Question: Fran, how did you arrange your homeschooling to work with your daycare center?
Answer: Actually, homeschooling has helped me to develop stronger learning programs for the kids I take care of. My two eldest children are in a brick-and-mortar high school, so I only have the three youngest: Dahlia (8), Daniel (7) and Deanna (6). Homeschooling has given me the time to provide Dahlia with the help that she needs while sharing my business “responsibilities” with her.
Dahlia has some auditory processing issues. I originally sent her to public school thinking that they would be able to help her. Boy was I wrong! Not only didn’t they help her, but they actually made her afraid of learning. So, having her here at the daycare helping me with the children and teaching them things that they don’t know how to do has increased her confidence and made her more receptive to expanding her own boundaries.
As far as the rest of the children are concerned, I primarily have preschoolers with occasional after-school children. So, the preschoolers are doing their “homework” right along with my kids. If we’re learning about history we play role-playing games. I have Daniel practice his reading by allowing him to lead some “Story Time” sessions. Dahlia is very gifted artistically, so I have her help the children when we work on art projects. Deanna also helps out while she works on her handwriting and reading.
Question: How has having the children “work” with you at the daycare helped your relationship with them?
Answer: Well for one thing, I definitely understand their work habits much better than I would have if I’d sent them on the school bus, which was my original plan. I know who needs to work on what character trait and I have the time to instill in them a good work ethic and pride in what they do. I think that’s very important.
I also understand their educational weaknesses a lot better. I was always a good student, so you kind of think that it’s a genetic trait — lol! But since I’m the one teaching them, I can tell the difference between just being lazy/not wanting to do something and having a real difficulty grasping a concept.
Homeschooling in general has helped me to develop a much closer relationship with my last three children in a a much quicker time period. Since we’re together 24/7 I can predict their reactions ahead of time and sometimes divert them into a more positive frame of mind before a meltdown even occurs. And believe me when you’re working with young children, the less emotional meltdowns, the better!
Question: What are some of the challenges that you’ve faced as a daycare provider?
Answer: The parents! Don’t get me wrong. I have a wonderful set of parents now. But in the beginning, I was thinking more about how I was going to get enough money to pay the rent, so I took on children that I shouldn’t have. Some parents don’t want to take responsibility for their children’s bad behavior. You know, you give them the report on how the day went and you mention that “Dillon” tried to bite “Johnny”. And instead of them scolding their child they try to deflect it back on to the provider:
Being a parent myself, I find this very aggravating, especially since I spend all day trying to instill a sense of responsibilty and self-control in the children.
And what about the parents that are “concerned” that their child isn’t eating enough so they ask you to keep an eye on them. Then they give you 32 oz. of milk that they expect the toddler to have finished by the time they pick them up in the evening. Um, if the baby drinks a half gallon of milk in eight hours, um, how much food are they going to want to eat?
Yes, these are some of the things that all daycare providers have to look forward to in this business. So now I really interview the parents to see if they are people that I can work with. If they don’t pass the interview I won’t take their child. It’s just not worth the headaches.
Another challenge that I’ve been faced with involves my personal life. Since my husband and I have split, there’s been a lot of negativity brought to my life by people who think that they are helping me. There were only a few people who truly understood my decision to open a business during all of this turmoil.
So, my advice to anyone starting a daycare, or any other business, is to surround yourself with positive, forward-thinking people. No business is perfect. And there is no such thing as “perfect timing.” So, if you decide to do this, you need to block out the naysayers.
When my family (some of the more vocal naysayers) finally came up and saw what I accomplished with my daycare, they were shocked and amazed. And they were also amazed at how much my children had grown in understanding and maturity between the homeschooling and assisting me with my business. So now, if they still grumble, they do it quietly.
