In Home Child Care - Shakopee, MN

I did daycare for 5 years. (However, I did do it at another house that was NOT my primary residence for 3 of those years.)

First off, you need to go to the informational meeting at your county and get all the rules and regulations and get the process going. Until you are licensed you are only allowed to watch 1 unrelated family.

As for children. If you advertise early and say "new daycare opening .....2009 call now for your interview and to reserve your spot" you can hopefully get a roster going before you even open. That way you won't be hurting for money. I opened with about 6 or 7 kids on my roster the first week and within 3 months I was full. All my families came from word of mouth and on the rare occasion that a family left (moved, asked to leave, or kids grew up--were the only reasons anyone ever left my daycare) I had the spot filled within a week! Word of mouth is POWERFUL!!!

I LOVED being able to be with my daughter after we had her. I did daycare for 4 years before she was born. The BIGGEST set-back for me was that after I had her, I would leave her to last and tend to everyone elses needs first... I had a call one time where the mom asked if I had my own kids because she would not come for an interview if I did. She had such a terrible experience with a provider babying her own kids so bad that she wouldn't even consider returning to a daycare where the situation may replay..... I swore from that phone call on, when I finally had my own kids, none of my parents would ever say that.

It gets tough having your house and your business be the same. It feels like you can NEVER keep it clean. BUT you can do laundry while you're at work...LOL.

I felt that once I was watching 3 kids (on light days), it was actually easier to be watching 11. The more kids, the more they entertain each other. Personal preferance.

Good luck.

(Message me back with your email and I can forward you my contract. It started out being about 3 pages long and by the time I quit, it was about 10! I learned from my mistakes of not covering everything in it~!!! Parents LOVED my contract. By the time they were done reading it, pretty much all their questions were answered! I got lots of compliments on it.)

I didn't have my own daycare but I worked for someone that did have a homedaycare.

The only real drawback was I got burnt out quick and was sick of kids. I had my own 2yearold when I started and brought her with but by her 4th birthday I was burnt out.

The plus is staying home with your child, having a tight nit daycare where the kids grow up together like siblings almost, tax deductions, run it how you want.

Starting with your county is great. They will help you get signed up for a class to take, which will give you all the info you need to start getting your house ready. There is A LOT to getting your house up to licensing standards and it may take awhile to get it all done. I would ask the licensing department how long it is taking to get a license these days (I got licensed in Henn. Co in 1991 and it took a year back then). If your mom is there til Oct., that gives you 6 mos to get your house ready and, hopefully, have your license. During that time, you could advertise for openings in October (many people start interviewing MONTHS before they need care).

Some of the good things about working from home are
being at home, not having to drive to work, being home with your kids, being your own boss, setting your own hours/days/holidays, etc., and the kids are great.

Some of the tough things about working from home are
being stuck at home all the time and never getting out, having toys/mess all over the house, long hours, feeling like you don't get time off, your own kids tend to get put off at time, and dealing with the parents can be tough at times.

I have been doing this a long time, started working in child care centers in 1988 and started my home daycare in 1991. I have taken a break from home daycare a few times over the years (needed to get out of the house once, and then when I had my 2 youngest children), but I love this and can't imagine doing anything else. It is NOT an easy job, at all, but is so worth it.

I wish you luck and email me if you want to chat more.
S.
____@____.com

First, I think you need to figure out how much income you will need to make it worth it. It can take a long time to build up your business, and I have seen lots of providers quit after only a year because they expected to open their doors and have 10 kids right away. It usually doesn't happen that way. You aren't going to be making a lot of money at first and maybe even for the first year or two.

You also need to look around your area and do some research. How many home daycares are in your neighborhood? How many centers? What is your competition and how are you going to be better? My area is filled with home daycares and I have seen so many of them close.

You will have to have your home checked-out and you may have to make changes and improvements that will cost money. You will also have to buy supplies (toys, cribs, cots, dishes, safety equipment, etc) and you have to have so much square footage in your home per child you care for.

You will have long days and your house won't be yours for a while :) This is the part I dislike the most. I constantly have people in my house and have things wear out quickly. I would love to someday have a home where toys and goober aren't around every corner ;)

The plus side is......you get to be home with your child and raise him yourself. That is what keeps me going. You also get to, essentially, be your own boss.

i have been doing in home daycare for over three years now. And I am starting to get to the burnt out stage but not really with the kids, i am just sick of constant dishes and toys everywhere.

i would recommend that you wait a while and put some extra money into an account to fall back on when you start. It took me almost a full year to fill the spots I wanted to and keep them filled.

Also when you do it make sure you have a very good contract so the parents know what to expect.

Good luck