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Childcare provider burnout is when an educator loses passion and energy for working with small children in daycare centers, but remains in his or her position in the field.  It is common in the daycare industry yet there are simple ways to combat daycare burnout.

We asked the OwnADaycare Facebook Fans: What are some things that daycare providers can do to relieve stress and “take a break”?  Here some great tips from our readers that help fight daycare burnout:

• I had a wonderful trainer tell me that I needed to take 15 minutes a day to do nothing…not reading, not watching tv, on the computer, phone. NOTHING except sitting. The days I do that, my day goes much smoother and I feel happier.
• I always take at least one day off during the month, especially when school starts i go and eat lunch with my son at his school and spend the day just taking care of me either just relaxing or going shopping, during the summer it seems harder for me to take time off because i have more kids.
• When I start feeling burn out, I step away from anything child care related during my off time. Read, relax, etc.
• I take a few personal days here and there. I just explain it like, when the parents want a day from work, they take one. When they want a break from kids, grandma takes them for a day, so it is only fair to allow a child care provider to do the same. It is one of the downsides against the MANY upsides of having a child in a family daycare. Also, I am addicted to walking. If I had a bad day, I walk once the children are gone and my husband gets home.
• Start your day with prayer. The day goes smoother and kids seem calmer.
• I make sure that I have 12 days off a year. 1 week vacation and 7 random days, usually around a holiday. Lots of times these random days turn into 3 day weekends. Also not being at full capacity all year long.
• I nap, and I vent by writing down stuff kids did that weren’t acceptable. And I do communicate to the parents some things they need to fix (well, present it nicely, like, a goal to reach, so the kid will know how to behave in front of others, sort of thing).
• I run every morning!! Works wonders!
• Even if you can’t take a day off a month, do try to take some time off once in a while. ALL of the parents do that….even teachers. Or close early once in a while. Tell them you have an appointment (they can imagine what that might be) and take some time to do something fun with your own kids or just by yourself. Then for times you can’t take some extra time, do something to work time for yourself into your time off….go for walks, take a zumba class, go out to dinner at a nice place. Or find relaxing things that don’t even take that much time. Find books you like to read and read at naptime or games like crosswords or suduko. The key here is to take care of yourself so you can take care of the kids!
• Little things throughout the day help me with burn out. During nap time I read the newspaper, get on FB, read a book, watch tv. Throughout the year I take lots of extended weekends, at least 4 weeks of vacation (paid & unpaid), observe all federal holidays and take personal days off. It’s in my contract so the parents like it or move on. I make no apologies and feel no guilt!
• I started taking a yoga class 2 or 3 times a week. It has helped a lot with my stress level and that hour of peace and quiet is so very soothing and rejuvenating, not to mention the flexibility I’m gaining. The yoga class taught me that it is just as important for me to schedule “Me Time” everyday as it is for the children to have healthy meals and engaging activities – we’re all happier in the end. I enjoy my yoga class, 1 hour/day, nearly every day, the bathroom is mine to share with some candles, a cheesy romance novel, some bubble bath and a glass of wine; every day I eat one ounce of smooth dark chocolate and every day I enjoy dinner with my family gathered around the table.
• I found that cleaning my house was hard to do and caused stress to get it done so I hired someone to come in and clean for me. You have more time to take a break in the afternoons and cleaning is not what you waste your weekends on. I also meet other caregivers in the park or at playgroups for a chat with an adult during the day. This helps to vent on a regular basis. Sometimes, I realize that I’m just stressed and that they are just kids being kids.
• Burnout is one of the most common problems in daycare. I get burn out all the time. I have found that it helps to not take on more than I can handle. I am here alone all day, no assistant, so I don’t take more kids then I can handle. I also found that taking time at nap time really does help, eat your lunch, read, watch my soap, play games on FB. Those things help me relax. Then about 1/2 hour before they wake, I get ready for the afternoon.
• One weeknight a month, I meet with another provider; we go out to a very nice dinner and talk about stressful stuff, ideas etc. We order dinner keeping in mind that we want leftovers the next day for our lunch during naptime. Many times we have so much fun!!! The wait staff usually ask us what our special occasion is… we reply.. no kids, work or spouses night. we are having a mommy time out. Plus we get such awesome service. One month we ended up with a huge discount and extra meals in a take home box& dessert we each paid only a bit over $5 plus a very nice tip.
• I hire a sub with a guarantee of 10 hours per week so if I need a break I can utilize her. Mostly she is used for dentist/doctors’ appointments but twice a year I go get my hair done.
• I was so burnt out but now I just tell the parents in advance what day I’m taking off and I got a helper that I can trust to watch few hours a week so I can get out of the house.

