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I am a teacher and due to burn out thought providing a home daycare would be a great new fit. But after reading many of your posts I feel that there are just as many, if not more issues in this field.
So until I start hearing some positives I think I'll just move on.
I don't think you should make your decision based on what you hear on this forum. This is a great website, and we feel comfortable talking and venting. But in my opinion, the reason it seems negative sometimes is because we don't have colleagues to vent to. I enjoy being self employed, and I really enjoy the kids when I have good kids. I'm lucky to be in an area that allows me to be picky about which children I accept. If I had to take kids who frustrated me all day just to pay the bills, I probably wouldn't do this.
I can't imagine going back to work at this point in my life. I really enjoy this.
Financially, there are more issues in this field!! lol. We don't get paid as well and we have to buy everything we need out of pocket (unless your licensed and receive grants). Many of us don't get paid sick days, paid holidays and some don't get paid STAT days. There is always the risk of a parent trying to scam you out of money or a parent leaving and leaving you down a child/payment until that spot is filled.
However, I am in this for the long haul! I absolutely love what I do 95% of the time. It used to be more like 99% but I had a better group of parents then haha. I enjoy working from home, being my own boss, setting my own hours, picking my own holidays and not waiting to be "approved". I love the relationships with the children and you start to care for the families. (I am very clear though, as much as I love your child and you, we are not friends out of dc. That sounds harsh but it is what I prefer. Once I have a child of my own this may change if my own child becomes friends with a dck and wants to do playdates etc)
I DREAD the thought of going back to work for someone else!! If you have a solid contract and know what you expect from the families, the issues can be minimal or at least you have a policy in effect to deal with most of them.
Jenny have you thought of looking for a way to use your teacher training to help providers with ideas such as what to include in a circletime - songs, poems, craft ideas, feltboard stories. I have been doing some make and take workshops for caregivers and it is a great way to use my teaching background. Truthfully unless you are lucky enough to have older children in your daycare it can seem a lot like babysitting because so much of our time is taken up with meals, diaper changes/potty training, handwashing and napping. At the same time for me my teacher training was back in the 80's and academically the push for kids to know stuff sooner and sooner means that I am pretty much teaching the preschoolers what I was taught to teach the older kids back then so I do use my training.
It is hard when family/friends start asking why you are wasting your training but I don't see it that way as I opened my daycare because of my own children and wanting to see them learn what I could teach them and then when they grew up and on their own I realized I was teaching in a way that I had made my own. It wasn't the curriculum I learned in teacher's college but it was the skills I learned in college that I was applying to running my daycare.
I am a teacher also and I decided to stay home and open a small child care after my 2nd was born. The cost of putting my 2 little ones in daycare wasn't worth staying in the classroom.
I am really enjoying running my own child care and do not want to go back to the classroom until my children are of school age.
My teaching skills are very useful in terms of organization, day planning, parent interactions, and developing kindergarten readiness skills ( I was a kindergarten teacher). I love being my own boss and getting to stay home. The downside is that there is not as much interaction with other adults during the day. I make up for this by doing things I enjoy in the evening. I also try to get out as much as possible with the children so I don't go stir crazy.
I have not had any problems with parents or 'problem' children. My classroom management skills have really helped me with managing the children and I carefully choose families to ensure that we have the same expectations. I also have a very detailed contract and policies to protect myself and ensure that the parents understand my expectations of them.
I am not sure where you are, I am in BC, and there are tons of government resources for training and activities here. So, there is a lot of support available to registered or licensed child care providers here. If you are in BC I would be happy to fill you in on the available info.
I really appreciate the positive advice and suggestions, it has given me the booze I needed to keep my focus on why i am doing this.
Being one of the providers who posted recently about wanting to get out of the biz, be sure you take the story as it is not just the bits you want to see, or read it wrong. My post didn't complain about looking after the kids, I barely mentioned the mundane routine we are stuck in right now and acknowledged that this is temporary due to have a group of mostly infants who are still napping twice a day and are all dealing with separation issues. I am in my 8th year as a dcp so I am very well weathered in this job. My reasons for wanting to go elsewhere are nothing directly to do with the children but the isolation and lack of intellectual stimulation which as an individual I need, desperately.
This is one source to get info from with regards to the dcp world. There is burnout and long hours and expenses so it is not a great money making biz as some would imply, but you do get to spend the most precious moments of a childs early years watching them learning and growing while being an important part of the process. We come here to vent because for most it is our only outlet. You need to mix with providers face to face and get to your resource centre for positive outlook and a different perspective. Also with the weather at this time of year, there is nearly always a jump in negative posts as lots of us get cabin fever. Search on the forum for positive threads and you will find plenty.
This is my second go round with daycare. I took a break when I had my own children and have come back to it now that they are all in school. I love it. The saving grace for me has been to really decide what *I* need, set my policies around those needs, and then enforce them from day one. This def. has gotten easier as I go :) It is too easy to burnout otherwise.
I have a great group of kids and work hard at maintaining that greatness. I have learned the hard way to be very choosy about who I accept into care, which families I can work with, etc. I have key points that I won't waiver on (behavioural expectations from kids, well care, on time pick ups, etc) and emphasize those in interviews. The families that won't agree won't sign on and that's ok because they won't work out in the long run. I've also come to accept that I can't be everything to everyone and that's ok, too.
If you can set your expectations and your needs before you start, then stick to them, this can be a very rewarding and enjoyable business :)
play felt...that is an awesome suggestion. Can you give me any advice on doing this, how to advertise...what things people like..that sort of thing.
This is right up my alley, I LOVE planning and programming!
Looking into tutoring, offering programs and lessons such as science or history for homeschooler groups would be a way to use your teaching skills directly working with students. You might also find you enjoy working with new immigrants on English as a second language classes. Tutoring would be good because you have the option of working through a company that offers the service or creating your own home based business or where you go to the child's home. Downside is you would need to work evenings and weekends but the upside is you would be with your own kids all day doing whatever you want. And if childcare is shared there would be only a few hours a day care was needed and the neighbourhood teen could fill in from when you need to leave and hubby/significant other comes home if that is an option.
What about offering just before and after care to start but advertise it as homework club meaning before school would be learning games and fun till bus time or walk to school and then afterschool would be help with homework - again like tutoring and then offering learning games and extension activities just like the learning centres you would have had in the classroom - let the kids do a project based on a theme they have chosen and you augment.