A little tip for any newbie out there!

[kidlove]

I have recently hit a "new generation"......in September I lost 4 kids to school.:(
All in a matter of a week or two, four little ones fell right off the roster. I had time to prepare and was and still am looking for replacements. I have filled a few but still feel the blow to my pocket book. Was thinking about it today and realized...the one thing I loved all those years, may have actually hurt me. (i have heard a few of you with the same desire or point of view as mine has always been)....but be careful! It is really nice to have ALL your kids at about the same age, they do all the same things, play the same games, have the same needs, are growing and learning at the same level.....however, if you don't mix the group with varying ages? You will end up like me, after nearly 10 years in the business, due to the fact I have MANY little ones of the same age for all those years, I feel as if I am starting up all over again. I have gone from 6 a day, to average of 3 daily. Sometimes 2 somestimes 4. Bored to death!!!!! and feeling the financial pinch. My advice to you is: make sure you spread your age group as vast as possible. Mine seemed to just fall that way, and I don't regret a single child but...if you can help it make sure you have ALL ages in attendance. for JOB SECURITY! :thumbsup:

[Crayola kiddies]

Well it doesn't seem as overwhelming to fill one or two spots but when you have to fill four spots then yes it's like how we all felt the first year. I have one heading to school next year and one the year after so I hopefully as long as I don't lose any of the ones I have I should be good for the next few years with only having to replace one at a time.....
Good luck filling your spots !

[Inspired by Reggio]

I agree this is exactly why I prefer to mix age groups ... I also cannot transition in multiples at same time so having multiple spaces open at once means extra lost income even if demand to fill right away is there as I would not have two or more kids start same week and stagger entry to my program for my own sanity and well the other kids too ...live that life n group care and well too stressful!!!

[sunnydays]

I understand your pain...I moved at the end of August and had 4 spaces to fill as well. I have filled them all, but like Reggio, I won't start two kids at once...so I have been starting a child every two weeks since mid September and it has been exhausting! Luckily I was able to find kids of different ages, so they won't all leave at once. Good luck to you with filling your spaces! I am so glad to have a break from interviewing for awhile :)

[mimi]

Yea, me too. Had 4 leave for JK. I'm at 1/2 capacity and interviewing. Fortunately, we paid off our vehicle in September but the extra monies we thought we would have is subsidizing my daycare now and until I'm full. I'm tired of budgeting, I think it's time to win the million.:laugh:

[Momof4]

Wow kidlove, that's a big turnover all at once. I lost 2 to JK 2 years ago and last year I lost 1 to JK and another one went to JK every other day so she's a part-timer now. I agree, that it's best to stagger the age group so you don't lose them all at once, but I love it when they are pretty close in age. I guess this is bound to happen to us once in a while. Good luck with your interview process.

[Spixie33]

Excellent point. I also did the same thing. I had three children sign when I started up. They signed within 2 weeks of each other and all were the same age (4 month span). Well....they are all going to full time every day JK in Sept 2013 so I know the panic you are feeling.

I operate under capacity and have my feelers out for a replacement before Sept 2013 but so far the nibbles have not been reassuring. They are usually all bad matches and then a lot of silent phone times in between.

I hope you can find some new children soon to fill your spots :)

[Crayola kiddies]

I had one child leave last week and I had two interviews on the weekend and I filled my space with one family and the other family doesn't need care till late spring so they are on the wait list in case I suddenly have a space open up. Yay I'm happy to be full again

[mommyof2princesses]

I too had 5 daycare children all leave this fall...I am still interviewing and trying to fill spots. So far I have one part timer starting in January, one full timer starting in march and one part timer started yesterday. They are all 12 months old when they start. I now need to look for one or two older ones!

[bright sparks]

I have 3 going off in Sept 2013 so I am advertising right now. fingers crossed.

[apples and bananas]

Great tip! It's so important that we always have our "business" hat on too and make sure that we are planning for the future. Planning months and years in advance. When we take on a new child we have to make sure they don't only fit with us and the group, but with our business plan as well.

[Cadillac]

I'm coming up on the same thing. Fortunately, it worked out for me that two go to school next year and two the year after. I had been thinking about that a lot since the kids started getting older. I'll be asking parents well in advance weather they will be staying with me and transferring schools or trying to find replacements.

[kidlove]

Glad to know I'm not the only one right now. :)

[playfelt]

I lost three to school in September too. Have filled two of the spaces but yes thought about that school issue and my ad now says open now but will hold for a family looking for January - ie would put them in the following school year to the ones I just started. If a child fell into my laps I would take them and take the risks since the ones I did have happened just because of some going on mat leave and some staying/some leaving so I ended up not losing the the families I thought I would allowing me to spread things out. Having said that when you only do 0-3 you are at the mercy of maternity leaves for sure. Right now I know 2 of my families are done having kids so that helps a bit since I can plot their leaving for school well ahead of time.

On a side note remember I posted about the family that was looking to move caregivers due to severe issues and we were talking about notice due etc. - they came for the interview, nice family but they went on and on about how severe things were including several dangerous issues by anyone's standards but their child was still in care there, etc. and they seemed in no rush afterall to make a decision..... red flagged them for that and a few other issues so hoping they don't call back.