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Preparing to start a home daycare business can be intimidating. Here are some daycare licensing tips to help you get prepared to get your business up and running.

Health and Safety

Requirements for daycare licensing in the area of health and safety general include everything from basic hygiene to administration of medication. For example, Idaho’s Health and safety requirements for all child care facilities include: CPR and first-aid certification, communicable disease guidelines, immunization requirements, emergency communication requirements, fire code, food safety, dishwashing and sanitizing, indoor child areas, outdoor child area, diapering and toilet facilities, safety equipment, supervision, fencing, storage of medicine, water supply, hand-washing facilities, facility maintenance, pets, and indoor and outdoor safety.

Background Clearance and Criminal Records Exemptions

In many cases, fingerprint clearances are required for all adults who reside in the home and all adults prior to working in the home. In addition, the licensee’s children may also be required to be fingerprinted when they turn 18 years of age. Exemption may be needed for all crimes except minor traffic violations. In many states, the licensing agency and the licensee are required to inform those who ask if someone in daycare has a criminal record exemption.

Brainstorm Solutions to Daycare Licensing Issues

In most cases you will be given a pre-inspection checklist. Study your pre-inspection checklist carefully. Then create a worksheet that will allow you to list possible issues associated with passing the inspection. On one side of a sheet of paper, list the possible issues. Brainstorm ways to work around or fix the issue. On the other, side of the sheet, create space for possible solutions. As you look through your pre-inspection checklist, jot down realistic solutions. For example, your issue may be that your front yard is on a busy street and you have no fencing, but you can’t afford fencing. The solution might be to prohibit use of the front yard as a play area and instead use the backyard as the play area. You may notice that your cleaning products are stored low, beneath the kitchen sink. Your solution may be to store cleaning products on high shelves and/or put child locks on all kitchen cupboards and drawers.

Maintaining the Daycare License

Realize that in order to keep your daycare license you are responsible for complying with state in home daycare standards and regulations. This will mostly likely include areas like the supervision of children, condition of equipment and materials, child discipline, child to staff ratios, Sanitation practices, and Staff education and training development. Regulations will vary from state to state, but in order to keep the license, in home daycares must maintain a certain level of compliance history for a certain length of time. For example, in North Carolina, programs must maintain a compliance history of 75% for the past 18 months or the length of time the facility has operated. In addition, most licensing agencies will follow up and record your compliance history and annual unannounced site visits are conducted to evaluate compliance.

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Daycare providers play a special role in toilet training. Success with toilet training in the preschool or daycare environment is dependent upon a child’s developmental readiness. We interviewed Dr. Dr. Judith Goldstein, pediatrician at Global Pediatrics in New York to get some valuable toilet training tips for daycare providers.

OwnADaycare:  Some daycares use potty training chairs, while others discourage their use. What is your opinion?

Potty training chairs are particularly good for children just starting to be potty trained, because they’re extremely stable, easy to use and don’t require any climbing or flushing. Moreover they can be fun, sin ce there are different types, some that play a tune, or others that feature cartoon characters. Potty chairs with a wide base that won’t tip over and with handles to hang on to, give a child a greater sense of comfort and security. They also offer the advantage that the child’s feet touch the floor which helps them increase the pressure during bowel movements. On the negative side, however, these seats do have to be emptied and cleaned.

The other choices are toilet adapters that fit over the big toilet and make the toilet seat smaller. They may be more difficult to use for children during the early stages of toilet training and may also be frightening because of the bigger opening, the taller height and the flushing process, which some children are frightened of. For better usage these seats require a stool or a ladder to climb up on.

