What Is Your Outing/Field Trip Policy?

[Heidi]

Well one we go at lunch time, so there is usually no wait and lunch prices are cheaper. They love the fire so I can usually get them to wait patiently for the fire to come. We practice our restaurant manners here and always talk about it before we go.

I always use the 20% off coupon that comes in the mail. The kids are so little that we all share meals. So it usually costs about $30/40 dollars out the door. Which in the end I usually end up spending close to $30 at McDonalds since they each need their own happy meal and toy. I leave the option open for the parents to pitch in, which most will about $5. So sometimes I am only out $10, sometimes im out the whole $40. But it is sooooo much fun its worth it.

Now for the restaurant, some people might get upset, but like I said the owner loves us and usually gives us our own table. He said clean up all the rice on the floor is well worth it. The kids always make his day!

Is it like a Hibachi Grill where they cook it in front of you? There is one nearby called Ginza of Tokyo we really like.

[wdmmom]

is this your states reg or is it your car insurance comapny rule??

There is nothing specific in the regs. I'm also not registered. It is not the insurance companies regs either.

I throughly investigated the liability. If I regularly transport (say to school) and being paid for it (even it is part of the daycare) I would be operating the vehicle 'for hire'. Any accident or injury would not be covered by my personal auto policy.

I cant even imagine getting into an accident (my fault or not) and having one of ghe children be injured or worse! I dont want that burden and I would never risk losing my home or my business just to transport.

In the end, its not legal and the liability by far outweighs the benefits.

I bet several of you would be surprised if you asked your insurance agent or insurance company about transporting daycare kids.

[Sunchimes]

I pinned my agent down about that. She said that if I didn't have over 3 kids, I was covered. I should maybe ask her to write that down.

[AmyLeigh]

My contract has a transportation permission section. I have enough car safety seats (and room) for everyone. The parents know that we go to the library on Thursdays and the park at least once a week. I have to take dd to dance on Tuesday evenings. Last year we went to an organic farm once or twice a week; this year it will be to the CSA. Summertime brings outings to the public pool. I always notify for the big trips, such as to the children's museum or zoo, since they are out of town. If I need to run some errands, I usually will save it for when I have only 1 dck and will text dcm beforehand. Last time I did that, mom said that I am free to take the child with me whenever I need to.
I think we would all go stir crazy if we stayed in the house all day, every day.

[Rachel]

I'm required to tell the parents before I go out, but I don't ask them. They signed general permission at the beginning of the year. I just send a text to all my parents (and the supervisor) that we are headed to the park, and that's that.

[Countrygal]

I have a general transportation form, like most of the others. But if we are going on a field trip, I try to let the parents know ahead of time. Sometimes it's just a word at drop-off "it's a beautiful day, I think we'll try to head to the library".....

We haven't attempted a big field trip yet, but are trying to get one organized. I tend to lean toward the "natural" things like State Park trails and State Historical Sites. We have so many within an hours drive! But they are definitely for summer up here!

As for car insurance, it's one time I'm glad I actually have an agent to get answers for me. He found out for me, but every auto insurance company is different, so you have to look into it with your own insurance company.

[Meyou]

I have a general transportation and field trip form as well. It allows me to take the kids where I want without notice unless the trip affects normal naptime. We travel on the bus alot, by foot and occasionally by car but that's normally a big trip with parent volunteers.

[Michelle]

At sign up we talk about field trips and I will always write in my daily report where we are going , when and what time we are getting back.
I would always want to know where my kid is.
I supply all the car seats and we have a blast!
We have been to Disneyland, Knotts, water parks,the zoo, and of course the park and Aquarium etc.
The kids love it and going on field trips gives us a lot of educational advantages.
How awesome it is to read about sharks then go to the Aquarium to pet one and see the look on parents faces when kid brag about petting a shark!

[Lilbutterflie]

I am legally unlicensed, so I don't have to worry about the licensing regs. I have an all inclusive travel permission slip the parents sign when they enroll. I always call or text the parents if we are going somewhere outside of the neighborhood so that they know where their child is at all times.

[Mommy2One]

I wonder how they would feel about an all-inclusive permission slip? I like that idea very much.

I have never brought it up in interviews only because I have had several parents tell me that they passed up other providers because the provider (gasp) wanted to run errands with their kid. So I was always afraid to even mention it. Personally I think it's fine and a part of the learning experience- the grocery store can be lots of fun!

As a parent, I would be somewhat uncomfortable with a blanket permission slip if the provider planned to use it to go on field trips on a whim with no notification. Not that I don't want my daughter going on field trips - just the opposite - I love them because she gets all excited and has a great time. I would just want to know where and when just in case something happens. What if there's a car accident on the way there/back and the provider is injured and unable to contact me or put the authorities in contact with me? What if they're at Disney or another large, anonymous location and the provider has a heart attack or something? Basically, I want to be able to track down my child in an emergency. I suppose any of those things could happen when she's with me or my husband but I figure at least then they have my address/license information and it would be fairly easily to look through my phone and find my husband/mom/etc. [And the police will do this - I lost my phone during senior prom and my poor mother got a phone call that started "This is the *** County police department, did you have a son or daughter at prom this evening?"] That's my gut reaction. I guess logically if something happened, your family/husbands would be contacted and they could check the daycare files, etc. but I just feel better knowing where she's at.

Regarding the errands (sorry, I can't figure out that multi-quote thing!): My personal guess is that the parents were picturing a full day of running errands - an hour at the grocery store to do your weekly shopping, then a trip to the sporting good store for new soccer cleats for Junior, followed by the craft store for art supplies, then a stop at the UPS store to mail some packages, oh and drug store to pick up hubby's prescription and while we're out we may as well...

