A Home Away From Home:
The Office
When you enroll your child there will be some necessary paperwork to be filled out. Examples of these are: medical forms (including verification of immunizations), medical release forms, field trip permission forms, etc. I will make all this paperwork available to you and help you with any questions. All paperwork should be completed promptly and returned to me. I will also hand out a copy of this handbook, my fee schedule, and a summary of the licensing regulations for family day care ("Child Care Checklist" pamphlet). After you have had a chance to read through these materials I will meet with you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. I will then ask both parents to sign a written agreement as to fees, the child's hours, etc.
Before you leave your child the first day, it is wise to make a visit with the child during my regular day care hours (mornings are best, since the children sleep in the afternoons). This way your child gets to see what happens in day care and gives him/her a chance to meet the other children and me. Even if your child is just an infant it is a good idea to visit because you get to see how I interact with the children . This visit is a good time to bring any items you wish to leave here (e.g., diapers, extra clothing, etc.) I am required to have a complete change of clothes for each child. If you do not leave a diaper bag each day you will need to leave a change of clothes with me. If you or your child is very uneasy about day care, at least two visits are recommended: the first during my off hours when your child will not be overwhelmed by the other children and the noise, and will have all the toys available to him/her. During this time I will be able to give your child undivided attention. The second visit could be during regular day care hours. I can also give you some ideas on what you can do to make the transition as easy as possible for you and for your child.
No child will be denied enrollment on the basis of his/her race or religion. I do retain the right to deny enrollment if all my spots for a particular child's age group are filled. I do not make it a policy to deny enrollment on the basis of a child with special needs, however, if after talking with the parents of such a child I realize that I do not have the training, equipment, facilities, etc. to handle their child, I will not accept the child. This is in the best interest of the child, since my goal is to meet the needs of each child. If I am not sure whether or not I could handle a special needs child, I would be willing to try. The parents and I would have to evaluate whether or not this arrangement was working as we went along.
If for some reason you decide to stop bringing your child to my house I require a two-week written notice. This will give me time to find a child to fill your child's spot. Payment is due for the two-week notice period whether or not the child is brought to daycare. Any outstanding fees must be paid on or before the child's last day. If it becomes necessary for me to resort to legal action to collect fees, the parent(s) will be responsible for legal fees incurred on my part.
If I can no longer watch your child for one reason or another, I will give you at least a two-week notice, but I would try to give you four weeks. I understand that it is not easy to find day care. Examples of why I would terminate your child's care include (but may not be limited to):
You may pay by cash or check, but checks give you a record of your payment to check with my figures at tax time. If a check is returned I will notify you and will ask for payment in cash. After the second returned check, I will accept only cash. Fridays are paydays. If you get paid every other week and it is easier to pay every two weeks, talk to me and we will work it out.
Day care fees are charged on a weekly basis. (The weekly fee for part-time care will be based on the family's requested hours of care per week multiplied by the part-time hourly rate. Any hours beyond the contracted hours will be added at the hourly rate.) Each family is required to pay the weekly fee whenever the center is open, whether or not the child is in attendance. This weekly fee ensures that the child's spot is held for him/her. Drop-in care will continue to be charged on a daily basis.
Whenever the center is closed due to my illness, vacation, personal days, etc. you are not required to pay. If the center is open for only part of a week, your weekly fee will be prorated to reflect the actual time it is open.
Each calendar year a family may take two weeks vacation while the center is open at one-half the weekly fee. A two-week written notice of this vacation period is required. If no notice, or less than two weeks notice is given, the full weekly fee will be charged. During these two weeks you may choose to bring your child(ren) up to two days or not at all. If you take your vacation while the center is closed (during my vacation, e.g.), you will not be required to pay the one-half weekly fee.
Each family may choose whether or not to pay for holidays, but I still ask that if you receive the day off with pay that you consider extending the courtesy to me.
I will give you a two-week notice of any changes in my fees or policies. At the end of each calendar year I will give you an itemized receipt, showing each payment you made throughout the year. You should check my figures against your records, then you & I will sign the receipt and retain a copy for our records.
I ask that you have a back-up (someone you can call if I am sick or if your child is sick). If I get sick I will let you know as quickly as possible so that you can make other arrangements for your child. I try to call the night before, but sometimes that's impossible. If I wake up sick, I usually call around 6:30 a.m.
I will not care for a child who is feverish. If he has thrown up or had diarrhea within the last 24 hours please keep him home. If he has a green discharge from his nose he must be on an antibiotic for 24 hours before he can attend. If your child is not feeling well, do not give him Tylenol to mask his symptoms. If your child throws up the night before and seems fine the next day, he is more than likely still contagious to the others. You must wait 24 hours. All the children use the same toilet and washroom and they often "mouth" the same toys. They are often very affectionate with each other and it is very difficult to keep a sick child from infecting everyone else.
