Tweeking My Policies And Contract

[awestbrook713]

I am planning on handing out my new policies and contract for the new year on the 18th that way they have them before everyone makes there decision to stay or not due to the new rates.

I'm gonna post them on here and if you could just check them out for me.

[Nellie]

In the section about Jarad Westbrook being your sub you might want to add "Fee's are still due if parent desides they don't feel comfortable with the arragement and find alternative childcare." or something of the nature.

[Nellie]

"If a child deliberately destroys a toy or other property through misuse or willfulness, the parent will be required to replace it."

Maybe this is a typical in most childcare providers handbooks, but I feel that as a childcare provider it is our job to be making sure that a child is using toys correctly and if they aren't we should be doing something about it (child isn't allowed that certain toy ect.). The statement seems very vague and as a parent I'd want to know what constitutes misuse.
I also wonder if this would stand up in a court of law. Maybe because you have it in your hand book they may have to replace the toy, but in many circimstance if you had your friend's child over for the day and the misused the toy and it broke(if the court finds in your favor) they would only require a deprecated value of the toy. You would need to have reciepts showing what you payed for the toy and how old it was. Then they would give you a depreciated value of the item.

[Nellie]

This is the website for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families http://dcf.wi.gov/childcare/licensed/forms_numeric.htm. On there is a sample policy form. I think you should take a look at it. I don't know if you have looked at others handbooks and contracts, but this might give you some idea's.

[Meyou]

"If a child deliberately destroys a toy or other property through misuse or willfulness, the parent will be required to replace it."

Maybe this is a typical in most childcare providers handbooks, but I feel that as a childcare provider it is our job to be making sure that a child is using toys correctly and if they aren't we should be doing something about it (child isn't allowed that certain toy ect.). The statement seems very vague and as a parent I'd want to know what constitutes misuse.
I also wonder if this would stand up in a court of law. Maybe because you have it in your hand book they may have to replace the toy, but in many circimstance if you had your friend's child over for the day and the misused the toy and it broke(if the court finds in your favor) they would only require a deprecated value of the toy. You would need to have reciepts showing what you payed for the toy and how old it was. Then they would give you a depreciated value of the item.

This is actually from my handbook and I disagree with you. I do teach the children to use the toys properly, in fact, it's something I invest ALOT of time in so my toys stay nice for years. If a child is misusing a toy it is because of a behavioral issue not my rules.

If I say that Susie used her teeth to scrape the paint off my king and queen or rips pages off books then not only will Mom and Dad believe me (why would I lie about that?) but having the rule in my handbook makes sure they address the behavior. Parents do not want to replace toys.

I also disagree about needing receipts. If Susie rips a book then Mom and Dad owe me a new book. If Susie throws the car garage and smashes it then they owe me a new car garage. What I paid has nothing to do with it.

For the record I have never asked a parent to replace a toy but I have used this rule as leverage to get parents to deal with behavior that I considered serious and they considered cute. When you tell them their child's "cute" behavior is going to cost them money perspective changes.

I am protecting my home and my property.

[Meyou]

From your contract:

Holidays and Vacations
You will not be charged for holidays I take off or my vacation weeks. Same goes for your vacation weeks as long as you give proper notice. If you do not give proper notice you will be required to pay half of what you normally pay for a week.

Did you indicate what proper notice for vacation was in your handbook?

Early drop off/Late Pick-up fees
Care outside of the hours listed above will require an additional fee of $5.00 per 15 minutes, which will be required with payment at the end of the week. A 15 minute cushion is given so anything before 5:45am or after 5:15pm will be considered early drop off or late pick up.

No cushion!! The grocery store, gas station, post office etc etc etc does not have a cushion and you don't need one either. It's only asking for negotiation IMO.

Payment
Payment will be expected at the end of the week on Fridays, unless other arrangements have been made.

Make this firm with no room for negotiation. If you want to do something a little different for someone you can. But alter their contract to reflect that specifically. You're running a business, it's ok to have firm rules.

From the handbook:

Payment due dates

Payment is due each Friday no later than 7pm. After 7pm a late fee of $10 a day will be assessed.

Make this your closing time so you don't have to stay "open" every Friday until 7 pm. You only work until 5pm so I would make payment due then.

