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

Posts tagged ‘childcare business’

5 Steps to Providing High Quality & Safe Infant/Toddler Care

As I prepared the Module 6 and Week 28 eCourse Lesson for the member of the Family Home Child Care Empowerment Club, I was inspired to share some of the tips with you!

The topic of week 28 eCourse Lesson was: How to provide a healthy & Safe environment for infant/toddlers. The tips were provided in the form of a health & safety checklist, because I believe that the best way to improve your childcare program is through self assessment.

Today I am going to share 5 steps to Providing High Quality & Safe Infant/Toddler Care:

1. Maintain Ratio. Be sure that there is no more than  four infant/toddlers to a care giver. It can be quite demanding for one caregiver to care for too many infant/toddlers. Moreover, infant/toddlers need lots of loving care and it is almost impossible for one caregiver to meet the needs of more than  four infant/toddlers at any given time. ** In some cases, it is recommended that the ratios are 1-t0-3.

2. Be Alert of the Health/Safety Needs of the Children. For example: It is important that you or your staff know who feels well and who does not. Are the children adequately supervised? Know where the adventurous toddlers are, at all times,etc. Being aware of the health & safety needs of the children is a vital part of providing quality infant/toddler care.

3. Smoke Free Home or Center. You can almost assume that caregivers will be considerate and not smoke around children, however, it is very important that parents know that you have a smoke free facility!

I suggest that you post a SMOKE FREE ZONE sign. Cigarette smoke is very toxic to a child. Moreover, if you have smokers on staff, it is also a good idea to require that they wash their hands after smoking. Furthermore, if  your staff member(s) smell like smoke after a break; require that they change their clothes, before handling the infants/toddlers.

Home Providers: Require that family members smoke outdoors during the hours of childcare.

4. Post the number to Poison Control. You may have already removed all medications and cleaning supplies out of the reach of the children. However, what if a parent fails to tell you that there is medication in a diaper bag and a toddler gets a hold of it?  That’s right…you will need to call Poison control right away!

So be sure to post your local poison control number near your phone. Here is the national number to poison control: 1-800-222-1222. ***Moreover, check diaper bags daily for medication,etc.

5. Small Toys Can Be a Choking Hazard!! If a small toy can fit through the opening of a toilet tissue tube, than it is a choking hazard for an infant/toddler. Be sure that toys that are 1  1/2 inches in diameter are kept out of the reach of young children (preferably under the age of 3).

Infant/toddler learn about their world by putting things in their mouth and this is why you must be mindful of the toys that are within the reach of infant/toddlers.

In summary, I hope that you have found this blog post to be helpful to you. Most importantly, My hope is that you create a High Quality and Safe place for infant/toddlers.

For more information about how to build a high quality family home childcare business (click here) or a Child Care Center (click here).

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With Quality Infant/Toddler Care in Mind,

Shiketa

Follow my Inspirational & Business tweets @shiketamorgan 

@ccarebusiness

Category:

Health/Safety, Infant/Toddler Care

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How To Reassure Staff During a Low Enrollment Season

Every year in August as my summer camp comes to an end, many of the school-age children leave the program to go back to school and this usually leaves 16-to-20 slots for me to fill. In fact, this year, I started marketing my program 6-weeks before the camp ended, so that  as the school-age kids were leaving the program….the preschoolers would be coming in.

Several days prior to writing this blog post, I was observing two of my staff members as they talked about how many of the kids had already left the program due to the summer camp ending. One of the teachers looked really concerned. So, I walked over and said to her, “You seem to be worried about the enrollment?” She (sadly) replied, “Yes I am.”

I kindly reminded her that this season is not going to last long and that we will have new students coming soon. Also, I encouraged her  not to worry about her hours being cut or losing her job. After I spoke with her, she smiled and appeared as if two buildings were lifted off her shoulders.

Moreover, since my talk with the teacher who was concerned about low enrollment, I have enrolled six new students and this was the response that I received from that concerned staff member, Wow! You said more children would be coming!

I only have a few more enrollment slots to fill, however, I am so thankful that I did not have to lay off staff due to a sudden shift in enrollment after the summer camp ended. Furthermore, after my brief talk with that teacher, I also realized the importance of having open and supportive communication with your staff during tough seasons.

Furthermore, be careful of  the words that you speak over your childcare business as you build enrollment. Your words are so powerful. So, be sure to stay in a mode of expectation.

I shared my story with you to encourage you to reassure your staff when there is a change in enrollment, especially during low enrollment seasons.

Here’s something to think about: you depend on the money from your business to pay your bills and your staff depends on you to provide them with a  job to pay their bills, so in the event that you foresee or anticipate a shift in enrollment, they should be informed. This will help to minimize unnecessary anxiety or gossip.

Also, be sure that you are not worried and always have confidence that more kids are coming. As you walk in confidence during a Low Enrollment season, you can be assured that your staff will catch that same attitude!

With Enrollment in Mind!

Shiketa

Im just a phone call away! Schedule a business coaching session with me if you need my assistance. click here

Category:

Budget, Business Management, Child Care Center, daycare, Enrollment Building

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