Ages of Children in Your Family DC

[DevorahNA]

Do you have a specific age you accept in your home daycare? or do you accept any child? I am a certified preschool teacher with a masters in ed. and I am considering starting a home daycare with the hopes of opening a small center in a couple of years. First of all is this a feasable plan? has anyone done this?
Second, i guess because I am a preschool teacher I could not imagine having infants and a 4 year old in the same "class". I would like to have one age, does anyone do this? How does this work if you have your own children at home who are not the same age? It seems like there are many "playgroups" (illegal mostly) in my area that do only one age...

[Sunchimes]

I didn't plan it, but for the first 8 months I was open, I had 3 girls all within 1 month in age. I still have 2 of them (22 months old). I loved it and had big plans for the next few years. Then, one of the moms got pregnant and I was willing to let her daughter go, so instead, I let one of my girls go. So now, I have a 21 month old, 22 month old, and an almost 5 month old boy. Not impressed with the set up now.

[RubyBell]

Well, when I started I intended to stick with the toddler/preschooler age group. I had only families with infants contact me initially, so I went ahead and accepted a 7 month old and a 13 month old. Now I have kids up to 4 years old. I won't take school agers though (personal preference). I'm very happy with the varied age group and I'm glad I didn't limit myself too much. My daughter is 7 and she has fun playing with the little ones, although I know she prefers the kids in our neighborhood that are her own age. All in all, we're happy though.

[Lilbutterflie]

It isn't easy to keep babies with toddlers/preschoolers. I have done it, but the babies tie you down to the house with their bottles and naps. Once the babies switch to one nap a day (around 12-18 months here) it becomes MUCH easier. Right now I have ages 18 months - 4 yrs and it's a wonderful group!!! However, when you target this group it makes it more difficult to fill a spot b/c you are targeting a specific age group.

[Blackcat31]

Do you have a specific age you accept in your home daycare? or do you accept any child?
I take kids from birth to age 6 or Kindy entrance. (I ONLY accept children under 1 months if they are a sibling to a family I already have) I stopped taking school age kids a few years ago...(FWIW~ best decision I ever made! )

I am a certified preschool teacher with a masters in ed. and I am considering starting a home daycare with the hopes of opening a small center in a couple of years. First of all is this a feasable plan? has anyone done this?

Many providers here teach preschool. Some have formal education/degrees in ECE, others have degrees in other areas but choose to work from home because of their own small children or other personal reasons. There is no pay increase as to having or not having a formal degree. (I recently went back to school to earn my Bachelor's in ECE but did it for my own reasons as the degree does not have any impact on my wallet...LOL!! It helps with application of knowledge but that is about it. I have a better understanding on early childhood theories and approaches as well as development but no pay increase.)

Second, i guess because I am a preschool teacher I could not imagine having infants and a 4 year old in the same "class". I would like to have one age, does anyone do this? How does this work if you have your own children at home who are not the same age? It seems like there are many "playgroups" (illegal mostly) in my area that do only one age...

My DCK's are separated according to age and when I teach my curriculum, I do the age groups separately. The other times are mostly active investigation or learning through play activities that can be adapted and structured to meet the age of the group including the youngest and the oldest.

I answered your questions (bolded) above Don't know if my answers were/are helpful but hopefully gets you thinking....

[originalkat]

I do

I was also a preschool teacher before starting my home daycare. Like you, I did not know if it was possible to have a home based program and ONLY take preschoolers. So when I first started I took what I could get for 2 reasons 1) my own 2 kids were 1 and 3 yrs old so I already had young ones and 2) I needed the money and starting up is the most difficult time to fill spots. So I spent 2 yrs " growing the children" and only enrolled new children who were in my target age range (3-5). For the last 2 1/2 yrs I have been open, I have only taken preschoolers and turn down calls for other ages. It has been the best decision! A lot of families move to me from other home programs that are childcare only with all ages. They want their kids to have a preschool atmosphere but stay in a home setting. It has been a good niche for me.

I call myself a home-based childcare and preschool. I would love to only offer preschool sessions but there is no money in that. I take 8 full time preschoolers.

https://www.greengateearlylearning.com

[cheerfuldom]

There are a lot of dayares that do 2-4 years old in my area. I know of a few that do 0-2 year olds. I do 0-4 but I also dont have a strict preschool program.