Last August we had just moved into our house, after over seven years of living in an apartment. Things were chaotic, as they always are during a move, but especially because my daughter's fourth birthday was two weeks after we moved. Though I couldn't imagine throwing a party so shortly after moving, there was no way I could not have a party. So we had the party two weeks after her actual birthday. Shortly before the party, in the midst of trying to make our house appear settled AND preparing for this party, I went to The Provider Connection to make some die cuts from various shades of yellow paper (the theme of the party was yellow, Josephine's favorite color, so I wanted die cuts for the children to use in collages). The Provider Connection (check out the link in the sidebar) is a wonderful resource for childcare providers. I first learned about it when I worked at a daycare center, and have been a member ever since. In the past few years they have expanded their membership to include parents. They have die cut machines, a laminator, a book binder, sewing machines, in addition to a lending library of books, music, and toys. Okay, back to my story . . .
So I was at The Provider Connection using their die-cut machines. As I was doing this, I overheard the staff talking amongst themselves. I really didn't hear anything they were saying except for "94040"--over and over. The reason this stood out to me was that this was my new ZIP Code. When I was finished and went to check out, I told them I needed to renew my membership, as it had expired. They pulled out my membership card and commented, "Oh, you live in Sunnyvale." I told them that I had actually just moved and needed to change my address. They eagerly asked me what city I now lived in. I answered Mountain View. They then even more eagerly asked me what ZIP Code I was in. I then learned why I overheard them saying the very number of my ZIP Code.
They told me about CAMP (Castro Advancement Mentor Progam), a program that matches currently unlicensed family child care providers in my ZIP Code with a mentor, supports them through the licensing process, and then gives them up to $1000 to cover licensing fees and enhance their program. They gave me an application. It seemed too good to be true--I was in the next year reaching a point where my daughter would be starting kindergarten and the fate of my current childcare situation was unknown. Getting a family child care license was something I had wanted to do a few years ago. So I filled out the application and sent it in with the following letter:
I am extremely passionate about childcare. This has been my main interest for the last eight years of my life. When I started caring for children, it was actually by default. I held a Master’s Degree in English Education and had four years experience in teaching at a community college. I had just moved to California and was going to look for a teaching job and needed a temporary job. That temporary job ended up being at a daycare center (Children's Pre-School Center located at Cubberley Community Center in Palo Alto). I was working with one- to two-year-olds and completely fell in love with the field of childcare. I put my English teaching plans aside and made my temporary job permanent.
Right away I started taking every class I could in child development from Foothill Community College. After about six months of working at the daycare center, I was anxious for more of an opportunity to try out my ideas and really practice everything I was learning. I then pursued a nanny job. I searched for the perfect job and finally found it in a nanny share position working for two families simultaneously. I felt the nanny job allowed me much more creativity than the daycare center, as I was allowed to then create my own lesson plans and plan my own activities. The families I worked for were extremely supportive.
After three years of working as a nanny for the same two families, I had my own child. While pregnant, I took the last child development classes required for the AA Degree from Foothill Community College. I then exclusively took care of my own child for about two years, at which time I decided it was time to once again take care of other people’s children, as my daughter was becoming more independent and could really benefit from having other children around (especially since we had decided that one was plenty for us, so she wouldn’t be having any siblings). I tried to get a license to take care of children in my home, but my efforts were thwarted by the fact that the apartment complex we lived in had a pool surrounded by a 4 ½ foot fence. The regulations specifically stated that any body of water on the premises would have to be surrounded by a fence at least 5 feet tall. As I could not change the fence and wasn’t ready to move, I then settled for taking care of children from just one family. Before I could even begin to look for this family, a friend of mine with a one-year-old was given a job offer and asked me if I would take care of her son 20 hours a week. Now here we are two years later, and I am still taking care of him. His mother is soon expecting a second child, whom I will also care for.
We recently moved out of the apartment complex with the too-short fence and into a lovely house in Mountain View. The reason for our move is that registration for my daughter’s kindergarten is only five months away. I chose the Mountain View school district because I was really excited about PACT, an alternative school. Even if for some reason we couldn’t get into the program, our neighborhood school is excellent as well. I am especially excited about the PACT program as for the past year my daughter has been at a parent co-op nursery school, and we absolutely love it. I love being involved in her school, learning more about what they do, and being able to contribute my own input as well.
So here’s where the CAMP program could really help me. Now that I finally have a house with a decent-sized backyard, I can see the potential for having a fabulous family daycare program. However, it is just potential as of yet. The backyard is sort of a blank slate. There’s a spot where a wonderful children’s garden could go, and a very basic swing set. I’m already content with the inside of the house. I have set up the dining room (which looks out onto the backyard) as a sort of child AND adult art studio, where all sorts of arts and crafts can be done. I have a great system for toy storage now, where I have divided things up and rotate them regularly, so that some of the toys that are out now will be changed in a few weeks for new and “more exciting” ones (while the rest are stored away in the garage).
Once the backyard is more child friendly, and a little fine-tuning, perhaps, is done inside, I would really like to take care of more children and expand beyond the one family I currently care for. What would be ideal for me, ultimately, would be to find a few kindergarteners from my daughter’s future school in need of before- and/or after-school care.
This couldn’t come at a better time for me, having just moved into a house, and with my daughter in a year starting school. Within two years both children I currently take care of will be in school (not including the baby on the way), so it’s really time for me to refocus and plan what would be best. Family childcare has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and I am so excited at the prospect of being able to really jumpstart this and get it going the right way.
So, the ending to this story is a happy one--I was chosen to be a mentee in the program and am now well underway in the licensing process.