Illnesses are defined as:
I will not accept the child for care if any of the above symptoms are present or have been present within the last 24 hours. If the child shows any of the symptoms while in care, I will remove him from the group and notify the parent or authorized adult to pick up the child. Parents have one hour from time of notification to pick up the child.
The child may return 24 hours after a temperature has returned to normal, 24 hours after the child is no longer vomiting, or 24-48 hours (depending on the illness) after the first dose of an antibiotic. If a child receives an antibiotic for an ear infection he may return to day care immediately if he has been free of other symptoms mentioned for at least 24 hours.
The child is welcome when he has only a mild cold (e.g. runny nose or mild cough), but is able to participate in the day's activities.
If your child is on medication and it needs to be administered while he is at day care, the medicine must be in the original container and labeled with the child's name, doctor's name, name of medication, dosage, and when to be taken. I will also have a form for you to sign giving me permission to give the medication to your child. Medication will be administered at the time or with the meal you specify and a written record kept.
Minor cuts and abrasions suffered while at the center will receive proper care -- specifically, they will be washed with soap and warm water and properly bandaged. Treatment will be logged and I will tell you how and when the injury occurred. I also am required to log any injuries I observe on your child which have occurred outside of my care.
If a medical emergency arises, I will try to contact a parent first, unless doing so endangers the child's life. In that case I will take necessary steps, putting the child first (calling hospital, doctor, poison control, etc.). If need be, I will take your child to St. Clare hospital or the doctor first, then try to call you when we arrive. If a parent is unable to be reached, I will keep trying until he or she is available.
In the event of a fire, we would evacuate the house immediately (3 exits are available from the first floor) and gather at the neighbor's tree. This will be practiced monthly so the children are familiar with what to do.If severe weather arises and a tornado alert is issued, we will proceed to the center of the basement, where the children will crouch and cover their heads.
If a child would become lost, a thorough search of my house and grounds would be made. If the child were not located, police and parents would be notified and a neighborhood search begun. On a field trip the area where the child was last seen would be substituted for "my house and grounds."
If I become unable to supervise the children during the day for any reason, my first choice for a back-up would be my neighbor, Kris. She is often here and the children know her. If she would be unavailable I would call another one of my friends, the pastor's wife, etc. I would always leave your children in the care of someone with whom I would trust my own children.
Each day upon arriving, the parent is required to sign his child(ren) in, noting the time arrived. A sign-in/out pad, pens, and a clock are all located by the door. This is to be followed by signing the child(ren) out when they leave. This gives me a written record of the child's attendance, hours, and who brought/picked up the child.
My normal procedure is to release the child only to his or her parents or someone else the parents designate. If someone other than the parent is to pick the child up, please notify me ahead of time. A verbal notice is fine on that day if this person is on the list of those authorized to pick up your child. If the person is not on that list, I must have written permission to release your child.
One of the forms you are required to complete designates who may pick the child up if there is an emergency and you can not contact me. Please make sure those listed are persons with whom you would allow your child to leave if that person showed up at my door and said, "I need to take Johnny with me." Those on the list should also be people I could call in the event something happened and you did not show up to pick up your child.
Please inform your emergency contacts that if I do not know them and the child is too young to recognize them ("Hi, Grandma!"), that I will ask for identification. I do not mean to offend them. This is simply a measure taken for the child's protection.
I do not watch children on the six major holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day (4th of July), Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. In addition, I sometimes take off the day after Thanksgiving. If Christmas and New Year's Day fall on a weekend, I will probably take off the Friday before or the Monday after.
I usually take off approximately two weeks during the summer (sometimes all at once, sometimes broken up). I will let you know these dates as far in advance as possible.
Occasionally, I need to take a day off for a family activity, to catch up on work at home, or just to take a breather. I will try to schedule these far enough ahead of time that you can find someone to watch your child. I also try to pick a day that is convenient for the majority of the parents.
I incorporate preschool curriculum into our daily activities for fun and to prepare the older children for school. Each month we concentrate on a different theme. Many of our activities revolve around this theme (stories, crafts, music, games, puzzles, etc.). I am trying to set up my curriculum to repeat every two years so that each child will receive the maximum benefit from each unit without growing tired of the subjects.
As part of this curriculum we have a daily "circle time" for the older children. The younger children are free to sit in, just observe, or to free play. During circle time we discuss something relating to our unit, talk about the days of the week (put numbers on a calendar) and the weather for the day. Children ages three and up will have a "Show & Tell" day each week.
Certain units lend themselves to a short field trip for fun and learning (for example, a visit to the fire station, police station, or post office when we are talking about community helpers). In addition to short field trips, we usually take one or two all-day field trips during the summer (Henry Vilas Zoo, Circus World Museum, Yellowstone Lake, etc.). Sometimes there will be a small fee for field trips. I will always tell you when a field trip is coming up.
