Running a preschool in a dayhome setting

I am a Alberta certified teacher on a maternity leave. I am going to take an additional year off to explore my dream of opening a home daycare/preschool.

Has anyone ran a successful home preschool or a combined dayhome/preschool. If so was it successful, and what did it look like?

And, would it be unprofessional and unrealistic to run it while having my 1 year old in my direct care?

If yes,
I have the option of bringing in my fully qualified, experienced, criminal record checked, CPR/first aid certified sister-in-law to provide secondary care. By doing so I may be able to continue fourth with the preschool, even if just on a part time basis (i.e. T/Th AM or PM) while she watched my baby or if we shared the care and provided care to a non-preschool group in one part of the home while I ran a more structured group in another and we could do a switch of activities midway through the day or something to that effect.


The only set back is that until I know my business is lucrative I am nervous to do hire her. Unless...anyone of you has done this, know someone that has, or thinks it could work and I should just take the leap. In which case, any ideas to a logical plan and...how much I should be paying her, would you do per.hour?

I am grateful for any advice, suggestions, or opinions.

I'm not sure about laws in Alberta, as I'm in Ontario. But here you are only allowed 5 kids ( not including your own) regardless of how many teachers you have. So just make sure you look into laws in your area :) good luck this is a very helpful form.

Thanks Mama of 1!
Yes I am trying to find out about that, what the adult to kids ratio is.
Anyone know?

I'm in Calgary, my understanding is that it doesn't matter how many adults are working in the dayhome you can still only have five children plus your own...unless you become a government licensed day care. Doesn't matter if you are a private dayhome or with an agency.

I was under the impression that in Alberta the rule was 6 children per household.

In AB ratios have to stay the same regardless of hours that the program is offered and the type. Too bad youwere not In SK, then I'd be able to give you good news :(

With ratio restrictions it's harder to run the type of program that you want (in my experience). I run a Montessori preschool program along with my daycare. Truth is that I LOVE it! I love being home and I love still teaching. The reality of it is that it's very hard to mix ages in a way that makes it possible for me to run my program the way I'd like to. I aim for 2-4 years olds. Last year I filled my spots and it was great! Downside is that this year I had to fill in the spaces that were left open when the kids went off to full day kindergarten. (I'm in Ontario). Now it's my understanding that the kids start school later in Alberta which would work in your favour! I mentioned mixing ages. Let's just say that teaching a nice peaceful lesson is next to impossible when chasing after a baby who is (albeit age appropriately exploring) pulling everything off of the shelves and eating them! LOL. I've done the mixed groups before and find that I really need to separate the areas of the classroom.
Bottom line is that it's doable with a bit of work. Lots of parents will like that you teach the kids. I always include the preschool aspect of what I do in my advertising so that parents who DO want just a play environment for their kids need not apply! Best wishes!

Daisy 123 can I pm you to pick your brain? I also run a Montessori program

Thanks for the suggestions!
I have decided to still attempt a preschool and still keep my baby at home. I will do this my having my assistant take a group, or perhaps just my daughter during this time. I will provide a full day service still, with free yet semi-structured learning environment in the AM and more structured preschool school in the PM. I do have experience with multiple-aged teaching, and believe it has great benefits, so long as I keep to a age 3-5 age range. I will be using a Reggio based teaching philosophy.


Thanks again for all the support and great suggestions, keep me' coming!

@giraffe. Absolutely. Pm me any time!
@jenny. Glad you're doing the preschool! We need to take our talents to our job! I know for myself personally I'd feel very strange to leave teaching behind!