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  1. #1
    Administrator Starting to feel at home... admin's Avatar
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    Separate entrance?

    Hi,

    What do you think about having / building a separate entrance for your daycare?
    Is it too impersonal to ask parents to use another door?


  2. #2
    Euphoric !
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    I think it is ideal if the door allows entry directly to the daycare playspace. One issue is making sure it is cleared as in not making parents make their way to a back door down an unshovelled sidewalk every morning. Many caregivers do that having parents enter via the side door or even through the garage which they open for dropoffs and pickups. The fact it is the same for everyone makes it simply the daycare door. A lot depends on the setup of the house and the daycare and where the doors lead to. Just make sure if you use a side or back door that you make the walk there nice with a few flowers in the summer and deiced and shovelled in the winter.

  3. #3
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    I use a seperate entrance, walk way leads to a daycare door and once opened its set right up for shoes and jackets etc. Its perfect, I don't want the kids entering into my home it doesn't make sense in my case. Also, I like the privacy. Parents don't need to see the rest of my house, Im licensed so they know the home is safe.

  4. #4
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    I also use a separate entrance and it works very well for my basement daycare.

    The stairs to my daycare is right by the door, the parents are able to come straight down to daycare (I have a chime on the door to let me know when the door is opened). It works well especially if the parents are running late for drop off or running early for pick up, as it enables me to continue my programming with the children and not have to worry about being on the main level for pick up and drop offs.

    I also like that my family has some normalacy as during drop off time my girls are getting ready for school and during pick up my hubby is up making supper, etc, this way, my family isn't being interupted and they can continue with their normal routines.
    ~*~ Nicole's Tot-Time Daycare ~*~
    www.nicolestot-time.com

  5. #5
    Euphoric !
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    This post is a few weeks old, but I am bumping it up!
    The way our home is set up currently, EVERYONE uses the same entrance/exit. And I hate it!! Our home is a bi-level, so the entrance is quite small, with stairs up to the main and stairs down to the basement. I am always feeling cramped when trying to get boots and coats on/off.
    In the future, I am moving the daycare down to our basement exclusively. It is suite-ed, and we have family renting it out right now. As much as I love them being here (and the extra cash) I can't WAIT to relocate. Then we will have a separate entrance with a mud room, our own kitchen and bathroom, etc. It would also allow the rest of my family their own space and to maintain their routines, etc.
    I don't think it's at all impersonal, in fact, depending on the set-up I think parents would prefer a separate entrance.

  6. #6
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    I have a separate entrance to the basement, but don't use it for the daycare, but for my dance school. It's great having that separate entrance!

  7. #7
    Shy
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    I wish I had a separate entrance to my basement daycare. We end up being upstairs more then in the playroom. I have done daycare in 3 different homes, and I have yet to live in a house that has a setup that I would like for daycare. Hopefully my next house will have a basement with a separate entrance, walkout basement and a kitchen area.

  8. #8
    Expansive... Play and Learn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by daycaremom View Post
    Hopefully my next house will have a basement with a separate entrance, walkout basement and a kitchen area.
    DH is doing a kitchen now in the basement, then the bathroom is next!!!!

  9. #9
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    I would LOOOOOOOOOOOVE a separate entrance! If there's ONE thing that I don't like about my job, it's the entrance.....first of all, it's straight into my home (which although the playroom is in the basement, we do pass a considerable amount of time in my "home") and second it's TOO small for my family of 4...let alone the daycare.
    I dream of a separate entrance!
    I'm off to bed....to dream of it now

  10. #10
    Euphoric !
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    I currently have everyone using my main front door and there is a fairly large area so it works fine. On the downside to having a separate entrance to the daycare I can see it working well when you dont' have kids of your own in the daycare but the problem I had with a previous house where the parents did use the side door to the daycare was that when it came time to go outside my own kids stuff was at our main door so I had to run and grab it or when we went to go out as a family my own kids stuff was at the side door and I had to go and grab it. Short of having two of everything it was a lot of running around. With one door everything is in the cupboards and we all come and go as needed.

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