Hart’s
Haven
Family
Child Care
Theresa
Hart
SORRY, I'M NOT TAKING ANY NEW CHILDREN. IF INTERESTED IN STARTING A DAYCARE. THIS WEBSITE IS FOR SALE. CHEAP !
Lee’s
Summit, MO 64064
Welcome!
Dear
Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to Hart's Haven Family Child Care.
It is my privilege to provide your child with a positive, stable family
environment in which they will have fun learning and growing while feeling safe,
secure and happy.
My philosophy of child care
is to provide an atmosphere for your child:
•
As much like
home as possible
•
Where new
discoveries happen as a result of fun activities
•
That
encourages socialization as well as independent play
•
To strengthen
the values of honor and virtue
•
That aids your
child in learning how to successfully interact with others
My philosophy of child care is to offer to the parents/guardians:
•
Honest
communication in all areas
•
Current
information on the activities your child participates in
•
Devoted
teamwork in all areas related to your child’s development
My
background gives me the support to bring about my philosophy, including:
• Three years experience as Sunday School advisor
for 2 age groups
•
Two years of
early childhood education
•
Ongoing
experience as a frequent childcare provider for close friends – including
overnight stays
•
Parent of a 13 month old and grandparent to 6
grandchildren; one of which I raised for 2 ½ years. (Not to mention 4
stepchildren!)
My
goals in caring for your child are:
•
To learn your
child’s interests, strengths and challenges
•
To follow and
inform you of your child’s achievements
•
Introduce art,
music, pre-math, and pre-reading activities as your child shows an interest.
• Provide
for planned and spontaneous adult-child interactions
Thank you for choosing Hart's Haven Family Child
Care. As a team, we can work together to provide a safe, fun environment for
your child.
Program Goals
At Hart's
Haven Family Child Care,
I believe:
·
Children should
be in a home-like setting in their early years where they feel safe and happy
·
Children need to
be surrounded by love and enthusiasm
·
Learning should
happen as a result of fun, developmental activities
·
Children should
learn how to relate to others with respect and honesty
·
Children should
feel a strong sense of importance and self worth
·
Parents/Guardians
and provider should work together as a team to provide a positive experience for
the children
Hart's
Haven
Hours of Operation
Hart’s Haven will operate Monday through Friday from 6:30
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to include seven paid holidays. They are as follows:
·
New Year’s Day
·
Memorial Day
·
Independence Day
·
Labor Day
·
Thanksgiving
·
Day after
Thanksgiving
·
Christmas
I will close early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
The closing times will be determined closer to those dates.
I will take Good Friday as an unpaid holiday.
Although very rewarding, child care can be a demanding
occupation. In order to be the best
provider I can be, I need time with my family and time to attend continued
training. Each year I will take up
to 2 weeks unpaid vacation. One
week will fall consecutive (Monday-Friday) and the second may be broken up.
I will give no less than 30 days notice for my consecutive days vacation.
On occasion, I will need to take extra days off for appointments, family
functions and training. I will make
every effort to provide a substitute.
You are also entitled to 2 weeks unpaid vacation (equal to 10 days) – provided I receive a minimum of 2 weeks notice in writing. Payment is required for any other time taken off. Your days can be broken up. Any vacation days not used within a one year period will be forfeited. Unpaid vacation days may not be applied to your final two weeks nor may they be applied to any outstanding debt. I will keep records of used vacation days.
Hart's
Haven
Payment Plans and Fee
Schedule
This
Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2002
Child’s Age
Dollars
per Week
Infant
– 18 months
$100
18
months – 36 months
$95
3
years to 5 years
$90
·
Your weekly fee
entitles you to five days of care per week for your child
·
Child care hours
are from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. While
my house is open for services for 11 ½ hours, I do not recommend leaving your
child for the full time. It is
recommended that children not be in daycare for longer than 10 hours a day.
·
Late fees of $5
will be charged each 15 minutes for children picked up after indicated time on
contract agreement. Please beware
that your ‘late fees’ start in accordance with the time contracted and
written on your enrollment. (i.e.
if your pickup time is indicated @ 5:00pm, late fees begin @ 5:01 not 6:00pm
when the daycare closes)
·
Weekly fees due
on Monday.
·
Fees cover all
basic supplies and food. Parents of infants must supply diapers, formula and
baby food.
·
There will be no
refunds or adjustments made to your child care fee for your time missed due to
illness, holidays or days off.
·
Rate changes are
evaluated each January 1, with six weeks’ notice.
·
Multiple children
discounts are negotiable.
Hart's
Haven
Discharge Policy
Child Withdrawal
If the parent/guardian finds it necessary to withdraw a child
from care, he/she must give a two-week notice to me prior to withdrawal. The
deposit, amounting to two weeks of care, will be kept if a parent/guardian
neglects to provide a two-week notice.
