Preschool Idea....

Here's an idea for you if you're not sure you want to leave your kids in daycare:

A lot of these online for-profit universities are hiring department chairs and instructors. They all work from home and in most cases, the pay is decent.

We live in the Fox Valley Area. There is a preschool guide book that is published and can be purchased at bookstores and I think libraries. It would give you a good scope of "what's out there." Registration started in Feb and many families have already put down their deposit to hold spots.

We pay $250/mo for 2 days a week, 9-1 with lunch, in home Montessori format. 4 days/week is $470/mo (m-th). She also offers a toddler program for 2 hours, 2 days/week for $150. She takes 3-6, preschool-K. She has arranged for the school bus to pick the K kids up at her stop so that they go straight from am class to pm K which has been a big draw for many parents (next year we start all day K). And, she offers a couple weeks of camp late summer to get the new kids acclimated to school with less structured week.

Convenience of her location, flexibility of being with a smaller in home provider, her rapport with the kids, her assistant and her strong reading instruction were all important to us.

Her husband is in home construction too and converted her basement into a pre-school setting. She has an assistant and a "cook" to prepare the meals. Her first clients followed her when she left the school where she was teaching. Now her business is all word of mouth and most families come from the surrounding neighborhborhoods.

I wish you much success.

I will be paying $105.00 a month for three days (2.5 hours) at the Fox Valley park district. However, I know friends that have paid double and and even more than that. With you haveing a masters in Reading (I do as well)that seems to make parents confident and willing to pay more as I'm sure you know from tutoring. Good luck and if you ever need a fresh mind for a lesson plan idea let me know, I am (was before having my son) a special ed teacher with a masters in reading and 9 years experience.

I think I would find out what the law says about starting an in home business and what liablities you may be up against. In this sue happy society I would be VERY warey of starting anything in my home, especially related to children.
There are plenty of moms that would be happy to have their kids in a smaller setting but I think you will want to be very choisy about which children participate.
What happens when your own children get sick? Will you have an emergency plan? What about weather conditions? All these you need to consider.
Good luck.

The preschool idea is a great start and your concerns are valid. Who are you going to educate at your daycare? Or what families will you invite in your home? These questions will be more important to ask when deciding on a tuition. Plus, what city do you live in? Are there lots of working families around you in your neighborhood or working family Companies nearby.

Here's why these questions are important. I work professionally in corporate america and not many of my management peers have their children in "Home day care" facilities and I am not sure why. So if you are attempting to appeal to good professional working families, you may want to consider on how you will attract them to you.

I preferred them as my daughter and I were away from family/friends and it gave her a more comfortable environment to learn, develop social skills and feel safe. We paid $150 a week for a bilingual home day care program in Hoffman Estates. The owner of this daycare had her 2 daughters helping her throughout varies times of the day, both in college pursuing early childhood development degrees. Beautiful home, my daughter was counting to 10 in Spanish by the time she was 11 months; good middle class families. I found her with a tear away flier at the local Dominick's grocery store.

I work in EGV (Elk Grove Village)and the In-home day care facilities there charge $175-200 a week. I believe that is solely due to the higher than normal middle class families living in that community and the BIG business (companies) in/and near EGV. Many of these business owners were not degreed educators, didn't offer any specialized learning skills, field trips, etc. Most of these businesses are listed with the EGV local library online. I personally, feel that anytime daycare is equivalent to my rent or mortgage in a single family income is too expensive or again, your working to pay for childcare.

The daycare facilities outside of the home in EGV charge $180-$300 a week. These facilities are a toddler's paradise; one facility is like legoland inside, total creative, the eating room for children looks like a 50's sock hop. They are loaded with children that have 2 family incomes so 1200/a month is doable.

It took a great deal of telephone calls, visits to these homes/facilities were I finally found a daycare center in EGV that is located in a mini mall and I now pay $155 a week. This school has breakfast, catered lunches/snacks, pre-K and private Kindergarten. The staff is multi cultural and my daughter loves it. We moved to Plainfield so I had to move my daughter from the Hoffman Estates daycare, which she loved as well. Emny was like her grandmother but my daughter referred to her as "school".

Your hours of operation will also dictate how attractive your daycare is as well. Will you be open Mon-Fri 7-5 but everyone commutes near you and this would be unrealistic for them to get to/from work. Unless both parents can tag team pick up/drop off. I needed the hours of 6am-6pm for commuting purposes, working from 8am-4:30pm.

