Originally Posted by nothingwithoutjoy:
Starting quickly doesn't throw me off, but I do do a lot to prep and once had someone change their plans after I'd done it all--but before they'd paid me anything--which was annoying and got me wondering.
I have quite a few things that are personalized for the child--not major work, but several things: name/photo on cubby, name/photo on child's mailbox (where they send each other messages), portfolio, journal, mail folder, file, toothbrush, field bag (which we carry on nature walks; I embroider names on their bags), nature journal, recorder, book of words, name rock (which we use as placecards at the table). Some years there are other things, depending on what we're doing at the moment--once we had little wooden dolls of each child in the block area with the kids' photos for the faces, for example. This year, my homeschoolers are doing baking lessons with me; I just sewed them each an apron as a gift for their first day and got recipe binders started for them.
I'm a paper person, so I do use hard copies of state paperwork, my permissions, contract, handbook. Some of those require me to write in specifics. I give parents a packet of those, with a page which introduces the current children and families; that needs to be re-done to reflect the current group (whole-group community is important to me). (When it was toddlers, I made them each a "_____,______, who do you see?" book with photos of each child and gave it to them when I did their home visit. That's another piece...I visit them at home before they start.)
I do also adapt the environment, slightly, to welcome a new child. So if, for example, I just had a home visit with my new girl this evening and found out that she's really interested in identifying wild edibles. I might have plants and nature journals and identification guides waiting on the coffee table that first morning she's here, as a way of inviting her into our space through her interests. When I had a child who was super into trucks, I had a tray of pebbles and construction vehicles out their first few days.
I send families emails through a yahoo group and keep a private blog for them, and both of those things require me to add them and them to accept the invitation (and me to make sure they did so).
And while I wish I had your self-confidence, I do clean and organize before that first visit and first day...part of my brain knows it's ridiculous, and the other part really wants it to look its best right then! That part wins, because it makes me more relaxed when I get things looking like I wish they did all the time.
I invest a lot at the beginning because I expect families to invest a lot, too. I want them engaged and I want them here for a long time. It's not the prep work that throws me for a loop, it's fickleness! :-)
Wow you really go out to make the child feel welcome and at home. Do you send all though things with the child when they leave?
Have you considered charging a one time supply / start up fee? or a application fee?
I would do somethings that you mention when I would bring a foster child into my home. I would find out their favorite meal, color, toy ..... and have it all ready for them when they arrived. It was hard enough to move in to a new home, I even tried to get the younger kids things to my home and unpacked before we got them, so they would see familiar things when they walked in. I would keep them on their schedule as much as possible, what every I could to keep some sort of normal for them.
Now sadly, I do not prepare as much for day care kids as I did for foster kids. Maybe because this is just were they "visit" vs where they will live.
Again, what an awesome job you do to help the kids feel welcome.