Child Discharge
It might be necessary for me to give notice to a
parent/guardian to stop caring for a child. I will give the parent/guardian two
weeks notice prior to ceasing care. In rare cases of severe problems, I may be
forced to release the child from care without giving a two-week notice. Care may
be terminated for the following reasons (but not limited to):
o Child
is increasingly unhappy and unable to become comfortable with the family child
care setting
o Child
consistently physically or verbally hurts other children
o Parent/guardian
routinely abuses drop-off and pickup times
o Parent/guardian
doesn’t pay child care fees on time
·
Parent/guardian
does not work with the child care provider as a team to provide consistent
guidance and discipline
Hart's
Haven
Health Policies and
Procedures
First-aid procedures
•
Red Cross first-aid and poison center guidelines will be followed.
•
I am certified by ______________ in Emergency Care and CPR for Infants
and Children annually.
•
A first-aid kit containing items such as syrup of ipecac and ice packs
will be on the premises.
•
Emergency numbers are available at all times.
•
Parents will be notified of accidents, and an injury record is kept for
each child.
Medical emergencies
•
Immediate first aid will be given.
•
Ambulance will be called and paramedic recommendations followed.
•
Parents will be notified as soon as possible.
•
When parents are not available, your emergency reference will be called.
•
Parents are responsible for any expenses as a result of emergency room
care, ambulance, etc.
•
Hospitals used for emergencies are _____________________.
Illness
•
If your child becomes ill during the day, you will be notified and
expected to pick your child up as soon as possible.
•
If your child will be missing child care due to illness, please notify me
by phone the previous evening or the morning of the day of absence.
Communicable disease prevention and reporting
•
Your child will be kept isolated from other children as much as possible
if your child has a communicable disease. Communicable
diseases will be reported to the Department of Health.
•
Each child will be observed daily for illness.
•
Individual bedding, towels, washcloths, glasses, etc., will be used to
minimize the spread of infection.
Handwashing, diapering, sanitizing, and laundering policies
•
I will wash my hands before and after diapering, toileting, eating,
handling and preparing food, and handling contaminated materials.
•
Diapers will be changed regularly and immediately after a bowel movement.
Bottoms will be thoroughly cleaned, and cornstarch or petroleum jelly
will be used as needed. Other types of preparations must be provided by
parents.
•
The diapering area will be sanitized after each use, and contaminated
utensils/toys will be sanitized.
•
Bedding will be laundered as needed or once a week.
•
Bottles and nipples will be washed in the dishwasher and rinsed again
with hot water before filling.
Management of medication
•
All prescribed medication must be labeled with the child’s name and
must be accompanied by written permission from the parent for dispensing.
•
All medication must be provided in there original containers.
•
I will not exceed the manufacturer’s recommended dosage of
non-prescription
medication unless accompanied by written physician instruction.
Health records
•
The date of your child’s last physical examination must be kept up to
date.
•
Please notify me of any special health problems or concerns regarding
your child or family.
Fire and Natural Disaster Procedures
Fire
-
To
reduce the threat of fire, smoke detectors are installed in each room and
checked regularly to make sure they are in working order. In case of fire, the
children will evacuate the two-level house from one of three doors-at stairwell
(or front door), snack/craft room (or back door), or activity area (or garage
door). Parents will be called immediately.
Fire drills will be run once a month.
Storms
or Tornado -
In case of severe storms or tornado, the children will
meet in the inner-most area of the playroom, which is away from any windows.
Disaster drills will be run once every 3 months.
Attention Parents or Guardians:
I have
made preparations to take emergency care of your child for up to 72 hours.
My food supply will be plenty and our fireplace is in working order with
plenty of wood on our back porch to burn. I,
therefore, ask that during any such period of disaster, you do not worry about
picking up your child if the streets are closed.
I also recommend the following:
·
Avoid
telephoning, leaving the lines open for public emergency use.
·
Listen to a
battery-powered radio for evacuation instructions.
Should there be a city ordered evacuation, radio bulletins will give the
information as to where your child has been taken.
The radio should also give you information as to when it is safe to come
to my area to pick up your child.
·
Please be sure to
send with your child, for storage at my house, an extra set of clothes for such
a situation should it arise.
I hope we won’t have need for using our emergency
supplies, but do be assured that if we do, your child will be well cared for.
.
Hart's
Haven
Types of Developmental
Activities
Free
play provides an opportunity for children to direct their own learning. The care
giver supervises and helps children, but the play is directed by the child.
There are various centers that the children use for free play during the day.
While doing this, they are developing
·
Cooperation -
learning to play with others
·
Social skills -
pretending helps children express their opinions and views
·
Fine motor skills
- using scissors, drawing with chalk or pencils help children strengthen their
fine motor skills
·
Math and reading
readiness - playing independently with learning toys gets children ready to
learn math and reading
Planned Activities
Children also learn
through planned activities. These activities are usually short, but structured
in order to introduce a new concept or to reinforce concepts already learned by
the children. Activities include (but are not limited to):
·
Stories provide
time for reading-readiness skills of listening and retelling and moral
reasoning.
·
Exercise to
strengthen overall health and muscles.
·
Music with
instruments and singing to develop both vocabulary and listening skills.
·
Arts and crafts
activities, to build on a child’s imagination.
·
Backyard science
experiments help children begin to learn about the world around them and how
they fit into it.