These policies and procedures I have included here are the rules I need to enforce to make my daycare work best for me and the families I provide care for. I understand that you may feel some of these may not be fair or to your liking, but remember I am not only caring for your children I am running a business. If I do not bring in enough revenue I will be forced to close my daycare which will affect both you and me. These policies are for you to keep and refer back to if you have any questions. If you do not find the answer to your questions please feel free to ask me. Sign the following page and return to me for me to keep on file.

In my opinion, you don't need to excuse your policies or explain them to anyone. You're running a business so if they don't like your rules they can shop elsewhere.


Everything looks great!! You did alot of work in the past couple of days. I think all the tweaking you need to about building your confidence. You need to believe in your policies and don't apologize for them. Good luck and I hope this helps!!

[awestbrook713]

From your contract:

Holidays and Vacations
You will not be charged for holidays I take off or my vacation weeks. Same goes for your vacation weeks as long as you give proper notice. If you do not give proper notice you will be required to pay half of what you normally pay for a week.

Did you indicate what proper notice for vacation was in your handbook?

Early drop off/Late Pick-up fees
Care outside of the hours listed above will require an additional fee of $5.00 per 15 minutes, which will be required with payment at the end of the week. A 15 minute cushion is given so anything before 5:45am or after 5:15pm will be considered early drop off or late pick up.

No cushion!! The grocery store, gas station, post office etc etc etc does not have a cushion and you don't need one either. It's only asking for negotiation IMO.

Payment
Payment will be expected at the end of the week on Fridays, unless other arrangements have been made.

Make this firm with no room for negotiation. If you want to do something a little different for someone you can. But alter their contract to reflect that specifically. You're running a business, it's ok to have firm rules.

From the handbook:

Payment due dates

Payment is due each Friday no later than 7pm. After 7pm a late fee of $10 a day will be assessed.

Make this your closing time so you don't have to stay "open" every Friday until 7 pm. You only work until 5pm so I would make payment due then.


These policies and procedures I have included here are the rules I need to enforce to make my daycare work best for me and the families I provide care for. I understand that you may feel some of these may not be fair or to your liking, but remember I am not only caring for your children I am running a business. If I do not bring in enough revenue I will be forced to close my daycare which will affect both you and me. These policies are for you to keep and refer back to if you have any questions. If you do not find the answer to your questions please feel free to ask me. Sign the following page and return to me for me to keep on file.

In my opinion, you don't need to excuse your policies or explain them to anyone. You're running a business so if they don't like your rules they can shop elsewhere.


Everything looks great!! You did alot of work in the past couple of days. I think all the tweaking you need to about building your confidence. You need to believe in your policies and don't apologize for them. Good luck and I hope this helps!!

I don't believe I did tell them what proper notice was, I had it in my original but must have gotten rid of it for some reason.

A 15 minute cushion is given so anything before 5:45am or after 5:15pm will be considered early drop off or late pick up.This line was erased but apparently I didn't save the update, I don't want to give a cushion anyone that needs something special can talk to me and we can maybe work something out like the mom I have that works until 5 has till 5:15 to get here.

Payment
Payment will be expected at the end of the week on Fridays, unless other arrangements have been made.

This again I fixed but for some reason my computer didn't save it (or most likely a user error )

I am not really trying to explain my policies in the last paragraph its just me trying to mask me telling them this is how it is take it or leave it but in a nice way. I might look at it to try to make it sound less explanatory.

Nellie: I to believe we should be responsible for making the children use the toys right but let me give you an example. Last week I enrolled a new boy, this boy likes to throw toys, its hard to catch a child before they throw something. He is playing with it correctly and then whoops flies out of his hand. I spoke to him everytime he did this, took the toy away and explained we get time out for such behaviors. Friday he had a plane he was playing with flying around everything fine then he chucks it and breaks the wheels off, I don't see how I could have prevented this, he obviously got it taken away and sat down for a few minutes and then I asked him if he knew why he was sitting, he knew and was told he would sit again and for longer if he threw another toy. Glad to say he didn't throw another thing but he broke the toy good enough I had to throw it away. Kids will be kids but they need to be taught to respect others property and if I threaten toy replacement with the parents I believe I will get more cooperation from home to, so that way the lesson is taught at home and here.