Child Care Providers & Preschools

This post was originally featured on the CareLuLu parent blog.

As a child, I pretended that I was a teacher and told everyone I was going to be a teacher one day.  As life would have it, I ended up obtaining a business education and working in the financial accounting and auditing world for 15 years.

When I became a parent, I found out how challenging it was to find reliable high quality child care.

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Let’s face it. Small business ownership is not easy, especially a child care business. It takes commitment, perseverance, intelligence and hard work.

Lots of hard work.

You have to be willing to change with the times, pay attention to your market and adapt when necessary. Small businesses that go under tend to do so because they get “stuck in a rut” or are unable to change quickly enough to meet the new demands of their customers.

However, running a child care business is different.

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Getting child care First Aid and CPR training is essential for anyone who will be caring for small children.  For licensed child care providers, it is the LAW so make sure that you check and comply with local licensing requirements.

But wait, it’s not that simple.

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This post was originally featured on the CareLuLu Parents blog

Germans are an interesting bunch when it comes to caring for children both young and (nominally) old. Kindergarten is a German invention from 1779 and Männergarten – places for men to while away time with beer, sports, and video games while their wives or girlfriends go shopping – is one of the most “interesting” (or “strange”, depending on your views!) consumer innovations of the 2000’s.

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Today, we’ll discuss the question many child care business owners asked themselves at some point: Should I close my daycare?

The question of whether you should close your child care or preschool program is probably one of the hardest questions you’ll have to ask yourself.

In addition to feeling a sense of sadness or guilt, you may feel physically tired and financially strained. Of course, you want to keep your child care business afloat…

But:

At the same time, if you’re struggling financially and can’t pay the bills, you might be wondering if it’s just best to cut your losses now.

Here’s the thing:

No one can make that decision for you and ultimately, only you can answer the question “Should I Close My Daycare?”

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A preschool open house is an invaluable marketing tool. It allows you to showcase your program and facilities and give parents a firsthand view of what you are doing at your center. It is also important that you make a great first impression as parents will judge you and your child care center or preschool based on that first visit. Here are 10 steps for organizing a successful child care center open house.

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Newsletters are a very important form of communication between families and preschools. Many parents will get most of their information about your program, schedule, and classroom activities from your newsletter. A great newsletter is not hard to create, but it does take some time and planning. Here are 14 tips for making a great newsletter, specifically for child care and preschool programs:

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As with any business decision, the choice to add extracurricular activities to your child care program should be evaluated on the basis of profit (revenue vs. cost.) Of course, there might be other reasons why you would want to add extracurricular activities but you should at the very least know the financial impact that it would have.

If you are considering adding new activities or classes, you need to think about how much it will cost you to get it started and keep it running. The reality is that you will be able to advertise these programs and discuss them during parent tours. You will likely see an increase in enrollments when parents are made aware of extracurricular activities. It is generally a huge selling point.

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Parents are always nervous and concerned about choosing child care for their kids. They worry about what their kids will be doing, who they will be with and whether they will be loved. They are nervous about whether their baby will be fed when he or she cries. They want to know that their children are learning and blossoming at preschool.

As a child care provider or preschool director, you must fully understand these feelings and empathize as much as possible in order to win parents over. A failure to follow up on a child care referral, or a bad first impression will ruin your chances of getting an enrollment.

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This post was originally featured on the CareLuLu parent blog.

I

always had passion for learning and exploration.  These two personal traits often got me in trouble with my elders, when I was a child.  As I got older, the spontaneity of my actions had to change to conform to the responsibility of the adult world; however, the love of that curiosity stuck with me till this day. 

I started child care because I believe every child needs a safe, nurturing and a challenging environment where they can learn and explore.  Few of the preschools and child care programs that I visited prior to opening Kiddie Academy of Ashburn were run with a primary focus on business.  It bothered me a little bit not because it was wrong, but because the focus has shifted from quality and personal care to enrollment by the numbers. I remind myself and my management team and staff every day that we are here for the children and their families, and our passion for what we do should never cease. Indeed, the impression we leave on these children is what is going to form and shape their future.  What an extraordinary feeling, but also what a great responsibility!

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