Own a Daycare Blog » daycare business management http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:32:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 How the Economy has Affected Daycare and Childcare Businesses http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-the-economy-has-affected-daycare-and-childcare-businesses http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-the-economy-has-affected-daycare-and-childcare-businesses#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:20 +0000 csnuggs http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/?p=1305 Owners of daycare centers, family daycares, and preschools are feeling the effects of our declining economy.  While every childcare business is different news articles state that daycare enrollment rates have decreased as unemployment increases. This causes childcare center owners to lay off staff or cut staff hours and reduce services.

OwnADaycare asked childcare center owners and daycare business owners about how the economy affects daycare businesses to shed some light on the reality of the situation. Responses varied:

“The primary effect of a declining economy on child care providers is declining enrollment.  Child care providers who were once full, and in some cases with a waiting list, now have to spend additional time and energy marketing their schools to maintain enrollment.  Additionally, controlling costs without sacrificing high-quality programs and faculty is vital to remaining profitable.  Schools should ensure that they remain involved in their communities and look for innovative ways to be the first preschool thought of by local parents,” says Joseph Schumacher, CEO of Goddard Systems, Inc.

“In my view, day care centers have been affected by the recession less than many businesses.  Child care is a necessity for families with working parents.  Even unemployed parents often feel strongly that their children attend preschool.  Unemployed parents may cut back their child’s schedule, but generally do not have their child stop completely.  The closer a child is to kindergarten, the more likely parents strive to keep their child in a program.  Unemployed parents also need time to job hunt and will often keep their children in preschool to create that time and maintain a continuity for the children,” explains Jann Rudd, owner of Lily Pond Country Day School in Rivervale, New Jersey.

“The most obvious effect of a declining economy comes when parents actually lose their jobs.  It is difficult for parents to afford the cost of child care when one or both parents are out of a job.  We are finding that parents who appreciate the value of a quality preschool education will chose to enroll their children on a part-time basis vs. full time care.  Kids R Kids has been able to avoid laying off any of our teachers or management in this economy.  We are acutely aware that layoffs have occurred in our industry where school enrollment might be down,” says Julie Moye, co-owner of Kids ‘R’ Kids preschools in Cary, Morrisville and Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Parents struggling financially usually consider part-time daycare, co-op child care, or search for less expensive family daycare. If your childcare center has struggled because of our economic downturn, it is important to strive to maintain quality programming in order to keep the clients you currently serve.

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]]> http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-the-economy-has-affected-daycare-and-childcare-businesses/feed 0 How to Balance Work and Home Life: Interview with Lesley Pyle Part 2 http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-to-balance-work-and-home-life-interview-with-lesley-pyle-part-2 http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-to-balance-work-and-home-life-interview-with-lesley-pyle-part-2#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:00:45 +0000 csnuggs http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/?p=1254 Related posts:]]> Balance work and home life can be challenging. Men and women with home based businesses and young children are faced with the challenge of juggling the tasks involved in maintaining their career and successfully running a household.

This issue is one that many daycare providers or those that own childcare centers face.  Fortunately, there are many strategies that can help maintain this balance successfully. Lesley Pyle, founder and president of the National Association of Home-Based Working Moms describes the pros and cons of being a stay at home parent in part 2 of this informative interview.

OwnADaycare: What are some pros and cons of being a stay at home parent versus being in the workforce?

Lesley Pyle: Staying at home has the obvious advantage of allowing moms to be there for her children, having time to do things for your family and your home. You also have the advantage of being the one who has more input into developing your children’s values and morals. You are able to save money on childcare, gasoline, clothing, etc. On the downside, you are sacrificing your ability to earn a salary, business skills may suffer and you likely will have less adult interaction.

Being in the workforce has the opposite pros and cons. Moms who have a job are able to bring in income. They also are not able to spend as much time with their children and give up some ability to shape their morals and values.

For many moms like me, the solution is working from home. The biggest advantage I’ve found is the freedom and flexibility to create my own schedule. I’ve been working from home for over 13 years and have found it the perfect solutions.

Some benefits of working from home are:

  • Freedom and flexibility to create my own schedule.
  • Contribute to our family’s income.
  • Keep up on business skills.
  • Have more time with my kids and play a bigger role in their upbringing.
  • Have an outlet for creativity and adult interaction.
  • Less driving helps the environment and traffic issues.
  • Save money on gasoline, clothes, child care, dining out, etc.

Drawbacks of working from home for Parents

  • It takes time and patience to establish a routine that works for a person, their family and their home business.
  • Balancing kids & business or job needs without neglecting either
  • Constantly re-evaluating the situation and deciding if you need help, etc.

Benefits of working from home for kids:

  • More time with parents
  • Being there all the time for your kids, growing and bonding with them every day and helping shape their values and beliefs.
  • Ability to attend to family’s needs easier (kid’s sick, school functions, etc.)

Drawbacks of parents working at home for kids:

  • Parents can get consumed by their job or business and forget why they are working from home
  • Lots of busy things going on; juggling for parents

Part 1 of the interview with Lesley Pyle can be found here.