When we take field trips we will walk if the place to visit is close enough. If we do travel by van, each child is properly restrained in the vehicle (car seat or seat belt, according to his age).
For a sample daily schedule, see The Den.
For a list of this year's themes (and some of our activities), as well as field trip information, visit The Study.
Infants and toddlers will not necessarily follow the same schedule as the preschoolers. They are not capable of sitting still for circle time, may need a morning nap, etc. Infants are always fed on demand and toddlers usually eat meals and snacks with the older children. This is one reason our daily schedule is not "set in stone." While the older children engage in free play or nap I try to take some time to play with the infants and toddlers (especially infants -- toddlers often play alongside the older children). Feeding time and diaper changing time are good times for interaction with infants and toddlers. Of course, children develop differently, and whenever these "wee ones" wish to join in with the older children (unless it is not a safe activity for them), they will be allowed.
Since infants and toddlers cannot communicate well enough to repeat to parents the time of each diaper change and feeding, and what was eaten, etc. I will fill out a paper for each infant / toddler each day. On it you will find such information as: time of feedings, what eaten, the amount eaten, time of diaper checks and results, times of naps, any medication given, and various comments about the child's day. I generally will discontinue these forms once the child is toilet trained unless necessity dictates me continuing longer for a specific child.
When you feel your child is ready for toilet teaching, I ask that you begin this teaching at home. I will follow through and encourage your child while in my care. Please keep in mind that the activity level here can distract your child from responding to an urge to use the potty, more so than at your home. Therefore, I will continue to use diapers or pull-ups until your child can and will announce that he/she must use the bathroom (not just at home, but here, also) and can control his/her bladder and bowels for a few minutes beyond that announcement. When the child has reached this point, training pants (5-ply, not plain terry cloth) with plastic pants may be used.
During toilet learning parents will need to supply:
When accidents are only happening once every other week, 5-ply training pants will be used without plastic pants.
Do not bring your child in panties or underwear until he/she has naptime and bedtime control established.
I also ask that during toilet learning, the child be dressed in "user-friendly" clothing as much as possible. The best items are shorts and pants with elastic waists, or dresses for girls. Try to avoid really tight clothing, pants with snaps and zippers, and overalls as often as you can. Your child will want to help pull pants, etc. up and down, plus clothing with too many "gadgets" makes it harder to get the child on the potty in time.
Obviously, you are not able to be present with your child the entire time he is in day care (you work -- that's why I'm watching your child!). There will be times and ways you can get involved in your child's day care and preschool education. You are welcomed and encouraged to participate in any or all of these. Some examples of ways to be involved include:
Naturally, you are welcome to drop in and visit or observe any time the center is in operation.
I try to stress two main patterns of behavior: respect for other people, and respect for property. As a result I don't allow children to hit or shove other children or verbally abuse them. I also stress that they treat material possessions (mine or theirs) with respect. There is a difference between playing hard, and using a toy for a purpose for which it was not intended. For example, books are for looking at, not tearing pages out of, and toy brooms are for sweeping, not for bashing the kitchen set with.
Occasionally children do not behave in respectful ways. I first remind them of the proper behavior. If the behavior is repeated, a "time out" chair is used. The amount of time a child sits in "time out" varies according to his age. Most experts agree that one minute per year of age is the most effective length of time, but this amount will never exceed five minutes, even if the child is more than five years old. When his "time out" is up, I talk to the child (by now he has calmed down) and try to explain why that behavior was inappropriate. I might ask, "What might happen if we continue to throw toys?" The appropriate answers usually come out: something might get broken, the toy might break, someone might get hit by the toy. If a child still has not calmed down or is really belligerent at this point I try to separate him from the other children with a quiet activity (book, puzzle, etc.). I skip the "reminder" and go straight to "time out" if the offense involves hitting or otherwise physically abusing another child.
If a child continues to abuse a certain toy the privilege of playing with that toy may be taken away from him for a period of several minutes up to the rest of the day. If the whole group of children is engaged in this, the toy will be considered "closed" for a while. For example, one day I caught the boys throwing the tools and climbing on the workbench. I reminded them that the workbench was not to be played with in this way, and they continued by turning it upside down and climbing on it that way. The workbench was "closed" for the rest of the day, and the next day we had no problems with it.
If a child continues to behave inappropriately, I will talk to you about it. Hopefully these two types of behaviors are ones you want your child to adopt, too, so they will be reinforced at home. If that is the case, we shouldn't have any major problems!
Children are never punished for lapses in toilet training or for accidents (spilled milk, for example). In the case of the latter, I will have the child help me clean up, if possible, not for punishment, but to help teach responsibility.
