Daycare Parents Handbook

[DancingQueen]

to see if I'm missing any major points?

My contracts are all being renewed 1/1 and I'm giving them the handbook and paperwork this week.
I've made changes that I feel had to be put in (things that have gone wrong this year..LOL)

I'd love for a more experienced person to review it and let me know if they think I am missing anything or if it sounds reasonable

[MarinaVanessa]

I'd like to help if you still need it. If you're still interested PM me and I'll give you my e-mail and you can e-mail it to me. I can look at it today and get back to you by tomorrow morning.

Hopefully you can get a couple of people to look it over. Getting many peoples perspectives and opionions helps alot.

[DancingQueen]

That is what I was hoping for..

[marniewon]

I've only been at this a year, but I'm willing to look at it if you'd like

[countrymom]

I'm acually going to start and update mine (finally after 6 yrs) I too have things that need to be added that um, I have encountered. If you would like I would be glad to read it.

[DancingQueen]

I wonder if I can just paste it in here? Can you think of any reason that would be a bad idea?

[laundrymom]

I will =-)

[DancingQueen]

I had to break it up into two

My Philosophy of Quality Care

I will strive to provide a safe, comfortable, stimulating, fun, educational environment in my home with a semi-structured play plan. Activities will include free playtime, structured playtime, large motor skill playtime, small motor skills activities, nutrition, cultural activities, and other educational yet fun activities. I will also provide nutritious snacks, and encourage good personal hygiene skills and manners.

The television may be on at times during regular care hours and then only to watch educational programs or activities which are appropriate for young viewers.

Through a mixture of guided and undirected creative play, children in my care will have the opportunity to learn about color, shapes, textures, numbers, letters, animals, seasons, feelings, senses, nutrition, personal hygiene, manners, and creative concepts such as “pretend” play, art, music, drama, and dance.

These may sound like big goals for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, but children can learn all of these things and more through creative play. I do not believe in pushing any child to learn at an accelerated rate, and will not make a child feel pressured to participate in activities. By providing the right kind of fun safe environment, I believe that children will learn at their own appropriate pace.

Tuition Rates and Hours of Care

Tuition rates and exact hours of care for your child are detailed on your contract.

My daycare officially closes at 4:30PM. If we have agreed to a time later than 4:30 please understand that this is an exception. Your child will now be falling into the daily routine of my family. This means that your children may have to accompany me to pick my child up from an activity or drop them off and other types of situations that we can discuss further. Your child will always be in safe hands and their care will always be top priority for me, however my time with my family and my children’s activities are very important to us and we want to be able to accommodate your needs while meeting our own.

If your child is in school full time and enrolled in my daycare during the school year, this does NOT guarantee them a summer spot. The number of children I am allowed to care for during the summer months is 6.

Late fee

There will be a $5.00 late fee assessed for every 15 minutes you are late picking up your child. The charge begins the 1st minute after your pick up time. To clarify, if you are 1-15 minutes late you will be charged $5.00. If you are 16-30 minutes late you will be charged $10.00. This is for times you are late that have not been discussed ahead of time. Often times my children have events or activities scheduled for immediately after the daycare day. If you are going to be late it is imperative that you phone me so that I can make alternate arrangements for my children or in some cases I may need to bring your child with me to my child’s activity. If this is necessary you may need to meet me at the event or if I’m just dropping my child off you can meet me back at my house. You will be assessed late fees up until the time your child is no longer in my care.

Trial Period

All new enrollments will be subject to a two week trial period to allow for adjustments. Any time during this two week that you or myself feel this arrangement is not going to work out either of us can terminate our contract without notice. The one week’s deposit that was made during the application process will not be refunded.

Payment Terms

Payment for each week is due on the first day of the week. There will be a $15.00 late payment fee for each day that payment is late. Repeat late payments will be grounds for termination of contract. If I receive 2 bounced checks payments will be required to be made in cash.

