WELCOME TO OUR CHILD CARE! The following is a list of rules, hours and rates, and additional information about us and information we need about you and your children.
Hopefully this will answer many questions you have concerning our child care. Feel free to ask us anything!
AGES: 2-4
WHAT WE OFFER AT OUR CHILD CARE:
Story time/ Circle Time
Outdoor Play/Games/ Crafts
Art Projects/ Music
Learning Time/ Quiet Time
ENVIRONMENT:
Our center will provide clean and well-supervised play areas. Toys all play areas, bathrooms and all nap area are sprayed daily with a disinfectant. Weekly, toys are sanitized with bleach water. All bedding will be asked to be washed by you every two weeks or as needed. We have electrical outlet protectors in all outlets not being used. All harmful chemicals, medications, or dangerous items are kept behind closed doors on top shelves. All of the cupboard doors have childproof latches. All dishes and utensils will either be disposable or sanitized after each use. All washing will be done with either a fresh clean washcloth or disposable wipes.
DISCIPLINE:
The rules will be explained to the children to the best of their understanding. They will be reminded of the rules when necessary. We will try to be consistent. All children will be treated equally. We use redirection for the most part. On rare occasions “time out,” one minute per year of age.
DEPENDABILITY:
We are here and open 5 days a week from 7:30am to 6:30pm. (Please ask about the cost for extended hours.) Our daycare is open to all children, regardless of race, nationality, or religion, who may benefit from our type of program. Should a reason arise when we must be absent from our child care we would request each family have a back-up child care provider.
VACATION TIME:
In case of an emergency (or weather) closing, we will notify all the parents.
WE WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE FOLLOWING HOLIDAYS:
New Year (2 days)
Passover
Independence Day
Rosh Hashanah
Yom Kippur
Thanksgiving Day (2 days)
Christmas
Labor Day
Memorial Day
* * * The above holidays are subject to change * * *
We do ask you to give us the courtesy notification of 2 weeks when you will be taking a vacation. You will be charged as though your child were here, even though they are not.
ENROLLMENT:
Positions in child care are considered “open” unless a refundable deposit of $200.00 is paid. Monthly payments are due on the first day of each month. A $30 fee will be imposed on all bounced checks. A late charge of $10 per week will be imposed after three days past due date. There are no refunds if your child is sick or does not attend.
There will be an exception only if there is a medical procedure.
Parents will need to notify Happy Planet Group Family Day Care in writing two (2) weeks prior to the child’s withdrawal. Otherwise, your deposit will not be refundable.
If your child (ren) is/are dropped off before or picked up later than your scheduled contract time, you will be billed for the extra time and any applicable early drop-off and/or late pickup charges. There will be a charge of $5 for 15 minute that goes over the daycare’s hours of operation.
OUR HOURS OF OPERATION ARE:
MONDAY – FRIDAY, 7:30 am – 6:30 pm
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE:
There will be a minimum charge for before and after school care. This applies to children which are full time students. There are no breaks for sick days or vacations. If your child is holding an “after school” space, there will be no charge during the summer, when the child is not present. If your child is holding a full time space during the summer, again, there will be no sick days or vacation days awarded during the summer.
For a child attending an after school program the fee is $500 per month. The program will consist of homework study, computer, and outside play time. There will be extra fees for any private lessons such as tutoring, chess, music or other extra activities that will be available which will interest the child. In addition, after school children will have a full meal.
WHAT WE ASK OF THE PARENTS:
- Please KNOCK and be patient. Sometimes we are in the middle of an activity with a child and cannot leave them unattended. If you are coming in late, please bring your child (ren) in and help them with their coats and shoes if necessary. Give any special instructions at this time. When picking up your children we will try to highlight your child’s day at this time.
- Remove your shoes or boots before walking on any carpeted areas.
If you wish, we will bring your child and his or her belongings to you.
- Abide by prearranged hours. If you will be running late, please call us and let us know as soon as possible.
- Financial agreements must be kept according to the contract. Should there be any
questions regarding your bill, we will be glad to discuss it and go over it with you. PROMPT PAYMENT IS REQUIRED as we have a budget to follow and scheduled payments to make.
- Each child must have a blanket and a sheet for nap time. Please do not bring in any pillows since it is not allowed by law. Any safety blanket or a toy can be brought in for the child’s comfort. The bedding will be given back to the parents every two weeks for washing.
- Bring a change of clothing for your child. Dress them according to the weather.
Remember, spring and fall have cool mornings and warm to hot afternoons. In the winter, we require that you provide gloves, stocking cap, scarf, snow pants and snow boots.
- Each child should have their slippers which they will wear inside the daycare.
- Please bring in signed pampers with your child’s name every week if your child is not
potty trained. When potty training, we require that you supply Pull-ups. You must work
with your child at home for two weeks, with success, before we will begin potty training at child care. During the potty training, we require the parents to continue these techniques at home and during the weekends in order for the child to be easily trained. Please bring in more change of clothing during the potty training.
Clothing should be easy to manage to encourage self-help and independence skills. Buckles and suspenders, when in a hurry to use the restroom, may create a problem, so please, no bibs, suspenders or belts.
- A child’s birthday is an important day. Because of our conscious effort to teach good
nutrition, we request that you might avoid extremely sugary birthday treats. We recommend cheese & crackers, muffins, fruits, etc… .
