What have you done this past year to tweak, fine-tune, or improve your daycare? What have you done that has made your daycare life soooo much better?

Looking for ideas of what I can work on next.

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So far this year I have:

*updated all forms in each child's file so that ANY and ALL signatures are recent and ALL information is current.

*discarded a ton of stuff that I "thought" would be useful or handy but really isn't and just takes up space. (craft supplies, books, toys etc)

*cleaned out my cupboards and storage areas at daycare (if its been stored for more than 6 months and isn't seasonally...it HAD to go)

*signed up for all the trainings I have to complete for various reasons (class/course dates are all within the next 6 months)

Since winter time here is alot of indoor time, I try hard to do all my organizing and Spring cleaning in the beginning of the year.

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1. Reviewed parent conference notes to pinpoint the biggest points of contention, then eliminated them.

• Two week unpaid vacation, gone.
• Choice of paid support/home engagement curriculum, gone.
• Choice of included infant formula brand, gone.

2. Reviewed my rates and hours from attendance records.

• Raised rates
• Lowered hours.

3. Identified what is making cleaning the playroom take twice as long as previous years, eliminated what I could.

• Fabric soft seating and pillows are out of here.
• Removed tape around rugs, replaced with velcro strips under rugs.
• If it can't go in the washing machine, dishwasher or bathtub soak it is gone. Barring wooden toys.
• Wooden toys are limited, rotated daily and only out in the mornings

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:-)

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Mine this past year have been:

Switching to all vegies for lunch instead of fruit or fruit/vegies and chopping them the night before, ready to go.

Decluttering. It's AWESOME! I've given away a bunch of stuff that hardly ever gets used or is very breakable, and I got some new, better stuff like Magformers that the kids really like.

Prepping a lot the night before. When I used to read about providers that prepped the night before, I thought that it sounded awful, but really it helps me enjoy my days so much more. I make bleach spray, prep some of the food, prep back-up waters, prep toddler's breakfast, do kidkare every day, and a few other things.

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I termed my problem family in early January and it was such a great atmosphere change for the daycare as a whole. This in turn shortened my hours working which was great. I can now honestly say I love all of my children and am truly blessed with a great group of families which I’ve found is hard to come by from some posts on here and talking with a few local providers.

Not really a tip but I kept better records this year and plan on an even better 2018. I stayed up to date on entering receipts rather than rushing and trying to get it all organized in January before tax time. I’m still an “on paper” kind of person so I hand write everything and since my writing is atrocious I then type everything up all nice and neat.

I revamped my contract to where I want (and deserve) to be. Including giving myself some paid vacation time.

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I've stopped striving to be the best I can be at this. I want to be good enough and avoid all that extra stress just so I can be fun for the dcks again. Stopped trying to live up to everybody else's standards and ways of doing things. Have decided not to renew Stars next time it comes due.

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Thanks!

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