It is my hope that all parents will agree to make electronic payments. I have parents that have been successfully using this program for quite some time. The options are to have the money taken from your account automatically or you can go in and make the payment yourself each week. The money is taken out of your account and deposited into my account 3 business days later. The fee is $1.00 per payment and is the parent’s responsibility. Currently this payment method is optional – it may become mandatory in the future. If you do choose electronic payment method you are still required to make the payment on your scheduled day. This is the day you receive your emailed invoice/reminder. I am notified via email the moment you process your payment. Failure to make payment on your scheduled day will result in a $15.00 late fee PER day that the payment is late.

Kindergarten

According to the State of Connecticut, a child that is in Kindergarten for half days still occupies a full time spot within a home daycare. Therefore, although a kindergartener will only be with me for half of the day a full time rate still applies. This also applies to children that are in preschool.

Before/After School Care

I provide care for school aged children up to age 11. Your child must be a student in the ********* Public School system. I will care for your child until the school bus arrives in the morning (approximately 7:35am) and then again from the time the school bus drops them off (approximately 3:45pm) until our contracted pick up time. My rate for before / after school care is outlined in your contract. Any times outside of the times listed above require advance notice and may include additional fees. If school is not in session due to school vacation (not including summer vacation), holidays, staff development days or due to inclement weather I am still available to care for your child. You will be charged a full day rate for these days regardless of what time you drop off and pick up. If school has a half day – either planned or unscheduled (due to inclement weather) you will be charged for a full day rate regardless of the time you pick up or drop off. On the days that your child is here during our regularly scheduled nap time they will be required to participate in quiet time. They can read a book or watch television. Because the younger children require a nap I am not flexible in this area. If they are unable to observe quiet time they will be unable to attend daycare while nap/quiet time is in session.

Closing

I will attempt to give as much notice as possible whenever I must close my home to care for any reason.

In order to spend quality time with my own family, I will be closed on most Federal Holidays. These dates are listed below.

• Martin Luther King Day (1/17/11)
• Washington’s Birthday Day (2/21/11)
• Memorial Day (9/5/11)
• July 5th (7/4/11)
• Labor Day (9/5/11) • Thanksgiving Day (11/24/11)
• Day following Thanksgiving (11/25/11)
• Day before Christmas (12/23/11)

Shut Down

My daycare is closed during the week between Christmas and New Years. You will not be charged for this week. Daycare will reopen on the first weekday following New Year’s Day.

Vacation

I reserve the right to take two weeks UNPAID vacation. My vacation time can be used 1 week at a time or broken down in to ½ days. Any vacation time you choose to take, other than my scheduled weeks, are paid vacation days. I will give you 1 month notice (often more) for any vacation time I will be taking.

Most daycare providers take a paid vacation. I have chosen not to do that at this time. I reserve the right to change this in future contract years. If this does change you will be given ample notice and this change will not take place during this contract year.

Personal Days

I reserve the right to take up to five personal days to be used at my discretion. These are paid personal days. These days can be used in ½ day increments and I will give as much notice as possible when taking personal time.

My Sick Days

Working with exposure to many families and especially children, it is expected that I will become ill occasionally. Therefore, I reserve the option to take up to five paid sick-days per calendar year. I will not take these days unless I am genuinely ill, and I will always attempt to give as much notice as possible when I am forced to close my home due to illness.

In the event that one of my own family members is mildly ill I will also give you as much notice as possible to allow you to decide if you want to risk exposure to your child. These days will not count toward the paid sick days since I will still be available to care for your child. If my child is severely ill – to the point where I cannot care for other children - I will give as much notice as possible and these days will count towards my paid sick days.

In order to provide my family with reliable income, I cannot offer a discount for days when your child is unable to attend due to his/her illness or vacation. I will do my best to prevent the spread of illnesses through good hygiene and housekeeping, but total avoidance of illness is impossible.

I will not close the daycare if I am mildly ill due to a cold. I will, however, notify you as soon as symptoms appear in me or any of the children, so that you can decide whether or not to have your child in care that day. There will not be a discount for days that you choose not to bring your child.

