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The Learning Ladder II
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| Module 6: Family Child Care as a Business | ||||
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |
Family Projects
Each time you complete one of the projects below you are doing important work. You are helping parents understand the practices of your program. You are helping to form a partnership of care giving with the parents of that child.
Record Keeping: Children's Files
One of the forms you might want to begin to add to children's files is a health history form, a questionnaire that you do with each of your parents to get more information about a child. We have included a sample form for you to use. Review it and change it if you need to in order to meet your needs better.
Select one of your parents and ask them to fill in this form with you. After you have used it, you may want to change or modify the form you are currently using to collect this information.
Sample form (Microsoft Word format)
Record Keeping and Taxes
Just as you claim your family child care business on your taxes each year, the parents that participate in your family child care program use the amount they pay for child care as a deduction when they file their taxes. Some family child care providers find it helpful to develop a receipt to document the amount that each parent spends monthly keeping their child in your care.
Develop a questionnaire to be sent home to all of your parents. In this questionnaire, ask what kinds of documentation would be most helpful for them.
For example, one of the questions you might ask would be how often would they like to get this kind of receipt.
Create at least five questions that would help you know which kind of documentation your parents find the most helpful. Send the questionnaire home and when they are returned, create a form that your parents find the most helpful in documenting the amount of money they have spent keeping their children in your care.
Creating Contracts
A very important element of a parent contract is describing your fees and it is often very difficult for providers to do. Write a letter to all of your parents, explaining in detail, all of the fees that you charge in your program. Please include the following information:
- the amount you charge for care of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school aged children
- your collection schedule
- any additional fees you charge including late pickup fees, charges for days when children are ill or on vacation
- any extra charges for meals, diapers or other supplies
Congratulations! You completed Module 6!
Congratulations! You have completed the six modules of the Learning Ladder. We hope you enjoyed it and that you are feeling more prepared to take a college level class and do well. To learn more about the career pathway in early care and education and to get information about all of the colleges in Massachusetts that have degree programs in early childhood education, search this website: http://www.ececareers.org