The wisest choice is probably to start out with a potty seat and then to transition to the toilet adapter seat, since ultimately that is the goal to be reached in the training process.

Ultimately however it really doesn’t matter which seat one chooses, as long as the child is comfortable with it.

OwnADaycare: There are many books available on the topic of how to train a child in 1-3 days. In your opinion, is this possible?

Dr. Goldstein: The answer to this question does depend in part on what is defined as .

From times immemorial it was claimed by parents that they were able to toilet train their 6 months old or their one year old child. In fact, all they did was hold the child over a potty either after a meal, or when they recognized signs such as facial expressions or pushing as signals of being ready to go to the bathroom, and eventually achieved what was no more than a conditioned reflex: an association, like a Pavlovian reflex, between having the diaper removed and being placed on top of a potty. Certainly this does not qualify as toilet training in the sense of physiologic, emotional or cognitive awareness and control.

More to the point, toilet training can in fact be achieved in 1-3 days in older children, who give all the signals of readiness as mentioned at the beginning and whose parents take this on as a full-time 3 day project, in which they monitor every one of their child’s movements. The way to approach this is for the parent to take off a 3 day weekend, preferably at the right season, when the child is allowed to go around at first with no diapers and then with pull-ups. The whole process should be presented to the child as a “special game” and should be carried out with great enthusiasm. The child should be explained every step in this “game”, and special prizes should be pulled out. “Just like mommy and daddy” are good incentive phrases, while also physically demonstrating how the same sex parents goes.

Even though this “crash course” may work, there may be many regressions and certainly though this may work during the day, nighttime training may still be many weeks or months away.

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Daycare providers play a special role in toilet training. Success with toilet training in the preschool or daycare environment is dependent upon a child’s developmental readiness. We interviewed Dr. Dr. Judith Goldstein, pediatrician at Global Pediatrics in New York to get some valuable toilet training tips for daycare providers.

OwnADaycare: If you could provide 5 tips for successful toilet training in daycare or preschool, what would they be?

Dr. Goldstein:

Toilet training should be a stress-free process. Here are some tips for successful training:

l. Create a reward system.

Some popular favorites include stickers, or a reward chart, honor badges or just offering the child pull-ups as a celebration of a new milestone. A reward chart can be combined with the sticker system, such that after three stickers on the chart, the child gets a small toy. Reward systems must not be used just for major accomplishments, but for smaller occasions as well, such as letting the caretaker know when it’s time to go, or sitting on the potty or pulling on the pants alone, or any other step involved in a process that on the average takes about 8 months. Rewards however don’t always have to be tangible, they can be non-verbal or verbal as well, such as high-fives, hugs or a special hand shake or just saying “good job” or “I’m so proud of you”, or “wait till I’ll tell mommy and daddy”.

2. “Show and Tell”.

Caretakers may capitalize on a young child’s desire to imitate.  If a baby or child has a teammate in daycare or preschool who is more advanced in the training process, that child can watch another child go potty and the caretaker can explain what is happening. That frequently helps clarify the process to young children and helps them feel motivated to achieve the same goal.

3. Playacting

One useful device is a doll that wets to model the toilet training. The baby then sees where the “pee” comes from and can playact by removing the doll’s diapers, place the doll on the potty seat, change the doll’s diapers, remove and empty the toy potty into the toilet and then flush the toilet.

4. Potty Time Chart

It may be helpful for caretakers to record for a week or two the times ofthe day when the baby or child has a bowel movement. If, for example it happens consistently after breakfast, putting him on the potty each day at that particular time would help. If on the other hand there is no pattern, then putting the baby on the potty seat every two hours or 20-30 minutes after a meal might work. Providing the child with a book or some crayons and paper, may keep his attention and allow him to sit on the potty for a  longer time than he otherwise would.

5. Learning Materials.

Potty training books and videos are one of the better ways to introduce a child to potty training. When done in group settings it also opens the stage for conversation.

Some favorites include: “Bye, Bye Diapers,”, “I Can Go Potty”, “I Have to Go”, “I’m a Potty Champion”, and “Once upon a Potty”.

