I Need Help Please...

[michelle77ar]

Hi, my name is Michelle. I am horrified by what some teachers do to the poor kids. I just took my daughter out of daycare since they thought it was ok to flick her in the nose all the time, spank her when she had an accident in her panties, wake her up from her nap by throwing water in her face...etc. Anyhow, I've had enough, I'm trying to open my own daycare center with a friend and it is a lot! Not enough to discourage us from going through with it, but between a full time job and the baby the little time we have seems to not be enough.
We're looking at costs right now... does anybody have any tips? Besides the director's pay, teachers, rent, usual bills and insurance....is there anything big that seemed unexpected to any of you? Were finding out all our info through dcf and internet...any ideas of things you've encountered that was a total surprise?
Any shortcuts at this point will help a lot.
Thank you so much for reading this!!!

[Breezy]

Hi Michelle, welcome to the forum!

I don't have too much advice as I only run an in home daycare and not a center but I am sure others will come along tomorrow with some advice!

[youretooloud]

Welcome!

I'll be honest, I hope I am right. I find this post completely suspicious, because I can't imagine ANYONE doing this. It's like something you read about in a prisoner of war book.

Anyway.. I really don't know much about opening a center either. I don't think I really even know anyone who has opened a center. I have seen different privately owned franchises Like "Carousel", it's always named Sally's Carousel, or Michell's Carousel. But, it's literally the only privately owned center I know of.

I wonder if you could go through your church and open one through them?

Have you considered opening a home daycare with two people? I would think if you co-run a daycare, you could work out the details more easily.

[Hunni Bee]

Originally Posted by youretooloud

Welcome!

I'll be honest, I hope I am right. I find this post completely suspicious, because I can't imagine ANYONE doing this. It's like something you read about in a prisoner of war book.

Especially since the post started out with that, with the daycare-opening talk coming last

Why would i lie about it... it never crossed my mind that somebody would think that but I guess it's possible. I've been talking about opening a daycare since my daughter was born and I didnt trust anyone or any daycare with her. I live in Key west, 2 by 2 island and the things I had heard about daycares here were scary... I thought I was being paranoid, but when i found out all of these things were going on at my daughters daycare, it was just the last push i needed to finally get started and doing it. Its sad, dcf cant do much about it, police wont get involved, and i was advised by a lawyer to keep my mouth shut or i could be sued for defamation of character since I don't have any phisycal evidence.
So if I can do something to help my kid and other kids and of course make somewhat of a profit...why not?
Maybe I shouldn't of mention the reason why im doing it, was just trying to paint the picture of how little I know about this but how dead on serious I am about doing it.
Did not mean to make it sound like a drama novel...sorry

[Hunni Bee]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Why would i lie about it... it never crossed my mind that somebody would think that but I guess it's possible. I've been talking about opening a daycare since my daughter was born and I didnt trust anyone or any daycare with her. I live in Key west, 2 by 2 island and the things I had heard about daycares here were scary... I thought I was being paranoid, but when i found out all of these things were going on at my daughters daycare, it was just the last push i needed to finally get started and doing it. Its sad, dcf cant do much about it, police wont get involved, and i was advised by a lawyer to keep my mouth shut or i could be sued for defamation of character since I don't have any phisycal evidence.
So if I can do something to help my kid and other kids and of course make somewhat of a profit...why not?
Maybe I shouldn't of mention the reason why im doing it, was just trying to paint the picture of how little I know about this but how dead on serious I am about doing it.
Did not mean to make it sound like a drama novel...sorry

Its just that you started off with that, and a lot of times when people come here to start drama they throw out emotionally charged stories like that to get everybody going.

Im truly sorry your daughter was mistreated like that. Check around on the forum for ideas and answers to your questions. I find it very helpful to go back and read the archives when I have a question.

I will, thank you!

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by michelle77ar

Hi, my name is Michelle. I am horrified by what some teachers do to the poor kids. I just took my daughter out of daycare since they thought it was ok to flick her in the nose all the time, spank her when she had an accident in her panties, wake her up from her nap by throwing water in her face...etc. Anyhow, I've had enough, I'm trying to open my own daycare center with a friend and it is a lot! Not enough to discourage us from going through with it, but between a full time job and the baby the little time we have seems to not be enough.
We're looking at costs right now... does anybody have any tips? Besides the director's pay, teachers, rent, usual bills and insurance....is there anything big that seemed unexpected to any of you? Were finding out all our info through dcf and internet...any ideas of things you've encountered that was a total surprise?
Any shortcuts at this point will help a lot.
Thank you so much for reading this!!!

As far as what the teachers in your child's daycare are doing or did, it needs to be reported. You do not need physical evidence to report this.

I am not doubting you that this happened but can I ask you how you know it is or has happened? I would call your licensing agency and report it regardless of whether it is hearsay or not. If you have legit reasons to be concerned or to pull your child, it needs to be reported so the correct authorities can investigate the allegations. They will decide if it is something that needs intervention or not.


As far as opening your own center, I would definitely research the spaces in your community as well as what the licensing regulations and policies are too for center based cafre versus family care.

You need to know the supply and demand for your area. Does your area have a shortage of centers or child cares? Many areas are over saturated with child cares and many are finding they are unable to get the going rates or cannot keep staff employed with the low numbers of kids needing care?

Does your area need a specific type of care, such as infant/toddler or school age only care? That might be a great way to break into the field and get some business.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Why would i lie about it... it never crossed my mind that somebody would think that but I guess it's possible. I've been talking about opening a daycare since my daughter was born and I didnt trust anyone or any daycare with her. I live in Key west, 2 by 2 island and the things I had heard about daycares here were scary... I thought I was being paranoid, but when i found out all of these things were going on at my daughters daycare, it was just the last push i needed to finally get started and doing it. Its sad, dcf cant do much about it, police wont get involved, and i was advised by a lawyer to keep my mouth shut or i could be sued for defamation of character since I don't have any phisycal evidence.
So if I can do something to help my kid and other kids and of course make somewhat of a profit...why not?
Maybe I shouldn't of mention the reason why im doing it, was just trying to paint the picture of how little I know about this but how dead on serious I am about doing it.
Did not mean to make it sound like a drama novel...sorry

I believe you that this has happened and again, REPORT this to the right authorities please as this makes ALL daycares, both family home cares and center cares look bad as that type of thing should NEVER happen. It is completely against the law to physically punish a child for toileting accidents in EVERY state!

It is also against the law to physically touch (like the nose-flicking) a child for any type of punishment and seriously the water in the face thing is just cruel and unsual treatment and ALL of it needs to be reported to the licensing agency.

Oh, and welcome to the forum Your status has been upgraded so you can post freely

[DaisyMamma]

You need to report it to the state. How did you find out it was happening? If other parents know, they should report it too.

[3girls]

I don't doubt for one minute that that kind of stuff happens. Ethically you need to report it to the state licensing board.

[Heidi]

If you're looking to "make a LITTLE money" you're going into the right business!


If your daughter was mistreated at her center, chances are it's because they hire undertrained and underpaid people to work there, and the caregivers are overwhelmed. Not an excuse, of course, but a lot of child abuse is due to lack of training or screening at the start...

So, the first thing you need to do is crunch the numbers. What can you charge in your area, how many children can you have, what are the ratios for each age, and how many staff people do you need? Then, will you be able to hire well trained, well screened staff for that money and still "make a little money?"

Once you've done that, you will need to find out what the minimum training is for you as an administrator. Most states require more than the minimim for center adminstrators or directors.

THEN...you can shop for suitable space, make a plan, change that about 100 times, and impliment it.

Good luck to you on your endeavor!