- When needed – we ask you to provide the following:
Diapers / Wipes/ Sunblock/ Insect Repellent
WELLNESS POLICY:
Happy Planet Group Family Day Care is a “Well Child Care Facility”! This means if your child is not feeling well, for whatever reason, you must make other arrangements for their care until they are feeling well and no longer contagious. Do not bring your child (ren) to child care if they have a fever over 101.0, flu, diarrhea, and vomiting, pink eye or have any other contagious illness. The child(ren) will not be allowed back into care until they are symptom free for 24 hours. If they are too sick to go outside, they are too sick to be at child care.
If your child has a common cold – slight cough, sneezing, or a runny nose, you can bring them to child care. However, when the cold reaches the point when your child will not play, cries, whines, wants to be held constantly, or has a continuous cough, you will be required to keep your child home. If a child is brought “too sick” you will be phoned to pick up your child. If you bring your child to child care ill, you will be subject to a $5.00 fee for the care of a sick child for each 15 minutes your child remains in care.
If your child is sick enough to require Prescription medication – Pink-Eye, Strep Throat,
Bronchitis, Pneumonia, etc… We will require you to keep your child (ren) home until he or she has been on medication for 48 hours and they are no longer contagious.
MEDICATION
If you request us to administer medication (prescription or other) you must complete an
authorization form BEFORE WE WILL ADMINISTER. Please dispense all medications at home whenever possible. If your child does require medications to be dispensed while at child care, it is the parents’ responsibility to call us and remind us. Our day is very busy and too often we don’t remember until after the child is sleeping. Prescription medication must be in the original container with the pharmacy label and doctor instructions. Sample medications or over the counter medications must be accompanied by the same information as a prescription, written on the physicians stationary. All medications must be brought in a zip-lock bag with a sticker of your child’s name.
We ask parents to please follow the guidelines for illness. This is for the protection of all those involved. Many times either our child care or we get blamed for the illness of a child.
Yet, parents don’t realize the majority of this is brought into our home exposing our own
family, too. We STRESS this again – if you are not sure if a child should be brought, feel free to call us ahead of time.
- REMEMBER – WHAT GOES AROUND – COMES AROUND
IMMUNIZATIONS:
Due to possible complications from immunizations you must keep your child home for 24
hours after their injections. We suggest you make the appointment for early in the morning or Friday morning. If you schedule your appointment for later in the day, your child will not be able to return until the second day.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY:
- Contact parents or family members.
- Contact Doctor or nurse.
- Child is separated from the other children and cared for.
Parents must give authorization for emergency transportation and medical treatment.
PARENTS OR FAMILY INSURANCE IS/ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR COST OF
MEDICAL HELP OR TREATMENT DUE TO ACCIDENTS OR ILLNESS WHILE AT
CHILD CARE.
TERMINATION:
Happy Planet Group Family Day Care reserves the right to suspend or terminate care of any child without notice, should it be deemed necessary for the overall safety and well-being of my workers or other children in the daycare. A deposit will be returned with a termination notification form.
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS:
Payment agreements have been agreed upon in your contract. Please abide by the agreement.
Payment is due on the first of each month for full time child (ren) .We will supply you with a receipt for the amount paid which you may use for tax purposes. If paying by check, make payable Happy Planet Group Family Day Care.
VARIOUS CHARGES AND NOTES:
There will be a $10.00 late charge for each week your payment is late.
There will be an extra $5.00 per 15 minutes of early/late drop off/pick-up.
There will be a $30.00 charge for checks returned for any reason. Two returned checks due to insufficient funds will require you to pay in cash.
Please retain your statements for tax purposes. If you wish us to supply you with a list of the amounts paid to us for the year, there will be a $10.00 charge for the information.
AFTER SCHOOL:
There will be a minimum charge of $500.00 per month for 1 child. The hours for this care will be 3pm-6:30pm. There is no break given if absent. Pick up transportation fee is an extra charge.
NAP TIME:
Nap time or quiet and rest time is from 12:30pm to 2:30/3pm. Please do not come to the
daycare at this time without calling. Also, please try to call the daycare anytime before or after the children’s nap time in order for the children not to be disturbed during their nap time. We do not require everyone to sleep, but they must at least rest.
We are equipped with enough age appropriate toys for every level. We request that you do not bring toys from home unless it is for a special project or occasion.
TERMINATION OF CONTRACT:
This contract shall be terminated if any one or more of the following occur.
- Serious illness of a child preventing attendance.
- The account becomes delinquent.
- Happy Planet Group Family Day Care determines it is unable to meet the needs of the child.
- Happy Planet Group Family Day Care determines it is not in the best interest of Happy Planet Group Family Day Care or the children enrolled to have the child in attendance.
- Failure of the parents to cooperate with the daycare, in which Happy Planet Group Family Day Care determines a serious enough to warrant termination.
- Happy Planet Group Family Day Care feels that the child’s behavior is a threat to other children and/or workers.
Parental Termination – Requires a written two week notice for which you will receive your $200.00 deposit.
Many of the rules and information in this booklet are written from experience and situations we have faced in child care. It has certainly been a learning experience for us. We are always open to suggestions. If there are any problems or something has upset you, we encourage you to please come and talk to either of us about it. We want everyone to be happy and comfortable with our child care.
*We have the discretion to make changes in rates and policies we deem necessary. You will be notified in writing of any changes and when the changes will go into effect.