Found on Craigs List WTH Provider/Preschool Service

[daycare]

How to Choose the Best Child Care Center For Your Child



Are you looking for child care and want to ensure you are choosing the best place for your child?


Studies have shown that given a high quality early childhood education, children are more successful later in life than their counterparts. Child care centers provide the foundation for children’s education. Therefore, it is the responsibility of parents/guardians to choose a child care setting that will provide a strong educational foundation for their child.

About the Consultant:

I am a professional in the Early Childhood Education field with many years of experience in a variety of child care settings across the US. I would be delighted to help you choose a high quality child care center for your child.

I am a graduate from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) with my Master’s degree in Child Development and Education (currently the only individual in the US to complete this program). I have performed extensive research in the United States on the quality found in child care centers, utilizing the Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environmental Scale-Revised (ECERS-R). These tools assess the quality of many different aspects of a center such as: furnishings, health and safety, interactions between children and staff, language development, etc (more on ITERS-R/ECERS-R below**). My research findings indicated that parents/guardians rate centers significantly higher in quality than they actually are. I consider these findings concerning and am determined to help parents/guardians understand what high levels of quality child care are and how to choose a center that provides this type of care.

About the Service:

You choose a package that best suits your needs.

Each package includes an initial consultation meeting. This meeting is used to gather information about you and your child. This information will be used in selecting centers to tour. The information gathered during this interview will also be used to ask relevant questions during the center tour.

The next step will include touring a number of centers. I will have a list of questions created reflecting yours and your child’s requirements. I will also utilize an environmental checklist, which will be used to assess the facility. I will tour the center with you, make necessary notes, and ask questions to help aid in the decision making process.

*If after touring a number of centers, you do not feel you have found one that matches your requirements, you may choose to tour more centers.

The last step includes an exit consultation meeting. This meeting will be used to present the information collected from each center visited. The centers will be discussed in detail and how they meet your requirements.

Available Packages:

Up to 5 Centers: $250
10 Centers: $425
Additional centers: $40 each
Additional children of different age: $75 each

[Michelle]

wow, what a racket!
someone is charging to do something that parents can do themselves?
does she think parents are idiots?:confused::confused::confused:

[daycare]

lmao I could not stop laughing... sad part is that someone will hire this nut,,

[nannyde]

Studies have shown that given a high quality early childhood education, children are more successful later in life than their counterparts.

My first question would be "what studies are you referring to?" A child who has a parent that can afford her services would most likely not qualify to be a participant in the studies she is referring to.

What about high quality early childhood CARE?

[missnikki]

Studies have shown that given a high quality early childhood education, children are more successful later in life than their counterparts.

My first question would be "what studies are you referring to?" A child who has a parent that can afford her services would most likely not qualify to be a participant in the studies she is referring to.

What about high quality early childhood CARE?

True...
Also,
"...children are more successful later in life than their counterparts."
Counterparts.....to children? You mean, adults? This whiz did not pass the Queen's English with flying colours.

[daycare]

There seems to be a trend of these "School consultants" around on craigs list here in CA.... hmm I wonder what makes her the hierarchy to have the right to charge someone a fee to make a decision for you and what is that based off of?

[Zoe]

That sounds like a nightmare to me! I like the idea of educating parents on what to look for in quality daycare, but that just sounds over the top. I wish I had done more research as a parent when I was working outside the home, but I wouldn't have wanted someone doing the work for me!

This person sounds like she'd get the parents all paranoid about childcare centers and they would end up being the kinds of parents that don't trust anyone who takes care of their kids!

[nannyde]

That sounds like a nightmare to me! I like the idea of educating parents on what to look for in quality daycare, but that just sounds over the top. I wish I had done more research as a parent when I was working outside the home, but I wouldn't have wanted someone doing the work for me!

This person sounds like she'd get the parents all paranoid about childcare centers and they would end up being the kinds of parents that don't trust anyone who takes care of their kids!

I think there may be a market for parents to hire someone to tour centers with them. It's just fifty bucks a pop if they do five centers. The consultant will have travel time back and forth and parent conferencing time to discuss centers.

It's actually pretty cheap (whcih is curious to me). Once the consultant becomes familiar with the Centers she is touring she will be able to just go in and sell the ones she likes. Her assessment of the family will be the most time consuming but she will find commonality between the "preschool aged" kids parents who would hire her and focus on the things that she knows parents really like: gifted child care and how much attention will their child get to serve their giftedness.

