Parent Handbook Daynas Daycare

Please read this ~Parent Handbook~ thoroughly, as it covers very important policies and procedures that not only govern our childcare contract agreement, but also pertain to the care of your child. There may seem to be a lot of information, if you have any questions regarding my policies, please don’t hesitate to ask. We will go over this book during your interview, but this copy is for you to reference back to. There will be a yearly revision to this ~ Parent Handbook~ and the accompanying contract. All families will sign a new contract each year. I reserve the right to make changes to the policies and procedures, as I deem necessary. You will be notified, in writing, of any changes that may occur.

Expectations of Parents

# 1 Honest & open communications.

As a daycare provider this is important to me.

10 Things Your Child Care Provider Should Expect From You, the Parents

Fees and Payment

There is a $20.00 yearly enrollment fee per child to reserve your spot. This fee will not be refundable. If you are not starting care right away, you may be required to pay full time rates to hold your spot.

Payment must be received on Friday of each week. Unless I am closed on Friday is due on my last open day for that week. If payment is not made by 5:30 pm on Friday evening, I reserve the right to charge you a $10.00 late fee per day (including weekend days) until payment is received. Your child or children will not be allowed to return until tuition and late fees are paid in full.

If writing a check and check does not clear, you will be charged the maximum fee allowed ($30.00) by law for returned checks. If this occurs, you will be on a cash basis only.

If you fail to pick up your child by their scheduled time and I have not been notified and arrangements made, a charge of $2.00 per every minute you are late will be added to your weekly fee. You will receive a statement with the amount due if you occur an overtime charge.

If you continue with tardiness can force me to terminate my daycare services.

Paid Holidays

Regular payment will be required for major holidays. My daycare will be closed on these major holidays as follows: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and day after, and Christmas Day. If the holiday falls on weekend I will take the Monday or Friday.

Paid Vacations Days

I will also take one (10) additional days of paid vacation most likely during the summertime, but only with at least two (2) weeks written notice. Working with exposure to many families and especially children, it is expected that I will become ill occasionally. Therefore, I reserve the option to take three (5) paid sick/ personal-days per calendar year. I will not take these days unless I am genuinely ill, and I will always attempt to give as much notice as possible when I am forced to close my home due to illness or injury to myself or a family member. Also, in the event that one of my own family members is mildly ill, I will also give you as much notice as possible to allow you to decide if you want to risk exposure to your child. These days will not count toward the paid sick days since I will still be available to care for your child. In order to provide my family with a reliable income, I cannot offer discounts for days when your child is unable to attend due to his/her illness or vacation. I will not take the 10days usually in a row.

Paid Sick /Personal Days

If there is a time when I cannot care for your child due to an illness with myself or my family, I will contact you as soon as I can. I allow myself three (5) paid sick/ personal days per year. You will be expected to find alternate care for this time if your child is absent due to personal reasons or illness, regular payment will still be required.

There will be times that both parties will take vacations. Please notify me of when your child will be absent. Payment is still required when your family goes on a vacation or misses any days. Provider vacation is subject to pay if I elect to use my paid 10 personal days. I give myself two weeks paid time off. Payment is required for the agreed amount of our contract. I may take all two weeks at once or split up through the year. I will give you 2 weeks written notice of my vacation days, usually are selected and written in yearly parent handbook in January of each year.

Sick Child Policies

Children will not be allowed in daycare when they are sick. Please make sure your child have fully recovered before returning. I will do my best to minimize exposure and provide good hygiene procedures to all the children in my home. According to KDHE regulations I cannot provide care for any child who exhibits the following symptoms:

· Fever of 100 degrees or above

· Vomiting, in excess of typical infant spit-ups

Diarrhea that is excessive ( 2 more consecutive BM’s)
Conjunctivitis ("pink eye")
Consistent complaints of ear or stomach pain
Bleeding other than minor cuts and scrapes
Excessive greenish nasal discharge, indicating possible infection
Head lice
Any other Contagious disease

· In general, if your child is too sick to go outside and play, then your child is too sick to attend childcare.