OwnADaycare: What are some guidelines that might help parents and child care providers communicate effectively and stay on the same page with respect to toilet training?

Dr. Goldstein:
As mentioned previously, consistency in both the approach to training and in the rewards instituted is key in the success of this venture. While rewards are encouraged, food as a reward should be discouraged in either setting, since it sets up the association in the child’s mind, that every good deed is followed by a snack.

Additionally, if the parents or caretakers find that one particular treat or small prize motivates a child more than any other, it is reasonable to share this and thus further heighten the consistency of motivation. If on the other hand one of the observations is that a particular reward no longer works, that information should be shared as well and a new motivational factor introduced.

Another important group of observations to share is what signals the child gives that he or she may be ready to go to the potty. If a child starts wiggling or grabbing the diapers, that may be a sign of wanting to or being aware of the desire to urinate. On the other hand some children retreat into a corner or behind a couch and squat, while having a bowel movement. They may also grunt, cross their legs, peer at the diaper bulge, etc. All of these observations when they arise, should be communicated from parents to caretakers and vice versa.

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Daycare providers play a special role in toilet training. Success with toilet training in the preschool or daycare environment is dependent upon a child’s developmental readiness. We interviewed Dr. Dr. Judith Goldstein, pediatrician at Global Pediatrics in New York to get some valuable toilet training tips for daycare providers.

OwnADaycare: What are some of the developmental signs of toilet training readiness?

Dr. Goldstein:

Toilet training is as much of an art as it is a science. Not all babies are ready to be trained at the same time, just as not all parents are ready for the training process in a uniform fashion. While there are some objective signs of toilet training readiness, they too depend on the child’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive development.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics “Guide to Toilet Training”, the following are the signs to look for in determining a child’s readiness:

• Your child stays dry at least two hours at a time during the day or is dry after naps
• Bowel movements become regular and predictable.
  • Facial expressions, posture or words reveal that your child is about to urinate or have a bowel movement.
  • Your child can follow simple instructions
  • Your child can walk to and from the bathroom and help undress.
  • Your child seems uncomfortable with soiled diapers and wants to  be changed
  • Your child asks to use the toilet or potty
  • Your child asks to wear big-kid underwear

OwnADaycare: What is the role of the daycare provider/preschool teacher in toilet training?

Dr. Goldstein:

Most children are physiologically able to be toilet trained till approximately l8-24 months, while some may not be ready until 30 months or older. And even if they’re ready developmentally, they must be emotionally willing and fighting the process or show signs of fear.

Daycare providers or preschool teachers must be sensitive to a child’s level of readiness just as is the case in a household setting. The added advantage of a group setting though is that other children who are more advanced in the process may serve as role models, which in turn gives the less prepared child an incentive and motivation to follow their older or more mature peers.

Through role modeling children learn how to imitate actions and thus gain in self-esteem. This process is particularly helped by words of encouragement and praise by the care providers in daycare or preschool. Children thrive on positive reinforcement.

What is perhaps most important, is that parents and child care providers discuss their approaches to the potty training process and be entirely consistent in their approach.

Thus toilet training becomes a partnership between the child’s readiness and the collaboration of family and caretakers in maintaining a consistent. cheery, motivating and empathetic approach.

Also, caretakers should be direct though casual in their approach and use easy words in directing the child, such as “go potty”, or “go pee-pee” or “poo-poo”. As children become more verbal, they should be given proper names for their anatomical parts, such as “penis” and “vagina” and these words should be used comfortably, without any implication of these parts being different from any other body parts.

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As part of our Interviews with Daycare Business Owners series, we interviewed Robin L. Inman of My Other Mother’s in Concordia, MO

OwnADaycare: Please describe your childcare business. When and why did you start your daycare/childcare business?
Robin Inman: I am the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family.  From the time I was almost 4yo I had baby cousin after baby cousin to feed, change and play with.  My first paying job was when I went next door for about 45 minutes to watch a sleeping toddler.  I was 8 and got paid $1.  I babysat all through my school years, then went to live with my aunt to care for her girls, had my first child and went into a home to care for my child and their 3.  I have kept children in my home ever since, moving a few times and starting from scratch each time.  In 1997 I got licensed and went all out for 10 years.  My own kids are now grown. I have cut back to being a registered provider and keeping 4 infants/toddlers only.

