Hi,
Do you ever wonder how other home daycare providers run their home daycares. Is there anything you could learn from them?
Why not get together with some other home daycare providers and work together by looking at what each other does.
I’ve just been reading an article on this subject which is very interesting.
Here it is:
National Network for Child Care’s Connections Newsletter
Emily Johnson
Assistant Professor
University of La Crosse, Wisconsin
Mary has been a family day care provider for five years. She has lived in two different homes. Each was limited in space for both her business and her family things. She often wondered how others home providers organized their time and space. Then she attended a “Parade of Family Day-Care Homes.” She soon learned that other providers had many of the same problems. She also discovered that many had come up with creative solutions to them. Some had reorganized their space. Others had developed time-saving techniques. Still others had great ideas on how to balance work and family life.
A tour of provider homes is an excellent training event. The goal is not to present the perfect family day care situation. Rather, the event helps home providers learn from one another. It can also provide visibility for an often hidden part of the day care community.
Here are the steps to follow in developing a tour in your community.
PLANNING THE EVENT
Select a date. A fall Saturday morning can be ideal. The weather is often pleasant. Most providers have the day off. Other community residents can also attend.
Identify providers who are willing to open their homes to others. Look for people who have recently remodeled their homes or developed a unique program. Try to provide a variety of settings-homes where the business and family areas overlap, homes where the business area is separate, and an apartment. Give a schedule to each provider. Find out how many people they can accommodate for each tour. Also, provide suggestions for how to conduct the tour. Answer any questions they may have.
Publicize the event broadly. Advertise the program among providers. Also, contact newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations. Offer advance registration. But also expect a large number of registrations the morning of the event. Charge a small fee (for example, $4) to offset the costs of marketing the program, maps, information on each home, and other resource material. Arrange for a central meeting location from which the tour will begin. Those who arrive early can chat over coffee and muffins as they await the start of the tour.
Develop a master time schedule prior to the event. Determine how large a group the smallest home can accommodate. Decide how much time a group should spend at each home. Be sure to allow time for both touring the home and informal discussion. Also, allow time for travel between the homes and determine the order in which groups will rotate from one home to another.
On the morning of the event, ask participants to divide themselves up into small groups. Be sure each group contains an individual willing to drive. Plan to have extra cars and drivers available for groups that need transportation. Provide each group with a map and schedule to follow. Have each group begin the tour at a different home.
What do providers talk about? Everything from the bathroom to the kitchen sink! The provider presents an overview of her program, the ages and number of children she cares for, and tells what’s special about her program. She describes how she has overcome space limitations, worked out a schedule that accommodates mixed-age children, uses recycled materials, or mentions special resources she has found helpful. The provider may explain how the house is organized and how family things are separated or integrated with the day care business. A tour of the home shows where children play with small manipulatives, have group time, engage in messy activities, nap, or practice large motor skills.
What is learned? Much information is exchanged on the tour. At one tour, participants got excited about the idea of using soap-dish suction cup holders to hold toddler plates to the table or high chair. Other discussions centered around how the home day care business affects taxes. One provider also explained that during remodeling they moved a heating vent closer to the back door. By putting hooks on the wall above the vent, she was able to quickly dry mittens, hats, and scarves in the winter. Another provider described the techniques she used to negotiate with reluctant contractors. Still others discussed how to make heavy-duty blocks out of milk cartons and how to hide the family’s stereo equipment from curious toddlers. The mutual exchange of information makes this a great learning experience for both providers and participants.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The tour may also include center-based providers, parents, and community residents. By listening to the exchanges during the tour, these individuals quickly learn that home providers are professionals who work hard to provide high-quality care for children. They are innovative, creative, and resourceful. They spend a great deal of time planning their programs. The parade of homes therefore serves an important public relations function in addition to being a valuable training program for providers.
“You know, I’ve been in the business for a long time, and yet I didn’t think that I had anything special. But after visiting these homes, I like what I’m doing, and I feel my home and program are as good as any I’ve seen today,” said one participant.
“It’s great to see how others have arranged their space or made materials and so on. But I think it’s important just to meet the providers. I don’t care how great the place is. What really makes the difference is the person providing the care,” said another.
A third commented, “The outdoor space. That’s what I want to see. I’m an outdoors person. I want the kids in my care to be able to go outside and run and play. So I like to see other people’s yards or parks where the kids can play.”
DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care – NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of reproduction) provided that the author and Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is included:
Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care – NNCC. Johnson, E. (1995). A parade of homes. In Todd, C.M. (Ed.), *Family child care connections*, 2(1), Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.
Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale
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