Leaflets and Advertising ... should I 'come clean'?!

[CountryKids]

I am pre-reg at the moment, but it is likely that by the time I get my registration through, my children, currently home educated, will be at school.
The catch is, I will have to leave at 7.45 to take them, and not be back til 9.15 ( erring on the side of caution)
On the upside, I will be more than happy to take early birds, we're up at 5.30 and I could easily be ready to take children at 6.30 - 6 at a push. :)
On the downside, I won't be here at the classic drop off time :( and school pick ups and drop offs will be out of the question.
(children will be going to a small private school, the only way it's going to work for my daughter, so different school is not an option, btw. Longer term, we are hoping to move.)

Thinking about leaflets/flyers/advertising - should I mention this, or just promote my early start time?
I don't want people to ring up only for me to say, no, can't do this, can't do that, it sounds so negative.

Any advice?

[huggableshelly]

I would state that you are able to care for babies and preschoolers with drop offs and pickups from your childrens school only.

that way parents are aware that they cant use you for before and afterschool care only ....

on a plus side can you offer holiday cover as your children will be home with you too then with no school runs to do.

as you stated already you don not need parents calling only to gain a no when they need care for their little ones.

Good Luck with pre-reg and hope your children settle down in their new school real quick, its a brave move from home school to private school (I've not done this myself but have considered homeschooling my son).

[balloon]

I would say to be honest too, nothing worse than having to tell people you cannot do something. I have one little one who starts at 11 and leaves at 5, another who starts at 1pm and leave at 9pm so it may not make a lot of difference to the amount of enquiries you get.

Good luck with the transition from home ed to school. Mine have been HEd for 4 years now, I cannot imagine them being at school any more, lol! I do know several families for which is has worked well though.

[CountryKids]

It's not a done deal yet, onceinabluemoon!
I'm struggling with it still, we've he'd for six years, younger daughter has never been to school.
the school we're considering though is a tiny christian 'co op' type school, mixed age classes, really like extended family. It's for complicated reasons, trying to the best for the girls, really.
funny thing is, I chose to go back to childminding (which I did when they were tiny, before dd1 went to school) because I felt it would fit in with HE!:huh:
How do you find it works, out of interest?

[miffy]

I'd say be honest too or you might find you spend lots of time answering phone calls when you can't do the work.

Promoting your early start time is a good idea :thumbsup:

Miffy xx

[westbrom44]

I think an hour and a half sitting in a car is an awfully long time for little ones every day and would it be the same in the afternoon.

If I was a parent looking for childcare, I wouldnt be happy with my child sitting in a car for that long.

Maybe you could care for children who do short days, ie 9.30am til 1pm, depending on what time you have to leave for the afternoon school run.

Arent there any schools nearer? I am sorry I dont know your circumstances.

[CountryKids]

I think an hour and a half sitting in a car is an awfully long time for little ones every day and would it be the same in the afternoon.

If I was a parent looking for childcare, I wouldnt be happy with my child sitting in a car for that long.

Maybe you could care for children who do short days, ie 9.30am til 1pm, depending on what time you have to leave for the afternoon school run.

Arent there any schools nearer? I am sorry I dont know your circumstances.

Yes, I'd thought of that too :(
But is there much call for 9.30am - 1pm?
Until we move I'm between a rock and a hard place.

No, there isn't a school nearer which would work for my daughter. It's a long story.

It's basically and hour, an hour and a half is just being on the safe side, but even so I agree it's a long time.

[westbrom44]

Hello again.

I have had a few enquiries over 5 years for shorter days, but not that many to be honest.

I dont know what time you leave for your afternoon school run. It could be that if it was a younger child, that would be their nap time.

My only thought would be you wouldnt want a child in the car who cried the whole time. I have been to the farm a few times, and quite often find the younger ones sometimes start crying.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I would just advertise yourself and see what comes in. You don't have to say will do this or won't do that.

[balloon]

It's not a done deal yet, onceinabluemoon!
I'm struggling with it still, we've he'd for six years, younger daughter has never been to school.
the school we're considering though is a tiny christian 'co op' type school, mixed age classes, really like extended family. It's for complicated reasons, trying to the best for the girls, really.
funny thing is, I chose to go back to childminding (which I did when they were tiny, before dd1 went to school) because I felt it would fit in with HE!:huh:
How do you find it works, out of interest?

Most of the time it works really well. My children are 12 and 13 and just get on with it tbh. I'm always around for a 'do you know...' or where can I find...' but mostly I get the 'Wow! Did you know that...' type things now, lol! Next year the oldest will do IGCSEs through a distance learning course.

But... they do have their moments and can be easily distracted by the LOs at times. We don't get to go to museums, art galleries etc as much as we once did cos these thing are not so much fun for the LOs and I don't think it's right to drag them around something they wouldn't understand or be happy doing. Arts and crafts have also taken a bit of a nose dive as we have to keep all the materials out of the way of the LOs, easy with the toddlers but when you have a 3.5 yr old who just doesn't 'understand' the word NO it's a bit more difficult, lol!

It's hard work too 'cos you never stop, all day with the LOs and then all night and weekends trying to mark HE work, discuss things and then take them to places we cannot do in the week. TBH I wouldn't have it any other way though, lol! :)

It's also really rewarding watching them learn how to be parents, lol! They now instinctively know what's wrong with 'our' mindees if they get upset and can soothe, play with and entertain any given one of them should the mindee initiate it. For my children this is an opportunity they wouldn't otherwise have had as they are the youngest of my brood, for the mindees they get the 'big brother' effect (as in sibling not tv show) which stretches them in ways I don't even think of.

I'd better get off my soapbox now! ;)

[CountryKids]

Sorry to bug you, Bluemoon, but what are your numbers with two olders at home like that?
Any different from normal numbers for the size of your house etc?

[butterfly]

Yes, I'd thought of that too :(
But is there much call for 9.30am - 1pm?
Until we move I'm between a rock and a hard place.

No, there isn't a school nearer which would work for my daughter. It's a long story.

It's basically and hour, an hour and a half is just being on the safe side, but even so I agree it's a long time.

i have plenty of calls for people wanting mornings only i do lots of 9-1 or 8.30-3.30. i would just advertise what you can do - there's no point advertising what you can't as you'll just have to say no on the phone.