I’d like to thank Rose for commenting on my previous post and drawing my attention to the controversy over the blog I linked to. The post I read seemed perfectly innocent, but it seems Mary has made another one about Kristy Schwade and her baby Kaleb who was shaken by a home daycare provider.

Mary appeared to be showing a lack of sympathy for Kristy Schwade due to a previous arrest for domestic violence.

Now, I don’t know the full details of the arrest, but certainly I would fully support Kristy and Kaleb at this time.

You can see the full controvery here: LOCAL STORIES: baby Kaleb in Tampa and here: I am Mary

I’d be interested to hear your comments about this. It’s easy to leave them on this blog post.

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just found a new blog started by a home daycare provider called Mary (great name

Here’s what she wrote:

“Hi, I’m Mary and new to this site…. so bear with me while I test some things out.

I’m happily married for 8 yrs now and have 3 children. I’m a licensed in-home daycare provider.

Hopefully, I won’t bore you with my blogs!!

Mary”

You can see the blog here: I am Mary

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

“When the kids are outside they outnumber me. There are six of them and one of me,” said home day care provider, Meredith Patterson of Steubenville.

On Thursday, she had seen a black bear in broad daylight at a busy intersection near the Ft. Steuben Mall.

“He was coming out of the woods — that was enough for me. The kids are not going outside to play,” said Patterson.

Over the past couple of weeks bears have been observed right across the Ohio Valley: everywhere from the middle of the street to dog houses.

Patterson said that the parents of the children she cares for support her decision to keep kids indoors.

“They understand. … I don’t want to put them at risk at all. It’s on their mind and my mind. That’s why we’re inside,” she said.

Wildlife experts think it likely that the bears were kicked out of their wooded territory by other bears and will eventually go back to the wild.

I’ ve just found a great forum thread with some helpful advice about the best toys to get for your home day care.

Here’s the original post:

“What are some of the toys that the children seem to flock to in your day care? Are there any that you find to be a waste of money?”

You can read the whole thread here: What are some of your top picks for toys?

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. There’s something pretty special going on just at the moment for subscribers to my free home daycare e-mail newsletter. To find out what all the fuss is about, enter your name and e-mail address below:

Before taking the plunge and going ahead with your own home daycare, it’s important to consider whether you’re really suited to looking after children all day. Don’t worry, no one’s expecting you to be perfect, but there are a few things you need to consider first.

You will obviously need to be genuinely fond of children and have patience with their foibles.

There’s plenty of information online and at your local library about child development, health, nutrition, safety, and games and activities for chil¬dren, as well as accounting and recordkeeping available at your local library.

This free information can really help to get you thinking about what you’ll need to do and give you a good basis of understanding. I’ve found that free resources rarely reveal the real secrets of excelling in home daycare however, plus the amount of time it takes to wade through all that information can be very substantial. That’s the reason I put the Home Daycare Secrets course together in the first place.

To run a successful daycare, you’ll need to be able to assert yourself, re¬solve conflicts, and negotiate compromises in a businesslike manner. You can’t let personal feelings about your clients or how they raise their children affect your ability to offer good service.

Don’t worry if that sounds a little intimidating though. If you think you could struggle in that area, it’s actually quite easy to get over with a bit of assertiveness training. You should be able to learn some excellent techniques from a book in your local library

It’s also important to not be too anxious. Children are unpredictable and looking after them can be stressful at times. A great way to combat anxiety is to feel in control. Make sure you comply with regulations for your home, that you have a strong contract and that you have all the relevant insurance. Then at least if something does go wrong, you’ll know that it should be OK.

If you’ve never worked in childcare before, it might be a good idea to do a bit of volunteer work in a daycare cen¬ter. Most of these facilities will welcome your help and the experience will give you a better idea as to whether you are re¬ally suited to a career in daycare.

The one thing most successful caregivers have in common is their love for children and their desire to make a difference. If that’s you, then there’s no better time to get started than now.

