How to Set Up a Home Day Care
About 1.8 million people in the United States held jobs in the child care industry in 2008, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that just under one third of these people were self-employed family child-care providers. A family child-care provider cares for children in the provider's home, which means that the home must be equipped for multiple children. Entrepreneur's website estimates startup costs to be under $2,000, most of which is used to purchase equipment and furniture for the home day care.
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Instructions
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Walk through your home and assign each space you will need in your day care center to a physical location. These spaces include an active play area, a quiet play area, a craft area, an eating area and a sleeping area. If possible, try to keep the sleeping area far enough away from the active play area so children's naps will not be interrupted by noise.
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Purchase furniture for each of the spaces, keeping in mind the square footage of the areas in your home you are working with. Infants need to sleep in cribs, so you will need one crib for each infant you plan to have in the home day care. Older children can sleep on mats with blankets. Other furniture includes highchairs for infants, a table for toddlers and preschoolers to eat at or do crafts at, and organizational furniture for children's personal belongings and for your day care supplies.
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Create a check-in area near the front door of your house where parents will drop off their children. This area should have space for shoes and coats, a clipboard for parents to sign their children in and out, and a white board or bulletin board for you to post announcements or notes for the parents.
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Set up each of the functional areas of your day care; if possible, secure tall furniture, such as bookcases, to the wall to prevent children from pulling it down and blocking outlets and cords with pieces of furniture. Arrange toys and activities in the areas where children will be playing.
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Childproof your house with safety devices such as latches for kitchen drawers and cupboards, outlet covers, and gates for stairs and other areas you would like children to stay out of. If children will be playing outdoors, put a fence around your pool if you have one and make sure children cannot run out into the street. See the National Network For Child Care's home-safety checklist for further areas to childproof in your home day care.
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License your home day care through your state's agency, which you can find listed on the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education website. Specific licensing procedures and requirements vary from one state to another, but most involve an application and background check.
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References
- Photo Credit child playing image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
