If You Could Pick Your Daycare House...

[Abigail]

If you had the chance to move and bring your daycare along, what changes would you make to your house? I'm not sure whether to look for a home that has a side entrance to be completely separate from the rest of the house and put in a fridge and add a few food counters/microwave downstairs OR just look for the standard bi-level home that everyone around here owns and do the same thing and use the kitchen for lunch only and do snacks in the basement. My husband will be home during daycare hours, but he works evenings and nights, so he will always be sleeping. I'm just concerned that if I use the kitchen and the front door that it is unfair to him. I hope I'm blessed with finding a 3 story home with bedrooms upstairs! I also need to learn how to sound-proof! Sometimes a door is all you need.

[Chickenhauler]

Owens Corning makes some really great products for soundproofing, not just insulation, but an acoustical sheetrock (I know this isn't a bargain solution, but it can make a world of difference).

http://www.owenscorning.com/quietzone/quietzone.asp

For things that are a "must" in a daycare home....a dedicated entry room for comings and going, shoes, boots, coats, bags etc. Keeps the clutter and traffic out of the main portion of the house (and helps keep the dirt and debris that gets tracked in to one area).

[boysx5]

I wish I had a kitchen in my basment I have everything I need down there but the coming up and down the stairs gets old after awhile

[Golden Rule]

I want a seperate, stand alone, two-car, garage with an efficiency apartment over it. That way I could set up the active playroom downstairs and the sleeping quarters/kitchen upstairs.

In my fantasy, I could get up, get dressed and "go to work" everyday so that my extended family/neighbors/complete strangers/passing dogs would stop with the "since you are home would you mind..." requests. I would not feel like I had to pull "double duty" of housework while "at work". My teens would know I was "at work" and not ask if their friends could come for dinner or any other of the 100 questions they interupt me for each day..... Maybe even, occasionally, I could "come home from work" to find dinner waiting on the table..... Ahhhhh...

Like I said.... "In my fantasy".....

[Vesta]

I really like that I can see directly into my daycare space from my kitchen. Unless I'm using the restroom I can see them at all times (it still trips them out that I can hear them while I'm in the bathroom).
My entrance is also in the kitchen.
I think it saves me a lot of stress and time not having to worry about keeping them occupied while I prepare meals and snacks. They just carry on and I can cook/prep/and clean up while watching and running interference if need be. It also means I don't have to use the TV, which I know I would be using if I had to keep them busy while I couldn't have my eyes directly on them.

The front of my house is not part of the daycare and I have a few parents who have never seen my living room. We don't use our front door.

[DCMomOf3]

I would make sure I had at least a kitchenette, bathroom and entrance on the daycare level. I would love to be able to keep the kids on one floor the whole day instead of up and down to come/go, eat, etc.

Originally Posted by Golden Rule

I want a seperate, stand alone, two-car, garage with an efficiency apartment over it. That way I could set up the active playroom downstairs and the sleeping quarters/kitchen upstairs.

In my fantasy, I could get up, get dressed and "go to work" everyday so that my extended family/neighbors/complete strangers/passing dogs would stop with the "since you are home would you mind..." requests. I would not feel like I had to pull "double duty" of housework while "at work". My teens would know I was "at work" and not ask if their friends could come for dinner or any other of the 100 questions they interupt me for each day..... Maybe even, occasionally, I could "come home from work" to find dinner waiting on the table..... Ahhhhh...

Like I said.... "In my fantasy".....

I really like the way you think! That would be awesome. Otherwise, I would like to have a separate building that has a very open concept and small potties and small sinks. I would also like it to have a kitchen area and an area for little tables and chairs. I'd like a partition to provide a nice, cozy atmosphere for naptime and I would like lots of windows, too. I would also love to have a nice sized fenced in play area with some fun play structures and a track around it that is wide enough for little bikes and cozy coupes. How fun would that be???? I also want a sand box and a water sensory table (one of the cool ones)

I don't ask for much, huh?

[ninosqueridos]

1. Bathroom directly accessible from daycare room so kids can go on their own without me worrying that they will go up the stairs and get hurt

2. Door to the backyard directly from the daycare room so we don't have to walk through my normal part of the house to get outside

3. I would make sure my house was AT the bus stop so I didn't have to schlep 6 kids to the stop & back everyday

4. oh and separate entrance for daycare

[DCMom]

I have it pretty good right now. I have a two story house with a finished lower level. That entire level is dedicated to daycare, complete with kitchen, bath, separate entrance and walkout directly to the backyard. I would never go back to it being upstairs in our main living area.

If I were to take it one (or ten!) steps further, I would LOVE a separate house~big open kitchen living room combo with a huge bathroom that could have 2 or 3 toilet stalls and sinks (kid sized, of course) and three big bedrooms for dedicated areas. One for babies and toddlers that is completely sound-proofed from the preschool/school aged screams and the other would be a room for the older kids with a computer, a place for legos and k'nex (or any other game that has small pieces) or complicated art projects and one for my office and storage of my ultra organized supplies and curriculum themes

Outside would be a huge yard with a fabulous playset and plenty of room for jumpers and water slides. An attached, three stall garage that could be used on rainy days for playing and for storage of all this stuff. How about a parking lot with enough parking for multiple parents and their leaky cars?