If I should become ill with more than a standard cold, such as flu or fever, I will close the daycare until I have been fever-free for 24 hours. Per our contract, I will be paid for up to five sick days per calendar year.

When Your Child is Sick

Please do not bring your child to daycare if he/she has a contagious illness or exhibits any of the following symptoms:
• fever of 101 degrees or above – not to return until 24 hours fever free
• vomiting, in excess of typical infant spit-ups - not to return until 24 hours vomit free
• diarrhea - not to return until 24 hours diarrhea free
• conjunctivitis ("pink eye") – not to return until eye is free from discharge
• consistent complaints of ear or stomach pain
• excessive greenish nasal discharge, indicating possible infection
• head lice – not to return until complete treatment has been administered and is subject to a lice check when entering my home upon return.
• undiagnosed skin rash

In general, if your child is too sick to go outside and play, then your child is too sick to attend childcare. If your child becomes ill during daycare, you will be phoned at work and asked to pick your child up immediately.

If your child has a common cold (slight cough, sneezing, clear runny nose and/or a temperature below 101 degrees) your child may attend daycare. However, if your child reaches a point when he/she requires constant attention, will not play, cries continuously, whines or wants to be held constantly, then your child will need to stay home.

If your child has a contagious illness they need to remain at home until they are no longer contagious. In some, more serious cases, a doctor’s note may be required.

If your child has any of the symptoms listed above but a physician has determined that he/she is not contagious you may bring a doctor’s note indicating this and she will be permitted to return to daycare as long as her mood and behavior is normal.

Please do NOT mask fevers or major discomfort with medication prior to drop off. This is not fair to them or the other children in my care. Medication to assist with teething discomfort is acceptable.

If your child is not feeling well and you are planning to bring them to the doctors that day, please do NOT bring them to daycare.

Your child is unable to attend daycare until he/she is symptom free (no fever, vomiting or diarrhea) for 24 hours. This means that if you have been called to pick your child up because they have any of those symptoms they will NOT be able to attend daycare the following day. The only exception is if you receive a doctor’s note stating that your child is not contagious and is able to attend care and that your child is feeling happy and healthy.

Medicine

Please dispense all medications at home whenever possible. I will not administer any medication other than nonprescription topical medications such as diaper ointment and teething gels.

I am able to administer non prescription topical medications.
These medications include
• Diaper ointments
• Medicated powders
• Teething medication

All of these items must be labeled to include the following and I must have a consent form on file.
• Name of child
• Name of medication
• Directions for administration

Meals and Snacks

Breakfast: Breakfast should be served at home prior to arriving at daycare. My children will also have eaten their breakfast prior to the children arriving.

Lunches: Lunches should be brought from home as well. Please pack their lunches as though you are sending them to school. Please do not send items that need to be heated or cooked. I also do not have enough storage space for you to bring more than one day worth of meals. Please pack lunch each day. If you are packing something that needs to remain cold please include an ice pack in their lunch bag as I do not have enough space to refrigerate everyone’s meal. When packing their lunches please refrain from packing a lot of junk food as this really creates problems with the other children and is really unnecessary during the daycare day. During our lunch time we will all bring out our packed lunch and eat our meal together and this includes my own children, who will also be packing their lunches in preparation for the daycare day.

Snacks & Drinks: I will provide 2 healthy snacks per day, one mid morning and one mid afternoon. I will also provide drinks for the day (so it is not necessary to include a drink in their packed lunches).

The meal schedule I follow is listed below. The times are approximate. If your child will be arriving after a scheduled meal time please arrange to feed him/her prior to arrival.

Our Meal Schedule (for toddlers and older)
Morning Snack: 9:00 to 9:15am
Lunch: 11:15 to 11:45pm
Afternoon Snack: 3:00 to 3:30 pm

As listed in the supplies section of this handbook, you are responsible for providing your infant’s formula or breast milk. I believe in feeding infants on demand; however I find that they quickly fall into a nice schedule of their own.