——–
Mary Nightingale is passionate about helping people start and run successful home daycares. You can find out more about what she does to help people like you by entering you name and e-mail address here:

I’ve just found yet another brand new home daycare provider called Jessica who’s asked for advice on a message board.

I highly recommend reading the whole thread as there’s some great advice in there.

Here’s an excerpt:

“The opening of my home day care is fast approaching (within a couple of weeks or so), and I’m nervous at the same time I’m excited!

I’ve never done the home day care thing before… I’ve always worked outside the home, nannying and whatnot, so this is all new to me. I have done a lot of research into it and know it’s what I want to do - I’ve dreamt of running my own day care since I was in my late teens.

When we moved into this house, we had specific criteria - I needed a finished basement that I could use as my day care. The basement is fairly large and considerably bright!”

You can read the whole thing here: Newbie provider here!

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just found a news report that should be required reading for anyone running or thinking of starting a home daycare about planning for emergencies.

Here’s an excerpt:

“It’s Monday right after lunch at DeWitt Day Care Center, and owner Jeanie Reidhar is enjoying a rare moment of quiet. The toddlers are taking their naps, and Reidhar is taking advantage of the time to finish up her paperwork. But what would happen if the quiet was suddenly shattered by a tornado warning or a fire?

Reidhar’s center has a basic emergency plan in place, but the state has only the most basic requirements for emergency plans for day care centers and does not include day care centers in state emergency action plans. This will change if HB2211 “The Emergency Preparedness for Child Care Facilities Act,” becomes law.”

You can read the whole thing here: Planning for daycare disaster

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just found a blog post about new health guidelines for 3 month to 18 year olds in New Zealand.

I know I have a number of Kiwi readers and I thought it was important that I put this info on the blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Pies, chips and sausage rolls should be eaten by schoolchildren only once a term, new health guidelines recommend.

The Ministry of Health released its Food and Beverage Classification System Framework yesterday, aimed at helping New Zealand children make healthier at-school choices…

Health ministry’s deputy director general Don Matheson said the aim was to set out healthy food and beverage options for children aged three months to 18 years.”

You can read the whole thing here: Pies and Choc Bars ‘Once a Term’ for Kids

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

If you’ve got any interest in daycare, then it’s hard not to have noticed the recent furore over daycare studies that suggest leaving your kids in daycare leads to bad behaviour.

If you’re in any way worried about these reports, then I want to put your mind at ease. The studies show that it’s the quality of the daycare that matters and since my readers tend to be a caring yet professional bunch I’m quite sure you’re not likely to do any damage by starting a home daycare.

I’ve just been reading a great blog post which counters a lot of the arguments that the media have been going overboard with lately.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Mark sent me a link to Emily Bazelon’s article, The Kids Are Alright, in Slate.com. She interviewed study’s author, Margaret Burchinal. The article is worth reading in it’s entirety.

One thing that is lost in much of the media hoopla is how little high quality daycare they found in their data set. Nearly all the families that used center-based care used low-quality ones, probably because they are the cheapest. They wanted to compare high and low quality daycare centers, but there weren’t enough kids in high-quality daycare for them to do a meaningful comparison.”

You can read the whole thing here: Daycare Round 2

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below:

I’ve just posted the new issue of the Home Daycare Secrets ezine online for you to take a look at.

The main topic is The 4 Important Traits Of An Excellent Daycare Center.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Do you know what goes into making a great home daycare
center? More importantly, do you know what parents look for
when choosing a home daycare for their little ones?

These questions are the subject of this issue’s article
and it’s something that’s very important to get right.

The parent might not even know exactly what the problem
is, but if your daycare doesn’t ‘feel right’ then they’re
not going to leave their precious child with you.

Don’t worry though, it’s actually easier than you think to
create that ideal atmosphere.”

You can read the whole thing here: The 4 Important Traits Of An Excellent Daycare Center

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

P.S. Thousands of future or current home daycare providers just like you have already signed up to my ‘how to start a home daycare’ newsletter. It’s getting a bit overwhelming and I may cap signups soon, but for the time being you can still join. Don’t worry, it’s free. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail below: