Child care ettiquette?

here are a couple of sample contracts I found on the net they should be helpful in giving you some good ideas.

http://www.mollieshomedaycare.com/contract.html

http://www.childcarelink.com/Daycare%20contract%20...

http://www.nikkisnook.net/dcpages.html

http://www.childcarelounge.com/fdc/contract.htm

http://daycare.suite101.com/article.cfm/child_care...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/440134/ho...

We have been doing daycare for 10 years, and started much like you have described. I wish we'd had the contract we have now. Without a contract, you aren't protected and trust me, you will get taken advantage of.

Some things you need to decide about on your business (yep, it is a business) are: hours of operation, whether you will provide breakfasts, late fees, sick/personal/vacation/holiday days, whether you will give medications or not, holiday parties, payment terms (we require one month up front), deposits, ages, potty training policies, discipline, preschool activities, field trips, sick child policies, emergency medical releases, change of child care notice, and so on.

If you look at many sample contracts, you can come up with an idea of what you are comfortable with.

It is really a good idea to set up payment upfront, since otherwise you can get stiffed. (It doesn't happen often, but it can.)

We also have a provision in our contract where after 6 months of on-time payment, 5 free days are earned. Our parents pay for a slot, and if they don't use it, then they still pay. We are paid for 50-51 weeks/year, the parents get a free week and we get a free week if needed - we rarely take our days.

I think too often people get into the business and feel intimidated by the fact that they are caring for children for money and act as though they need to ask the parents' permission for every little contractural move they make. In reality, the parents are your clients, and they pay you for a service, rather than your employers. If you think through every possible scenario that you can imagine and address it in a contract, you will have a better relationship with the parents and be happier. (And you will see areas that either need to be addressed in a contract revision or dropped dpeneding on what you find works for your business.)

One site that we use for our record keeping forms, etc that has sample contracts is:

www.supportingproviders.com

Best of luck.

When I went back to work at 6wks after having my baby my husband and I chose home daycare v. a daycare. The lady was very professional and she had a contract for us to sign. It stated various things such as: she has an open door policy which means we can come over at any time of the day and just walk in, we dont have to call first...she has a certain list of items we have to bring to leave at her house: diapers, wipes, extra set of clothes,etc...her prices are set into the contract and you can state how you are going to accept pay (first of the month, half at the beginning of the month and half at the 15th check...) you could state how much you charge for late pickup, put your hours into the contract... etc. Your policy on when the kids are sick, how sick do they have to be to be picked up, whether or not you will administer meds if you need a docs note etc. You could even put your schedule for the day in there just so the parents know what you'll be doing with their children, for example if theyre a little older, when naptime is, when lunch/snacks are, arts/crafts, etc. There are many things you could put into the contract.

I would say the biggest thing would be about your liability and having enough insurance. Also information on allergies of all sorts - whether you will dispense medication. You will need to be able to show certification of First aid and CPR training. Dig into the tax laws as they are applicable to you as well as the parents using childcare as a deduction.

All of the suggestions you have gotten are really good. The other thing I would suggest is look over your home owners insurance. You probably won't be covered for accidents/injuries in regards to your home business. You'll need to purchase additional coverage for this.

Yes.

Put in the contract your terms of termination.

Require proof of up to date immunizations.

Consequences of late child pick up. (require notice of parent being late, decide on a penalty for late pick ups)

You need a sick and a medicine policy.

You need an emergency policy.

You should have permission for emergency health care, emergency contact numbers, and a list of allergies.

I have done inhome care for one year! I recently ended due to not having enough time for my own child and he was strugling with that. If you would like I could send you my parent contract by E-mail for you to get ideas from.

You can agree that if you choose to stop babysitting, or if the parent chooses to stop leaving their child with you, you can give each other a 2 week notice. That would give you time to find another child to replace the money you would lose, and the parent time to find another babysitter.

you probably have to put in something about liability of injury and stuff as well as how many weeks notice they need to give before terminating your servicesmake sure also you make up another sheet for your records of emergency info including the childs allergies