FREE DAYCARE CONTRACT

A. (______) (______) DIAPERS/WIPES:

It is the parent's responsibility to provide diapers, wipes, and diaper cream for your child. It is also the parent's responsibility to check periodically to see if or when your child needs more diapers, wipes, and cream, (not the providers). Each child has his or her own labeled diaper bin, either in the infant/younger toddler room or older toddler/preschooler room, depending on the age of the child.

B. (______) (______) SHOES:

Younger children love to take off their shoes. It is for this reason that we prefer children come to daycare in shoes that lace up and/or stay on their feet. If your child has these type of shoes on then we can control when and where they come on and off. Therefore we can assure that his/her shoes will be available for you at pickup. However, if your child comes to daycare in flip-flops, Crocks, or other types of shoes that fall off or get taken off, then we cannot guarantee their availability at pickup, as they will have most likely fallen off or been taken off and hidden in a outside toy or bush at some point during the day. In times when these type of shoes are worn, due to matters outside of our full control, parents hereby resolve [INSERT YOUR BUSINESS NAME HERE] of all responsibility for the shoes safe return and/or the ensuing scavenger hunt.

C. (______) (______) TRIAL PERIOD:

The first 30 days of your child’s enrollment will be regarded as a trial period, in which case either party may terminate the contract without notice. Each child responds differently to a new environment, new children/providers, and moms/dads absence. We are patient and good at what we do, so most of the time this is a non-issue. However, there are rare times in which we must consider the well being of the group (the other children in our care). If for whatever reason, either party feels our childcare environment may not be the best fit, either party reserves the right to utilize this time period as a trial and terminate the contract without resentment, judgment, or ill-will. In such cases, your two week deposit can either be utilized (with the exception of gross misconduct on part of provider/parent/child) or returned to you for immediate discontinuation of service.

D. (______) (______) TERMINATION POLICY:

After the first 30 days of enrollment, 60 Days written notice from parent or provider is required to terminate the contract, with the exception of gross misconduct on part of the provider, parent, or child. Whenever possible even more notice is better. This helps us tremendously. Reason being, unlike childcare centers, we can only take a limited amount of children. So when we are full we are forced to say NO to all incoming requests for childcare. If we have advance notice of discontinuation of needed services then it is possible for us make future arrangements with new family’s inquiring about daycare for their child. This helps to keep our open spots fluctuation to a minimum, and helps us be able to focus more on being the best childcare providers we can be, instead of worrying about “the bills”, and putting food on the table.

E. (______) (______) HOURS OF OPERATION:

We are open from open Monday through Friday 7:30am to 5:30pm. We close promptly at 5:30pm. At 5:30pm each day we have to quickly run off to our children’s soccer, baseball, karate, and wresting games/practice. So please be considerate of our time when budgeting yours. If your late to pick up “once in a blue moon”, because of bad traffic or whatever, we understand and no hard feelings. But if late pickups become a regular occurrence, then we may not be the best fit for your childcare needs, and we may be forced to terminate our childcare arrangement.

F. (______) (______) DAYCARE INTERIOR/EXTERIOR DOORS:

Children love to go through open doors. If a door is opened most of the younger children will follow you through it. As you can imagine this can be disruptive to temporarily loose control of which children are in which room with each parent pickup and drop off. So please promptly close each door after opening it without letting any children following you through it.

G. (______) (______) GUIDELINES REQUIRING EXCLUSION FROM DAYCARE:

A child with any of the following illnesses must be completely free of any symptoms before returning to daycare. If your child is taking antibiotics for an illness, your child may return to daycare after the initial 24 hours of beginning antibiotics as long as he or she has a slight to no fever (under 100F under the arm), no longer contagious, and is otherwise feeling well enough to participate in our daily schedule. Signs of illness include the following; unusual lethargy, irritability, persistent crying for no reason, runny nose (more than clear), cough (more than slight), difficulty breathing, diarrhea, vomiting, mouth sores, rashes (note from doctor stating non-contagious is ok), pink eye, chicken pox, mumps, measles, roseola, hepatitis A, impetigo, lice, ringworm, scabies, strep throat, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, shingles, and any other contagious disease or rash. Any child with a fever of 100 degrees or above, orally (in the mouth), or axillary (under the arm), may not attend daycare. State law requires that we notify parents of children who have been exposed to certain contagious diseases. Please notify us if your child becomes infected, so a note can be posted.