For infants it will be the parents being able to buy into the most one to one care and do the baby genius "baby education".

As long as she has the parents doing the paperwork for her on the front end.. meaning they fill out their child's information as opposed to her taking down the info she should be able to keep the initial consults to a reasonable amount of time.

Once she starts referring individual centers she MAY work out a kick back from the Centers. She will be able to pull money from both sides of the fence. She may be laying the ground work with the Center end of it as she gets started. That would be a good place to start.

It's not a bad business idea. Depending on the area she is serving and the number of centers she has to promote she could make a decent living. She will be able to use each individual centers documentation of their ratings or endorsments so she will not have to do the legwork of evaluating the ones who subscribe to the same accreditation she is promoting as indicators of good quality.

The "intake' portion of it will go pretty easily because most of her client base are going to want the same thing. The challenge for her will be making each client feel like what they are wanting IS individual and special. Talking to parents about feeding the gifted machine is a very easy conversation and she will find many willing to "my child" with her in this area.

She picked "educational environment" for a reason. It sells REALLY well. If she works both sides of it then she will hopefully be honest with the parents and let them know that she has already been consulting with them and disclose any finder fees monies.

[Hunni Bee]

This person would not be allowed in my center. We dont allow people other than the potential parent to tour the center unless the child or parent has special needs and the extra person is absolutely necessary. We have to limit the number of people we allow around other people's children...plus we want to develop communication between the parent and the child, not answer a bunch of questions fired at us by someone who wont be around in the long run and doesnt truly know the child.

[Abigail]

People go through agencies to find them apartments to rent, why not do the same with finding child care? LOL.

[momatheart]

::::::::::

[nannyde]

People go through agencies to find them apartments to rent, why not do the same with finding child care? LOL.

I agree.

If she goes into centers and doesn't come clean with them of why she is there they will figure it out right away. Allowing her to evaluate them takes time and they would need to answer questions they may not be willing to answer to someone in the business. Her info gathering may be seen as competitors info gathering.

I can't see too many centers being willing to allow an outsider to come in and do this level of evaluation for the sake of scoring one kid. If they already have the evaluations done and she is willing to accept them then that will be a different story.

This is why I think she will have to already have a stake in the centers in order to be successful. If she were going in and evaluating them based on what she could obtain in the normal course of a parent tour then I think they would go for it. Once she starts busting out the the Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environmental Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) I would think she's going to have to have them on board to assess them.

I would allow someone like this to call and visit with me regarding my babysitting service. I would not allow them to do an onsite evaluation for the interview process. I already have enough time invested in that part of my program. I wouldn't be willing to expand that beyond a phone call.

The tools she uses don't assess the things I offer so I wouldn't be seen as a quality program within her parameters. I know this already... I don't need someone to come in and waste my time telling me that.

[daycare]

As a parent I would wonder if she was getting some kind of financial kick back from the centers, as in a site Recruiter. How would I know she really has my childs well being and education as a self interest.
I think that if she or he had all of the "know" of the more successful centers, then those centers might welcome her to bring them business with open arms and a small kick back. Schools here for private preschool in the SF area start at about$1250.00 a month and that's on the lower end of the spectrum. I also know that a lot of the schools require a 6-12 month commitment.
I just don't see how someone could gain enough clients for this type of business in today's economy

[nannyde]

As a parent I would wonder if she was getting some kind of financial kick back from the centers, as in a site Recruiter. How would I know she really has my childs well being and education as a self interest.
I think that if she or he had all of the "know" of the more successful centers, then those centers might welcome her to bring them business with open arms and a small kick back. Schools here for private preschool in the SF area start at about$1250.00 a month and that's on the lower end of the spectrum. I also know that a lot of the schools require a 6-12 month commitment.
I just don't see how someone could gain enough clients for this type of business in today's economy

I agree.

I just don't see how she could assess them without them being an active participant. Would a center be willing to do that to score one kid? I think there is a risk involved also in her assessing them in a negative way. Who would own that information and would she be required to keep it confidential?

I just can't see how the centers being considered can benefit other than the tuition of one kid. If her endorsement would bring MORE kids then yes... but then that comprimises the initial client relationship of her being the parents/child advocate.

It's an interesting business idea. She sounds highly educated so I'm sure she has this all figured out.