Oh yeah and a maintenance crew to keep it all up!

LOL~someday.

[MommyMuffin]

My husband is building our basement for daycare but it has been 4 months and all he has managed is the electricity. I am thankful but I also now realize I am very far away from getting my dream daycare setting.
I envy the providers that have a walkout, right now I have a fenced in back yard with no deck and the only way out of my house is the front door. I also envy those who live next to a park.

[DCMom]

Originally Posted by MommyMuffin

My husband is building our basement for daycare but it has been 4 months and all he has managed is the electricity. I am thankful but I also now realize I am very far away from getting my dream daycare setting.
I envy the providers that have a walkout, right now I have a fenced in back yard with no deck and the only way out of my house is the front door. I also envy those who live next to a park.

Patience. It's all I can say, lol! We moved into this house 15 years ago; in fact built it in this style with the intention of the daycare being in the walkout basement. My dh, God love him, is VERY meticulous and everything has to be just so. I usually have to threaten closing daycare to get anything major done!

I have only been fully operational in the basement for the last 4 years~the prior 11 were a work in progress from unfinshed to still not completely finished (one bedroom still needs sheetrock and flooring). Not complaining~it will get done when it gets done.

[Chickenhauler]

Originally Posted by MommyMuffin

My husband is building our basement for daycare but it has been 4 months and all he has managed is the electricity. I am thankful but I also now realize I am very far away from getting my dream daycare setting.
I envy the providers that have a walkout, right now I have a fenced in back yard with no deck and the only way out of my house is the front door. I also envy those who live next to a park.

In your hubby's defense, wiring, outlets, boxes, breakers and fixtures are not cheap.

I just bought a 250 ft roll of 12-3 Romex a couple weeks ago, and the price was over $150. $1000 disappears fast when doing wiring work.

[originalkat]

Right now my daycare area is pretty good. The biggest problem is that I would like it a little more seperate from the rest of the house and I want a bath in the daycare part. The parents enter through the side/kitchen door. The daycare room is right there in the large nook next to the kitchen. I am expanding though and I recently expanded into the formal dining room to make room for 3 more kids. I have the rest of the house gated off (except for them needing to go to the bathroom).

What I would like to do (In my dreams) is expand the kitchen nook area out and double the size of it and add a small bath with low toilet and sink. Then I would have pocket doors blocking the rest of the house off from the daycare. That way I could come and go through the house when needed, but the kids would never have to leave that area (and neither would the parents).

I have thought about finishing our 2-car detached garage into the daycare but, I am not sure how licensing and insurance would work out with that.

My other dream set-up would be the walkout basement scenario but with an easy entrance for parents through the front or side. However, I love my little house/lot so much that I dont think that is going to happen.

[Abigail]

Originally Posted by DCMom

I have it pretty good right now. I have a two story house with a finished lower level. That entire level is dedicated to daycare, complete with kitchen, bath, separate entrance and walkout directly to the backyard. I would never go back to it being upstairs in our main living area.

If I were to take it one (or ten!) steps further, I would LOVE a separate house~big open kitchen living room combo with a huge bathroom that could have 2 or 3 toilet stalls and sinks (kid sized, of course) and three big bedrooms for dedicated areas. One for babies and toddlers that is completely sound-proofed from the preschool/school aged screams and the other would be a room for the older kids with a computer, a place for legos and k'nex (or any other game that has small pieces) or complicated art projects and one for my office and storage of my ultra organized supplies and curriculum themes

Outside would be a huge yard with a fabulous playset and plenty of room for jumpers and water slides. An attached, three stall garage that could be used on rainy days for playing and for storage of all this stuff. How about a parking lot with enough parking for multiple parents and their leaky cars?

Oh yeah and a maintenance crew to keep it all up!

LOL~someday.

LOL, if I read your posting on facebook, I would have to click the "likes this" button!

[melskids]

Originally Posted by ninosqueridos

3. I would make sure my house was AT the bus stop so I didn't have to schlep 6 kids to the stop & back everyday

i SO hear that!!!!

[MyAngels]

The house we lived in when I first started my daycare was a 60s style tri-level, which worked out pretty well. Parents entered through my front door on the main level (just the kitchen, dining and living rooms there), and directly to the right down four steps to my finished lower level, which had two large rooms, a half bathroom and a small office, along with a walkout to the backyard play area. There was plenty of room for my play area and classroom area with tables and chairs for meals and snacks. I also had a kitchenette type area (it was a wet bar when we moved in, I just added some counter space, an apartment size fridge and stove and microwave). We never really had to leave the downstairs area unless I wanted to, plus my family could have the other two levels to themselves, with only minimal noise escaping from the lower level.

Unfortunately when we moved to a much larger urban area I could not find half the house for the money, but I've always been on the lookout for this type of setup because it worked so well.