H. (______) (______) PICK-UPS AND DROP-OFFS:

(a) Please make your pick-ups and drop-offs brief (no more than a couple minutes). As you can imagine it takes quite a bit of effort to retain control of a room full of two year olds. Children act up considerably when other parent’s are present. If you linger this makes our job much harder. Please understand, we are a home daycare, and not a mommy and me class. If you feel the need to run around and play with kids, then may we suggest you take your child to a park and/or open your own daycare. (b) Please send your child clean, dressed (no pajamas, unless you don't mind your child wearing their pajamas all day), fed and ready for the day, as well as all of your child's necessary supplies needed for that day's care. (c) Never leave without telling your child goodbye (don’t sneak out). (d) Please be in control of your child during drop-off and pick-up times.

I. (______) (______) OTHER PARENT’S CHILDREN:

Parent’s entrust us, and us alone to care for their children. Please do not play with other parent’s children, do not pick up other parent’s children, and do not discipline other parent’s children.

J. (______) (______) SUPPLIES NEEDED AT DAYCARE:

Parents are responsible for supplying the following items: diapers/pull-ups, wipes, diaper creams, toothbrush, weather appropriate clothes and a change of clothes, jacket, pacifier (if needed). We supply and apply sunscreen every day to any child playing outside. For the older children sleeping on a matt: a crib sheet, a blanket, and a pillow are needed. If necessary a comfort object for rest-time, and any thing else your child may need. Your child's crib sheet, blanket, and pillow should be taken home every Friday and washed and retuned to daycare the following Monday. There is a good possibility your child will get dirty throughout the day because of food, paint, markers, dirt, bubbles, etc. So please dress your child accordingly for play. We are not responsible for replacing stained or soiled clothing. Furthermore we suggest that you write your child's name on the tags of their clothing (especially socks and underwear) in order to prevent any clothing mix-ups. Note: Please periodically check your child's locker/cubby to make sure they still have all of their necessary items needed at daycare. Further more, as the weather changes throughout the year, so do your child's items needed at daycare. We greatly appreciate your adherence to this subject, as it helps ours and the children's day run more smoothly to have all of his or her necessary belongings with them at daycare. This way we can care for your child in the best possible way.

K. (______) (______) TOYS AND PERSONAL POSSESSIONS:

(a) Please do not bring your child's toys to daycare except on designated sharing/show and tell days. As much as we try to encourage sharing, this seldom works when it is the child's own personal toy. It only causes problems between them and the other children. (b) Please do not ask if your child can take toys home. Daycare toys stay at daycare. (c) We encourage you to bring a personal item from home for your child to sleep with if you believe it will help him/her to sleep or feel more comfortable. However, we suggest you don’t get into the habit of bringing your child’s most prized possession (their “bunny” or “blanky”) to daycare as there is a strong possibility of it eventually getting misplaced. If it’s just used at nap time then that’s pretty controlled and usual fine. However, if your child carries this item around with them all day then it’s only a matter of time until it gets lost. We do our best to keep track of all the children’s items and to ensure their availability at pickup, but keeping track of the children and ensuring their availability at pickup, is by a very large margin, our main priority. Therefore, just as with the shoes, if a personal item gets misplaced, parents hereby resolve [INSERT YOUR BUSINESS NAME HERE] of all responsibility for the items safe return and/or the ensuing scavenger hunt.

L. (______) (______) DAYCARE HOURS AND COMMUNICATION:

Good, open, and regular communication is at the heart of any good childcare provider and parent team. We could not believe that statement to be more true. However, that being said, an appropriate balance between communication and our hours of operation should strive to be maintained. It goes unsaid that we love our job. But that job is very demanding. In the interest of mental longevity we need our down time to recharge the batteries as it were. So please feel free to contact us, with the smallest or slightest thought regarding your child (or anything for that matter), but while doing so, please try and keep in mind our hours of operation are from 7:30AM to 5:30PM Monday through Friday. Of course if it’s a real or even perceived emergency please don’t hesitate to contact us after hours. Example, your child has unusual or excessive diarrhea or vomiting and you are trouble shooting as to why, or to inquire or to give us a heads-up with regards to a multitude of other troubling sicknesses, or something that can simply not wait. But for the everyday questions and/or the ones that can wait until tomorrow please hesitate until such time. Thank you for your understanding.