Policies

My center is licensed to provide care between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm however children are enrolled based on contracted hours only and only up to 9 hours daily. The center is closed on the following holidays: 

• New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
• Memorial Day
• July 4th
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving and the Friday after Thanksgiving
• December 24th and Christmas Day

If a holiday falls on a weekend we will be closed either the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday. These are considered  paid holidays.

Children may be enrolled either on a full-time, part-time or drop -in basis.  Full-time is care needed 4-5 days a week, part-time is 2-3 days a week and drop-in care is occasional care only. Full-time care has top priority, part-time care has priority over drop-in care. Drop-in care will only be available if care arrangements have been made in advance, all proper enrollment forms are filled out and on file, and space is available. I cannot guarantee an open spot for a child needing drop-in care on any particular day. Rates are based on of how many days you need. If you only need 4-5 half days a week that is still considered full-time since it is difficult to find a family that would need the opposite half days each week. 

This is an enrollment based center. You are paying for a spot, regardless if your child attends or not. 

Fees are to be paid in advance of care and due at drop off on the Monday of the current week care is needed. Children may not be left in care if fees are not paid when due. All fees must be paid on time and there is no grace period. All checks written as NSF will be assessed an additional $35 fee to cover bank fees charged by my bank. Rates vary depending on the number of days care is needed. Please call to get a specific weekly fee quote. Financial terms will be finalized upon signing of the parent/provider contract. Families will receive a 30 day notice before a rate increase is planned.  *Unfortunately, I no longer accept WI Shares as a form of payment from newly enrolled families. 

Children who are ill, or showing symptoms of being ill, are not to be brought to daycare. Parents are expected to have their own backup provider on call that will be able to take your child when he/she is ill. Some examples of children who are sick and not allowed in care:

•  The child is not able to participate in daily activities comfortably
• A child is requiring more care than a provider can safely provide
• Teething that causes extreme irritability and excessive crying (see exclusion #1 above)
• Temperature of 100 degrees F. or higher without fever reducing medication. Child must be fever free for 24  hours before returning. 
• Vomiting more than once in the past 24 hours
• Loose, watery stools occurring more than twice in the past 24 hours. 
• Excessive drooling, sneezing, coughing, runny nose or constant thick, colored nasal discharge. If a child is not capable of covering their mouth or is continuously wiping their nose with their hands they will be required to wear a face mask for sanitary reasons and to prevent the germs from spreading to others.  
• Any type of unidentified rash besides a mild diaper rash 
• Any eye discharge, besides watery eyes due to allergies
• Lice, scabies, or any other type of "infestation". Children may not return until they are nit free.
• Any known contagious illness while still in the communicable stages and while the above symptoms are present. Some examples of these are chicken pox, whooping cough, strep throat, pink eye, hand-foot-mouth disease, RSV, influenza, etc. Please contact me regarding when it's safe to return to care after these types of illnesses. 

 Parents will be notified immediately if the child becomes ill while in care at the center. Sick children will be isolated from the others but be within sight or hearing of the provider and made as comfortable as possible. Sick children must be picked up within one hour of being notified that they are ill. If your child cannot be picked up within an hour your emergency contact person listed on the enrollment form will be called and asked to pick up your child. Children may return to the center when they are symptom free, have been appropriately treated or have been given medical approval to return to daycare. The provider makes the final decision if a child is well enough to return to care.  In the event of a communicable disease, all personal cleanliness procedures will be followed in accordance with licensing rules and the guidelines for exclusion of children from daycare as adapted from the Division of Public Health. Prescription and nonprescription medications will only be given to children if parents have completed a medical authorization form. All medication must be kept in the original container labeled with the child's name, dosage and administrative directions on it. I cannot exceed the age-related dosage on the label of any medication without a doctor's written authorization. Blanket authorizations such as dispensing of Tylenol or aspirin, etc. at my discretion are not allowed. All medical dosing will be noted in the center's medical log book. 

I do not require a child to be potty trained by a certain age as each child is different and will be interested in the toilet when they are ready. I do, however, have a few stipulations when it does come time for potty training:

• Potty training needs to start at home first. I cannot be the only one doing the training. Parents must take an active role in the training process. If it becomes my sole responsibility to work on training all potty training efforts will stop at daycare. Training will only be successful if the parent and provider work together as a team . 
• The child must be able to indicate or verbalize the need to use the toilet, at daycare. If a child cannot indicate the need to use the toilet they are not ready.  I will not set a timer and rush to put the child on the toilet every 30 minutes. This is training the adult, not the child. Again, if the child does not indicate the need to use the toilet then they are not interested in the training process at this time. I will continue to talk to the child about the importance of using the toilet in anticipation of the day the child indicates they are ready to try again. 
• I cannot use the "run around naked" method in daycare.  Diapers are required until they have gone two full weeks at daycare  with a dry diaper. Once they have been able to keep their diaper dry for two weeks they can switch over to underwear. I will allow underwear to be worn before being dry for two weeks but a diaper must be worn over the underwear. This is for sanitary reasons.  All soiled clothing will be bagged and sent home. I will not rinse or wash clothing. 
• Please make sure I have extra clothing for your child during this learning process.