Just Starting Up

Hi everyone,
I am just starting up a daycare in my home in Forest, ON and I am wondering what kind of documents I am going to need and if anyone has any samples i could look at.

Thanks in advance!

Chloe

First and foremost a contract...as I'm sure everyone will advise! Here is a link to a great forms website....http://www.thedaycarelady.com/form.htm
Best of luck to you!

Welcome Chloe, I'm in London, so not that far away from you. First you want to have a good contract, medical emergency forms, picture permission forms and those are all the documents I use. I have a daily log book that I write in for each of the children for my own records but I just give the parents a verbal update at the end of the day, mostly for the first several months until they learn to trust me that their child is eating nutritiously.

I also tell the parents my plans for the weeks for field trips, park days, crafting days, etc. so they dress their children appropriately and I carry the medical forms with me everywhere we go.

If you would like to look at my contract I'd be happy to share since others helped me when I was getting started. But I only know how to send them by email if you would like to send that to me by pm I'll be happy to forward my forms so you can look at them and adapt them to your situation.

You will also need receipts of some kind for the parents, but I buy mine at the dollar store and they are duplicates so I have a copy after giving the parents their copies at the end of the year. Also, I recommend a website as a great tool to attract clients. Good luck.

Hi Chloe and welcome. I also have an outing permission form. One is for taking them off the property to go for walks and to the park which they sign once at the beginning of care and another if we were to go by bus or car somewhere. I also do a daily sheet which lists diaper changes, what we ate, the mood(s) of the child, potty training section, activities we did and what they did in play and I put a personal comment at the bottom usually about something cute they did. The parents love these forms. I have had parents forget theirs and come back for them!! It also saves (hopefully) big discussions about dck's day at pick up. I also have an enrollment information sheets which the parents fill out with their personal particulars such as address, place of work, emergency contacts etc plus it has a section on the childs development up to enrollment date, info about napping, foods allergies etc. Hope this helps and don't try to be perfect. There is a big learning curve to the daycare business. So come to the forum and ask away. :)