Does anyone here have a home daycare? (Sarasota: rental, crime)

[Raven1976]

I'm a teacher in NJ with a Master's in Early Childhood education. I've thought about the possibility of moving to the Sarasota area and maybe opening my own daycare center either at a separate location or at home. I know that I could provide quality education and care for children between the ages of 2-5 in a more intimate setting.

I just wonder if anyone else has done this or is there a lot of red tape to opening one like there is up here in NJ?

Would parents prefer a smaller setting of less than 10 children as opposed to a larger daycare?

[TamRE]

Here is the Florida web site for information about opening a day care facility - Florida Department of Children and Families

[blueherons]

No offense but I'd be very hesitant about leaving my child with someone who just moved to the area.

[Raven1976]

Originally Posted by blueherons

No offense but I'd be very hesitant about leaving my child with someone who just moved to the area.

WHy? Just because someone has lived there a longer length of time doesn't mean the care would be any better. It all depends on the person. If anything, I would probably be offering more incentives to build the business and I would run it like a classroom with structured activities, not just a daycare.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

WHy? Just because someone has lived there a longer length of time doesn't mean the care would be any better. It all depends on the person. If anything, I would probably be offering more incentives to build the business and I would run it like a classroom with structured activities, not just a daycare.

For some reason, Florida attracts the crazies. That is why.

[Raven1976]

Well that's just a very ignorant statement. No wonder Florida struggles

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

Well that's just a very ignorant statement. No wonder Florida struggles

It's not an ignorant statement. Turn on the news. Whatever weirdo crime is happening, many times it is in Florida. While other states certainly have their fair share of crime, Florida is a highly populated state and because of the year round warm weather, attracts many dubious people who look at it as being the greener grass.

I love Florida and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[Picshooter]

I think you could be successful, if you can afford to start small and grow. My initial questions / thoughts would be.

Would you be working alone?
Who takes over when you are ill? On vacation?

[TamRE]

Raven - you would also want to see about transferring your teacher certification to Florida. Here are the requirements for Florida - Educator Certification

[Ragnar]

The location where you set up shop would be important too. You'd need to do some research to try to target the areas with good proximity to where the young professional families live, or where there are a higher number of young children needing care.

You may also wish to target a niche market, like teachers, where you would care for their young children for 9 months of the year and have the summer off. Many teachers I know in WI do not want to commit to enrolling in year-round care, and I don't see why it would be substantially different in FL.

Also, your decision to rent vs. buy a home may be greatly impacted. I would guess many landlords would not be comfortable with you running a home daycare out of their rental property.