OwnADaycare: What is the best bit of advice that you can give a new child care business owner?
Robin Inman: a. Have written policies!  Lots of them!  b. Use the “Pay before you stay” policy.  c. Don’t take it personal if you and a family don’t fit and they choose someone else for the care of their children.  It is probably going to save you a lot of stress.  d. You can’t save every child.  Sometimes it is best for all to tell a parent they need to go someplace else now.

OwnADaycare: What special considerations do you have to take when working with infants?
Robin Inman: More indoor time due to napping and non perfect weather conditions.

OwnADaycare: How do you set your fees? What are your policies for non paying clients?
Robin Inman: My rates are along with everyone else in my town.  My hours are based on the state pay policies.  Not my top choice, but easier on all to have only one set for everybody.  Pay before you stay!  I have taken several to court and won every time, but it is hard to collect.

OwnADaycare: What is your marketing strategy? How do you maintain enrollment and/or find new clients?
Robin Inman: I advertise very little.  Word of mouth is best.  My church has a center that does not take infants so we work together on referrals.  I take the baby siblings and then they get them back at age 3.  I’m right around the corner from them and this has been working very well for all for several years now.

Bio: Robin L. Iman is a 40 year old single mother of two grown children.  She has been babysitting her entire life, becoming much more professional at it after becoming licensed and attending CDA training.

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Owning and operating a daycare business can be a huge task worthy of special considerations. In our interview with Susan Cooper, M.Ed., early child development expert and member of Applied Scholastics International, Cooper provides sound advice for those interested in starting a daycare business and guidance for success.

OwnADaycare: If you could warn someone who is starting a daycare about a few mistakes to avoid when starting a home daycare business, what would they be?

Cooper: One big mistake is to think that you can use a house for the daycare business that is not the house you live in.  I have seen people do that and set up a pretend bedroom only to eventually get caught.

If you are using your home, a mistake you can make is thinking you can use all of it.  Decide what rooms and bathroom you want to use for the daycare business and then don’t use them for anything else but the daycare business.  You will find it a lot easier than trying to use the same area for the daycare and for your own family use.

Another mistake is not realizing you will be on the job from early morning to late evening.  Remember, people will stop at your house and expect you to be working, hours before they have to be at work.  And after they finish work, it may take them hours to get to you, so you still have to be on the job.

OwnADaycare: Could you provide a few useful tips for setting up a home child care business?

Cooper: One useful tip is to try to use as many paper and disposable products as possible.  It’s not that great for the environment unless you recycle but it really helps with cleanliness.  Use paper towels in the bathroom instead of towels.  Use paper towels to wipe the tables clean, much better than sponges.  Use disposable paper plates and utensils and then just toss them when the kids are done. (Why?)

The best way to disinfect anything, toys, tables and floors is just a little bleach in water.  It could cause a problem on carpets and clothes but it’s real cheap to use and does the job better than anything else on hard surfaces.

OwnADaycare: What are some things that you attribute to your success as a home daycare business owner?

Cooper: I supervised about 125 of them.  The successful ones were the ones who honed in on what they were passionate about and delivered that service.  For example, one had only organic foods and a small garden for the kids to care for. Another one had a whole room devoted to art and art supplies. And another one had a huge 6 seat stroller and did walking field trips almost every day. I also utilized proven learning methods developed by L. Ron Hubbard on how children discover and integrate new skills whether their gross motor skills or cognitive skills.

OwnADaycare: Any additional suggestions?

Cooper: Get yourself a daycare license. It really is important to follow the laws.  Also, join an association of family childcare providers.  You will learn what the best practices are that way and you find that you become even more successful by implementing those best practices.

Interview with Susan Cooper conducted in May, 2010.

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As part of our Interviews with Daycare Business Owners series, we interviewed Cindy Vess of Vess Daycare in Topeka, Kansas.

