Working for more than 8 hours

Hi everyone,

I am going to open Family Care in BC. Just realize that so many care providers offer more than 8 hours! In my small town, I have heard other care providers offer 10 hours. I used to be preschool teacher, only work for 7 hours. I cannot imagine I need to work 9 or 10 hours each day. Some of you must be dead tired by the end of the day!

This is my first time to run family care. I don't know how to set up the options for Drop-in, half day and full day. What if majority of the parents like drop-in option, what should I do? And is it too late to open my centre in November?

It's never too late-parents look for care year round-starting a new job, ending may leave, etc. I deal with the long hours by my day's structure. I didn't like part time, because I was working everyday for very little money. I think next year I might do morning preschool only, so I can put more hours into my other career (right now I work there 1-2 days a month).

My 'program' runs 8-4, but I have children here 7:40-5:20. Free play before and after. I do Montessori morning preschool from 8-11:45, 8-11 is our work cycle, including a snack tray, and after we go outside until the am only children leave. Then lunch and quiet time for the full day children. 1-2 is my break. At 2, the toddlers stay napping, and the 3+ group goes outside to meet the bus (I have after schoolers that fill the other half of am preschool spaces). We play in the yard, go in for a snack, homework, then when the toddlers are up we either go outside or (rarely) do a group activity. So while my mornings are hands on, requiring lots of prep, after my break it's all downhill from there. After 4:45, I just have my own kids and a 6yo.

I'm quite surprised you haven't realized that most people work more than 8 hours and therefore need childcare that covers that. The days of 9 to 5 are mainly gone in most areas but even then, if a parent works those hours or a variant of them like 8 until 4, they work 8 hours and need time to get from you to work and to get from work to home. Unless in a downtown location, most of your client's will pick a day care nearer home vs nearer their work because it avoids having their child in a car, in traffic, in storms. It makes more sense to be closer to home to minimise the travel time for the child.
I have a handful of client's over the years that needed 9 hours or less - and typically that's if one parent who starts work later than their partner drops off the child, and the other parent who finishes work first collects the child from day care.
Even my grown son works 10 hours as a standard day (min). He has to be to work for 7am and sometimes he get's done at 4pm but more likely 5pm and sometimes later.
10 hours of care is fairly common these days. There's a lot of provider's working 11 or 12 as standard. Remember too, that just because one of your client's begins work at 7.30am needing a 7am drop that not all of them start as early as that client so they will also finish later.
You are also not considering the work that has to happen once children are gone. In your surprise at a 10 hour day, you are only looking at the hours that children are present.
Once they are gone, you need to clean up, sanitise, clean the bathroom. Some days you will need to strip beds and launder bedding. If you provide food, you will also need time to go to the grocery store, bring that home, unpack it, prep meals.
A 10 hour day is short when you factor in the tasks that happen prior to unlocking your door and once the last child has gone home. Most days, if you are open 10 hours, you will be working 11 hours with these routine tasks. And if you go for groceries in the evening, some days it will be a 13 hours day or you'll lose a few hours of your weekend.
I cannot think of a single client I have had over the last decade plus who only required me to work 7 hours - that would require them to work 6 hours, be able to get from me to their work in 30 mins and likewise on the way home. LOL, if you find one of those clients, embrace it, because they are few and far between.

Drop in care - I don't offer this for the reasons I'm going to give.
1) a casual child even if they come 5 time a month, is an outsider to the core group.
2) That child doesn't know your routine and that can clash with the usual timing of their day for meals and nap time.
3) They can be upset because they are less familiar with you and your environment and as such, dealing with a child who is upset most of the day, is time consuming and takes away from your core client group who are the ones paying your bills regularly.
4) Drop in client's can abuse your policies easier and because they aren't reliant on you for regular care, they aren't concerned about you refusing to take them again. It's therefore often a drop in client who shows up late to get their child and often after the agreed time, who doesn't answer your call if they have dropped off a sick child and dosed them up so know it's you calling when the meds have warn off. Some people look for drop in when their regular child care provider has excluded them for illness in order to cease the spread to other clients - if this is common in your area, expect your regular client's to be pretty ticked off at the endless exposure to ill children.
I do not offer drop in. I take full time client only. Drop in means risking poorly behaved, aggressive children, who you are then stuck with for the full day. No thanks.

kindredspirit and Suzie_Homemaker thx for your replying! I believe when I worked for the center and run the center is totally different ball game. I worked at the States for 3 yrs and subbing in Canada for less than a yr. Never worked at home care setting. So now, I am learning while I am planning for it. Your guys are right, commute time need to consider as well. I need to adjust my hours a little bit. And glad you guys mentioned the Options for drop-in and half day. I need to be aware of that as well. I can imagine the drop in option is horrible part. More need to reconsider while I am working my contract. Thx for the reminding ladies! Good luck to your programs

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Originally Posted by Love&care

Hi everyone,

I am going to open Family Care in BC. Just realize that so many care providers offer more than 8 hours! In my small town, I have heard other care providers offer 10 hours. I used to be preschool teacher, only work for 7 hours. I cannot imagine I need to work 9 or 10 hours each day. Some of you must be dead tired by the end of the day!

