Daycare climate in Barrie ON

[Smitty]

Hey, I am 20 minutes outside of Barrie so I charge Barrie prices. I just started in September and it has been quite the experience. I have, and will continue to learn so much. This is the best site to learn from. So here's what I know so far.
1. Set the hours for what your comfortable with. Mine: 7:30- 5:30 and they will show up early or late.
2. Get a deposit!!!! I can not stress this enough. Clients of mine just left and did not pay me.
3. Get paid in advance. I wish I did this.
4. charge more for part time then full time.
5. have a minimum of days per week that they must pay for. Parents sometimes start as full time and eventually start coming less and less.
6. Have a NSF charge. You may get bounced cheques.
7. Have a bounced cheque policy that if you get one then you no longer accept cheques from them.
8. Have an arrive early or pick up late policy.
9. Tell parets once they arrive to pick up their child they are in charge.
10. If the child does not want to leave NO they can not come back later to pick them up.
11. Your house will be abused by the kids. Set boundaries and rules. Your house will take a beating.
12. Be prepared to have the parents push you to the limit any way they can. $, time, etc.
13. My backyard now has no grass thanks to the kids.
14. I charge 35 day for min three days a week. 30 for five days a week.
15. Before and after school care is a lot of work. They eat a lot and use a lot of craft supplies. Not really worth it to take them in.
16. You really have to think of every possible senario. eg; What happens if a parents car is damaged in your driveway because one of the kids throws a toy at it?
17. Keep some of your kids toys separate so they dont feel like they are all being used by tons of kids.
18. I now feed the kids in the playroom because they are way too messy to eat in my dining room. Some parents do not have the same expectations as I do about manners and learning to eat over plates ect. It's frustrating because it is not hard to have propper table manners. You have the opportunity to practice three time or more each day.

So those are just a few things that I can think of right now. LOL. I would be happy to chat more with you anytime. PM me if you like. I have no full timers. Nobody needs it. Somehow people find others to watch their kids so they can save $. Grandparents! Which is not a good idea in my opinion because the poor child is all over the place in reagards to schedules and rules etc.