Finally, you may want to start networking FAST as it will take you a bit of time to fill your open slots as everyone is not quick to leave their children with strangers. Try offering babysitting services in your community, church or women's club so you are building referrals before you are set on Price, hours of operation, etc.

Oh, I forgot. You may need to start preparing your little one that will not forgive you for putting him in daycare. He too will potentially have problems sharing you with other children. I started with a babysitter here and the mother had a daughter almost a year older than my daughter who at the time was 7 months old and often she would push, pull or hit on my daughter because naturally that was her mommie and she couldn't understand the attention the new baby was receiving. As much as her mother tried controlling her daughter, it never stopped which is what ultimately drove me to finding a good daycare. Unfortunately, my daughter grew with a defensive nature of hitting and "mine" quicker than I would have liked her to experience as a result of it. It's not the same as preparing your child to receive a baby sibling, so work on that piece as you discover your next steps.

I hope these thoughts helped.

Right off the bat I will say..... Start your own daycare/preschool. I am self-employed and I feel it is really the way to go. For you especially with having the school background this would be perfect for you. But the others make valid points. One of which is you may have to offer more of an open time frame, but again that depends on the market. You should also look and see what the state or government rules are as far as how many kids you can have without being certified or licensed. I think after 3 or 4 they require something. Your price ranges are really going to depend on what kind of schedule you are going to have available. If you set up different schedules that are available to pick from, 1. it would help out people because not everyone works the same times and 2. you offer different price rates. Definitely check and see if and what kind of insurance would be needed. Another responder wrote, "What happens when your own children get sick? Will you have an emergency plan? What about weather conditions?" This is important too. Overall, I will be the first one to tell you starting a business is not easy but it is totally worth it and once you find out what you need to do, it is easy. If you need any help with starting the business if that is what you decide to do, feel free to ask me. My fiance and I own two businesses and actually contemplated opening a daycare type facility and he has extensive knowledge not only on starting a business but a daycare type business as well.

Good luck in making a decision,

J.

My daughter is currently in a 3 year old preschool 2 days a week. 9-11:30. I pay 125$ a month. Next school year, she'll go to a Catholic school with her big brother. I will pay close to 300$ for 5 days a week. 11:45- 2:45/

I have my own in home, state licensed day care. I AM SO HAPPY! I come from a teaching background and mangament in corporate daycare. I am my own boss, I make my own hours, and I invite in my home who I think will work, and keep the ones that do. I've been doing this for 5 years, and both of my kids will be in school next year-one in KG and the other starting preschool. I loved being at home with them, but their came a point, where they needed more time away from mommy. I think with someone of your background you will not have any trouble navigating the licensing process.

The rates vary. For full time in the western suburbs you can find anywhere from $175-$250 a week for full time care. For part time people usually charge $35-$50 a day. Some people charge hourly, so make it worth while if you are only working a couple of hours a day. I think that when people find daycare that they LOVE and that their kids excell in, price is mostly irrelevant. There are severaly providers and larger daycares that offers specialized care. By this I mean infant only, or preschool only, or part time (don't do less than 3 days a week) or morning or afternoon preschool. You have to figure out what will work for you, what you love, and what you can sustain your family with. It will probably be a little hard in the beginning to get things going. You may have to take kids or families that you are not 100% sure about, but eventually they will move on.

I've worked with an assistant. The pain of it is the taxes. I paid mine legally, you may find some that want cash only. I do everything by the book. This is one of the few things with daycare that I find to be a hastle.

In terms of opening a business, make sure you stand up for what you want and operate it how you want. People WILL try to take advantage of situation, you have to decide how much you are willing to be flexibile.

If you want to joing a daycare orginazation, I HIGHLY reccomend, United Child Care Network. Check out their webpage. As a licensed provider (4 or more kids) you will need to get 15 training hours per year. This is not difficult or very time consuming. Also, Redleaf Press is a great resource and has many resources for beginning daycare providers.

Hope that helps. I find this occupation very rewarding. For my families, they know that I am a TEACHER and they support and respect my home, my program, and my family.

GOOD LUCK

Just a thought - what about finding a position in a local day care/pre-school for the summer or more? Your children can come with you to work (at a discounted rate b/c you work there), and you can get experience with a pre-school setting. You will also network with parents and have a higher success rate in filling your home daycare the following year.