Food Allergies

Be sure to complete the form titled “Allergy and Food Preference Information”. Please alert me immediately if your child has any food allergies or if you suspect any food sensitivities. I will do my best to accommodate your child’s dietary needs.

Naps and Quiet Time

I will offer infants a nap as needed. Generally this includes a morning and afternoon nap. All children will be offered an afternoon nap shortly after lunch, somewhere between the hours of 12:00 and 2:30pm

All children will be expected to sleep or rest quietly during this time, so that the children who need to sleep can do so. School aged children will be asked to read, choose a quiet time activity and possibly watch television but everyone is expected to be respectful of our quite time rules.

If your child has a favorite blankie or teddy you are welcome to bring these items. Each child will have their own regular sleeping space. All bedding will be washed regularly.

Please refrain from dropping off and picking up during this time. This has the potential of disrupting the entire group.

Potty Training

When it comes to potty training I feel it is best to wait for children to show signs of readiness. Often times a child being potty trained before they are ready will result in the process taking much longer and coming up against a lot of resistance. I will assist with potty training however training needs to be started at home and your child should be making good progress and understand the concept of toilet training before I will begin at daycare. At that time Pull-ups are required. Your child can switch to underware once they are able to use the toilet on their own without much assistance and constant reminders.

Supplies

You will be responsible for providing your child’s:
• Diapers
• Diaper rash ointment
• Sterilized bottles and nipples including bottle liners (if needed)
• Infant formula or Breast milk
• Sippy cups
• Sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher
• Bathing suit
• Towel
• Change of clothes (2 outfits)
• Safe walking shoes
• Weather appropriate outerwear
All other supplies will be provided by me. Of course, donations of all sorts of materials are always welcome. This helps me to keep my rates low!

[DancingQueen]

Here is part 2

Toys from Home

Your child may choose to bring their own bedding and/or an item to snuggle during rest time. I do ask that other toys remain at home. I will provide a wide variety of toys and educational activities and there should be no need to bring your own. I am pretty firm on this rule. I have been flexible with this rule in the past and it always causes conflict among the children and it just isn’t fair to them. Please discuss with your child ahead of time letting them know that I will have lots of toys to play with. I ask that you respect this rule. If your child enters my home with their toy, I will ask you to take the toy with you when you leave. This is not a fun way for them to start their day with me. I suggest that you not allow the toys out of your vehicle. I do understand how difficult it can be to take a toy away from a child. Imagine how difficult it is for me to do this for several children.

Pets

Our family loves animals. I am a 4-H leader and have a small farm in the making. The current animals that I have are; an English Mastiff Dog, 2 cats, 2 Guinnea Pigs (indoors during winter and outdoors during the summer), 3 rabbits and several chickens. There may be other pets in our future. I will let you know in advance if we will be adding anymore animals to our fur family.

Field Trips

I will be bringing the children on field trips. I think they are an important part of child’s development. There are wonderful things to see and places to go that can enhance their love of learning and socialization.

I will do my best to notify you of major trips. I will however have many spontaneous trips to the park and other such locations. I will have a cellular phone with me at all times so that you can contact me. I will also have with me my first aid kit and all emergency contact information and permission slips. Please be sure to sign the permission slip. This permission slip allows me to take your child outside of my home for field trips and in case of an emergency.

Swimming

I have an above ground swimming pool on my property. During the summer months we may use this pool. Please provide a towel and bathing suit that we can keep at my house for the summer months. No child will be allowed in the pool or on the pool deck without a grown up present. My pool deck is blocked with a child safe gate (with security lock).

There may be times we will go to the lake, or a public swimming facility.

Please be sure to sign the Swimming Agreement form.

Birthdays and other Holiday Celebrations

We all come from many different cultural and religious backgrounds and beliefs. I welcome the opportunity to include your family’s favorite holiday traditions in our daily activities and would love to learn more about them myself.

