Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Quality Care is Safe Care

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 quality service

When parents enroll their children in your program, they trust that you will keep their children safe. This is why it is vital that your childcare program is a safe place!

Let us take a look at 3 Core Areas of Keeping Children Safe In Your Care:

Child Supervision

It is vital that you develop good child supervision skills. In fact, if you care for infants, never leave them alone.

In recent news, a childcare provider left a infant alone in a room and when she returned to check on the infant, she found the baby choking on his formula. Tragically, the baby died. So, be sure to never leave infant/toddlers unattended, this will assure that they have constant direct supervision.

At mealtime, plan to sit at the table with the children, to monitor meal time practices. Also, in the event a child chokes, you are in close proximity of the children. If you work with toddlers and preschoolers, frequently scan your play areas to assure that you always know where the children are. When children know that you are looking at them, they may be reluctant to behave inappropriately.

Do you transport children in a van? If so, be sure to conduct head counts before and after entering the van. This will prevent a child from being left unattended on the van, which could lead to the death of a child.

Playground Safety

To be sure that children in your program are having a fun and safe outdoor experience, you must be sure that the playground is free of harmful items by conducting a daily playground safety check.

Moreover, while supervising children on the playground, practice moving around to interact with all of the children and stay in close proximity of the children to prevent  injuries. It is also a good idea to create a set of simple safety rules for your playground and discuss the rules with the children before going outdoors.

Do you have bikes or cars on your playground? If so, designate an area for bikes and riding toys only. Also, recommend that parents send their children wearing tennis shoes for outdoor play.

Indoor Environment

It is vital that you conduct an indoor safety check before children enter your program every day. Here is a list of things to check for daily:

  • Covered electrical outlets
  • Remove damaged toys and equipment
  • Dangerous materials, medication, toxic plants and cleaning supplies must be out of the reach of children
  • Toys less than 1 ½ inches in diameter must be inaccessible to toddlers
  • Crawl the space to look for dangerous items that infants/toddlers may put in their mouth
  • Remove cribs away form blind cords to prevent strangulation
  • Install safety gates where needed

More Safety Tips

Are you CPR & First Aid Certified? If not,  I inspire you to get CPR & First Aid Certified (through your local Red Cross), to assure that you are trained to handle life threatening situations.
Furthermore, be sure that proper ratios are maintained in your program. When ratios are maintained, children are adequately supervised. * See your local state licensing ratio guidelines

Time to Reflect

What did you learn about keeping children safe in your care? What improvements do you plan to make?

Resource
For more supervision tips, check out my Child Supervision eCourse:
How to Effectively Supervise Young Children e-Course
Until next time….Be Inspired!
Shiketa

Category:

Quality Care

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Managing Two Locations

05 15 16

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Several weeks before I wrote this blog post, I was presented with an opportunity to buy a second location.

I really had to pray about that decision because I know how much work it is to run a child care facility.

With prayer and much reflection on the fact that my Current facility is  filled to capacity with a waiting list, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to expand again.

However, 17 years ago when I incorporated Learning Days, I had a vision of owning multiple locations.

So with my vision in mind, I had to press pass my doubts and fears and  embrace the fact that my dream has manifested!

Today I want to share with you what the process has been like….

I recently purchased a facility that was already operating. The facility is fully equipped with employees, equipment and children.

I must say the transition has been exciting, somewhat stressful, but after 3 weeks of owning 2 locations; the process keeps getting better!

One of the challenges that I have faced is managing my time between both locations.

Furthermore, to keep my days from being so stressful, I plan my entire week and I only deal with tasks on my priority list.

Between both locations, I now have 20 employees and honestly I am enjoying getting to know my new employees. **My fear of having 20 employees was only  a negative thought. The reality is, I love it! I get to inspire more people and provide more jobs!

I have learned to never over stimulate your employees with too much information, so every week, I am gradually implementing my policies and practices.

My top priorities now is to hire a Director that shares my vision at my new location, pour my vision into my new employees, create positive change and build a child care business that families love.

Most of all, having 2 locations provides the families that we serve with options and it also provides my employees with more opportunities.

The most challenging part of Expanding again was preparing my mind for all that comes with more employees and managing multiple sites.

In fact, since I have decided to go forth with the expansion, I have delegated more duties to my team and i must say that you can do anything when you have a dependable and loyal team!

As always, I want to share with you what this expansion process has taught me ….

  1. You can do anything if you just get over your self!
  2. Don’t rush the process. Rushing only makes the process stressful.
  3. Allow yourself 60-90 days to take over ownership or to get the facility licensed.
  4. If the business already has employees, meet with the employees and get to know them.
  5. Develop a financial plan and don’t expand if you do not have a financial plan.
  6. Begin marketing your expansion right away.
  7. Work on improving the morale among the employees if you are purchasing a business that’s already operating.
  8. Find out what the requirements are for changing ownership in your local municipality and with licensing.
  9. Keep your staff and parents informed as you go through the expansion process. Parents are always excited with Business Growth, as long as it does not inconvenience them.
  10. If you are buying a  Child Care Business from someone else, allow some time for the previous owner to work with you to make the process much smoother.

It has only been 3 weeks since I received a license for my second location and I know the best is yet to come. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

For more expansion tips, or if you would like to find out how I manage my centers,  be sure to download a copy of my Child Care Business Expansion Guide and The Art of Owning a Center ebook. click here

With Business Growth in Mind,

Shiketa Morgan

Category:

Marketing

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