Make Your Home A Daycare For Kids
by Jillian Smith
Caring for children in your home can be a wonderful experience, allowing those with a genuine love of children to make a living doing something they enjoy. Turning your home into a daycare, however, can be a tricky process. Several steps need to be taken before you can successfully open your doors to the world.
First and foremost, decide how many children you wish to care for and find out whether you need to become licensed or not. Most states do not require licensure for in-home care of small groups of children, but if you wish to have more than three or four it will probably be necessary. This can be done by contacting your area Office of Child Care Licensing. Whether you decide to become licensed or not, it is a good idea to complete a course in pediatric first aid and CPR-this way you will be prepared for emergencies that come along.
Then examine your home. Is it childproofed? If you are planning on accommodating small children, and if you’re planning on making daycare a full time profession you probably are, your will need to take appropriate measures to ensure that your home is safe. Childproofing supplies are available at many local stores. Outlet covers in the wall, child proof latches on doors and cupboards and appropriate safety gates on stairways are a good place to start (when buying a gate for a stairwell ensure it is the kind that can be anchored to the wall-children may push over a pressure gate). You may also want to consider a safety latch for the toilet-very small children can fall into a toilet and not be able to get themselves out.
Next, you want to purchase your supplies. Necessary daycare supplies range from outdoor playground equipment and an assortment of toys to high chairs, booster seats, cribs, extra sippy cups and plastic flatware. If you have completed the licensing process you will have already obtained a list of these items. Ensure that all equipment meets current safety standards, and no toys have been recalled. It also is a good idea to stock up on basic art supplies, such as crayons, watercolors, child safety scissors and coloring books.
Don’t forget your first aid supplies! You are going to want to have on hand a full first aid kit, with plenty of disinfectant, band-aids, antibiotic ointment, burn spray, calamine lotion, sunblock and lotion (for the eventuality the sunblock does not work). It is often beneficial to have Children’s Ibuprofen and Tylenol on hand, but bear in mind this should not be administered without a parent’s approval.
You can choose to advertise your new business by word of mouth, classified ads, fliers-the possibilities are endless. Be sure to have an interview sheet made up when meeting a new child. This should contain questions on emergency contacts, allergies (food, drug and other), past daycare history, any favorite objects/hobbies and any dislikes, as well as any other information you would like to have on hand. Be sure when meeting the parents that you establish your policies on pick up and drop off times, payment, and what supplies you will provide versus what you would like them to provide It may be a good idea to have these policies printed and signed to avoid disputes down the road. Once these steps have all been completed, sit back, relax, and enjoy the new career you’ve chosen.
To read about chihuahua training and chihuahua health, visit the About Animals site.
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Fountain Hills Artificial Grass - Your Dream Come True
by Sara Johnston
Picture this…the perfectly manicured lawn with no uneven patches, no seasonal planting, and no high priced watering bills. Just perfect continuity from one end of your yard to the other. You never have to fertilize, weed, mow, or maintain. Just enjoy. And then reality hits…you really can have this. But, where do you go to reach this paradise? And how do you make sure you’re getting the best product with top quality installation instead of some cheap imitation?
The American Synthetic Turf Institute (ASTI) is a great place to start for recommendations on professional contractors. With a long term investment such as this, it pays to do your research. Any company that has an ASTI top certification is where you’ll find the best in the business for synthetic turf companies. In order to be ASTI certified, a company must undergo rigorous training and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to excellence. This points you in the right direction.
Once you’ve narrowed the list of possibilities down to your area check these potentials out through their artificial grass websites. Find out how long they’ve been in business. Compare that to their warranties. It’s probably smart to question their dependability if they offer five, seven, or even ten year warranties but have only been in business for two. It’s become quite common for a lot of these fly-by-the-night synthetic turf companies to try out the synthetic turf industry after having a history of changing from being a landscaping company one year to become a concrete coating company the next. How can they uphold their warranties if they’re not going to be around for that long?
Before you get your permanently perfect lawn installed, ask your potential artificial grass company about their product’s durability and upkeep. A good quality synthetic turf should be able to withstand any kind of inclement weather such as freezing and thawing. Even Arizona’s lack of inclement weather and surplus of intense sunshine shouldn’t fade the richness of color in their product’s materials. But, when it does rain, make sure the product you’re buying will not collect water which creates mildew and other fungi. Not only would that release an unpleasant odor, but it is a serious health issue as well. It will also detract interest to bugs, such as gnats, tics, ants, and mosquitoes.
