Good or Bad Idea

[missD]

Do you think it's a good or bad idea to be particular on what age children you accept? Say for instance if I only wanted to accept age 3years and up? I'm going through my certification process and of course still have a million questions. The reason I figured that age and up, was due to activities and such.
So, good or bad idea?

[Ariana]

It will really depend. In my area infants are numerous and as they get older most kids have already found care and aren't getting new providers. Therefore it might take you several months to find a 3 year old. It took me 6 months to find an 18 month old in my area when I first started out. I also prefer part-timers and that is also hard to come by. I did find two 18 month old kids part time though within 2 months this year so I was lucky!

[jenboo]

Definitely depends on the area.
I'm moving and the new area has so many preschools but little infant care. I plan on doing 0-2 yr olds.

[Second Home]

It is really up to you . By taking only a specific age group you will be limiting your client pool , if you are fine with that then go ahead and only take those ages .
Also look into what it would take to change you lic if you did want to accept other age groups . It may be easier to get lic for ages 2 and up now than it would be to re-lic later.

Also remember that you will have a quicker turn over in clients because kids will age out and go into kindergarten within 2-3 years .

[missD]

Thanks everyone.
I just don't want it to be chaos here through the day with too many different ages. I can see it being hard to book only certain ages. I hate making these kinds of decisions haha

[melilley]

I have 1-3 year olds and prefer that they leave after 3. 3 and under is my preferred age group. If I had a child that fit in and was older, I would definitely keep them, but my set up is geared towards the 3 and under ages so the older kids would probably get bored. Plus here, most go to formal preschool once they are 3 and potty trained anyways.

[Thriftylady]

There are a lot of factors, but it is really up to you. If you start out that way and just can't find kiddos, you can change it later.

[permanentvacation]

If you are able to, I would get licensed for all ages; infants through school age. Just because you are legal to watch all ages doesn't mean you have to take all ages, but it does give you the ability to do so. That way, if you start offering care for only ages 3 and up, but only get calls for infants, you can, out of necessity take the infants.

I have been licensed for infants through school ages for years, but only accept children up to age 5, before they enter kindergarten. However, since I am licensed for school agers as well, if I absolutely have to out of financial desperation, I can immediately take school agers.

[missD]

If you are able to, I would get licensed for all ages; infants through school age. Just because you are legal to watch all ages doesn't mean you have to take all ages, but it does give you the ability to do so. That way, if you start offering care for only ages 3 and up, but only get calls for infants, you can, out of necessity take the infants.

I have been licensed for infants through school ages for years, but only accept children up to age 5, before they enter kindergarten. However, since I am licensed for school agers as well, if I absolutely have to out of financial desperation, I can immediately take school agers.

I think that's a good idea. This way I don't get myself in a bind if I have a hard time getting kiddos 3 and up.

[BabyMonkeys]

I only accept babies under 2, and found that was a great selling point for my current families. They like the fact that their baby isn't around bigger kids that may accidentally (or deliberately) hurt the baby, and that all of my toys and supplies are developmentally appropriate for the little ones.

[Unregistered]

My preferred age group is 3-5. By luck I had that age group once for about three years. Now in my area there is free, public all day 4K, so no more 4/5's. The school is offering 3K to a certain amount of families.

If you do not have public 4K and want to offer "preschool" as part of your program you may have some luck getting 3-5's. Many times parents transfer their children out of family child care to group child care because they think it's more like school. I loved it when I had an older group.

You might want to try 2-5's. That will give you more kids. I have gone to 1 and up. No more babies!

I agree....it may take you longer to get kids. It really depends on the demand in your area. I think you really have to ramp up your program to bring in older kids. I think it can be done. It will take a real early childhood/preschool type environment, lots of age appropriate activities, planning, newsletters, extras like Weekly Reader. I loved it when I did it. But times have changed.

[daycarediva]

My preferred age group is 3-5. By luck I had that age group once for about three years. Now in my area there is free, public all day 4K, so no more 4/5's. The school is offering 3K to a certain amount of families.

If you do not have public 4K and want to offer "preschool" as part of your program you may have some luck getting 3-5's. Many times parents transfer their children out of family child care to group child care because they think it's more like school. I loved it when I had an older group.

You might want to try 2-5's. That will give you more kids. I have gone to 1 and up. No more babies!

I agree....it may take you longer to get kids. It really depends on the demand in your area. I think you really have to ramp up your program to bring in older kids. I think it can be done. It will take a real early childhood/preschool type environment, lots of age appropriate activities, planning, newsletters, extras like Weekly Reader. I loved it when I did it. But times have changed.

This is what I do. I take 18m-5 and only 18m under certain conditions developmentally. Works great, and I don't have issues filling spaces because the demand is still high for private prek even though upk is free for 3-5 year olds.

[Starburst]

It depends on the need in your, infant spots are usually hard to find for parents since most places have a limit for infant spots.

Some parents might want to keep siblings together and not want to have to drive all over town or have to pay 2 different day cares. Some also may be looking for a program that will grow with their child (many of my child development stress the positive impact of having one consistent caregiver in early childhood, one thing most centers can't deliver since they have separate age classrooms children age out of with different teachers).