This is my first time to run family care. I don't know how to set up the options for Drop-in, half day and full day. What if majority of the parents like drop-in option, what should I do? And is it too late to open my centre in November?

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Hi, I agree 100% with Suzie_Homemaker. But, also it depends on how you are looking or planning to open your program. Yes it is totally diferentes than working in a centre. But, you will lover the independence of opening a program that suits your philosophycal believes, you will love the flexibility of your own program rather than thight estressful centre based schedules, you finally will be able to connect personally with families and guide them while rising their kids, which in some centres are denied and the director is the only one that connects with parents (who haven't even spent a day with a child to know him/her); and the most important of all you are in charge of you remuneration the better you are the more you can get; while in most centres your options are a minimum wage and no benefits in most of the cases.

I have two friends who same as you thought it was long hours a homedaycare so, they decided to open one a half day preschool ages 2 to 4 years olds (which become popular with the options of 2 and 3 days a week ) 8:30 to 11:30 and 12:30 to 3:30 pm (stay home parents or parents working from home like it). My friend doesn't collect much but she loves her work and her group. She doesn't deal with food the parents sent it all. She contracted a cleaning lady (business tax deductible); my friend only works on her programing and setting her program from time to time.

The other friend; decided to continueD into learning different philosophies and also opened a little preschool program, she is really successful because her little centre is focused to teach children at young age academic skills, after the first results in scores in schools she became popular and now she has a long waiting list. She also doesn't deal with food preparation and uses a cleaning company. She said that at first she thought she wouldn't survive in the business but she found parents in need of a program like hers. Stay home parents can afford to pay few days a week. Obviously now it is different she charges a lot more.

I think you should look your options; honestly I think sometimes doesn't matter how much you'll get as far as you love and like what you do, if you're already thinking that the hours are too long perhaps you can question yourself if this work is suited for you and if you'll be happy doing it or if you'll rather stablish a work that will suit your own hours. Not all parents are out working, some are in home.

I was also looking into the idea of offering my services only on weekends and there is a demand; try to think all posibilities that might suit you best; think out of the box. November is not late. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Peacefulbird

The other friend; decided to continueD into learning different philosophies and also opened a little preschool program, she is really successful because her little centre is focused to teach children at young age academic skills, after the first results in scores in schools she became popular and now she has a long waiting list. She also doesn't deal with food preparation and uses a cleaning company. She said that at first she thought she wouldn't survive in the business but she found parents in need of a program like hers. Stay home parents can afford to pay few days a week. Obviously now it is different she charges a lot more.
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Are there any special qualifications inorder to open a preschool program? I teach letters/numbers daily with worksheets and I believe most on the forum providers do. By the time the kids are ready for JK, they recognize all the characters and can read short words etc. I don't have formal training though. Who can advertise they have a 'preschool program'. ?

I think to open a preschool you need to have your Ece diploma if you open a centre (more than 6 children) definitely need your ece and a minimun of two years of experience working in a licensed program. But, if your program is from home then you can take only 5 kids at aNY given time if you're private. Also you can have 6 kids if you go and license through an agency, you can obviously have half day schedules, I have seen ladies advertising only preschoolers or home preschool program. Your ages are between 2 to 4 and sometimes older when parents realize that their children actually are learning more than in a regular classroom. My friend started with a small program and due to the need now she opened a jk and sk program, and she hires teachers, her ratios are low parents are happy. As mentioned before my friend had to get her ece diploma to expand her program and took other teaching philosophies.

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Originally Posted by Love&care

Hi everyone,

I am going to open Family Care in BC. Just realize that so many care providers offer more than 8 hours! In my small town, I have heard other care providers offer 10 hours. I used to be preschool teacher, only work for 7 hours. I cannot imagine I need to work 9 or 10 hours each day. Some of you must be dead tired by the end of the day!

This is my first time to run family care. I don't know how to set up the options for Drop-in, half day and full day. What if majority of the parents like drop-in option, what should I do? And is it too late to open my centre in November?

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In BC you first need to get in touch with a Licence Person at the Coastal Health Dept in you town/city . It will take a while as they need to check out your home with the Fire dept and City.
I use to be a Preschool Teacher and then worked at a large Centre so yes , the hours are a big difference but daycare has naptime which helps :)