Day Care Center: August 2007

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Child Care - Daycare And Nutrition

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In this article we're going to discuss one of the most important parts of providing daycare for your child and that's your child's nutritional needs.

Out of sight, out of mind is a common philosophy among people. So if a parent ships his child off to daycare and doesn't see what he's eating or not eating then it's okay. Certainly the daycare center is not going to let the child starve and the food the child is given to eat will certainly be good food. Right?

Well, not always. Unfortunately a daycare center's food value is often dictated by its food budget. In most cases daycare centers are poorly funded. Most of the money goes to paying the workers themselves. Then there is the overhead. This leaves very little for food. As a matter of fact, many daycare centers have no food budget at all.

So, what is a parent to do?

For starters, you have to find out exactly what the center's food budget is. They may not give you exact dollar amounts, as they may not even know this figure, but they should be able to tell you what foods they can and can't get. This will give you a good idea of what part of your child's nutrition will be taken care of by the center and what part you will have to take care of yourself.

That brings us to the next problem. Some daycare centers do not allow food to be brought in from the outside. Many times this can be because of certain health codes that they have to enforce. In these cases only food that the centers are authorized to have will be allowed at the center. This is why knowing what the center will be feeding your child is so important.

What a parent really needs to know is exactly what good nutrition for their child is. Unfortunately not all parents are great roll models for good nutrition. Many people in this country (the United States) are either overweight or malnourished. Depending on these people to know what's good for their child is like expecting a foot doctor to disarm a nuclear warhead. Probably not a good idea.

So the first thing the parent should do is consult with a nutritionist to design a diet for the child based on the child's needs. After this is done, find out which of these foods, if any, the daycare center itself provides. If only some, or worse, none, then find out if you can provide the center with the food it needs to feed your child properly. If this is not allowed then maybe you need to rethink whether or not you want to send your child there.

Why such a fuss about nutrition? Simple. Plenty of studies have proven conclusively that a child's progress and health are directly related to how well the child eats. So if you can't be around to take care of your child and still want him to grow up healthy and strong, then make sure the daycare center is providing him with the food he needs to be healthy or find yourself another center. Your child's health depends on it.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Child Care

Child Care - Choosing A Daycare Center

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In this article we're going to cover some basic things to do and ask when choosing a daycare center for your child.

The first thing you need to do when going to a daycare center to determine if it's one you want to send your child to is ask them if they have any openings. This should be the very first question you ask. If their answer is no and you need daycare in the near future then they most likely will not be able to meet your needs. If, however, you really want this center then find out when they expect to have an opening and make plans.

The next thing you have to find out is where the center is located and how the traffic is in early morning or rush hour evening hours. If traffic is really bad you know that you're going to have to leave yourself extra time to get your child to the center and extra time for pickup, especially if the center closes at a certain hour.

The next thing you have to find out is what their hours of operation are. If the center has hours from 9 to 6 and you have to be at work at 8 AM then you are going to have a bit of a problem unless you can arrange to have someone else bring your child to the center. Most centers however do have hours long before normal work hours begin and long after normal work hours end. Just make sure you find out exactly what the hours are.

The next thing that's important to know is if there are any special holidays or dates when the center is closed. Not all businesses celebrate all holidays. For example, many businesses may be open on Martin Luther King's birthday. If yours is one of them and the center is closed for that day you are going to have to make plans for someone to either stay with your child or if possible bring your child to another center for a day or if worst comes to worst, bring your child to work. Make sure you know this well in advance.

Of course you are going to have to find out what the center charges and if there are any special supplies you will have to bring. Some centers provide diapers and food but many do not. So find this out in advance. Also, find out how payment needs to be made and when. Some centers require payment in advance and other allow you to pay at the end of each period, whether it be weekly or monthly.

It may not be a bad idea to find out the ages of the other children. If they are all older than your child you may not want to take your child to that center as there could be a greater danger of problems.

Find out if the center offers some kind of flex time in case you have a strange schedule. Some centers actually have a day shift and a night shift. Find this out if your needs require odd hours.

This may not seem important but find out what their turnover rate is. A high turnover rate may indicate a poorly run center.

Find out if there are backups to the main provider should he or she become ill. The last thing you want to find out is that you can't bring your child one day because there is only one caregiver and they are out sick.

Finally, find out if the center is certified. While this doesn't always mean the center is great, you'll have a better chance of getting a good center if it is certified.

By following the above tips you should have little trouble in finding a suitable daycare center for your child.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Child Care
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Daycare Tax Deduction - How Do I Start?

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So how do you get started claiming a daycare tax deduction? You have your own children to take care of, but for some reason you've decided to help other parent's out and take care of theirs too. You've decided to run a daycare out of your home. There is some good news in this, because of this you can apply for a daycare tax deduction on your taxes. Following are a few suggestions that should help you get started.

A good thing to know is that there are certain qualifiers to really be considered a daycare in the sense that will qualify you for the daycare tax deduction. In order to properly qualify you must be correctly certified or have valid exemptions. Obviously if you do not have these or your license has been revoked or rejected for any reason you are no longer qualified for this exemption and cannot legally apply for a daycare tax exemption.

Of course there are also a few factors that you need to know before calculating how much you can correctly deduct and use in qualifying for a daycare tax exemption. Anything related to the facility, in this instance your house that you used to run the daycare could be included. However, in order to calculate this properly you need to figure out what portion you use for business and what is used for living expenses. In this way you can use a portion of the amount you pay on your general bills, such as electricity, that may be employed in running your daycare. Only the amount used when running the daycare can be used to qualify for the daycare tax exemption.

Also included in expenses that can be claimed are any food you may use to feed the children or any employees. In fact you can deduct 100% of the employees meals and use this as part of the calculation for the daycare tax deduction. Of course this is only their salary or wages don't already have a food allowance included. There needs to be careful records in order to use these amounts for the daycare tax deduction. It may be easier to keep a standard rate for all meals and snacks provided as part of the daycare. You can use this up to three snacks a day, beverages and three meals, but you cannot include any non-food items used to prepare the meal.

Therefore, in the end, not all is bad when it comes to running a daycare out of your home. By taking advantage of the daycare tax deduction you are gaining many benefits from running the daycare out of your personal residence. In addition, with careful calculations and a little extra work, you can make the daycare tax deduction work the best for you as it possibly can. So good luck!

Check out http://www.easy-tax-deductions.com/ for more articles on vehicle tax deduction and tax deductions for donations.

What to Write on a Daycare Business Plan

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If you have a love fore children and there is a need in your area for a daycare business then you have the start of a solid business. More than likely you will not get rich from owning your own daycare, but the rewards are great none the less. When it come time to start the business, however, you should put together a daycare business plan, one that will tell your business story from the start to the finish. Here is what to put on the business plan in order to make it a success.

A great daycare business plan will be broken down into sections and stages. The first stage should be all about what you need to do in order to get the daycare business up and running smoothly. This would include any upgrades that need to be made in order for you to meet the local code requirements for a daycare business as well as how and where you are going to get financing, as well as exactly how much you are going to need to get started.

The second section should include information about the operation of your daycare business. You should include everything that you can think of to include that would cover everything from employees that you may have to operating expenses. Don't leave anything out of this part as it will be very helpful in getting some financing for your new business.