I discourage a general exchange among the children at birthdays since there could be many birthdays’ each year. In addition, children often have birthday parties at their home, so the exchange of presents during daycare hours is not really necessary. Parents are welcome to provide a special treat for the group on their child’s birthday or we will have a gift-free celebration. If you do choose to bring a treat in simply let me know ahead of time so that we can discuss any possible allergies that any child in my care may have.

Dressing Appropriately

Children should be dressed casually because their play is often on the floor or outdoors. Your children WILL get dirty. If they go the entire day without getting dirty then they must not be having enough fun. Please do not send them in their finest clothes. We will play in dirt and paint and even occasionally mud. We will go outside every day weather permitting. The temperature and wind chill factor is checked daily and then the Child Care Weather Watch System is followed to determine when it is safe to bring children outside. Parents should send their children appropriately dressed for a day of outdoor play, art activities, water play and other activities. Non-slippery shoes such as sneakers are best. Please no fancy shoes or heals as they are not safe. Inside my home I have a no shoe policy. Everyone is required to remove their shoes when they come in. This includes your children. Please help them get into the habit of removing their shoes and putting them on the rug when they come in.

Discipline Policy

I do not believe in spanking, slapping, smacking, yelling or hitting of any kind. This type of discipline will not be used in my home (by myself OR PARENTS), regardless of your practices in your own home. Instead, I prefer the following discipline methods to handle any dangerous or hurtful offenses:

For children under the age of about 18 months, I find it most effective to remove the child from the situation, and redirect their attention elsewhere. Although I will most likely explain to the child that the offending behavior was inappropriate, children of this age are rarely able to fully understand what they have done. Fortunately, at this age their attention span is also usually shorter than with older children, so simply showing them a different toy or activity usually does the job.

For children that are over this age, I will alert the child to the offense by saying “we do not hit, hitting hurts”, this allows the child to know what the offence was and why it is not acceptable. If the child chooses not to behave appropriately, I will first explain to the child why their behavior is not acceptable, I will then remove the child from the situation for a break. Not so much of a time out as a chance to regroup.

At the end of the break, I will discuss the offending behavior with the child to be sure they understand the reasons it is not acceptable. I will encourage children to apologize to each other when appropriate however I will not force an apology.

Dangerous and hurtful offenses include hitting, kicking, pushing, hair pulling, throwing objects at someone, climbing on an inappropriate structure and willful destruction of property. Relatively minor offenses will be handled as described above, depending upon the child’s age and developmental stage.

In the rare instance that I feel any child in my care has a serious behavior issue I will request a conference with the parent(s). If an understanding cannot be reached, I reserve the right to terminate our contract with as much notice as possible in order to guarantee the comfort and safety of the other children in my care.

Sign-in/out Log

Effective 1/1/11 you will be required to sign your child in and out each day. There will be a sign in/out log by the front door. This log will be used to keep an accurate attendance for food program and tax purposes. Please use exact times on the log.

Pick-Up Policy

When your child/ren are with me during the daycare day we have a great routine. They are, for the most part, very polite and well behaved. When someone arrives at my home that is not there on a regular basis (and this includes parents) the children are simply not themselves. They tend to get very wound up and behave in ways that are not normally allowed. Because of this I ask that pick up and drop off time be brief. Please do not take this negatively. I enjoy your company and love sharing with you how your child’s day went but when pick up and drop offs last more than a few minutes it is disruptive to the rest of the children that are in my care. Because of this I also try to limit parent visits during the day. I do have an open door policy and would never refuse a parent to come and visit but I do discourage it because of the reasons above. And when you do come for pick up and you see the kids are a little wound up, please know that this is not their normal behavior with me.

Also, once the daycare day has ended my time with my own family is underway. Dinner, homework and family time are all very important to me. I find that spending a lot of time with parents during pick up cuts into my family time and I hope that everyone understands this and does not feel rushed out the door. Please don’t hesitate to call me in the evenings between 7:30-9pm or anytime during the weekend. I also am available via email – I check it regularly and will respond within 24 hours. I also have texting on my phone and use it regularly. So although it isn’t always easy for me to talk with you during pick up and drop off please know there are many other ways to communicate and I am always willing to make time for you.

