Unstable Environment

[nannyde]

Thank you for your input! We don't do infants, just 1-5 year olds. We have 3 one year olds, 3 two year olds, 5 three year olds and 3 four and five year olds. With three staff members, the ratios are WAY below state mandated ratios. This is the big draw for parents. In Florida, the ratio for 3 year olds, for example, is 1:15. I think ONE adult for 15 kids is obscene! And the state ratios for 1 year olds is 1:6. How can one person manage 6 one year olds? No wonder large centers have massive turnover!!!!

As for the financials, it does work for us. Quite well. We charge the same rate as the kid-mill, errr I mean 'center' down the street, $175 per week for all ages, that is the going rate in our area. We pay our staffer $10 an hour. We own the property, instead of renting, so our costs are low. My husband and I are not getting rich, but we make a decent living. What I really, really, really want is to spread the word about small centers being a viable option. I am MOST interested in feedback on our multi-age approach, and hope to convince other center directors to try it. Multi-age does NOT mean the 1 year olds do the same things the 5 year olds do. We do age appropriate developmental activities in small group settings, but our "routines" are all done together, the way a family would. All ages free play, eat, nap, and go outside together. No seperate rooms for 1 year olds, 2 year olds, etc. Hope people out there understand the concept...and like it.

In my state, any time the one year oldds were in the room with the other children the whole room ratio has to be one adult to four kids. Antime a two year old is in the room it has to be one adult for six.

so in your scenario there would have to be two adults JUST for your one and two year olds. Then you could have one adult for the three and four year old and one for the five year olds. You couldn't combine them together without four adults for 15 kids.

The other problem is that the combinations are only allowed for the two hours at the front end of the day and the two hours at the back end of the day. So within the operating hours you would have to have 4-5 Staff.

At the income of 2625 per week for all salary you would have at least two grand per week of that just going to salary.

It's a great concept and I think kids DO way better in multi level aged groups... but my State would require this to be done in a home day care with two registered experienced providers with a max of 12 kids and two part time preK. Only four can be babies... babies in my state are any kid under 25 months

I have done that experienced license before for a few years and it's REALLY hard to keep ten prek slots filled with only four infant slots feeding into it.

[sharlan]

Read your contract, you probably owe them the money.

You did the right thing by removing your child from a situation that was very stressful for him. I've always told my parents that if their child was crying after a couple of days, my home was not the right place for him/her.

Good luck in finding new daycare for him.