The last part of your daycare business plan should include everything that has to do with the future growth of your business and where you expect to be in one, five and ten years. Give details as to how you reached any projections that you have included.

By putting this all down in writing you will not only have a powerful document to take to the bank when looking for financing, but you will be able to refer to it to keep yourself and your business on track from the start all the way to the conclusion.

Download our easy step by step guide to starting and running a successful daycare at our website http://www.start-daycare.info/

Start Your Own Daycare with a daycare startup kit, available on our website.

Is Your Child Too Sick to Go To Daycare?

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On February 8th, 2007 the Wall Street Journal published an article on “sick days-when to keep your child home from daycare”. To summarize the article it basically discussed the fact that many parent’s have problems when children become ill and they still have to go to work.

This is very true, many parent’s do have problems when finding back-up childcare mainly because we are a busy society and just about everyone has something planned today, tomorrow and next week. So when a child does all of the sudden become ill it’s a huge issue.

Part of the problem also lies in the child care facility and their clear explanation of what their policies are. The article in the Wall Street Journal stated that many parents were not sure as to what the sick policy was of their childcare center. So, at 2A.M. does the parent have a clear understanding of whether that child should stay home? Maybe, maybe not.

Everyone realizes that the best place for a sick child is at home- it's in the best interest of the child to advocate this in our daycare centers and to our parents.

As a reminder, when new parent enrolls in your childcare be sure to discuss with them your policies. What are the specific restrictions you have when a child is ill? And be exact, what is the exact temperature that a child should be not allowed into childcare. Make sure that you take a special time to discuss your policies on illness and what illnesses are not allowed in daycare.

Policies are so very important you definitely want to keep your daycare smooth and running.

Love and Blessings,

Christine Groth
Daycare Diva

The “Daycare Diva”, Christine G. Groth, is the creator of “The Guide to Instant Daycare Profits”. To learn more about this step-by-step program and to sign-up for her FREE “How to Start a Daycare” tips and articles, visit http://www.startingadaycaretips.com/

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Is It Expensive To Start A Daycare In Your Home?

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Opening a daycare in your home has so many benefits to it, the list goes on and on. One of the greatest benefits that excites so many ladies is the fact that you can make money and stay home and raise your children.

This was initially why I started my daycare.

I was a new mom of twins and I had an absolute desire to stay home and care for my daughters. So it all worked out perfectly, I made money, took care of my family and had a really great time teaching and caring for other people’s children.

Many of you have asked me advice on starting a daycare is expensive. This could be farther from the truth. To be honest with you most of the items I use in my daycare I had already owned. Just think about it for a minute, many of you are already mom’s and have toy’s laying around the house.

And if you don’t you can purchase toys at rummage sales, and Goodwill for cheap. Books and toys can be borrowed from the library and parents who attend your daycare can be asked if they have any items they would like to donate. Over the years I’ve gone to businesses in my area asking them if they had any donations, I’ve gotten items such as envelopes, huge roles of paper, colored sheets of sticker paper, books of wallpaper samples, the list goes on. All these items can be used for craft projects with children.

It always helps to be creative, one other thing I did that received rave reviews is I bought a large circular wooden table at Goodwill for $15.00. It was a beautiful table but too tall for small children. My solution was to chop off the legs.

It’s very important to keep in mind that many items around your home can be turned into items that would be great for daycare. Another example would be bones from Thanksgiving Turkey Dinners. Keep the large sized leg bones to show children and teach about bones in humans and animals.

Starting a daycare in your home is one of the cheapest businesses you can start. It only takes a short time to get things up and running. It’s not uncommon to start a daycare in one week’s time.

Christine Groth is an author, speaker, mentor to daycare business owners. She has wrote the book, "The Guide to Instant Daycare Profits" To receive her free newsletter on how to start a daycare go to http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com/

Daycare Supplies & Equipment - 7 Must Have's

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Daycare supplies and equipment generally include toys, books, and other items, but these are only part of what you need to really create an organized learning environment for your students. Below is a list of seven “must haves” you need for your classroom.

1. Art storage for kids – Part of the daycare supplies and equipment you need to get ready for your students are art supplies because children love to be creative and to make art. However, keeping track of all those supplies and the children you’re watching can be a nightmare. You need to have some type of storage unit that will keep all of these supplies organized and accessible to your students.

2. Art easels – Setting up art stations where everything students need to start creating is available is a nice way of letting the students have a little more independence and self-expression. Plus, if you use art easels with underneath storage you’ll also have art storage for kids.

3. Appropriately sized tables and chairs – Your daycare supplies and equipment may not normally include classroom furniture, but it’s worth considering. While it may be easier to use desks and other items designed for older students, you should always try to provide your students with tables and chairs they can work at comfortably.

4. Safe steps or stools – One problem in many daycares and elementary classrooms is that existing items may not be easily accessible by your students. For example, drinking fountains are sometimes too high off the ground to be useful to students. Lowering the fountains is not a cost effective option, but you could buy special child-friendly stools or steps to make the fountains – or other taller parts of your classroom – easy and safe to reach for your students.

5. Media storage – A few decades ago, the only media storage you would need in your classroom is a place for books and maybe a place to listen to records or cassettes. Today, you might have a sizable arsenal of media at your disposal, including CD’s and DVD’s. That means you need a place to store all of those items. Remember if you want your students to be able to select the items or to return them when they are finished, you’ll want to choose media storage furniture that is closer to the ground and is visually appealing.

6. Cubbie storage – Part of the daycare supplies and equipment you need should include a way of your students to safely store their own items. Cubbie storage is a good way to do this because each child can have their own pre-assigned spot and because the cubbies make it easy to keep their items organized. Having the items stored far away from the actual classroom learning environment is a good idea so students won’t be easily distracted.

7. Toy storage – Toys, especially building blocks and similar “loose” toys, can be hard to keep organized. However, there are options available to make it easier. Consider using clear tote boxes to keep together certain types of toys, such as blocks, doll clothes, plastic food, etc. Your students will be able to easily see what’s inside each box and can pick the one he or she wants to play with. When finished, they can put everything neatly back in the box for the next students to enjoy. When you’re trying to get together all of the daycare supplies and equipment you need, don’t forget the importance of organization in your classroom environment.

Patricia Giadone is the owner of http://www.childrensorganizers.com/ an online provider of discount classroom and home furniture for parents, daycares, preschools, and churches. Her writing focuses on early childhood and the benefits of organization in the classroom and at home.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Record Keeping for Daycare Centers

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The key to record keeping is to simplify, simplify, simplify. As with any other repetitive task you want to make it as easy as possible so the main goal is achieved. At the end of the chapter I will reprint a copy of what the IRS is providing to its auditors when looking at child care centers. This information will give you some insight.

The end result of keeping accurate records is two-fold. Sometimes we get all caught up in defending against problems with the IRS and tax return preparation and that we forget the purpose of record keeping. We should be using the information from the records to advance our business and allow us to make decisions on how to run the business more effectively.

Good record keeping will allow you to keep track of the health of your business. Again, seek professional help or read as many books as possible to aid you growing your business effectively and keeping it on track. Don’t become overwhelmed with everything in your business and allow this area to be the one that always falls short. Remember the rule – simplify! Get the information you need to make a proper decision and give the government the information they need in the form of tax return or reports.

