A Fresh Idea

[Thriftylady]

WOW so many great replies and so so much to think about! Well I was talking to the chief (the wife), and she says that education (shes an early childhood development major) is what I should really be focusing on in addition to being organic while I can offer accommodations for vegan families, at a slightly higher tuition to cover the individual child's food costs or ask the parent to supply snacks meals ect. I think a be health/live health curriculum could work with the values we have in place for food toys ect. I'll teach shapes, colors, along with animals and simple science with fun activities like planting/watching the garden grow, and learning simple life-cycles by raising the chicks. Recreational activities would include yoga to teach healthy mind and body, and of course arts and crafts/dramatic play/storytime/sing-a-long. Sorry this post was long, this has been my dream for a very very long time, I can see my daycare so clearly in my mind now it's all about execution. Haha, well hope you are all well,
-Beth

I do some preschool teaching but not a ton of actual "teaching". Remember that kids learn the most through play. Now we can offer play that leads to more learning also! Just playing and exploring teaches them so much.

[hoopinglady]

crunchy

We are as natural as possible in my program. Our parents have called us "crunchy childcare". (ugh...)

It can be challenging working with attachment parents. Sometimes, it seems, parents want to be attached but are ultimately sabotaging their children for success in group care. These are what we call, "read all the books but have very little common sense" parents. (a whole other thread!)

We provide mostly organic and very little processed foods ( we make exceptions for birthday parties and such). Cloth diapers, natural cleaners, breast milk friendly. We have specialty diets and try to accommodate them or ask them to bring supplements. We find that plenty of healthy meals can fit the vegan criteria, for example (but we do find it challenging to cook without eggs and dairy!). We have families that send raw milk and fermented foods. It can be a bit tricky to juggle it all but it's not terrible. You have to decide what you're willing to accommodate in that regard.

In my area, we're an asset and an exception. We spend a goodly amount on food but we eat well and can do a lot with simple beans/tofu, etc and seasonal vegetables.

We do not participate in the food program.

I personally think play based and relationship based learning is part of being "organic" or "crunchy". We spend time educating parents on how our activities are meeting academic standards though they may look quite different from a traditional preschool.

Anyway, it's been rewarding and well worth it for me.

Good luck!

[Dilley Beans]

I will start out by saying I do not charge more for my services than standard in the area. I also am feeding 7 children and 2 adults daily and keeping within the reimbursements that the USDA food program pays.

I feed primarily organic food, I specifically try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, rbgh, msg, and other processed food things. I never feed chicken nuggets, boxed mac and cheese, etc. I am with the food program and never go over the standard rate. My meals have never been denied either. I have been commended by my food program rep for my creativity and dedication to well rounded, colorful, and varying meals as well as impressed with my use of organic foods.

You just have to know how to shop be, menu plan, have storage space and know where to cut corners. We have a store called Grocery Outlet on the west coast, they do a great job of getting in interesting organic and healthier option foods, sometimes they are funky and don't go over well but they stand by their food and guarantee to refund you if you just plain don't like it. I know there is something "Lion" in the mid west that may be similar. My local grocery stores also mark down meat, dairy and sometimes even bananas as it gets closer to expiring, you can freeze this and use it as normal. I go through bananas so fast, getting spotted organic bananas for $.39/lb and using a bunch for the next day's breakfast is perfect, saving $.50/lb off organic ones or even just $.20 off of conventional. I can get organic meats for cheaper than the conventional with sale prices sometimes, but you have to freezer space and grab when the getting is good. Tuesday is the most likely day. Sometimes organic milk is 50% off. Its usually 5 days from best by date and I can go through a gallon in 2 days so I'll pick one up and save a few cents over the conventional.

Know your "dirty dozen" - the items you should always buy organic, know your "clean 15" or whatever phrase they use for the items that are going to be pretty pesticide free. Grow a garden, what can you preserve in the freezer for the winter months, etc.

I'm going to be growing a carrot garden with the kids. Basically we're going to be planting carrots throughout the summer and I can blanch and freeze sliced carrots for our year round lunches. I go through a lot of carrot juice in my family so we'll be juicing and freezing that. We also have a strawberry patch out of reach for little ones, grapes and berries. I live on a farm and have space to do this, but it can be done on the small scale too. I have a friend who ripped up her front lawn and instead has a garden there, it's beautiful year round due to kale and winter veggies as well as bed covered in straw for mulch and weed barrier.

Some places I do compromise: Chicken - I can get fabulous boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.69/lb from Zaycon Fresh a couple times a year and do. It is conventionally grown with corn and soy in typical factory housing, but we use it about 3-4 meals a week for DCKs and family so the savings really adds up and allows for me to spend more on other meal components. I also buy my black beans that I use in at least 1 meal per week by the 50lb bag. It lasts forever at 1-2 c of beans per week. I do buy conventional milk because it is half the cost and our store only carries rbst/rbgh free milk so we're avoiding that hormone even if not organic. Cheese: most of the time the bricks/shredded I get say they are rbst free but I can't find an organic source that isn't too freaking high. Costco carries huge bags of string cheese that don't list it as being rgbh free and if I can't find them at the local retail at a good price, I get those. $.095 per oz on cheese sticks is an awesome price and I can't beat that. I usually pair it in the summer with pears or other fruit from the farmer's market.

If you want to to talk cleaners, etc. I can go on and on for days about that too. PM me