Hart's
Haven
Nutrition Policy
Harts' Haven believes in
providing nutritious meals for children. We follow in the Child and Adult Care
Food Program that was established to improve the health of children in child
care centers and family child care facilities both by improving the nutritional
quality of meals and by promoting healthy eating. In order to qualify, meals
must include the following nutritional components.
Breakfast
·
Milk
·
Fruit or
vegetable or 100% juice
·
Bread or cereal.
Lunch
·
Milk
·
Meat or meat
alternate
·
Fruit or
vegetable (2 servings)
·
Bread or
alternate
Snacks
At least 2 of the 4
components
·
Milk
·
Meat or alternate
·
Fruit or
vegetable
·
Bread or
alternate
Food is
always served attractively in kid-friendly portions.
Hart's
Haven
Sample
Master Schedule
Hours of Operation 6:30
a.m.
to
6:00 p.m.
Days
of the week
Monday to
Friday
Check
– In / Music & Dance
6:30 a.m.
to
8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
offered 8:30 a.m. to
9:00 a.m.
Scheduled
Activities 9:00 a.m.
to 10:00
a.m.
Naptime
for infants
10:00
a.m. to
11:30 a.m.
Free
Play Quiet Time (toddlers)
10:00 a.m.
to
10:30 a.m.
Snacks
(toddlers)
!0:30
a.m.
to
10:45 a.m.
Craft
(toddlers)
10:45 a.m.
to
11:30 a.m.
Free
Play / Song
11:30
a.m. to
12:30 p.m.
Lunch
12:30 p.m.
to
1:30 p.m.
Story
time
1:30
p.m.
to
2:00 p.m.
Quiet
time/Naptime
2:00 p.m.
to
4:00 p.m.
Free
play for non-sleepers
3:00 p.m.
to
4:00 p.m.
Afternoon
snack
4:00 p.m.
to
4:15 p.m.
Outdoor
play
4:15 p.m.
to
5:15 p.m.
Daily discussion, questions, free play
5:15 p.m.
to
6:00 p.m.
Please keep in mind this is a vague, loosely developed plan.
Weather will play a big part in what happens at what time.
Hart's
Haven
Discipline Policy
One of the goals of
Hart’s Haven Family Child Care is to help children learn appropriate behavior.
We want children to act with:
·
Self-control
·
Respect for
others
·
Obedience
To help children
reinforce these actions, we:
·
Model the
behaviors that we want to see in the children
·
Establish clear,
consistent and simple limits
·
Explain the
reasons for rules
·
Remain positive
in our approach
In most cases, the way we
encourage these actions is to reinforce positive behavior. In some cases,
discipline is necessary. Before discipline of any kind is administered, however,
a review of other possible causes will be considered. Is the child sick, tired
or hungry?
When discipline is
necessary, we will:
·
Redirect the
child’s attention to an acceptable action
·
Explain the
negative behavior and help child identify solutions
·
Time-out - a time
to cool off and change attitudes (1 minute per year of age)
I do not correct children for being children.
I will always teach children safety rules to keep them from getting hurt.
Then, in accordance with their age, I would like to help them to be kind,
take turns, share and help others.
All discipline is
followed with a big hug and smile to let children know that they are still
wonderful, important people.
Hart's
Haven
Transportation and
Field-Trip Policy
On occasion, we will go on field trips away from my immediate
neighborhood. In those instances, I
will ask you to bring your child’s car seat since safety seats are required by
law. Field trip provisions are (but
not limited to):
·
You will always be notified of a field trip and asked to sign
a permission slip
·
Some field trips may require additional adult assistance. We
appreciate your willingness to help us once in a while.
·
Most field trips will be covered through your child care
fees; however, additional field trip fees may be assessed on occasion.
·
Sometimes we will take walking trips around my immediate
area. These walks are covered by
the blanket permission form you will be signing with the enrollment papers.
Hart's
Haven
Other Policies
·
I have an ‘open
door’ policy and you are welcome to visit your child at any time.
However, this policy does not indicate that my doors will be kept
unlocked as it is not safe for the children.
I will not allow visitors into my facility. Therefore, please let friends and family know that unless I
have met them before (i.e. they have dropped off/picked up your child before) I
will not allow them in to visit.
· Smoking
is never allowed in the home.
·
Parents may call
to check up on their child at any time. If I am unavailable, your message will
be returned within 2 hours.
· Blankets
and other security items for naptime (such as a stuffed animal) are welcome to
be brought from home. However, that
special something will be put up until naptime.
I would appreciate it if other toys were left at home unless we are
having a show and tell day. It is
very hard for young children to share their special toys with other children,
not to mention the potential for loss and damage.
I am not responsible for any breakage or misplacement of the child’s
personal items.
·
It is the
responsibility of the parent/guardian to bring a full change of clothing
appropriate for the season.
·
I will assist in
toilet training when your child is physically and verbally capable of
communicating their need to potty. As
a team, I expect that I will be able to work together with you to develop a plan
when your child appears ready. In the meantime, it is your responsibility to
provide disposable diapers, wipes and any other items you prefer me to use
during diaper changing.