Lets’ get started.

There are a number of logs that are necessary in the preparation of good records. They are: time, food, auto, and asset. In addition to these logs we need to keep track of income sources: private pay, government pay, grants, and food program. The other sources of funding must also be tracked: bank loans, vehicle loans, and loans from others. The final things that need to be kept track of are the valid expenses of the business.

Lets’ break down each of the above in a little more detail.

Income sources

1. Private pay from parents by child

2. Food Program (USDA)

3. Grants

4. Government Programs

I recommend that you keep track of each source of income separately and then report them separately on your income tax return. Each source can be verified by the IRS so if you report it this way there is no question to its accuracy. All money received should be deposited into a business bank account. This allows you to easily verify the income to the deposits that were made during the year.

Time, Food, and Auto

Many states provide a calendar for the tracking of these figures. In the end we need to know how many hours the day care was in operation to calculate the time space percentage (discussed previously.) Do this daily and weekly, (record on the calendar) to be able to answer all questions at the end of the year on your tax return. If you’re anything like me, you can’t explain what you did last week much less what you did eleven months ago.

In 2004 the IRS made a significant change in the calculation of food expense. Prior to 2004 the only way to track food was to provide receipts of food purchases. This method was always in question to providers on how to determine what was personally eaten food, (non-deductible) and what was consumed by children, (deductible). We now have a new log to keep. You now need to provide the number of breakfast, lunch, dinner, A.M. snack and P.M snack. The IRS provides a rate that is equal to the tier-one food rate for the USDA food program.

This new program eliminates the tracking of food receipts. I still recommend keeping the food receipts to prove that you have spent at least what you are claiming. You are still allowed to keep actual receipts and use those for expense. Just realize that on audit the auditor will do a test of meals served and if your expense is higher than the calculation of meals times rate they will argue to reduce the expense.

The auto log is simply the record of miles driven on a personal vehicle for the pursuit of business. If the vehicle is used 100% for business you may take the actual expenses for that vehicle. If you share the vehicle for personal and business you need to determine the percentage of business that the vehicle was driven. The choice of using actual or mileage method is made in the first year of service. In both methods you will need to keep an accurate mileage log. The total miles driven are also necessary. The other information needed is date, miles driven, and what the business purpose was. This can be recorded on your calendar or a special book specifically for this purpose. Again, if you do it daily, it becomes natural to you and the information is readily accessible for tax time.

Asset Log

Asset Log is defined as: what is in your home that will last longer than one year. There are two types of assets: those you owned before you started operation, and those you purchased after you started operations. These assets can be further broken down into those that are 100% used for business and those that are shared by you personally and the day care. No matter which kind the assets are you need to record information about them.

Owned before operations started

1. Asset Name (ie refrigerator)

2. Location (room from floor Plan)

3. Fair Market Value at date of start of operation

4. How you determined value

5. Asset type

Purchased after operation started

1. Asset Name (ie refrigerator)

2. Location (room from floor plan)

3. Date Purchased

4. Where purchased

5. Asset Type

Based on the above information you will be able to create a depreciation schedule and claim the proper amount of expense. The depreciation schedule will either go directly to the business return or be further reduced by the time space percentage depending on whether it is a shared asset or a total business asset.

Loan List

You will need to keep track of the monies that are entering your business and from where. When you make a loan to the business it needs to be tracked. The bank wants to get their money back when they loan you money and you should want the business to return that money back to you as well. The money you loan to the company should be deposited into your business bank account, and the expenses that the loan was needed for will be recorded in the business checking account.

Many times I will have a provider complain that they are not being treated as a business person and instead are being treated as a baby sitter. Keeping accurate records and acting like a business requires you to have good records. Be sure to keep strict separation between personal expenses and business expenses. By doing this you will be treated as the professional that you are, and will give you piece of mind when tax time or decision time arrives.

Lastly, Direct Expenses

All direct business expenses should be written from your business checkbook. I have found that using a credit card has been very helpful. If you use a credit card use it for business purposes only, and pay the balance monthly, you will be able to track expenses easily. Debt is a burden that will many times destroy a new business. Good record keeping will allow you to better keep track of the monies coming in and going out. You should keep the receipts associated with the expense and organize them by category, not the month. The IRS wants to know the amount of supplies, not January, February, etc. This will allow you to easily assemble the information for the tax return or financial statement purposes.

Whether you decided to use a computer with the many programs that are available for record keeping or not, the overall goal doesn’t change. You need to systematically assemble the information in a way that you can make decisions from, and also comply with the laws of your state and federal government.

I thought it would be helpful to take a look inside what the IRS auditor would be looking for. In 2004 the IRS published an audit guide for child care centers. This publication is used by auditors to get up to speed on a certain industry segment. If you know what they are looking for you can better be prepared when the time comes. It is too late to prepare after you are selected for audit, because the audit will happen between two and three years after the year that they are auditing.

The IRS has given its auditors specific guidance that lets you know what issues the examiners are looking for. This is not an absolute list because the individual auditor can ask for anything they want to look at but this is a great starting point.

From Child Care Providers Audit Techniques Guide

1. Be prepared to discuss the business history including the starting date, a brief description of a typical days activities, and internal controls for income and expenses information

2. If you are taking a deduction for the use of your home, provide a floor plan, blueprint or other significant documents to reflect the square footage of the residence. Provide the escrow and/or closing statement to verify the cost of the property. Mortgage company statements showing the paid property tax renting your home provide substantiation of the expenses and a copy of the rental agreement.

3. Provide copies of Federal Tax Returns for prior and subsequent years, prior Federal and State audit reports, any related returns: partnership, corporation, or employment tax returns and any Forms 1099 filed and/or received.

4. Provide journals, ledgers, records, notebooks used to keep a record of clients and the amount they paid (weekly, monthly, etc)

5. Provide all bank statements, business and personal, for the period beginning _______ and ending _______.

6. If you are participating in the food program, provide copies of the reimbursement statement, name and address of the food sponsor, attendance and meal count record, and time record.

7. Provide copy of any benefit or retirement plan.

8. Provide substantiation in the form of canceled checks, receipts, statements, or invoices for expenses identified for examination.

9. Provide all business licenses, approvals, registrations, and certifications.

When facing an examination by the IRS, it is best to provide the auditor with exactly what they ask for and nothing more. Answer only the questions they specifically ask and avoid offering additional information that they don’t specifically ask for. You don’t want to expand the scope of the audit by offering information that will lead to additional areas of inquiry. Do not go to the inquiry alone and preferable bring your tax advisor to assist you. If the tax advisor has complete knowledge of your return he/she may prefer to complete the audit without you present. This normally avoids the expansion of the audit and allows it to proceed to a conclusion as quickly as possible.

If you take the process of record keeping one step at a time and do one thing every day you will stay on top of the work and benefit from the wealth of knowledge that can be derived from that information.

Christine Groth, business owner, and author of 6-weeks to Instant Daycare Profits Home Study Course. Subscribe to our free 6 part newsletter on how to start a daycare and make over $90,000 per year. Go to http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com/

Starting A DayCare - How To Hire Help

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If you do the right things, your daycare center will become successful and make you great money. A lot of women have taken the step towards financial freedom and greater income. A daycare center is a great business not only financially, but also spiritually. Working with children is one of the greatest pleasures in the world.