Lesley Pyle, MSc is the Founder & President of HBWM.com, Inc. Network; Home-Based Working Moms and can be found at http://www.HireMyMom.com and http://www.HBWM.com.

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]]> http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-to-balance-work-and-home-life-interview-with-lesley-pyle-part-2/feed 0 How Daycare Software Helps Child Care Businesses http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-daycare-software-helps-child-care-businesses http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-daycare-software-helps-child-care-businesses#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:32 +0000 csnuggs http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/?p=961 Related posts:]]> Child care software can be a lifesaver for daycare business owners. Child care software allows child care providers to manage administrative duties, thereby increasing efficiency and client satisfaction. The most important administrative duties childcare software can help manage are the following:

Create, Manage, and Retrieve Client Records

The software should allow you to quickly register families into your child care center.  Daycare software should allow you to create sorted lists of clients and should be fully searchable. The software should provide you with an option for uploading or scanning in your own custom forms. From a client’s record, you should be able to email or bill.  Daycare software can track attendance and allows you to easily create attendance reports like attendance summaries, attendance analysis, and class summaries and analysis. Quality daycare software should also allow you to upload pictures of the family and those authorized to pick children up.

Financial Functions

Daycare software manages billing and accounts receivable, which can be the most tedious of child care jobs. Look for software that allows you to make electronic payments and has automatic client billing. This means it will automatically generate based on child attendance and the rates your daycare business has established. Quality daycare software helps you bill clients for child care and day care tuition charges along with additional fees for supplies and activities then automatically bills clients based on your preferences: weekly, bi-monthly or monthly. One of the best functions of childcare software is that it allows you to use EFT payments. This saves a great deal of time because you can schedule ACH and credit card payments from clients’ accounts.

Manage Staff

The business of daycare can be hectic. Along with the records of the children you serve you are responsible for staff and their records. Childcare software helps manage staff schedules and training along with hours worked, including sick time and vacation time.

Manage Supplies and Inventory

Daycare software helps manage the status of items like toys, office equipment, damaged and stolen items, and subscriptions. This saves loads of time for your child care resource center.

There is a wide variety of child care software available for purchase on the internet.  Try performing a search for “child care software” or “daycare software”. The best way to select childcare software is by analyzing your daycare needs against the features list of the childcare software.  Once you have a few in mind, take advantage of the free trials that many childcare software companies offer to see if the software is a fit for you and your child care business.  In addition, remember that quality daycare software should offer customer support in a wide variety of formats.  Childcare software should at the very least offer you online support, telephone support, and an online searchable knowledge base.

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]]> http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/how-daycare-software-helps-child-care-businesses/feed 0 Daycare Injury and Accident Reports: Protect your Daycare Business http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/daycare-injury-and-accident-reports-protect-your-daycare-business http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/daycare-injury-and-accident-reports-protect-your-daycare-business#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:00:48 +0000 csnuggs http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/?p=828 Related posts:]]> A large part of managing a successful daycare business involves keeping and maintaining records. One of the most important daycare forms or daycare records is the Accident Report Form.

The accident report form documents and helps keep track of injuries that happen while a child is in your care. It is a simple practice and a vital communication tool. It that helps keep parents informed of even simple injuries and accidents and helps protect your daycare business in the case of potential lawsuits.

Common Daycare Injuries

Children can get injured while performing simple, everyday tasks – even while just walking or running. The most common types of injuries in daycare are:

Accidents involving toys and equipment: Even though you have selected toys and equipment that is age appropriate and safe, accidents still naturally occur when children play with toys and playground equipment. Children can fall off of or get hit by swings and sometimes toys can be defective. Studies show that most injuries occur on the play-ground and that about more than half of fractures and concussions are due to falls from climbing equipment.

Accidents involving other children: Accidents that occur between two or more children must be reported. Children’s injuries with other children usually involve poking, hitting, pinching, throwing objects, and colliding with each other.

 

Injuries involving food: Food-related daycare injuries occur when children choke on food or have allergic reactions to food. Injuries involving food borne disease should also be documented. E. coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Campylobacter, Shigella, Norovirus, and Listeria are common pathogens which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and even death.

Daycare injuries can range from simple injuries like cuts and scrapes to severe injuries include broken bones, head trauma, bruising, scarring, burns, and sprains.

Creating an Accident Report Form

  • The accident report should include:
  • Name and address and phone number of your daycare business
  • The date and time of the accident
  • The child’s name and age
  • The parents name and contact information
  • The number of children involved in the accident
  • The place the accident occurred, the nature of the injury, and the action taken.
  • Who was notified that the accident occurred and when, i.e., 911, a parent, a physician.
  • Transportation used if applicable (an ambulance for example)

A copy of the accident report should be put in the child’s cubby or backpack so that the parent’s can see the form before they leave your daycare center. The parent and the daycare provider (or teacher and director) must sign and date the form. You will have to add wording to the document in order to specify if the parent is signing off to acknowledge receipt of the document OR to acknowledge that they agree with the facts as presented.

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