T/S % help

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

I know there's a thread made not long ago with lists of time/space percentages, but a lot of them couldn't actually be counted since some of it would have to be done regardless of daycare. So can you all tell me things I can count as time spent toward daycare only related things? I'm new to keeping these records and don't want to miss anything when I file my taxes or count anything that doesn't count.

Also, I hadn't been keeping track of exact dates and times for all of these things, but if I know how long some of the things took, can I just count the time and just not list the days and exact times of day since I don't remember those details? For example, this week I know I spent twenty minutes replying to questions from potential families via facebook messaging, 45 minutes here on daycare.com, an hour on preschool lesson planning and preparation, etc. So can I count those even though I don't remember the exact times or the exact dates?

[Thriftylady]

Well Tom Copeland says to keep track for two months and average it out, I did that since I didn't know any better before hand!

Let me see if I can think of some things.
Cleaning for daycare
Menu planning and looking for recipes
Reading these boards and other childcare sites
Recordkeeping
Making and filling out daycare forms
Food prep (if you do it the night before or something when kids aren't there).
Basically the way I understand it, anything you do for daycare.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

Since I sometimes fix extra for supper so the kids and myself can have left overs the next day, would that count? Or not, since I'd be fixing supper for us even without doing childcare?

[Thriftylady]

Since I sometimes fix extra for supper so the kids and myself can have left overs the next day, would that count? Or not, since I'd be fixing supper for us even without doing childcare?

That is a good question. Hopefully Tom will come along and answer it.

[TomCopeland]

time-space %

I know there's a thread made not long ago with lists of time/space percentages, but a lot of them couldn't actually be counted since some of it would have to be done regardless of daycare. So can you all tell me things I can count as time spent toward daycare only related things? I'm new to keeping these records and don't want to miss anything when I file my taxes or count anything that doesn't count.

Also, I hadn't been keeping track of exact dates and times for all of these things, but if I know how long some of the things took, can I just count the time and just not list the days and exact times of day since I don't remember those details? For example, this week I know I spent twenty minutes replying to questions from potential families via facebook messaging, 45 minutes here on daycare.com, an hour on preschool lesson planning and preparation, etc. So can I count those even though I don't remember the exact times or the exact dates?

You can count all hours that you spend on business activities in your home when daycare children are not present. Do not count hours doing activities that you would still be doing if you were not in child care (i.e. mowing the lawn). Ideally, you want to keep two months of careful records indicating the day and the time of day and a description of what you did. In your case count your hours and do your best to estimate what days you did them.
Here's an article I wrote about this:http://tomcopelandblog.com/how-to-tr...rent-present-2

[TomCopeland]

time-space %

Since I sometimes fix extra for supper so the kids and myself can have left overs the next day, would that count? Or not, since I'd be fixing supper for us even without doing childcare?

Since you would be fixing the supper even if you weren't doing child care, don't count this time.

[Thriftylady]

Since you would be fixing the supper even if you weren't doing child care, don't count this time.

I had to laugh at this one because it made me feel safe. Last night I didn't have any DCK's for dinner and DD came in and asked about dinner. I said "dinner? No kids no dinner". LOL Sandwiches it was.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

I had to laugh at this one because it made me feel safe. Last night I didn't have any DCK's for dinner and DD came in and asked about dinner. I said "dinner? No kids no dinner". LOL Sandwiches it was.

That's funny I wish I could get by with that for dinner. I guess I could if my husband was gone all the time, but I don't wish for that I get so tired of trying to plan lunches and snacks for the kids and then as soon as they leave, I have to figure out what to do for supper each night. By then I'm tired and don't want to mess with it. It doesn't help that he doesn't get home until 6:45-7:30 and isn't hungry right away so I have to wait until later to fix it. By then I really don't want to cook supper, and especially clean up afterward while he sits on the couch relaxing Or if I figure he won't be hungry when he comes in and wait to fix it, then he comes in saying he's starving and where's supper? As if I should have already had it done. Whoops, sorry, off topic for this thread.
Thanks for the help!