Once your day care center is off the ground and becomes successful, you will need to hire an employee to assist you in the day to day running of your business.

How to make sure you hire the right person? Here the steps you need to take:

1. Experience - Don't be too strict on experience. After all, once, when we were all younger, we had no experience and had to start out ourselves. Your employees don't need to have experience in the daycare business, but they should have some references, even if it's from families whom they babysat for.

2. Make sure that your employees are available for a long time - If your staff keeps changing, the parents of the children in your daycare will become suspicious that something fishy is going on. This kind of instability is also very bad for the children. Make sure that whoever you hire wants the job for a long time.

3. Explain the job carefully and in detail - You don't want there to be any misunderstandings after your new employee begins work. Explain the job requirements in detail. Don't be afraid to repeat yourself. It is better to be annoying than to miss anything.

4. Give a trial period - During the first month or so, watch your new employee carefully. Make sure that he or she works well with the kids, has a lot of patience, doesn't get mad easily and so forth. If things don't work out, don't be afraid to fire your employee. You have an obligation to your business and your customers.

If you follow these 4 tips, you will hire the right people and be able to build your daycare center.

To read more about how to start and expand a daycare business visit this webpage: Starting A Day Care Center

Lucy Doyle runs a home business and is an expert on starting and operating successful daycare centers.

To read how you can too become a successful businesswoman by starting your own profitable daycare visit Lucy Doyle's expert webpage on starting daycare centers at this dedicated webpage: http://www.squidoo.com/startingadaycare

Starting A Daycare Center - 2 Things to Consider

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Do you work and have young children?

Does any of this sound familiar at all to you?

You're a working couple or single parent trying to make a decent living for your family by working fulltime. You're away on the job anywhere from 40-60 hours a week. Since most of your time is spent away from home, someone's got to care for your children, so daycare is critical to your family's existence.

You feel terrible when you drop your kids off at daycare every morning and wish there was a way you could change that and be able to spend the days together with them yourself. Then, at the end of the day, you're lucky to spend an hour or two with your kids before it's bath and bedtime and time to get ready to repeat the cycle tomorrow.

But what can you do, right? Someone's got to bring home the money to pay the bills, buy the food, pay the mortgage. Wouldn't everything be so much better if you could be in your home everyday raising your children the very best way you know how?

You may have even brainstormed ways you could change this common situation in your life. Get a night job so you're home during the day? Get some type of work-from-home income going like "typing-from-home", "stuffing envelopes", "home assembly", etc. All those so called "opportunities" that just don't sound legit right from the get go. You may have even had a passing thought of starting your own in-home daycare. But that could never work either, right?

Well, that might not be quite as far fetched as you think. In fact, that same little dream has become a reality for many former out-of-home working parents. They've started their own mommy or daddy daycare and have made life changes for the better because of it. More time with their kids first and foremost, but they're still paying the bills as well. And they're their own boss too by the way! Commonly for most though, this is only a quick passing idea and then the thought of "I could never do that, I wouldn't even know where to start" pops in and snuffs out any chance of progress. You may think too that there just wouldn't be any way of getting anyone else besides your own children to enroll in your daycare.

Certainly, the market is open for excellent, quality childcare at reasonable fees. Daycare centers across the country are at full capacity or are getting close to it. You may have even encountered placing your own children on a waiting list to enroll at a daycare you chose. People rely on childcare these days, and it's hard to foresee that changing anytime soon.

Well then, what if, just what if you COULD start your own daycare and knew how to make it a success? Wouldn't it really only take having a good, proven plan and sticking to it to get started? Sure. But there are a couple of things you really need to have as your foundation before starting to build on this idea. After all, not everyone who loves their kids, and enjoys spending time with children in general, has the mettle to make a daycare business work long term. Do you have what it takes?

Thoughtfully consider the following first:

1) Do you possess a true desire to succeed in changing your life for the better for you, your children and for other families who would depend on you for their child's care and nurturing during their time at your daycare?

2) Do you know the steps required to make it happen?

It sounds pretty simple I'm sure. But, as with accomplishing anything, you need to first WANT to do it and then you have to DO it! The first part, wanting to do it and having that desire, comes from within your self. You already know if it's something you'd want to do or not. If you don't, there's no magic information out there that will change that.

If you do want to, it's simply a matter of having the right, proven blueprint to follow the steps to making it happen. Maybe you already have a general idea of what it takes from past experiences in childcare, babysitting, youth groups, etc. But where do you get a detailed plan to work from? Where do you find the information that walks you through each step in the process of starting a daycare as your own business? It's difficult. There is a lot of information available out there that can give someone general conceptual ideas to getting started. There are also some resources that include very good details about what needs to be done. Problem is, finding the right information that covers everything necessary all in one resource. Something that covers the "big picture" while still "filling in all the blanks" that might frustrate you otherwise.

The good news is that there is such a complete resource available to anyone who is interested in starting their own daycare center as a business. It's called the Starting a Day Care Center Start-Up Guide Kit™ by Vanessa Rasmussen. You may want to learn more about this guide and how it can help you make your daycare dream come true by visiting freedom4usall.blogspot.com

David has contributed articles and information to multiple websites and forums. If you've found this article useful and informative and would like additional information, please visit http://freedom4usall.blogspot.com/

How to Find a Child Daycare Center

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It’s a daunting question for many parents, new and old. Some of you are first timers with a brand new baby in your home and others of you have several children. All in all you have decided it’s time to go back to work and find a child daycare that meets your beliefs.

But the question is what are your beliefs on what a good child daycare should be?

This is something for you to definitely think about, for you to find a good child daycare you need to determine what kind of environment you most definitely feel comfortable in.

Here are some of the questions you should be asking yourself before you venture out in looking for a child daycare center.

1. Do you feel more comfortable with a family child daycare or a group child daycare? Both are very different. A family child daycare is usually run by one person who is the owner, and usually out of someone’s home. A group child daycare is usually out of a commercial building with staff on hand. Children are divided according to ages. For example all babies are in one room, all toddlers in another, and so on.You get the idea. Family child daycares usually mix all ages together, but family daycares are small- only about 8 children per center. Group centers can be very large. Perhaps up to 250 children in one center.

2. What is the policy of the child care center? Be sure to ask what there rules are regarding sickness, time off, vacations, paid holidays, emergencies. Make sure that you are clear on what these policies are; be clear on what the child daycare center is expecting of you and vice versa. Many times this is how parents and child daycare centers get into disagreement. Not over the actual childcare provided but over the policies established by the center.

3. Do you trust the provider who will be taking care of your child? If you don’t trust the provider chances are you will leave the center. Also understand that child daycares aren’t perfect. Anytime you leave your home you take the risk of error. I’m not trying to protect the child daycare center, but people do make errors and understand that children will be children. They will argue, get dirty, hit their friends and so one but realize that they are learning and this is their nature at such a young age.

I think that the above questions are so important in asking yourself. Realize that choosing a child daycare center is an important decision. Children need consistency and stable loving relationships- this is so much more important then fancy toys and big buildings.

