Home Daycare Newbie In Need of Guidance...

Hi all,

I have now been running my daycare for 3 months. Aside from my own 3 kids, I have 4 others. All together, I have 2 kindergarteners, 1 four year old, 1 three year old, 1 two and a half year old, and 2 one year old little boys.

I chose to start a daycare as it was the only possible way that I would be able to stay at home and raise my own kids before they are all off to school. I love kids and of course looked forward to having some playmates for my own children as well :)

I am not sure if it is just good old Saskatchewan winter or my constant need to doubt myself but I find myself struggling with determining if I am a good provider or not. Or, it could be the problems I am having trying to ensure all the kids are a good fit for our home. Two of them have blended in perfectly but I have been having difficulty with a pair of sisters who joined me 2 months ago. I figure they should be fully adjusted by now but there still seems to be issues and I am having a hard time getting past those issues. If I could, I would have asked them to find care elsewhere but due to the fact my daycare income has replaced my career income, I cannot do so until I have new clients lined up. This is proving to be a bit tough as the sisters are 5 and 2. Most of the families who have contacted me require care for an infant and unfortunately, my infant spaces are filled at the current time.

I am also always wondering what other caregivers typical days are like as far as how much time they expect the children to play together on their own and how much of their day is spent with food/craft preparation etc. How much of your day are you actually able to get down and interact with the kids on a daily basis?

I am hoping the sunshine and spring will be here soon as I look forward to spending some more time outside. There is always about an hour in the morning when the kids don't seem to want to play together and we have already done our circle time/story. And, none of my kids enjoy coloring or painting so that makes it tough.

Any words of wisdom or activity ideas from anyone?

I think the fact that you are questioning whether you are an adequate caregiver means that you are going to be awesome! You just have to find your routines and get into the flow of things. Congratulations on filling your daycare but are you doing school runs morning and afternoon? That would certainly mess up your day and make it hard to get organized.

It's true the winter months also make it more difficult because of all the bundling and unbundling that isn't necessary the rest of the year. I'm lucky and don't have any school aged children so my schedule is as follows:
7:30-8:30 arrivals
8:30 breakfast because it's the most convenient time for me to serve it
9:00-11:00 outside play most of the year, bad weather days are our crafting/creating/inside play days
11:00 freeplay for the children and I make lunch
11:30 lunch
12:00 naptime (right now because my group is all 2 and under)
2:45-3:00 snacktime
3:30 freeplay and pickups

So I keep really busy in the mornings entertaining a lot with songs, stories, dancing sporadically through the morning since my dckids don't sit still very well for a structured circle time. It's different for everybody and even my schedule changes from year to year except for that 9-11am outside time all summer.

What do children do at parks? PLAY. What do they do in the toyroom? PLAY. When I started out my daycare I was trying to entertain the children constantly and it took a long time to realize I don't have to do that.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it. Yes, I do one school pick-up at 11:45 but that doesn't mess us up too much. I love being outside as well but with my two 1 year olds, there are days when it is too cold to get them out there. I am very much looking forward when we can all play outside and the kids can run free in the large green space and park right near our house!!

I agree with Momof4. The fact that you are questioning and thinking about what others may be doing and how you could improve, is a sign that you will so well! I was and still am like that...2 years in now and still constantly self-scrutinizing and finding ways to improve. I love this job and am very proud of my daycare and I know I am doing a good job as parents tell me so. But, I am ever on the quest for knowledge and new strategies, new activities, new ways of doing things that can improve my day and the childrens' days. You will learn and it will get a lot easier with time. And winter is hard! Summer will be so much easier and you will find your groove. Hang in there!