This statement from the Wisconsin Rules for Licensing Family Day Care sums up my policy: "Punishment that is humiliating or frightening to a child, such as hitting, spanking, shaking, verbal or sexual abuse, withholding or forcing food or punishment for lapses in toilet training and other forms of physical punishment are prohibited. These forms of punishment will never be used, even at the request of the parent."
I feel that religious teachings should be left up to the parents. That does not mean that God never is mentioned, however. We will say a prayer before each lunch (usually a poem-type prayer that the children repeat), and occasionally a Bible story may be told during circle time if it fits in with our unit of study. Sometimes God just comes up in conversation. For example, children often start to notice the difference between boys and girls around age three, especially if they have a sibling of the opposite sex or have watched enough diaper-changings. When they ask me "why" about the physical differences between boys and girls I tell them "because God made boys differently than He made girls." This answer seems to satisfy most preschoolers. You may feel free to elaborate on the subject when your child is at home! I also reinforce to the children that I love them and God loves them, too.
No child will be forced to say the mealtime prayer. Any child who does not want to participate does not have to, however I will ask that they do not disturb those who want to. If you object to your child participating, please let me know.
We also usually have parties at Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. If you do not wish to have your child participate in these, please let me know.
Two examples of meal-time prayers
I serve breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack each day as part of my program. Breakfast is a bread product, fruit, and milk. Lunch consists of a meat, bread product, vegetable, fruit, and milk. Each snack includes food or drink from two of the above mentioned groups. Sweets may be included occasionally. Please do not send snacks or candy with your child to day care unless prior approval has been given. If your child does not finish eating at home before he/she comes in the morning, remember we eat breakfast no later than 9:00 a.m.
If your child has an allergy to a specific food, please let me know and I will try to make an appropriate substitution. If a child has so many allergies that he can not eat from the menu, I may require the parents to provide his lunch and/or snacks.
I participate in the Child Care Food Program, which means I am reimbursed a certain amount for each snack and meal I serve. One requirement for the program is I must plan a menu that meets the nutritional requirements. I will send a copy home with you each week and also post one on the wall inside my front door. For more information on the Child Care Food Program, and to view the current week's menu, visit my Kitchen.
I never force a child to finish what is on his plate, but I do encourage each child to try one or two bites of everything. Sometimes they are surprised by what they like! Occasionally I have had problems with children who only wanted to eat chips or fruit, etc. When this occurs on a regular basis I may give that child just the main dish and vegetable on his plate to start, adding the other elements when a few bites of the main dish and vegetable have been tried.
I do not always start claiming children on the food program until they can eat table food, so until this time I ask that the parents provide the child's food and milk or juice, if the child is not claimed. There are a couple of reasons this decision might be made:
If you wish to provide snacks at your child's birthday or another time, that's great! If you let me know a day ahead of time, it helps. If you ever need some ideas of nutritional snacks (to bring here or to have at home), let me know. I have several books that are full of good ideas!
All children under the age of five are required by state law to have a rest time (and I haven't met one yet who doesn't need it!). I will provide a safe, warm, quiet place for your child to rest. Children two and older will sleep either in a bed upstairs or in a sleeping bag on the den floor. Children under the age of two always sleep on the first floor, and those under one year will always be in a crib or playpen. Children who wake up before the rest will be guided in finding a quiet time activity to engage in that will not disturb any sleeping children.
If at any time your child is not sleeping at night, or he doesn't seem ready to go to bed and you feel it is because he sleeps too long here, don't hesitate to mention it to me and I can try waking him up a little earlier than he is used to getting up.
Please dress your child appropriately for the current weather, and in play clothes (with shoes that adequately protect the feet and are not slick-soled -- tennis shoes are a good choice). When the weather cooperates we will spend time outdoors, ranging from a walk when it is fairly cool to more time spent outside as the weather warms up. According to state law children are supposed to go out a little each day except for really inclement weather, but the weather will have to be fairly mild before I take the children outside since I also watch babies. I am not about to take the babies out for a walk in cold weather, and I certainly can't leave them home alone! During spring and fall our outdoor play will probably range from 10 - 30 minutes, and in the summer it may be two or more hours long (maybe not all at once).
Indoor Play constitutes the majority of our play time (when the entire year is averaged). I provide a variety of age-appropriate toys for your child to play with. Since the ages of the children I watch vary, all the toys I have downstairs are safe for even the youngest. If your child wishes to bring a toy to play with for the day, please make sure it has no little parts that could come off and cause a child to choke. All toys should be safe for children under three years of age. I will not be responsible for toys from home that get broken or lost at day care. The responsibility remains with the child and the parents.
The toys I keep indoors are rotated from time to time to prevent boredom, to supplement a unit of study, etc. The large play sets (housekeeping, workbench, Duplo blocks) are too hard to haul in and out, so I sometimes put a sheet over one of them and consider it "closed" while I bring out a different activity.
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