Child Health: What are your thoughts about a daycare focusing on your child's health and fitness? Would you enroll

What are your thoughts about a daycare focusing on your child's health and fitness? Would you enroll?
I am planning to open a daycare teaching children to love healthy food and learn how to actively play and exercise. I need your thoughts from a parent's point of view and what is the demand for this type of care, like a "daycare". The curriculum would entail the alphabet exemplifying its letters, like "a" for asparagus, apple and apricot, then actively play a game with the letter "a" in it, like "all about action" then the children would learn about actions. I need your thoughts! Please help! Adrienne
Preschool - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I think it is a good idea. I would enroll my child.
2 :
I would enroll my child. Sounds like a great idea -- seeing how so many little kids are becoming obese - and even morbidly obese. Good idea!
3 :
One of the major things I looked at when choosing a preschool was having a second language integrated into the curriculum. The popular languages right now are Spanish, Chinese, and Sign Language (especially for babies). I didn't even look at schools/daycares that didn't offer it. One of the things I love about my sons current school is the cooking class they do. The kids learn math (measuring), nutrition, cooperation, and the satisfaction of making something they enjoy. This would fit in well with your concept. I also asked about their cleaning schedule (if toys and everything they touch isn't cleaned every day they get sick a lot more often). I also liked that my sons school stresses self-care. Things like brushing their teeth and hair, learning to put on clothes and jackets themselves, washing their hands (and why they should), cleaning up after themselves, etc. I wanted my son to be independent and this helped with that and made him more confident. Another important thing I looked at was student-teacher ratio and what qualifications the teachers/day care providers had. I also asked about what kind of background checks they did. You want to look at the different educational styles and see what each stresses and the benefits to each so you can answer parents intelligently when they ask about your theory/style. There are things like Goddard, Montessori, Waldorf, play based, etc. You don't have to choose just one but you may want to say that you incorporate aspects of each into your curriculum (but only if you do because some parents study this stuff and will quiz you on it). Look at the listings of pre-schools and daycares in your area - call and ask questions as if you were a parent. Your first question should be tell me about your school and why you think it's the best. See what perks your interest and what that schools key selling points are so you know what you should include in your daycare. Daycare isn't just daycare anymore. I know that in my area daycare these days is more pre-school than daycare - no matter what the age we expect you to be building the basis for our child's entire education. Now that parents know the importance of the early years we want our children learning not just being babysat. You also want to look at the regulations for getting state approval. A lot of parents receive subsidies from the government for daycare (especially if you live in an area with a lot of military people) and making sure you are able to get certification from the state, city, and/or military could mean the difference between a ton of profit and struggling to get by. You can also attend conferences for teachers to learn about the latest techniques and theories for pre-school learning. This is a big plus for parents. You can set yourself apart by offering things like: Organic snacks Offer odd-hour and weekend day care for parents with demanding schedules (you can charge a premium for these services). Low student-teacher ratios Bilingual curriculum so the child gets immersion in a language (hire a spanish or chinese speaking assistant if you don't) Look at what other countries teach as far as early childhood education and incorporate what sounds good to you into your curriculum - I was especially impressed with how Japanese schools paired older children with younger children - it teaches and benefits both kids quite a bit. Put a brochure together that lists the important parts of your curriculum. Include separate areas for different ages or different brochures for different ages. Make sure you come up with something with music - whether it's Mozart during craft projects or Beethoven snack time - parents look for this for younger children. There are lots of cheap instruments you can get so you can add a music class. Crafts are important for fine motor skills - the web has tons of good info for pre-school and toddler art. Come up with a cool name for your art curriculum and advertise it as a bonus. Make a simple website for your daycare center - people are much more likely to call you first if they can do a lot of their research at their convenience. Depending on your tech know-how... Some daycares offer a secure service for parents to check in on their kids over the web. They also feel better just knowing it's there so they trust you more (if you're willing to be watched you must not be doing anything wrong). You could probably get a college kid to put a site like this together for you and set up the webcams for a reasonable price. This is a major plus parents are willing to pay a premium for - they feel safer knowing they can peek in on their kid at any time. Hope this helped - email me if you have any questions!

Read more discussions :

Friday, June 1, 2012

What are your thoughts about a daycare focusing on your child's health and fitness? Would you enroll