend in pricing. Know how much other daycare centers are charging. The internet is one effective way of doing this purpose. You can surf for how much daycare centers are charging parents. You may also go directly to daycare centers in your area and ask how much they are charging. This could be unethical to do sometimes because you are a competitor and you wouldn’t expect them to instantly divulge you their rates. You can pretend though that you are a parent who is just getting price quotations from different daycare centers. Your rates should at least be at par with the charging of daycare centers nearby you.

* Evaluate what programs your daycare center is offering that are unique from others. This can be a basis of how much you could charge.

* Based on your research, you can then establish a tuition rate for your own daycare center.

Remember though that your rate no matter how high or low should never ever sacrifice quality of service. With this, you can expect more business!

See: How to start a daycare business

Related posts:

• Creating Your Home Daycare Business Contract There are many things to consider once you have your...
• Avoiding the Biggest Mistakes in the Daycare Business Everyone who starts a home-based daycare business is always full...
• Dos and Don’ts in Starting a Daycare Center When starting a daycare center, you have to be well-decided...