· If your child becomes ill during daycare, you will be phoned at work and asked to pick your child up immediately.

If your child has a common cold (slight cough, sneezing, clear runny nose and/or a temperature below 99 degrees) your child may attend daycare. However, if your child reaches a point when he/she requires constant attention, will not play, cries continuously, whines and wants to be held constantly, and then your child will need to stay home.

Any child requiring prescription medication will need to be kept at home for a period of at least 24 hours until no longer contagious, unless accompanied by a signed note from the child's medical practitioner...

Nap Time

We will have naptime everyday between the hours of 1pm and 3pm. Every child will be required to have a nap time or quiet time. For older children, they will be required to lay quietly until all others have fallen asleep. During this time, I will be able to clean up and have my planning period to prepare for the next day. Please try to avoid picking up during nap time.

Discipline Policy

Spanking, slapping, smacking, yelling or hitting. This type of discipline will not be used in my home, regardless of your practices in your own home. Instead, I prefer the following discipline methods to handle any dangerous or hurtful offenses: For children under the age of about 18 months, I find it most effective to remove the child from the situation, and redirect their attention elsewhere. Although I will most likely explain to the child that the offending behavior was inappropriate; children of this age are rarely are able to fully understand what they have done. Fortunately, at this age their attention span is also usually shorter than with older children, so simply showing them a different toy or activity usually does the job. For children of about age 2 and over, I will alert the child to the offense By saying firmly “NO”, Counting 1-5 to give child choice to stop. Explaining why the behavior is unacceptable, and offering the child the choice to behave. If the child chooses not to behave appropriately, I will first explain to the child why their behavior is not acceptable, and then I will place the child in time-out rug or chair. Isolated observation of the child for 5 a period of about 1 minute per year of age, not to exceed 5 Minutes. At the end of the time-out, I will ask the child if he or she understands why they had a time-out, ask if they understand why they shouldn’t do that behavior, then ask if they are ready to play nicely again. I will also encourage children to apologize to the other child (ren) involved, when developmentally appropriate. This method not only stops the offending behavior, but also teaches the child consequence, responsibility, and empathy in a positive manner. Dangerous and hurtful offenses include hitting, biting, kicking, pushing, hair pulling, throwing objects at someone, climbing on an inappropriate structure, and willful destruction of property, tantrum throwing, and not following reasonable requests. These relatively minor offenses will be handled as described above, depending upon the child’s age and developmental stage. To a point, kids will be kids - but only as long as the emotional and physical safety of all of the children in my care is protected. In the rare instance that I feel any child in my care has a serious discipline problem I will request a conference with the parent (s). If an understanding cannot be reached, I reserve the right to terminate our contract with as much notice as possible in order to guarantee the comfort and safety of the other children in my care.

The Day Care House Rules

No hitting, biting, pinching, throwing, pushing, hair pulling, or otherwise hurting ourselves or others.

No intentionally breaking anything.

No running, jumping, wrestling, or climbing, etc. in the house on the furniture or any stairs.

No picking up the babies or toddlers.

No leaving the house or the yard without permission.

No climbing of trees or throwing rocks under the deck.

No child in the front yard/ drive way without adult supervision.

No names calling, yelling, foul language or teasing—everyone deserves to be treated with respect.

All food and drink will remain in the kitchen area. Unless otherwise told.

Please have kids take off shoes on the landing, back pack, coats and put on landing on hooks.

Older kids please have them no to bring small items like money, chap stick etc into daycare room, dangerous for babies and toddlers .