Christine Groth, has helped hundreds of women open their own family childcare centers. An author and mentor she has developed a mentoring system that guarantees their success in small business. To receive her free 3 part newsletter, go to http://www.instantdaycareprofits.com/

Babysitters Or Daycare And Children

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After being a stay-at-home mom for a year or two after having a child, you are most likely to question the correctness or the wisdom of not yet having decided to go back to work. In reality it may be actually beneficial for your child to start interacting with children of his age, and it is certainly wrong for you to feel bad about wanting to get back to your career and your world.

All you need to do is ensure that the day care facility that you choose is a well organized one which places a lot of importance on the development of children’s skills. Such places devote a lot of time towards teaching such skills to your child and within a very short time you will be able to see the positive changes in your child.

After hearing dreadful tales of the babysitters and day care centers from all parts of the world, you would definitely want to find a place that offers the best service and suits your child the best. You should neither be hasty nor should you be afraid to check, and ask questions before you decide. After all, a good straightforward sitter or daycare will not have anything to hide and will be more than ready to clarify all your doubts.

For both your child and yourself, being away from each other may be a good thing. While offering an enjoyable time with other children, going to a day care will also inculcate the right values in your child. It will help her grasp that adults need to work to support their family. You will be instilling in her the ideology of hard work and responsibility, which she in turn will practice when she grows up.

On the whole, instead of being harmful or wrong, opting to leave your child in day care and going back to your job is good. Since all of us want what is best for our children, it is of course necessary for one to be thorough in checking out the day care that one chooses for one’s child. This way while you get back to your active work life, your child will be in good hands.

Swati Banerjee is the owner of Writing Ink, a web content management firm based out of India, that services clients from across the globe. Please take a minute to visit http://www.writing-ink.com/ to experience how the bright young minds here make magic with words!

Quality Daycare Services - Is It A Reality?

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The question on providing quality daycare services is no longer about whether it is a reality because to be successful in the business, you HAVE to provide quality services. If you are thinking that running a daycare centre is going to be an extension of babysitting, think again.

With the affluence of today’s society, customers have become highly accustomed to quality services. For example, when we walk into a diner, we are no longer satisfied with just good food. We expect the waiters and waitresses to be polite, we expect to be served some ice water whilst we wait for our meals, etc. Anything less than a good service and we will feel shortchanged.

So what exactly is delivering quality service in daycare? It simply means either meeting or exceeding the customers’ (parents’) expectations of the daycare service provided. A good technique will be to benchmark against your competitors. Gather as much information as possible about your competitors within 500 meters from you; know what are their charges, how many children they are caring for, why the parents have chosen to deposit their children at their facilities, etc. And use it as a benchmark to set the minimum standard for quality. For example, if all the daycare facilities in your neighborhood operate from 7.30am to 5.30pm, then all the parents will expect you to operate from 7.30am to 5.30pm. However, should you decide to operate from 7am – 7pm to accommodate parents who have to work a little later, it is exceeding their expectations.

What then are examples of quality services? Well, it depends on how much the provider is willing to spend. It can stem from providing better quality meals to developing better quality curriculum or even having a low caregiver to child ratio. Naturally, there is an element of cost pegged to it. You can choose to pass this cost back to the parents or absorb it and use it as a strategy to attract more customers.

But why go through all that trouble? Simply because you have to! Whilst providing quality service does not guarantee success, delivering poor quality service will most definitely be doomed for failure. As the saying goes, if you are not going to serve the customer, someone else will. Going that extra mile for your customer and providing high quality could potentially become your competitive advantage and the key to retaining your customers.

So, do you think providing quality daycare service should be a reality?

For more information or resources on starting a daycare, please visit http://www.setupadaycare.com/

Monday, August 20, 2007

Opening a Home Daycare Business

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Opening your own home daycare center can be a wonderful way to spend more time with your family and enjoy a career working with children. Before setting off on this adventure, however, you need to determine what your motives are. If you are looking for a way to get rich it isn't going to happen. If you are looking for an easy job and a day lounging around the house you are in for a shocking surprise. Running a daycare is not an easy job and there is no place in this field for those who do not love children and have the patience and endurance that is needed to work with them on a daily basis. Taking care of other people's children is an entirely different job than caring for your own. You need the ability to love unconditionally and to accept the children in your care into your home and family. If, after thinking long and hard about this career choice, you decide that daycare is right for you than there are several steps you must take.

First, you must find out what your state regulations regarding home daycares are. Most states require a food handler's permit, first aid, C.P.R., and a business license. These are easily obtained with some time and small fees. There are organizations out there that will provide grant money as a reimbursement for your start up costs after you have remained licensed for a set period of time. After you have done that you need to find out what your city regulations are. The state and local regulations are not always the same. In order to do business in the city that you live in you must follow their ordinances. They will generally want to do a fire inspection of your home and will take a written plan for the amount of traffic you will receive during business hours. None of these things are hard. They simply require time to process.

Once you have fulfilled all of the legal requirements of running your home business you need to determine what your business model will be. Hours of operation will have to be decided, keeping in mind that you will need to work longer hours than the parents you serve in order to give them time to travel to and from work. A daily schedule will make your day go much smoother and give the children a routine to count on. This will relieve many of the behavior issues you may run into. A contract and parent handbook is necessary to maintain good relationships with the parents and to assure that your own needs are met. The contract should cover weekly fees, when payment is due, consequences for late payment, and the type of notice on monetary compensation that must be given when the contract is terminated. The parent handbook should cover the rules of your business at home. This is the place to tell parents what you expect of them. Some things you may want to include here are your sick policy, whether or not you allow children to bring things from home, what your stand is regarding vacations and sick days etc. There are many home daycares that have posted their contracts and parent handbooks online that you can look at for ideas. Be sure to be as thorough as possible because these are the things that will primarily determine your satisfaction with your business. It allows you to be in control and avoid many of the typical complains of daycare providers. Once you have a contract be sure that you follow it. This sounds simple but it is easy to become lax in rules trying to please the parents. You need to remember that they have not employed you. You are running your own business and you set the rules. They are a client and agreed to the terms that you set for them. Start strict so the parents know where you stand. It is easier to be more lenient over time as you develop relationships with the parents than it is to go the other direction. The last thing you want is to hate your job because parents are constantly late picking up or paying their fees.

Many daycares choose to provide full preschool programs. If you are not comfortable developing your own curriculum there are many companies such as Mother Goose Time and Funshine Express that will send you boxes of materials every month with each day planned for you. This is not a requirement for running a home daycare. Children can learn quite a lot through play as long as they are actively engaged in activities and interactions throughout the day.

Advertising can be fairly easy. Signs can be printed for under $20 at vinyl shops with your business name and phone number. These can be placed in your yard if your neighborhood allows it or on streets nearby. Flyers can be posted on bulletin boards at many local businesses, including grocery stores. Word of mouth is the best advertising. Talk to everyone you know and let them know what you are doing. Parents are desperate to find quality daycare and once you build your reputation you will never need to advertise. Local Resource and Referral agencies offer fantastic childcare placement services. They link parents searching for daycare with a list of daycare providers in each city. Be sure and sign up with them once you have received your license. It can take up to 6 months to fill all the openings you have but once you develop a name for yourself your business should be pretty steady.