Have outside pets? Practice sports at home? Shouldn’t be a problem. If the artificial grass company you’re interested in is as good as they claim, having a pet and practicing sports, with all the traffic that creates, should just be a bonus. Clean up after pets should be just as easy as with a regular lawn, scoop up and spray off. Bottom line, you should have a lawn that is soft enough for children’s play, but tough enough for high traffic wear such as professional sports - including playground equipment.
All in all, make sure your potential artificial grass company has your best interest in mind. It’s your investment, your dream, and you are the one that will have to either enjoy it or endure it every day. Make sure their technicians are highly trained with several years of experience in quality synthetic turf installation - not just the slapping of concrete and gluing or nailing down something green. But, actually outlining your design and laying a quality turf that won’t wrinkle, creep, or budge. Years after your technician has completed his installation you should be able to call up the same artificial grass business and tell them their work still looks as good as new.
Sara Johnston works with Green Desert Company, home of the world’s most advanced golf and grass duplication systems. This Fountain Hills AZ artificial grass installer is capable of physically creating any vision in magnificent proportions. With products, procedure, and installation to outlook, outperform, and outplay any other mass produced turf, 100% satisfaction is guaranteed. For more information please visit http://greendesert.com/ , or call 602-923-1987.
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All About Institutional Day Care
by Jillian Smith
If a child has to enter a child care program at a young age, choosing the correct one can be as important to their future as the correct college. The consequences of a child having a poor early childhood experience are widely documented, with children displaying behavioral problems, increased insecurity and separation anxiety and excessive demands for attention into the grade school years. In light of this, many parents often feel overwhelmed in the face of the sheer number of day care options available. Each child thrives in a different environment; however, with a little research and the occasional trial and error, it is possible to for a parent to discover the best choice for their child.
Institutional child care is becoming more and more popular in the United States. Many institutions will begin accepting children as early as six weeks of age, and often continue to offer care up through the school years. Cost wise, this option is usually somewhere in the middle between in-home day care and private care, with prices varying according to age and the number of days a child is expected to be present. Most facilities will charge on a weekly basis, and parents are expected to pay for the full week regardless of the number of days their child is actually present.
Children in day care institutions are grouped into classes according to age, with each age group having its own classroom with one or two teachers. Staff to child ratios vary according to institution; however, as most are required to be licensed they should not exceed the guidelines set forth in the state licensing agreement. Care often begins several hours prior to school hours, allowing for children to be dropped off as parents go into work, and continues for several hours after dismissal. They are fed breakfast and lunch, and are given rest time in the afternoons. Age appropriate group activities are scheduled throughout the day, with time allowed for independent play, and holiday activities and field trips are common. All children are taught basic skills, such as self feeding and potty training, and those that are of preschool age are taught to write their names, identify colors, shapes and letters, and count.
The advantages of choosing an institution are the chance for a child to acclimate to a classroom environment prior to entering school and reliable care; barring an emergency parents should never find themselves without a caregiver during regular hours of operation. Most teachers and teacher’s aides have training in child development and psychology, as well as childhood education, from a secondary school, and are trained to respond to medical emergencies. There are disadvantages as well. Due to the larger class sizes children often do not receive an appropriate amount of individual attention, particularly those children that are less boisterous. This is the stepping stone to many of the behavioral problems touted as these children learn to emulate the less desirable actions of their peers, whom they see the teachers working with time and again.
Any good child care facility will allow parents to come in and observe prior to placing their child, and will often allow parents to accompany the child for the first few days. This will give the parents a chance to get a feel for how their child will acclimate to the environment, and remove them if a situation seems inappropriate.
To read about corgi dogs and corgi training, visit the About Animals site.
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Different Type Of Options For Child Care
by Jillian Smith
Phoenix, AZ boasts a large, diverse population, and it strives to meet the needs of that population. A need in any area is care for the children, particularly during working times when both parents are unavailable. Because of this, Phoenix child care options are as diverse as its people.
Child care is available for all ages, from six weeks of age on up. Parents have a variety of choices. One is to place their child in a traditional child care institutional setting. Here qualified teachers will care for their children in an age appropriate setting, with a reasonable staff to child ratio. Such facilities maintain a classroom setting and structured daily schedule very close to what the child will encounter when entering Kindergarten.