Each week older children that have no time outs will get to choose a toy from our treasure box on Fridays. Please don’t send toys with your child from home. If your child does I will put up until you return to pick up your child up. I have plenty of toys. This causes fights and I don’t like soft toys due to spread of lice etc. Or can or do I want to be responsible for your children’s toys. PLEASE don’t send food or drink unless you plan on bringing enough for all children. I would appreciate advance notice also if you plan on bringing treats for everyone

Supplies

As the parent you are required to bring a change of clothes and diaper needs, formula and infant food. You are more than welcome to bring in a supply for the week, month, etc. I will notify you when you are running low. If you choose you may bring child’s comb, brush. If I am helping potty train your child , I require to send in loose easy to pull-up down clothes and have atleast 2 sets of clothes .

Meals and Snacks

Click here to download 12 week rotation of menus and schedule I will provide breakfast, lunch and snack daily. My menu is on an twelve week rotation. If you have a child with allergies, please notify me so I can make adjustments to the menus. I will provide all meals, drinks and snacks, with the exception of infant formula or breast milk/ baby food .You are welcome to provide your child’s favorite wholesome foods, but please plan to bring enough to share with all of the children. Also, please notify me a day or two ahead of when you intend to bring foods, so that I can plan the day’s menu accordingly. All foods will be cut into safe-size pieces and served in child-sized portions. Children are expected to try one bite of any food served, unless the child has an allergy or sensitivity to that food. If, after trying a bite, the child does not like that food, he/she will not be forced to eat anymore of it at that meal. I have found that children often like foods they did not initially want to try, once they have been exposed a few times. Children may have second helpings of any or all foods upon request after taking one bite .No child will be required to eat more than one bite of anything. It is my experience that children will eat when they are hungry, and will get all of the nutrients they need when consistently presented with a variety of healthy choices.

Started June 1, 2010 on USDA on CACFP with my sponsor

Child Care Links http://www.childcarelink.org

Breakfast served at 7:45-8:30 AM, Lunch served at noon, Snack served at 3:00-4:00PM

Parents Communications

I have on the wall in the family daycare room a bulletin board. I have all emergency plans, licenses, and a copy of my 12-week rotation of menus. Also an attendance sign in book on the wall going down into the daycare room .Also paper cubbies for notes etc to take home, Please check daily for supplies and notices. Thanks… Please sign your child in and out of the daycare!I have copies of daycares monthly news in the attendance book. Also all current closings and news are located on daycare website www.daynsasdaycare.com. I also will send out reminder emails periodically to parents who have email access sometimes. I send out a weekly newsletter usually on Thursday or Friday’s also with our next week’s plans. So be sure and check cubby or child’s backpack daily for any important news or supplies that are needed. I also do daily post on daycare FACE BOOK http://www.facebook.com/daynasdaycare or FAN PAGE http://www.facebook.com/daynasdaycare.wichita.kansas

Administration of Medicines

I will not administer any type of medication, including prescription and over-the counter medications, without a signed consent form. The child’s name, age and current weight, Thename and phone number of your child’s doctor. The name and phone number of the prescribing doctor (if different), The name of the medication, The dosage amount and frequency, Reason for needing the medication, Instructions for proper storage andpreparation of the medication.

Daily Activities

I will strive to provide a safe, comfortable, stimulating, fun, educational environment in my home with a semi-structured day plan. Activities will include free playtime, structured playtime, large motor skill playtime, small motor skills activities, story time, arts and crafts, music and dance activities, nature, nutrition, and other educational yet fun activities. I will also provide nutritious meals and snacks, and encourage good personal hygiene skills and manners. A computer will be available also for children may have Internet access, upon written parental consent, but again only while supervised. Through a mixture of guided and undirected creative play, children in my care will have the opportunity to learn about color, shapes, textures, numbers, letters, animals, seasons, feelings, senses, nutrition, personal hygiene, manners, basic science and math concepts, and creative concepts such as “pretend” play, art, music, drama, and dance. These may sound like lofty goals for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, but children can learn all of these things and more through creative play. I do not believe in pushing any child to learn at an accelerated rate. I will not make a child feel pressured to achieve any developmental milestones. By providing the right kind of fun safe environment, I believe those children will learn at their own appropriate pace.