I will not under any circumstances release your child into the custody of anyone other than his or her parent or legal guardian, as indicated by the signatures on the contract. If you wish to have anyone else pick up your child, please be sure their name is on the list of authorized persons.

If I am unfamiliar with the person picking up I may require a driver’s license as proof of identification before I will release the child into their custody. Anyone picking up a child must have an appropriate car seat in their vehicle or I will refuse to release the child to their care.

Late Policy

As a courtesy to your child and myself, please make every effort to drop off your child on time. If you are going to be late for any reason please call and let me know. If you are more than an hour late without phoning me it will be assumed that your child/ren will not be joining us for that day.

It is required that you pick your child up on time. If you will be unexpectedly tardy it goes without question that you should call me to let me know as soon as you can. There will be a $5.00 late fee assessed for every 1-15 minutes you are late picking up your child. The charge begins the 1st minute after your pick up time. To clarify, if you are 1-15 minutes late you will be charged $5.00. If you are 16-30 minutes late you will be charged $10.00. This is for times you are late that have not been discussed ahead of time. Please call if you are running late. If you are repeatedly late we will discuss our options which may include increasing your daily rate.

Communications Methods

Please feel free to call me at any time during the day. I will not answer the phone if I am in the middle of an activity with the kids but I will get back to you as quickly as I can. I also use texting as a regular way to stay in touch with parents. In addition I can receive emails through my cell phone so if you need me you can email me and even if I’m outdoors playing with the kids I can quickly respond. Any and all of these methods of communication work for me. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions.

Termination of Care

Our contract may be terminated at any time for any reason, by either party with proper notice. Proper notice will consist of written notice to the provider not less than two weeks prior to the child’s last day of care. If you choose to terminate care with less than proper notice, you agree to forfeit the entire deposit. In addition to the deposit, regular tuition charges will apply for the remaining time your child is in care, and will be prorated for the number of days your child remains.

If at any time, after consultation with the parent or guardian, I feel that you or your child pose a safety risk to myself or any of the children in my care, I will give you as much written notice as possible that care is terminated but in some cases termination of care may be immediate. I will first attempt to resolve any issues with you before resorting to termination of care. If I have to terminate care effective immediately your deposit will not be refunded to you. If I am able to give you notice your deposit will be put towards the last week of care.

[countrymom]

I've read the first part, there are things that I would take out. First I would take out the philosophy part, seriously I don't think too many parents care for that part. I saw on a contract (I'll see if I can find it) it went something to the extent that not everything in the contract applies to every family, the way it was written was really good.

[countrymom]

the next 2 sections sound fine

the payments
I would put something like if they don't pay the following day, their child will not be able to attend, I find that parents won't care for paying late fees, so making them spend the day with their kid is torture enough.
another thing, I'm not sure about the electronic banking. I know its easier for you, but none of my parents would ever agree with this. I have parents who pay cash because they get paid cash, and some like to write cheques. and if someone doesn't have a computer (gasp!) then what would they do kwim

[DancingQueen]

Thank you thank you!
I agree about the philosophy.
I love the part about the payment I just have to figure out how to word it with my electronic payment.
Right now all of my parents use electronic. I LOVE IT. I have one SA kid who's dad doesn't have a computer and he just gives me a check on Mondays. Not a big deal but it is REALLY nice not to have to go to the bank! LOVE it!

[countrymom]

the school age section
it sounds fine except for the part where you wrote that you will still care for them on holidays and half schools days...I would word that differently, something like, if I have room then you will be able to take them, because what happens if you have lots of kids and can't take them, but you have it down in your contract that you can take them, it may cause some problems with the parents.

[countrymom]

the closing and shut down I would combine as one.

[DancingQueen]

The state allows for them during those times. I am only allowed 6 full time kids and 3 before/after school kids. During vaca days and such the state allows me to keep the SA full day without problem in addition to my full timers. Just during the summer month they don't.