OwnADaycare: When and why did you start your childcare business?
Cindy Vess: I started on 1980, because that’s what I had chosen to do for a living, not just to stay at home with my own but to offer quality childcare to the working community.

OwnADaycare: When did you start teaching record keeping and tax class for providers in Topeka, Kansas?
Cindy Vess: I started teaching taxes about 6 yrs ago after I took Tom Copeland’s “Train the Trainer” course on record keeping & taxes.

OwnADaycare: What is the best bit of advice that you can give a new child care business owner?
Cindy Vess: Be sure of what you want, having a clear policy book and contract with termination clause for both you and the family.

OwnADaycare: What are some of the basic forms a child care service must keep in a child’s file?
Cindy Vess: What the state tells you to keep, emergency health form, copy of contract, transportation papers, off premises signed by parent.

OwnADaycare: What kinds of basic information should child care business owners keep for their tax records?
Cindy Vess: Keep all food receipts unless they are using the tier 1 rate, but you still need to keep records of paper goods and other expenses, you will use schedule C, 8829, keep track of hours in the home that you do things for the daycare children, internet looking for activities, cleaning, talking to another provider, cooking during the weekend for dc (not during dc hours) you will keep track of all hours doing things for the daycare.

OwnADaycare: Can you provide a few basic tax tips to our OwnADaycare readers?
Cindy Vess: KEEP ALL YOUR RECIEPTS, CLAIM ONLY THE CHILDREN YOU HAVE, CLAIM ALL FOOD MONEY YOU RECIEVE FROM THE FOOD PROGRAM AND ADD TO IT IF YOU SERVE A MORNING SNACK, the IRS will let you claim 6 meal and snacks, BUT you better keep track of the meal and snacks you serve, if you are on a food program that won’t be hard, the best and most complete piece of advice is look into minutemenu.com. I feel it is the best recordkeeping program out there, user friendly.

Bio: Cindy Day/Vess grew up in Henrietta, New York, took nursery school training in high school vo-tech, and then moved to Kansas 1974. She was married in 1977. Cindy has two grown boys and has at various jobs including a hospital nursery. Cindy started doing childcare care in her first home in Oct 1980 for 19yrs, then moved to a newer home and has lived there for 11 yrs. Cindy is a  NAFCC accredited provider and CDA certified, still committed to giving quality care.

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One important duty of childcare centers and preschools is to prepare children to enter preschool. Is your child preschool ready?

In this interview with Stacey Kannenberg, co-author of the award winning, California and Texas Approved books Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!, discusses signs of kindergarten readiness.

OwnADaycare: What is kindergarten readiness?  Is there a best age to start kindergarten?

Kannenberg: I believe age 5 is the best time to start Kindergarten.  It might not always work that way due to late birthdays. But I also believe parents and preschool or daycare teachers can start getting children ready for Kindergarten as early as age 2.  Children at a young age can start to learn their colors, shapes, numbers and the alphabet.

OwnADaycare: What are some signs of kindergarten readiness that parents and educators should look for with respect to concept, physical, number, language, reading, and writing development?

Kannenberg:

• Concept development – children will be tested on basic shapes, colors, the numbers 1-10 and the alphabet mixed up
• Physical development – children should be able to use the bathroom, independently as well as able have good motor skills
• Social and emotional development – Share, take turns, answer questions with more than a yes or no response
• Number concept – be able to recognize numbers out of sequence, count objects to 10, start to count toward 100
• Language – Children should be able to talk in complete sentences and hold a conversation with an adult and answer in more than just a yes or no response.
• Writing and reading – Children should be able to focus along while someone is reading them a picture book as well as writing their first name.OwnADaycare: Are preschool readiness programs necessary or advisable?

Kannenberg: Yes!  As part of its $100 million, 10-year investment in school readiness, PNC Financial Services Group commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a national survey to measure the opinions of teachers, parents, U.S. Congress and more regarding this issue. Some interesting top-line points include:
A child’s readiness to start school as a Kindergartner is paramount for success – not only in school, but in life.

• 56 percent say U.S. youngsters are not very/not at all prepared with basic skills, like counting and spelling their name, when they enter kindergarten.