Daycare can be a wonderful profession with the right attitude and passion. It requires patience and love and a lot of work but the time it gives you with your own children and the freedom to control your employment is well worth the work.

Rachel Lister is a 26 year old mother of two young children. She teaches preschool and runs a home daycare. Rachel is the teen editor for Bellaonline.com (http://www.teen.bellaonline.com/) and writes for various other online markets.

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How To Start A DayCare Business

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So you have decided that your town or community could do with a good daycare center and now you are wondering how to get started. There are several important things to think about before you should start doing anything:

1. Setting

Is this going to be a home-based business or will it be a daycare center with its own discrete location? If you plan on running your operation at home, consider the expenses: will you need to do any remodeling to make managing an orderly and safe daycare feasible? Is there anything in the house that could be damaged or that could be harmful? If you want to go the other route and have your own separate daycare center, the best option here is to find a small building somewhere near a residential area and rent it out. If you become very successful and anticipate further growth of your business, you may want to invest in buying the property.

2. Certifications and Licenses

This is very important as you do not want any starting investment to be ruined because you violated a law. This can be very area-specific so it is recommended that you sit with an attorney to discuss legal matters, but generally you will need a business license as well as some kind of certification that recognizes your institution as a legitimate daycare center or home-based business.

3. Management

Who will be running the center? Will you need to hire helpers or will this be a family-oriented advent? Be sure to keep on top of this form the start because you can easily find yourself in over your head if you do not have enough help and keep track of expenses very well and how they are distributed to your employees if you have any.

It may seem intimidating, but starting a daycare business can be extremely rewarding both monetarily and emotionally, and if you do your research before diving in, you will be on your way to opening sooner than you think.

Isaac Phillipson has assisted in the opening of two daycare businesses within his own community. To view the very guide he used to do this, visit http://www.review-source.com/startadaycare.php

Starting A Home Daycare Business

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The childcare or daycare business has become a valuable part of modern society. Parents want a place they can leave their children while they are at work and be assured that their kids are in good hands. With this said, it is apparent that for anybody interested in running a home based daycare business or daycare center, the first priority must be the love of children. Their safety and well being must come before financial gains on your priority list. Starting a daycare center could be the best way to positively impact on the lives of the children and parents in your community. Obviously, in the long run, if properly planned, a daycare business is bound to be lucrative, but you are sure to enjoy the bond created between you, the children and their parents in decades to come, more than any financial again.

However, the love of kids cannot be the only requirement for starting a daycare business. As with any other business, especially small and home based business, several other factors must be put into consideration before jumping into the business. Let's take a look at some of these vital requirements.

For a start, you really have to do thorough research. You have to know what you are getting yourself into, the pros, the cons and the prospects. Does your locality need another daycare operator? Will it be profitable in your area? Are those running the existing centers enjoying the experience? These are some of the numerous questions you need to get answers to. It would be a great idea to visit existing daycare centers; you could interview parents about what they think of the services they are getting, what they expected and also the operators about how well the business is thriving.

You will also want to learn about licensing and certifications required for running a daycare business. Some states will require that you get licensed while some others may not. You may also want to get First Aid, CPR or other kind of certifications. Even if these were not pre-requisites, they would come handy when the business gets into full swing. You never can tell what events could occur, it is always better to be prepared for accidents and eventualities.

There is also the personal side of the story. You need to consider if you want to run a home based daycare business or a daycare center. If it is going to be home based, do you need to modify or change your house to be make it child friendly, do you own a building or will you have to rent the required space. You should also consider what impact being with children all day long would have on you and your family. If you are not a natural child lover, a daycare business may be very demanding, as tending children requires a lot of love, understanding and patience. If you have growing kids yourself, the task may be more demanding, as you never can tell what impact the kids you are tending will have on your own children. However, if handling such things is not stressful for you or if you are stay at home mom that is seeking to supplement her income with the venture, then a home based daycare business might just the right thing for you.

As with any other business venture, a clear business plan would definitely impact positively on its success. You need a business plan to map out the viability or otherwise of the venture. You need to consider the initial capital and expense you will incur setting up the business, where these monies will come from and how you are going to recoup your initial capital plus profit. Your business plan will also take care of all necessary accounting and tax expenses, and even create back ups in case of accidents or other eventualities.

In all, the success of your business venture will be directly proportional to how well prepared you were before you jumped into it. Do as much research as you can, learn all you can find about children and their needs, what parents wish for their children and especially, a good business plan. It is never wrong to be well prepared, you will be better for it.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Child Care

How To Choose A Daycare Provider

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There is no greater decision that a working parent has to make than who will provide childcare while they are away from home. You want to make sure that the provider gives your child all the love and attention that they can provide. Certainly no provider can provide the attention that a loving parent can, but some are better than others.

The key to making the right decision is in knowing what to look for and what questions to ask. Each parent will be different in what value they place on each area: however there are some things that all parents should be concerned about. Recommendations are nice, but what may be important to your friend may not be as important to you.

The first thing you need to know is the difference between a group center and a family care center. A group care center is usually held in a large, commercial facility. It usually houses 9 children or more. A family daycare is usually in someone's home and usually houses 6 children or less.

Check with your state social services for the requirements in your area. Also check for licenses and certificate requirements. They can also provide a list of reputable providers. You may also want to only consider state licensed centers.

You will also want to consider the adult:child ratio. The lower the ratio the better for your child. This will allow your child to get more attention. The picture of your child sitting alone while some overstressed worker handles too many children is one of a parent's worst nightmares.

Also, ask about staff turnover. The lower the turnover rate, the better it is for your child. The turnover rate is an indication of the stability of the company. You also want to consider how long they have been in service.

Make sure that you are in agreement with the caregiver's philosophy on teaching, breaks, games, discipline (a real biggie) and naps.

Below are some questions that you will want to ask the provider. Many of these can be asked over the phone be nothing replaces an on site visit:

1. What are your emergency policies?

2. What is the cancellation policy?

3. What is the latest I can pick my child up and what are the penalties

4. Who will be taking care of your child and what happens if that person becomes sick?

5. Under what circumstances would you call the parent?

6. How long have you been in business? How long have you been at this site?

7. Could you provide references from other parents?

8. How do you check the backgrounds of your employees?

9. How do you handle sick children?

10. Is there a length of time for the contract?

Remember to take your time when you make this decision. Where you place your child can make a big difference in your little one(s) life and yours. It will also affect your work. If you are concerned about your child it will be harder for you to concentrate on your job.

There are no guarantees. There are many considerations that you need to consider when choosing a daycare. By being patient and doing your homework you will give your child the best possible chance of being safe and happy while you are away at work.

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Legal Duties as a Daycare Director

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Do you know what your duties are as a director of your daycare centre? Many business owners are unaware of the legal implications of being a director of an establishment. Whilst understandably, many of us are not legal professional, it is important to know what’s required of you as a director so that you can make a conscious effort to stay away from situations which could potentially put you in conflict with your duties as a director.

