The first few years I was open and wasn't as experienced, strong valued and educated as I am now, my DCF's didn't even notice anything I did or didn't do as fara s those types of things. They didn't notice good meals, healthy practices, frequent exercise and good rest. I have no idea if they cared or not as no one ever said a word that was positive or negative.

A few years into my profession, I started actually looking for and ONLY accepting specific families into my program. Now the things we do, why we do them and how we do them are a big concern to my DCF's. I am leaning heavily towards a mixture of both Reggio and Montessori approaches and have enrolled a couple families simply for that reason alone.

I think the impact your environment, values and teaching/caring style has on the parents and children you serve has alot to do with the type of families/children you get into care.

For example if I had an open space and a family looking for care came and interviewed with me and said they watch a lot of TV or didn't really care how they ate or played at home, then I would immediately pass on them and interview someone else.

I want families who care about the stuff I care about. When you do that, it makes the behavior problems most people vent about somewhat be none existent....kwim?

It also has a huge impact on what happens if an issue does appear. I know my DCF's will all work with me if their child was having some sort of issue at care. We are all on the same page so working together is easy and expected.

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