• The primary weakness here is that only 2 percent of parents say their own child was not very/not at all prepared with the basics.

• Both  parents and teachers associate some clear benefits of having a child who is  ready to learn entering kindergarten versus one who is not as well prepared to  learn, including:
  • More likely to  attend college
  • More likely to have  greater self-confidence as adults
  • More likely to earn  higher income
  • Have lower rates in  social problems, such as teenage pregnancy and welfare dependency

Today, 38 states are talking about all day 4 year old Kindergarten programs.  We have a crisis in education and will continue to have one until parents, preschool teachers, Kindergarten teachers and kids are all on the same page.  How can we empower parents to be involved in education if we are not sharing with them the information that their children will be tested on until after they are already tested.  It’s like building a foundation without providing the blueprint.

OwnADaycare: In your opinion, can a child who has never attended preschool be as successful in kindergarten as a child who has attended preschool?

Kannenberg: Absolutely!! The parent is the first and foremost teacher and if that child has been preparing for school at home and has good social and motor skills, Kindergarten will a successful first year of school.

OwnADaycare: Any additional comments or tips?

Kannenberg: Yes, here are those 7 Things Kindergartener’s Need to Know and will be tested on within the first month of Kindergarten with the results shared with parents at their first parent/teacher conference:

1. The upper case alphabet out of sequence or mixed up.  Kids will be asked to name the letters listed, such as: B, D, X, K, J, M, O, etc.

1. The numbers to 10, out of sequence or mixed up.  Kids will be asked to name the letters, listed, such as:  2, 5, 9, 8, 1, 3, 4, etc.
2. Kids will be asked to identify basic colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple
3. Kids will be asked to identify basic shapes: circle, diamond, rectangle, triangle, oval and square
4. Kids will be asked to identify basic coins: penny, nickel and dime
5. Kids will be asked to count objects to 10
6. Kids will be asked how far they can count to 100.

As the year progresses, kindergarteners will need to know both upper and lower case letters and numbers to 30, out of sequence.  More colors and shapes will be added including hexagon and octagon and more coins such as quarter and dollar.  Children need to know their name, address and phone number and be able to get dressed for outside play and use the bathroom independently, to make that first year a success!

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A key duty for parents that plan to enroll their children to daycare centers is to get acquainted with the compass of activities, standards, safety of the facilities, and their reputation as a learning center. No one really needs to spend a fortune just to be sure that the daycare center they enroll their children in is top calibre. What is more important is the focus, the individuality, the learning experience, the attention the daycare facility can give your children. This can be given by just a daycare center in your very own neighborhood.

One major problem when encouraging your child to enter a daycare center is Separation Anxiety. It would be helpful if you train your child early to calm down whenever you are away. To better prepare your child to the daycare center set-up, place the child in the custody of another family member or a babysitter whenever you go away. This will also reward you with more time to accomplish your own needs. However, when you are with the child, reward him or her with love, care and recognition. Parents must be sensitive to how the child reacts to the change in his routine and environment. Do not be afraid to ask other parents what worked for them and stray away from those with bad reputation.

Society has lined up for us parents many services that will really help us ensure that our children are growing and developing normally and well. Child specialists have spent many years studying how children grow and develop. They also know by experience what works and what does not. In choosing the appropriate daycare center, ask these child specialists of there are institutions that they can recommend. A personal visit to the daycare center will also give you valuable information and background what kind of services they offer.

It will also be helpful if you bring along your child as you go through your ocular survey of the day care center facilities. This will help your child familiarize himself and adapt to the environment he will be spending most of his days.

Interact with the same people that your child will be meeting almost everyday. Be firm yet kind in dealing homesickness and you will be surprised by how fast children can adapt especially in the presence of new found friends and playmates.

Children of young age can be very ritualistic meaning they hold on to meaningful objects and practices of earlier stages of development just to feel safe and secured whenever faced by a threatening situation such as a new environment. Understanding this, parents may want to let their children bring with them probably a favorite toy or a favorite blanket. This will help ease the stress the child is feeling and facilitate the change of environment from home to day care.

See: How to start a daycare center

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