A director’s duties can be categorized broadly as:
• Fiduciary Duties
• Duties of skill, care and diligence
• Statutory Duties

1) Fiduciary Duties

a. A director is required to act in genuine interest of the company’s interest at all times

As a director, he is required to act honestly and conduct due diligence when discharging his duties as a director. Should a director be forced to make a decision or undertake a transaction which may seem inviable or disadvantageous for the company, he must be able to justify other intangible benefits for the company; either to the company as a corporate entity or its group of company, the members and employees in the company or the interest of the creditors in the company.

b. A director must avoid positions where his personal interest may be in conflict with his duty

A director must ensure that he acts in the best interest of the company at all times and not be in a position where his personal interest will impair his judgment resulting in a situation where his personal interest take precedence over the company’s interest.

c. Duty to use powers for proper purposes and not for any collateral purpose

A director must understand that he is the trustee of the company’s assets and the company assets entrusted to him are to be applied for the company’s purpose and interest. It is considered a breach of fiduciary duty should the director misapply the company’s assets or abuse his power. Even if he was misguided on what was in the company’s interest, the director is still in breach of his duty should be misuse his powers. And should he misapply the company’s funds, he is in breach of criminal breach of trust, be it or not he has personally benefited from it. A director must not accept any form of reward or payment from any third party other than his company.

2) Duties of skill, care and diligence

A director must ensure that he exercise reasonable care and skill when undertaking his director responsibility with any additional knowledge and experience which he actually has..

3) Statutory Duties

A director’s breach of statutory duty can be a civil breach rendering the director liable to the company for any profit made by him or for any damage suffered by the company or a criminal offense.

a. Duty to disclose certain important information

A director is bound to disclose certain information to the company such as interest in a proposed or existing transaction or arrangement with the company or loans to director, etc. The type of information that a director is required to disclose can vary slightly from country to country and state to state.

b. Duty to ensure that the accounts are properly prepared

It is the director’s duty to ensure that the accounts are properly prepared and managed. The accounts should provide a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and explain its transactions.

In essence, it is important to note that a director’s duty to the company is an important one. He must at all times act with care, honesty and diligence and make decisions which are in the best interest of the company and not oneself.

For more information or resources on starting a successful daycare, please visit http://www.setupadaycare.com/

Tips on Choosing a Good Daycare

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Now a days it is hard to make it with one parent working, that we have to find a good and caring daycare for our kids, and go on to work also. I found that it is better to find out all you can about the daycare before you decide to leave your children there.

First of all, these are your pride and joys and you don't want anything to happen to them while you are away from them. When you first go to check out a daycare center, check for their license, if you don't see it then ask about it and physically look at it. No license then I wouldn't consider them taking care of my child. And training. Make sure they have had training in taking care of children. I am talking about training in taking care of quiet kids to the hyper ones that just don't want to listen. There is a requirement in some states, you have to go to classes every year for so many hours to qualify to work in a daycare.

Next, how about smoke detectors and fire exits? Make sure they have both. Ask about the plan if there should be a fire and if they have fire drills with the kids so they know what to do should a fire break out.

How about the atmosphere there? Is it a happy room, with toys and tables and chairs. A room that your kids can't wait to tear into or just a drab room that really hasn't caught your fancy. If you can't get excited with the daycare, they most likely you child won't either. Are the daycare workers friendly, and do they pay attention to your child while you are asking about the place? Some places just want to get your child there to make the money. Check out how they treat your child and others before you make a decision.

Are you looking for just a place to drop you kids off or do you want something that not only takes care of your kids but also teaches them things that will help when they start school. That is important too. Some places have the play time then learning time and then play time. How about naps? What do they do if the child doesn't want to take a nap?

When you decide which daycare you want to take care of your child, make sure you make up a list of important things incase of an emergency, medicines, phone numbers and also make sure you put it in writing if you or someone else will be picking your child up. If you chose you and your husband only or who ever, make sure they know that and put it in writing so no one else can snatch your child up.

There are a million questions you could ask, and don't be afraid to. Remember this is your child that they are taking care of.

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Saturday, August 18, 2007

Childcare Management & Daycare Software

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Running a childcare facility can be an exhausting, 24/7 job. There are always kids to keep track of, records to update, fees to collect, bills to pay, reports to write, and so on. Often, your To-Do List seems both frighteningly endless and drearily cyclical.

If you're not careful, trying to keep up with all your duties could wear you ragged. You also run the risk of spreading yourself too thin. And that could spell the difference between delivering quality and substandard childcare.

Fortunately, Professional Solutions' ProCare software provides a way to streamline your operations. With this line of childcare management and daycare programs, you can quickly automate your facilities for maximum efficiency and minimum headaches. This means you can now instantly accomplish tasks that would otherwise take you minutes, hours or even days to complete. This also means that investing in the ProCare system can save you a fortune in wasted time, effort and money. It can very well be the soundest business decision you'll ever make.

Automation allows ProCare to simplify many monotonous and mundane administrative chores for you. With just a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, it can help you organize customer information into easily retrievable records. It can also help you perform other time-consuming duties, such as scheduling, bookkeeping and generating reports, in practically no time at all.

ProCare knows that the decision to automate your center is no small matter. This is why ProCare willingly provides you with a free software demo (available for request at http://procaresoftware.com/demo.shtml that will walk you through the system. This gives you a firsthand feel of the features and benefits without having to shell out any funds.

ProCare is a completely customizable software package solution. With the comprehensive ProCare Family Data program at its very heart, managing child and family data becomes swift and simple. Other optional modules can be purchased as add-ons to this core software. Each module is intended to target a specific function, such as accounting or attendance tracking. While the Family Data software is a must-buy, you only pay for the add-ons that you want or require. ProCare can therefore be designed to meet the individual needs of most any preschool or daycare. It can even be designed to fit most any budget. A pool of well-trained and dedicated ProCare consultants are always on hand to help you pick out which features will work best for your particular center.

Once you choose and install the ProCare package best suited for your needs, you're ready to hit the ground running. Its intuitive interface guarantees ease of use, with absolutely no learning curve necessary. Even computer novices will be able to successfully navigate through the application's user-friendly menus and functions. So from the moment you fire up your software, all you have to worry about is what you're going to do with all the time you'll save.

For an entire decade now, ProCare's business solution expertise has given childcare professionals more time to focus on what really counts: nurturing and caring for kids. Isn't it time you automated your center the ProCare way too? For more information on Day Care Software, please visit http://www.softwareperfect.com/

About The Author
Jasmine Ong is a staff writer for Software Perfect - a leading independent software review website. softwareperfect.com

SMS Daycare & Gaming

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Using the Physical World as a Game Board.

This is not Kinky Day Care! SMS stands for Short Message Service.

If your children carry cell phones, or if you have an extra family phone you can let them borrow for the day. This is a good way to get a break and run the kids all over the neighborhood.

The Treasure Hunt. Come up with a few locations around the house or the yard and create hints to explain each location. It's better to have three or four hints for each location. I usually put a card with a number on it at each location. This will help you know if they actually made it to the location. You don't have to use the cards or "PostIt Note" if you don't want to. Once you're setup, get the kids ready.

Page them with the first hint. It's always nice to have your hints as short as possible. You should have at least three hints, from hard to easy. This would also depend on the age groups your working with. Now you get to sit back in the hammock in the backyard while you keep the children busy! It's a great way to take a break.

