Working at home is one of today’s hottest trends. For stay-at-home moms opening a daycare can be a great source of extra income. Of course, there are a few things that need to be done before the big bucks start rolling in. As an elementary education teacher and a feature daycare owner I can help ensure you are ready to get your daycare up and running.

Investigate state laws and regulations

This is important because each state has specific laws and regulations regarding at-home daycare. To research these you can contact the Department of Family or Social Services for your state or look them up online. If you are checking things out online you will inevitably have to sift through all of the legal terms to find what you are looking for. The bottom line is that it depending on the type of daycare facility you are offering which laws and regulations will apply to you. Most states have two basic categories, home-based or center-based.

Decide on an age group

So, you have finished the legal work. One thing that you noticed is that you need to decide on the age of the children you want to keep. If you are offering daycare services only the children’s age will matter only for following state law, and maybe your sanity. If you are offering daycare as well as an educational environment deciding on an age group is very important. For educational purposes the children you keep should be about the same age. This will help when establishing schedules, activities, and play areas. It will also prove to make the children happier and your life a little easier.

Recruit parents and their children

Think long and hard before you begin this step. What type of cliental do you want? Every day millions of people drop their children off at daycare just so they don’t have to spend the day with them. Is that really the type of people that you want in your home? Since you are probably just getting your feet wet you don’t want to be to selective. However, that does not mean that you have to have just any Joe from off the street dropping their child off at your home. Remember, this is still your home. If you have your own children in the house as well you want to make sure you select parents, children, and/or families that will honor your schedule and policies. You may even want to consider children close in age to your own. Talk to friends, people at church, your children’s teachers or local centers. You may have to do very little advertising outside of your social circle. If you don’t generate enough leads or business through the people you already know than you may want to consider placing an ad in the local paper. Regardless of your method of advertising you want to establish a screening process. This is your out if you come across a child that you do not want to care for.

Establish a schedule

This can be the key to making or breaking your daycare program. It is a known fact that children behave better when their lives are scheduled. If you think about it, adults usually behave better when they follow the same philosophy. The type of environment you want to create will in-part dictate your schedule. If you are just providing a fun and safe place for children to play while their parents are at work your schedule will be less structured.

It could look something like this:

• 8:00 Arrival of children
• 8:00 – 10:00 Playtime
• 10:00 – 10:30 Bathroom and Snack
• 10:30 - -11:30 Outside Play
• 11:30 Lunchtime
• 12:00 – 12:30 Clean-up and Story Time
• 12:30 – 2:00 Rest
• 2:00 - 2:30 Wake-up and Snack Time
• 2:30 – 3:30 Outside Play
• 3:30 – 4:30 Inside Activity
• 4:30 – 5:00 Clean-up, Pack-up, and Pick-up

If you are looking to establish a more educational environment you may want to break your time into smaller time slots. Take a look at a local kindergarten classroom and try to model your day after that.

A typical educational schedule may look something like this:

• 8:00 – 8:30 Arrival of Children, Free play
• 8:30 – 8:45 Clean-up
• 8:45 – 9:15 Circle Time & Calendar
• 9:15 – 10:00 Learning Centers
• 10:00 – 10:30 Writing and Fine Motor Skills
• 10:30 – 11:00 Outside Play
• 11:00 – 11:30 Group Activity
• 11:30 – 11:45 Bathroom, Set up for Rest Time, Wash-up for lunch
• 11:45 – 12:15 Lunch
• 12:15 – 12:30 Read Aloud
• 12:30 – 2:30 Rest
• 2:30 – 3:00 Outside Play & Pick-up

Decide on the cost

This is an important aspect of the decision making process. You want to make enough money to make your business a success. At the same time your rate has to be similar to local daycare prices. If the going rate for daycare in your town is 20 dollars a day then that is what you should charge. If you are offering an educational component and you have a degree you may be able to charge 25 dollars a day. In larger cities you can check online for local prices. In a smaller town or community you might have to make some phone calls. Start with your friends that work and then if that doesn’t help contact local daycare centers. Keep in mind if you overcharge you are going to have plenty of open slots in your daycare.

Make space

An extra room or a child’s play room is the perfect place to set up your daycare. You want to have a defined area in the house so the children know where they are to be at all times. You also want to be able to have all of the toys and furniture easily accessible when you need it. This does not mean that you have to build an addition onto your house. Take a basement that is not being used and turn it into your daycare room. Use the kids’ playroom. This is perfect since it is already set-up for kids. If you are planning on doing this for a while then you can always add onto the house. If it is used only for your daycare the space is a tax write off.

Acquire age-appropriate toys

You may think just because you want to open a daycare you have to go out and buy all new toys. That is not the case. Look around your house for toys that your children no longer play with that may be age-appropriate. Hit the local thrift store or consignment shop. As you know, kids today have so many toys that they rarely play with them for longer than a minute before they discard them for something new. You can find great deals on toys, furniture, books and more at local yard sales. Don’t go broke in the set-up phase before you know if you are going to make any money.

Have a record keeping system

Make sure you have a place that holds a file for each child. You should have contact information for all guardians and an emergency contact number. You should also have any allergies, medical conditions, or medicines the child is taking in this file. Keep a log of accidents and injuries. This can be as simple as a boo-boo report that is placed in their file. That way when Johnny gets home and tells his Mom that Sally beat him up you can give her an accurate account of the incident.

Although this seems like a lot of things to do it will make your life simpler and your business more successful if you do them. You are probably saying, “Man I just wanted to keep some kids at my house and get paid.” It can be as simple as that once you get started. Remember, anything you do to prepare in advance is one less problem you will run into in the future.