Home Business Idea: Start Your Own Preschool
By Spaycial on Jul 31, 2009 in Business
At the last preschool I worked in, our director had some very interesting past experience: She used to run a small preschool program out of her home.
It was just a part-day preschool program, meaning that she didn’t have to worry about providing breakfast or lunch, or putting kids down for a nap. She literally just had the kids for a couple of hours every morning, during which time the mothers typically went out for coffee together or ran errands.
For parents who want their kids to go to a good preschool for the learning benefits, but don’t necessarily want or need to leave their kids in daycare all day, a morning preschool program operated out of your home may be the perfect answer for them. However, starting a preschool in your home means more than just running an ad and opening your doors for business.
For starters, you will need to have some plans for a curriculum, because discerning parents are almost certain to ask what you will be teaching their children. You will also need to have an assortment of preschool-ish toys such as wooden toys and blocks, jigsaw puzzles, an imaginative play center (usually with a play kitchen), and of course plenty of paper, crayons, and other materials for open-ended art activities.
You will also need a place appropriate for teaching, which probably means a long, low table or two with child-sized chairs. Furniture scaled down to child sizes allows kids to feel more comfortable when they are using it.
Finally, you will most likely need to have an inspection and get licensed to care for kids in your home. Since you will just have a morning program, and won’t need to put kids down for naps, this part may be relatively easy, but be sure to check with your local government to find out what their requirements are.
Running a preschool out of your home can be a lot of work, but it is also typically very rewarding. Besides, by having the kids for only part of the day, you are leaving the rest of your days open for anything else you might want or need to do — one of the advantages of owning your own business is, after all, having more control over your schedule!