That doesn't sound fun or beneficial to the kids at all. A quick trip to the grocery store, especially one that includes some counting, colors, produce identification, etc. wouldn't bother me a bit.

[daycare]

As a parent, I would be somewhat uncomfortable with a blanket permission slip if the provider planned to use it to go on field trips on a whim with no notification. Not that I don't want my daughter going on field trips - just the opposite - I love them because she gets all excited and has a great time. I would just want to know where and when just in case something happens. What if there's a car accident on the way there/back and the provider is injured and unable to contact me or put the authorities in contact with me? What if they're at Disney or another large, anonymous location and the provider has a heart attack or something? Basically, I want to be able to track down my child in an emergency. I suppose any of those things could happen when she's with me or my husband but I figure at least then they have my address/license information and it would be fairly easily to look through my phone and find my husband/mom/etc. [And the police will do this - I lost my phone during senior prom and my poor mother got a phone call that started "This is the *** County police department, did you have a son or daughter at prom this evening?"] That's my gut reaction. I guess logically if something happened, your family/husbands would be contacted and they could check the daycare files, etc. but I just feel better knowing where she's at.

Regarding the errands (sorry, I can't figure out that multi-quote thing!): My personal guess is that the parents were picturing a full day of running errands - an hour at the grocery store to do your weekly shopping, then a trip to the sporting good store for new soccer cleats for Junior, followed by the craft store for art supplies, then a stop at the UPS store to mail some packages, oh and drug store to pick up hubby's prescription and while we're out we may as well...

That doesn't sound fun or beneficial to the kids at all. A quick trip to the grocery store, especially one that includes some counting, colors, produce identification, etc. wouldn't bother me a bit.

I am in your boat too..

We do a ton of field trips and I have an across the board one time permission slip. However, my parents know weeks and weeks in advance about the field trips that require transportation by vehicle.

When we go on a field trip I send out a text to all parents we are off.....when we arrive I snap a group shot standing in front of where ever we are and say We arrived and are ready for fun.

I do the same when we leave to return home. Maybe I am overboard, but all of my parents always know where their child is at all times of the day.

As I parent, I would want to know where my child is at all times of the day as well. I want to know that they are always safe.

[wdmmom]

I am legally unlicensed, so I don't have to worry about the licensing regs. I have an all inclusive travel permission slip the parents sign when they enroll. I always call or text the parents if we are going somewhere outside of the neighborhood so that they know where their child is at all times.

It shouldn't matter what the states regs are, it should matter whether your insurance company will accept responsibility if there is an accident while you are transporting children as part of your busines..

[MrsB]

As a parent, I would be somewhat uncomfortable with a blanket permission slip if the provider planned to use it to go on field trips on a whim with no notification. Not that I don't want my daughter going on field trips - just the opposite - I love them because she gets all excited and has a great time. I would just want to know where and when just in case something happens. What if there's a car accident on the way there/back and the provider is injured and unable to contact me or put the authorities in contact with me? What if they're at Disney or another large, anonymous location and the provider has a heart attack or something? Basically, I want to be able to track down my child in an emergency. I suppose any of those things could happen when she's with me or my husband but I figure at least then they have my address/license information and it would be fairly easily to look through my phone and find my husband/mom/etc. [And the police will do this - I lost my phone during senior prom and my poor mother got a phone call that started "This is the *** County police department, did you have a son or daughter at prom this evening?"] That's my gut reaction. I guess logically if something happened, your family/husbands would be contacted and they could check the daycare files, etc. but I just feel better knowing where she's at.

Regarding the errands (sorry, I can't figure out that multi-quote thing!): My personal guess is that the parents were picturing a full day of running errands - an hour at the grocery store to do your weekly shopping, then a trip to the sporting good store for new soccer cleats for Junior, followed by the craft store for art supplies, then a stop at the UPS store to mail some packages, oh and drug store to pick up hubby's prescription and while we're out we may as well...

That doesn't sound fun or beneficial to the kids at all. A quick trip to the grocery store, especially one that includes some counting, colors, produce identification, etc. wouldn't bother me a bit.

I totally get why some parents would feel this way too. Thats why this daycare isnt for them. Although, I do teach counting, colors, letters, in the daycare setting. I choose to focus more on other skills like attention span, self help, appropriate behavior in appropriate places, holding hands, safety in parking lots, manners, confidence, etc. In my experience, I can help more effectively out in public and I can get a few errands done at the same time. Granted we still stick to our eating/nap schedules sometimes we will be out 3 hours at a time and the kids LOVE it. None of my parents have ever taken issue with me running errands and I always get compliments when I am out with them about how well behaved and polite they are. Parents compliment on how much the kids talk about how fun it is. I only do this about once a month.

There is a difference between what I do and toting the kids around on leashes while I get some errands done with my phone to my ear the whole time.

Now for the safety aspect. I have a firstaid kid (more like box) and it is has a notebook full of emergency procedures, my info and health history and each childs emergency card/health history.

[Crazy8]

There is nothing specific in the regs. I'm also not registered. It is not the insurance companies regs either.

I throughly investigated the liability. If I regularly transport (say to school) and being paid for it (even it is part of the daycare) I would be operating the vehicle 'for hire'. Any accident or injury would not be covered by my personal auto policy.

I cant even imagine getting into an accident (my fault or not) and having one of ghe children be injured or worse! I dont want that burden and I would never risk losing my home or my business just to transport.

In the end, its not legal and the liability by far outweighs the benefits.

I bet several of you would be surprised if you asked your insurance agent or insurance company about transporting daycare kids.

I was told the same thing about transporting daycare kids. I don't do it - AT ALL. I actually find in most interviews parents do not want their child transported by car. I'm glad we have a park in our neighborhood that I can walk to!