I started in September 2008 thematic approach each week , visit this web page for more information on topics we study each week http://www.daynasdaycare.com/monthlythemes.html. I also post pictures of kiddos crafts and activates who do with our monthly themes. Also monthly word and theme will be be in weekly newsletter . If you choose to work with your child also on our theme.

Trial Period and Termination of care

Your child's adjustment is important to all of us. There will be a two-week trial period for each child. At the end of this period, the parent or I may terminate care. After this two-week period, the terminating party must give notice of termination. If parents elect to terminate care, payment is still required for the two weeks. Either party may terminate our contract at any time for any reason with proper notice. According to the contract, proper notice will consist of written/verbal notice to the provider not less than two weeks prior to the child’s last day of care. If you choose to terminate care with less than proper notice, you agree to forfeit the entire deposit. In addition to the deposit, regular tuition charges will apply for the remaining time your child is in care. If at any time, after consultation with the parent or guardian, I feel that you or your child pose a safety risk to myself or any of the children in my care, I will give you as much written notice as possible that care is terminated. This action will be reserved for extreme cases only, and I will first attempt to resolve any issues with you before resorting to termination of care. Under these conditions, forfeiture of the deposit will be at my discretion.

I appreciate as much advance notice as possible when terminating, and will give the same courtesy in return. You are required to give two-week's notice when you decide to terminate childcare per our contract. Likewise, I will give two-week's written notice of termination for which full tuition is due, whether or not your child is in attendance. I reserve the right to give written notice of immediate termination where there are extreme circumstances that affect the well being of myself or other children in attendance.

REVISIONS TO HANDBOOK & CONTRACT There will be a yearly revision to this handbook (Every January) and the accompanying contract. All families will sign a new contract each year. I reserve the right to make changes in rates and policies, as I deem necessary. You will be notified, in writing, of any changes that may occur.

Prices changes will not change during your contract

HOW TO PREVENT A CHILD – CARE DILEMMA

When Joan first brought her three children to my house, she agreed to pick them up at 5:30each evening. Says Sue M., who cared for ten children in her home. All went well for the first three weeks, but then Joan started coming late. She always had an excuse. She stopped at the grocery store or she had to drop off clothes before the cleaner closed. Soon she stopped offering apologies altogether and began coming late regularly. One evening when I reminded Joan of the agree-upon pick-up time of 5:30, she simply brushed me off. I can understand being late once in a while,” Sue continues, “but she didn’t seem to care that her lateness was disrupting my life. After 2 more weeks of her disregarding our agreement, I told her to find another provider.” Divorce, child-care style, can mean not only loss of income to both the provider and working parent , but, a loss of security to your child. If he is under 3, an abrupt change in the child-care situation can affect his emotional, intellectual and physical development. Here are the most common problems between parents and providers.

NOT PICKING UP YOUR CHILD ON TIME

Usually the provider’s fee is based on specific hours. If you change them without her consent, you take advantage of her financially by causing her to work without pay and you inconvenience her family as well.

FAILURE TO PAY

Providers not only need the money they earn, but they depend upon being paid regularly, just as you do. If you want to keep your child’s provider, pay her on time.

FREQUENT UNPAID ABSENCES

Some family child-care providers avoid this problem by insisting that a weekly fee be paid whether your child is there every day or not.

DROPPING OFF A CHILD WHO IS SICK

Obtain clear guidelines as to what kinds of illnesses the provider will care for. This will depend on the needs of the majority of her clients and any regulations she must abide by. Avoiding these problems will help you maintain a friendly, stable relationship with your provider. You can work more productively, if you have complete confidence in your provider. She can concentrate on providing quality child-care if she trusts you. And best of all, your child will be able to thrive in an emotionally supportive environment.

(reprinted from an article in Family Circle)

Monday, October 15, 2012 01:40:15 PM

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