Can you have...

[Unregistered]

all kids above the age of 4 and no infant for a small daycare? i prefer the older kids...

[Laurel]

You can have whatever the market will bear. I only get calls for under 2 for the most part. Also here they have a free voluntary pre kindergarten for 4 year olds so no one will pay for me to watch a 4 year old when they can get it free.

Good luck!

Laurel

[originalkat]

I only take ages 2 and up..no infants and toddlers. It works out fine for me, but you have to be willing to turn calls down regularly based on age.

[TwinKristi]

That's a tough one. Most 4yr olds here go to preschool and 5+ go to school (full day Kindy here) so it would be a hard market to cover. They don't have free PreK here yet, but rarely do you find 4-5yr olds in FT daycare. Plus you'd lose the kids every year when they move to Kindy and would have to find more only to lose them again.

[itlw8]

so what you really want is an after school program and summer f/t care. It would depend on what after school programs there are in your area. Here the Y runs one in the schools and summer programs

[MarinaVanessa]

all kids above the age of 4 and no infant for a small daycare? i prefer the older kids...

Yes you can have that legally, you can have whatever ages you prefer as long as you stay within ratio. One thing to keep in mind however is that if you only take 4 year old and up many parents prefer to take their preschoolers to a preschool program and pretty much only need "after school" care. Sometimes preschool programs have extended care and parents don't need after school care for their children at all.

School age children is pretty much the same thing. They only need after-school care and many times this means they need someone to pick them up and that's only if their children aren't in any after-school programs. Also families tend to want to keep their children all together so if they also have younger children these families may not want to take their children to two different places and may most likely choose child care where they can all attend together.

I would call around and see if you have a local resource and referral agency and ask them about the demand for after school care. You can appeal more to these families if you promote transportation, homework help and some type of enrichment program. I know this is just my experience but for me older children use up more supplies, eat more food and tend to need more supervision. They can also cause more damage to toys, furniture and materials. I would see what the "going rate" is for school age kids (4yo and up) and figure out how much food and supplies you will need for each child to make sure that it will be cost effective. Just some food for thought

[Unregistered]

The reason i asked is because i have more request for older kids age 4+. All my clients know i used to be a teacher and they want me to help their kids with homework.

If i decide to expand to a large 14 maximum. Is it weird to have all kids older than 4?

[TwinKristi]

I wouldn't say it's weird at all! If you can make it doing that than go for it, there's no way I could! I prefer infants anyway.

[SSWonders]

You can take whatever you want. It's your business. In my area there is next to no need for home daycare for children over the age of 3. The oldest child I have gotten a call for in the last several years was a 2 year old and he only stayed for a year before going off to preschool. 99% of the calls I get are for infants.

[cheerfuldom]

If the licensing allows it and the demand is there, just do whatever you want that works for you! School age home care is hard to find! especially with a former teacher. awesome.

[Lucy]

Mine are all currently ages 5-10. All in school. Two go to Kinder half day, but the rest are in school 9-3:30. I get 3 hrs with NO kids while the two Kinder kids are in school!!!

I love it, but I'm thinking starting September when the two little ones go to 1st grade, that I will try to get some younger ones who can come just from 9-3:30. That way I'll have different shifts of kids - the before and after schoolers, and the pre-schoolers, but not all at the same time. That's my wish, but we'll see if it happens!!