What should I pay for...

An occasional sub? I have had an ad posted on kijiji forever, and yet still no bites (well desirable ones:p)

I'm at that point in life that I love my job, but would rather not work 55 hours a week. I'd love someone every Friday, for a week-long holiday, 5 hours a day in the summer so I can easily go on field trips, maybe someone to just be here when I don't wanna get up in the morning:laugh:

Where should I advertise and who should I direct my ads at? What is a desirable pay amount? Which qualifications are 'must-haves'?

Ideally I'd love an experienced preschool teacher, and yet I've found they think dayhome is the bottom of the barrel :o(from first-aid courses). What do they make an hour?

I live in Calgary if that's any help.

Honestly, I've never been comfortable with the idea of having someone fill in for me. Maybe I'm a bit over the top with this, but I don't want to be in the position of having to vouch for anyone else where my business is concerned. The potential liability is soooo huge, for me, it's a chance I'm not willing to take. I just book off the odd personal day and take vacations (up to 5 wks) with the understanding right from the first interview that this will be happening. Parents will need to have a back up plan in my daycare.

So far as actually getting someone in, I couldn't begin to imagine how to do that. Maybe if you could get your hands on a back up list from a daycare centre? There are ECE's who do back up, float and temp work, but I'd imagine most of them just do that until they get a full time job. I did, back in the day. As an ECE myself, it's probably something I wouldn't have considered unless I was really needing work. The problem there is that if you get one, she's bound to be gone in fairly short order, as soon as she gets a position somewhere else. I think reliability will be an ongoing concern for you. Of course, I may be way off the mark....it's been known to happen :)

I have a mom that works for me three mornings a week. She is amazing. It allows me to take three children out for a fieldtrip and to a weekly playgroup while she watches the other two and completes our regular routine with them while we are out.
It is someone that I know and trust.......I never thought about liability issues though. I have Daycare insurance and now I will be making a call to them to make sure I am covered to do this as well. I pay her $12/ hour for three hours three days a week (so nine hours a week in total)

Cfred, I sell my dayhome by stating no closures, besides stats and Christmas to New Years. So it being on the contract I'm really obligated at this point. My previous assistant has unfortunately gone onto other endeavors so I'm pretty much backed into a corner.
I was looking for advice on which people to target who have extra time on their hands and what I should offer to make it worth their while.
Angels, I like the idea of another mom who doesn't need a lot of hours. It gives me a little hope:thumbup:

I"m in Quebec, so ....not the same market. But here the going rate is $10-$15/hour. Maybe put up some ads on the mailboxes, too. I'm sure you'll find someone...

I would never leave my dckids in someone else's care for any reason I'm afraid. They are my responsibility alone. However, can you hire somebody for a day or two a week or a morning or two a week to work along side you to take off the pressure?

I have a high school student who comes to work on her PD days for the morning and having her here to play with the children means that I can plan extra crafts or baking or a field trip that I wouldn't normally want to do by myself with the children. However, she keeps them nice and busy to give me an easier morning but they are still all my responsibility.

Is there a local college that offers an ECE program ? Maybe you could see if there are any recent graduates or soon to be graduates who are looking to gain some practical experience in their field, and a good reference ?

I think minimum wage is pretty good. but make sure the parents are all right with this. I had a child who came from a home daycare that was using subs and the parents didn't feel right with having another person watching their child.