An institutional style pre-school is also available, solely for children of preschool age (three and four year olds). There are two types, traditional and Montessori. In a traditional setting, the focus is on preparing the child to enter school, and the situation is very much like Kindergarten will be. The children follow a schedule, and begin basic work on pre-reading and math skills. Much of this is done in a manner similar to that of a classroom, with much of the learning done on paper, and generally one or two adults to fourteen or fifteen children.
Montessori schools are a bit different. Classes are generally smaller in size, and the focus shifts a bit from the norm to a more hands-on approach; children learn school skills in much the same way they learned in their toddler years. Classrooms are divided into activity areas, and the children move in small groups from center to center completing small tasks. For example, children learn to count and add not by looking at numbers on paper, but by being given a bowl of beans and spooning them from one cup to another as they count. Felt boards or letter peg games are used to teach spelling, and generally there are plants and/or animals in the rooms to teach the children how other species live and grow.
For those who don’t choose to place their children in an institutional setting, several in-home daycares are available. These are people who have elected to open their homes to children, making them part of their daily life and placing them in a setting very close to what they would have in their own home. Costs for these daycares are often lower than those of institutions, and there are often a fewer number of children present; however, unless they specify otherwise, one person is usually responsible for a large range in age, from infant on up. These will often offer before and after school care as well.
Should a parent prefer to have their child(ren) cared for in their own home, they are given the option of either hiring a nanny (think Mary Poppins) or an au pair. A nanny may be hired either independently or through an agency, and may live in the home or commute from their own home daily. They are, in essence, a contracted baby-sitter, and costs for these are usually higher than an institution. An au pair is a student, generally from another country, who comes to live with a host family while attending school. They are given room and board and a small allowance in exchange for a set number of hours of childcare a week, as well as assistance with housework and other chores. In home care is more expensive than out of home; however, the benefits to the child are innumerable.
Information on pictures of chihuahuas can be found at the About Animals site.
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Getting Your Child Ready For Daycare
by Jillian Smith
The transition from staying home to entering a full time day care can be a difficult one for many children. There are many things parents can do to make this easier, and to ensure a good day care experience.
The most important factor for any child is to choose the right daycare provider. If at all possible, it may be easiest to place the child with someone they are already familiar with, either a family member or friend. As this is not always an option, many resources are available for selecting a caregiver. Word of mouth from any friends with children will go a long way towards steering you to a good day care. This way experiences can be relayed, either good or bad, and eccentricities discussed. Bear in mind that a provider who is wonderful for one child may not be for another because of differing personalities; however, if several parents have criticized a source, a genuine problem may be present and that person might be one to steer clear of.
If word of mouth does not direct you to a good caregiver, the Department of Social Services can provide you with a list of licensed day care providers in your area. Your pediatrician may also be able to give you a recommendation; many doctors get to know their patients fairly well, particularly with children. If all else fails, a phone book or newspaper classifieds can provide listings for child care professionals.
Once you have chosen a provider, take your child to meet them. Most providers will wish to meet with you prior to the child being enrolled. Take your child with you to this meeting if possible. This will give them a chance to look around their new environment and meet the person or people who will be caring for them.
If your child has a comfort object and it is permitted, allow them to take that object to daycare. Most children become homesick for the first couple of weeks, and this will give them a piece of home to hold on to. Giving them a picture of you and other immediate family members to look at when they become lonely may help as well, but make that decision based on your child; it may make the situation worse. If at all possible, try to stay for a little while in the mornings to help them settle into an activity. This will make the transition easier. If you can, tell your child exactly what time you will pick them up-and make sure you are there. Like knowing what time your workday will end, daycare will be easier if your child knows exactly what time they will see you again. This gives them a sense of security.
The most important thing you can do for your child is to send them off in a positive manner. If you are upset over your separation, they will be to, whereas if you seem confident that all will be well and you will see them at the end of the day they will pick up on that attitude. Remember, it is not uncommon for your child to cry when you leave them. Most children settle in within fifteen minutes of seeing their parents leave. Simply say good-bye and walk out the door-you’ll be able to give them hugs and kisses for being so brave when you come back.
Visit the About Animals website to learn about chihuahua care and chihuahua training.
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