Baby Sitting

Sorry Gamma G your wrong....In the state of WI you can only watch 3 children under the age of 7 in your home and the rule doesn't change if you are certified or not. Read the rule again....it say "no person may provide care and supervision for 4 or more children under the age of 7." If you have children of your own they do not figure into this number. I am a WI certified provider and know this for a fact. If you want more than three children in your care then you MUST become licensed but then your own children do become part of the count.

Personally if this is the only child you plan on watching I wouldn't bother with certification and I certainly wouldn't go through all the trouble with licensing. Unless you plan on accepting Day Care Assistance or go on the Government Food Program then there is no reason for you to become certified or licensed.

That all said plan on claiming this money on your income taxes. If you don't and the IRS finds out that you haven't you could be in for a big shock when your slapped with some heavy fines. Even if you aren't certified or licensed you are still allowed to take the same deductions as any other home day cares. Tom Copeland has excellent books on how to set up day care books and tax information.

Good luck, let us know what you decide. Kudos on being CPR/first aid trained. I think every parent/grandparent should be CPR/first aid trained.

In WI it's 4 that is not your own.

In most states they require that you at least be listed as a child care provider.

Here is a link to your state regulations and requirements. It appears you can watch 4 children up to age 7 in your home with no license.

"Under Wisconsin law, no person may provide care and supervision for 4 or more children under the age of 7 for less than 24 hours a day unless that person obtains a license to operate a child care center from the Department."

I would think if you want to do this for the actual money you might want to go ahead and do it right with a license and the ability to accept kids that get money from the state to pay for child care. That way you are sure to get that money each month. Parents can be wishy washy and not pay but the state always does if the right procedure was followed for billing. It is comforting to know that money can be counted on. If they do direct deposit just remember if the bank is closed for a holiday the state is too, deposit's are at least a day late when they're closed for holidays like M L King day or Presidents Day....

http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/childcare/licensed/Index.HTM

Here is a link to the actual licensing regulations handbook. It will give you detailed information about what you must have on hand, amount of space per child you'll have to have available, what to have posted in a parent area, all kinds of information.....

Good luck, child care is a wonderful field to be in. Kids need positive role models and it takes all kinds of people in their village.