I’d like to thank Rose for commenting on my previous post and drawing my attention to the controversy over the blog I linked to. The post I read seemed perfectly innocent, but it seems Mary has made another one about Kristy Schwade and her baby Kaleb who was shaken by a home daycare provider.

Mary appeared to be showing a lack of sympathy for Kristy Schwade due to a previous arrest for domestic violence.

Now, I don’t know the full details of the arrest, but certainly I would fully support Kristy and Kaleb at this time.

You can see the full controvery here: LOCAL STORIES: baby Kaleb in Tampa and here: I am Mary

I’d be interested to hear your comments about this. It’s easy to leave them on this blog post.

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

“When the kids are outside they outnumber me. There are six of them and one of me,” said home day care provider, Meredith Patterson of Steubenville.

On Thursday, she had seen a black bear in broad daylight at a busy intersection near the Ft. Steuben Mall.

“He was coming out of the woods — that was enough for me. The kids are not going outside to play,” said Patterson.

Over the past couple of weeks bears have been observed right across the Ohio Valley: everywhere from the middle of the street to dog houses.

Patterson said that the parents of the children she cares for support her decision to keep kids indoors.

“They understand. … I don’t want to put them at risk at all. It’s on their mind and my mind. That’s why we’re inside,” she said.

Wildlife experts think it likely that the bears were kicked out of their wooded territory by other bears and will eventually go back to the wild.

I’ve just been reading a great overview of what home day care is all about. I like the clear and concise explanation and I thought you might too.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Home daycare, also known as family daycare, is exactly what it sounds like — daycare in a home instead of a center. This arrangement has been around as long as women have had neighbors and friends nearby to help care for their kids. Today it’s a way for many moms who prefer to stay at home and who truly enjoy taking care of children to do work they love and contribute to the family finances at the same time. “Most home providers have made a conscious decision to do this as a career,” says Anne Mead, treasurer of the National Association for Family Child Care.”

You can read the whole thing here: Home daycare: Overview

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

A lot of home daycare providers struggle to come up with a good name for their home daycare. I’ve just been reading a forum thread started by such a person and I thought you may find it useful.

Here’s the original post:

“Right now I’ve named my childcare

Cory Family Daycare

However, I want a fun name!! I felt like I needed to come up with something quick and that is what it was.

I’m thinking of

Cory Family’s Circle of Friends

What do you think???

Can you PLEASE help give me some more names???”

You can read the whole thing here: Childcare Names

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just been reading an article about communicating with children which you may find useful.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Listening for Love

There is nothing that makes a person feel more cared about than to be listened to. Take the time to be with your child as an interested, non-judgemental friend, and listen to what he has to say.

Listen with respect. Children’s concerns may be different from ours, but the emotions they feel are the same. Give your child freedom to express her feelings and views without fear of ridicule or judgment. Show her that you acknowledge and respect what she has to say.

Listening sets early patterns for life-long communication skills. If you take the time to listen, you teach them they are important. You help them trust their own perceptions. You also improve communication and make it easier to talk to them in the future. “Listening time” pays off in trust and courtesy down the road.”

You can read the whole thing here: Listening for Love

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just found a really interesting article about communicating with parents. I’ve reprinted it for you below:

COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS

National Network for Child Care’s Connections Newsletter

Christine M. Todd
Human Development Specialist
Cooperative Extension
University of Illinois

Copyright/Access Information

As you begin the new year, think about how you might involve parents in the lives of their children. Imagine what it must be like for parents. They drop their child off at 7:30 a.m. and don’t see the child again until 5 or 6 p.m. When they do get together, everyone is tired. This often hinders meaningful conversation.

Even under the best of circumstances, children have trouble telling parents about their day. So much has happened that it is hard for them to remember individual activities. And the more limited vocabularies and experiences of younger children often make descriptions confusing or too brief. In contrast, older children often resent questioning by parents and are less likely to describe their day spontaneously.

As tired parents pick up tired kids, it is not always evident that parents want to know what is going on with their child. Here are some ways you can support their need for feedback.

1. Distribute a brief newsletter listing the activities of the week, upcoming events, etc.

2. Post a list of the day’s activities on the wall. Display the children’s projects under the poster.

3. Send a note about each child home once a week. Briefly describe an activity the child enjoyed. Talk about some of the friends the child has made. Mention one nice thing the child has done. It doesn’t have to be long, and it means so much to parents to get personal feedback. Focusing on the positive will help to strengthen your relationship with parents. If parents trust you, they will be more likely to work with you if any problems occur. It can also be helpful to list a question for the parent to ask the child. For example, you may write “Ask Julie about the song she made up today.” This will help foster two-way communication between parents and children.

4. Schedule a brief conference with parents early in the year to let them know how things are going and to give them an opportunity to ask questions.

5. Publish a list of resources for parents. Many organization offer free or low-cost pamphlets for parents on topics such as child development, discipline, nutrition, child safety, dealing with divorce, etc. You may also want to get a few of the publications and put them in a rack.

Child care providers have entered into a partnership with parents to raise today’s children. Be sure to include this important “partner” in your program!

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. Todd, C. (1994). Communicating with parents. In Todd, C.M. (Ed.), *School-age connections*, 2(1), Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just found a very useful checklist to help you to make sure that your home is safe for children.

Here’s the intro:

“Homes are wonderful places to care for children, but
they are full of hazards including electrical appliances,
stairs, bathtubs, and dozens of poisonous medicines and
household cleaners.

Unintentional injuries cause the death of many children
and also leave more children crippled than do diseases.
Most injuries can be prevented if more care is taken.
There is no golden rule to prevent injuries, but you can
decrease the risks significantly by following the ideas
listed below. Use it as a checklist and find out how well
you are doing with safety in the house. Go over the
checklist from time to time to maintain safety.”

You can read the whole thing here: Home Safety - A Checklist for Parents

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

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

Copyright/Access Information

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

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just been reading a very useful report by Kelly A. Cole called “Protecting Children from Unintentional Injuries” This is some really vital information that you need to read right away to help prevent injuries in your home daycare.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Children’s surroundings contain a lot of potential hazards. Unintentional injuries are responsible for many injury deaths each year, and it is estimated that 90 percent of unintentional injuries could be avoided. Unintentional injuries are those injuries that could be avoided if necessary precautions are taken. People of all ages can sustain life-threatening unintentional injuries; however, some injuries pose greater risks for certain age groups. The five leading causes of injury death among children under age 15 are motor vehicle injuries, fires and burns, drowning, firearms and suffocation. Parents and caregivers need to know the greatest risk factors for their children and to take the appropriate steps to reduce the risk of unintentional injury.”

You can read the whole thing here: Protecting Children from Unintentional Injuries

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just been reading the guestbook at childcare-ppin.com and it includes several interesting or helpful posts on starting and running a home or family daycare.

Here’s an example of a post:

“Hi I am very young but very experienced. I have had my in home Family daycare for 20 months now and it is blooming. I have recently become a in home group family daycare. Most parents think I am 25 or 26 but I am proud of my age and my accomplishments. If a parent asks, I have no problem telling them that I will be 21 in a couple of weeks. And they respect me even more. I have never had someone not sign up under my care because of my age. Before starting my business I worked for a Nursery school in Pensacola, FL at a private college. I also grew up in Birch Run, MI in a family of 13 children(8 of which were adopted). I have always been around children! I hope you all can still respect me because age really doesn’t matter what really matters is what and who the person really is! Danielle Moore ”

You can read the whole guestbook here: Child Care-PPIN Guest Book

Talk soon,
Mary