A job looking after other people's children in your
home - start a childcare center
Mind those children! Certainly, when can they start coming to my childcare
center?
Family Childcare And After School Services Websites by :
Madison Lockwood
Offering family childcare and after school services from your
home means that you are competing with some pretty hefty competition.
There are small daycare centers with big backyards and large daycare
centers that have a different classroom for each year of preschool plus
separate after school care facilities. How can family childcare and
after school services compete?
First of all, you have the personal touch. Rather than a sterile
classroom, you offer a warm and loving home, a personality, home cooked
meals, and small groups of kids who get your undivided attention. To let
people know that you also offer professionalism and safety for their
children, designing a website for them to peruse before calling for an
interview is a great way to introduce them to your style of childcare
and after school services.
Posting on Your Website
You have so many things to choose from when it comes to posting on your
website that it's hard to know where to begin.
First, of course, you need a great home page. Keep it simple but playful
and bright. The tone should say, 'Kids love it here!' You may show a
piece of artwork done by one of the kids or a photo of them at play
(make sure you have their parents permission first).
Next, you'll need an information page for your family childcare service.
What ages do you cater to? What time are you open in the morning and
when do you 'close up shop'? Do you ever accommodate overnight stays or
late pickups? What about the weekends? Do you feed the kids breakfast as
well as lunch? What about afternoon snack or dinner?
A page for your after school services is need, too. Again, ages and
times are important. Also include whether or not you provide tutoring
services for homework help or mandatory quiet time to complete homework
before the parents come pick them up. Are snacks include? If so, what do
you offer?
Other things you might like to list include:
- Detailed description of the area in your home where the kids will
be including the backyard, sandbox, art tables, and supplies
- A sample schedule for your family childcare day
- A sample schedule for your after school services
- A menu for the week so that parents can plan ahead
- Special movies planned
- Special open play dates available on the weekend
- Field trips you've taken the kids on and future field trips in the
works
- Contracts and consent forms available for download
- A blog to talk about what the kids are doing
- A list of books you've read with the kids
- A list of games you play with the kids
- A biography pages for tutors you have come visit your after school
services
- A biography page for you – all your CPR and emergency
certifications as well as child development training
- A detailed response in case of natural disaster for parents
- A description of your cleaning procedures and your state
certification grade
- Any special classes that kids can sign up for whether or not
they're enrolled in childcare
On every page of your website, you will need to list contact
information, giving visitors a way to email you with questions or call.
If you have an open play day one Saturday a month or an open house to
showcase all that the kids have been doing once a month, then you might
include a link on each page for people to RSVP for the next event or to
schedule a tour and visit if they're considering your services for their
child.
Most important, keep updating your site with new messages. You can
communicate with parents and have special pages that require a password
just for their children so that they can visit and see how the day went.
Take requests from parents about what they'd like to see on the site.
Most importantly, enjoy yourself and think it through as you build it.
Your professionalism and attention to detail will greatly impress
working parents who pride themselves on the same.
About the author
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate, specializing in
small business development, for Apollo Hosting. Apollo Hosting provides
website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps
hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.
Source: www.articlecube.com