You can make up as many location as you want, but sometimes they get a little frustrated after about five or so locations.

Always have a prize of some kind at the end. Maybe a candy bar or a trip to the ice cream store.

When they find the first location. They are to page you and give the number you wrote on the card or PostIt Note. (The numbers shouldn't be in order, i.e. 1,2,3 etc. You can use anything you want. If your child is OK with text paging, you can have them explain the location in the text page, i.e. "Tree in backyard"). At that time, you page them back with a Congratulations and the next hint. If you have more than one cell phone in the group, you will be able to setup teams. You have to be fair as far as which message you send to each group, (hard, medium, or easy hints). If I have more than one group, I'll send them in different directions so they can't cheat off one another. If group number 2 is ahead of group 1, and I give group 2 an easy hint. Be fair, when group 1 gets to that hint; give them the easy hint first. If they still need help, I'll shoot the others to them also.

I like the easy way to keep kids busy. And it's even fun for you too. If the children are older, you can have them running all over the neighborhood and you can use up to ten or more locations if you like. If they begin to get tired, you can always skip to the last location where the prize might be. So you might be ready with as many locations as you can think of. You can always use them on the next hunt.

It all depends on who you’re doing this with. Some kids get bored after 5 locations; others are still ready to go after 10 locations. The age groups don't matter in this situation. Have fun.

Email me with any new or better ideas on "Creating your own breaks". Thank you.

Robert Lett http://www.robertlett.com/

Let me ask you a question: How much is your computer worth when you or your employees are sitting in front of it? Now, how much is that same computer worth when you or your employees aren't sitting in front of it?

When you're out of the office and that potiential client calls, do you have to tell them that you will get in touch with them when you return to the office? Is that potiential client calling your competition in the mean time to see if they get a better response? What if you could have all your important files with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Hanging on your belt or sitting in your purse, and it wouldn't weigh too much more than the cell phone you are currently carrying.

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Work; Adult Daycare

DAYCARE Manager That Makes You CRAZY..Click Here To Know More

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Anyone that has read some of my articles can probably tell that I have a bitter taste in my mouth as it relates to Corporate America. The reason I have this view is because I am not a Corporate America person, but I am in a Corporate America position.

Why do I refer to work as adult daycare? Simple. There are a bunch of people that have to go to a place for 9 hours a day (usually much more). While you are there you are dealing with people who are petty, extremely sensitive and their feelings are easily hurt. They talk about people behind their back like kids do with the weird kid playing in the corner by himself. There are people in upper management that get upset when you don’t agree with them and they pull a power trip like the kid in the neighborhood that took his ball and went home when he didn’t get his way. And, there are bullies. The people who stink at their job but try to intimidate people into thinking they are someone important.

I said before that I am not a corporate guy and that is because I am honest. I say what I feel and what I mean. I don’t pull any punches. I make my opinion known in a professional way and I have refused to do some things my manager has asked me to do simply because I did not agree and thought they were wrong. There is something very ironic about my situation and that is, for anybody that has kids you are constantly teaching them to be honest and not to lie to people. But, when you get older and get into the “real world” all you deal with on a daily basis is lies and deception. I guess it is also ironic that it is called the “real world” too. What is real about it?

I have a little girl turning 2 years old next month and I would spend all my time with her over adults any day and that is because she is honest. If she is at her daycare she is honest with her classmates. If one of them has a “booooga” (as she pronounces it) she tells them. If someone hits her she tells them, “I no like that!” My friends all have kids now and they are a bit younger than my daughter but they are rapidly approaching that honesty stage. If we have a cookout this summer there is a good chance I will be found playing with the kids because the honesty is just refreshing. Not that my friends aren’t honest, because they are for the most part, but because they are not honest like a toddler is honest.

I called the article Work: The Adult Daycare not because we are babysat at work, although in some cases we are, but because it is everything a child daycare is without the honesty. At what point in life is it not OK to be honest anymore? Why do our parents teach us the importance of being honest when they are most likely participating in the lies at Adult Daycare?

I work for Liberty Mutual Insurance, for about 3 more weeks. I am on probation. I am on probation for being honest. I have expressed my concerns about the way we handle homeowner’s insurance. Refer to my article, The Scam We Call Homeowner’s Insurance. There are many other examples of my being honest. One other big one has to do with the Massachusetts Auto Insurance “Program” we implemented last spring. I will be writing an article about that very soon as well. But the biggest reason I am going to be fired is for being honest with my manager.

I know what it takes to be successful. You need to play the “political game”. I am not oblivious to this, I just don’t agree with it. Because of this I have begun my work-from-home business and will soon be doing it full-time. At least then I will be able to say I work for someone I respect.

Scott Bianchi operates http://www.best-internet-bargains.com/ He writes on a variety of topics. If you would like to be added to his distribution list for his new articles when they are published just send an email to articles@bestinternetbargains.com.

Kids and Daycare

DAYCARE Manager That Makes You CRAZY..Click Here To Know More

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Now a days the only way for some families to make it, is for both the mother and father work and the children go to daycare. The daycares are not only expensive but you don't really know what goes on while your children are there.

My daughter and son-in-law were in the group of working parents. My grandson was put in a childcare while they worked. My grandson wasn't the type to cry and act up when he was dropped off. Then he changed. We all thought it was because he was spoiled and didn't want to leave mommy and daddy. It got to the point that my daughter had to get him interested in a toy and sneak out of the place. This went on for months. Then Grandma showed up and was blessed with babysitting for the day. Let me tell you, what a day. From the time my daughter and son-in-law left for work, and until they came home my grandson did nothing but cry. And I mean really cry. How heartbreaking. He kept saying, I want my mommy, I want my daddy, I really love my mommy, I really love my daddy. It made me cry. This went on for 6 hours steady. He would sit there and play but still cry and repeat I really love my mommy, I really love my daddy, I want my mommy, I want my daddy. Finally I got him down for a nap. He wore himself out from all the crying. My daughter had finally arrived home from work. She couldn't believe him acting like that. Tristan never had a problem staying with me. We couldn't figure out why all of a sudden there was a big change in him.

She had called the daycare to see if there was something going on there. She had explained his actions for the day. The lady she had talked to had said that it was probably because he wasn't use to being around Grandma cause she lives in Georgia and doesn't come often. Wrong. Grandma was there every other week. After she went round for round with the lady, she ended up taking my grandson out of the daycare and put him in another one. My grandson was back to his old self. Laughing and playing, having a good time. Even found himself a girlfriend.

A few weeks later, my daughter was talking to a friend who works in the building next to the daycare. Well, she started talking about my grandson and how he was acting, and that she had to put him in another daycare. It turns out that the friend witnessed one of the workers at the daycare outside on the side of the building sitting in a chair with my grandson sitting on her lap with her arms around his chest and her legs wrapped around his legs and him crying his little heart out. This act of discipline nearly ruined my grandson. If they did that to my grandson, what else were they doing there?

My grandson is no longer in daycare, he is in second grade and his mom is a stay at home mom. He is doing great and a happy little fellow.

So if you need to put your child in a daycare, be sure to check it out before you leave your child. And if you see a difference in your child's attitude or behavior, check it out. There is a reason why.

Continue

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