Jennie's Home Childcare

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sweitz4ever@rogers.com

You can also find more info by checking the About Me section of my childcare website.

Answer:  I have worked all sorts of hours for my clients, from early morning (5 am), to late evenings, and have even provided care for overnight shifts. 

My present working hours are Monday to Friday from about 7:30 am till about 6 pm, but I am willing to negotiate outside those hours if needed by my clients.  In other words, it's not written in stone. 

In winter, I understand that our Canadian weather can affect the amount of travel time needed to get to and from work.  Because of this, I do alter my home child care hours of operation to reflect the importance of driving safely to and from work in bad weather.  If you are finding it takes longer to come home from work due to construction delays, etc., please let me know what your newly expected arrival time may be.

Naps
Each child is unique, and their needs are met according to each parent's standards.  Some of the children I've cared for have needed morning naps, others needing only afternoon naps.  I try to adjust our routines to fit the needs of each child.  If I have a morning napper, we will go do our morning outings earlier, to be back in time to accommodate their nap schedule.  Sometimes these children nap very well in their stroller, and if the parents are ok with it, they will fall asleep in their stroller as we are out getting fresh air on our nature walks, etc.  I have a portable monitor, so sometimes the older children and I will play in the back yard while a toddler has their nap inside.  This allows for the older children to still enjoy much outdoor air in good weather.  This also works great in the winter, as the younger ones often can't be outside as long as the older children would like to be out there.  For the afternoon naps, any children who are old enough to not be napping anymore have a variety of quiet activities available to them, although the 'quiet' isn't too necessary.  We paid extra to have our home builders add more 'sound proofing' insulation to our home, so we have the benefit of keeping our home more energy efficient as well as barely having to hear any thunderstorms, and the children sleeping upstairs have never been woken up from children playing on the main floor.  

Outdoor time per day
The suggested time per day is about an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, though we love our outdoor time, so we often exceed that number!  Sometimes we will have variances on that number;  for example, we might get in less time in the morning if we are on a certain field trip, or doing a special craft that takes longer to complete.  But we will then spend more time outside in the afternoon, so the number balances out.  In the summer, if it's smoggy out or too hot, we change our schedule to go outside when it is coolest like first thing in the morning, and after 3 pm so the children are not as much at risk for sun burns or heat stroke.  In the summer, we also will play closer to home, so we are not traveling too much in the hot sun.  If we play more in the back yard rather than at the park, the children are free to come in and out of the air conditioning or to go in for water breaks.  We like to make our own fruit popsicles and fruit smoothies in the summer, and spend lots of time playing in the sprinkler!

Discipline techniques
I try to use natural consequences and teachable moments as best suits the situation, but also use distraction techniques, calming techniques, and have also worked with children on anger management techniques.  Children are encouraged to review the house rules/guidelines together in a friendly manner, and reminders are given when a rule needs to be reinforced more often.  It takes several tries to make a habit, and children who are new are not expected to remember all the rules right off the bat.  The other children like to help teach the rules.  I use time out techniques as well, but I do not surprise a child with this.  If they have been given a fair amount of reminders, and are given the chance to correct their behavior and modify the situation, they are reminded that the next time the make a bad choice will lead to the consequence of a time out.  We then discuss any help they may need to keep from making a bad choice;  things like having help using their words when they are frustrated about something, taking turns sharing with a timer, or perhaps even having some quiet calm down time by switching to a more mellow activity like reading some story books together.  I find that when children are given the tools they need to succeed, we barely need to use time outs. Of course, I also have noticed that children do go through phases where they test the limits, as well as times when they need extra help to make good choices.  We keep a "Problem Solving Traffic Light" poster on our wall to refer to when the children need help using their words to share their feelings.

Food
I like to find out what each child's favourite foods are, and try to include those foods in our menu.  At the beginning of the week, I have the children help plan our menu.  Recently, the children have enjoyed theme days, like eggs on Thursdays.  So on Thursdays it would be eggs, but it can be french toast one week, omelets the next, then poached eggs, hard boiled eggs, deviled eggs, or egg salad sandwiches.  Right now we usually do chicken themes on Monday, Pasta variations on Tuesday (with protein in there as well), Sandwich types on Wednesday (this includes deli meats, my famous campfire grilled cheese, fahitas and taco foods, as well as our home made mini pizzas), and Fridays we have fish, but sometimes we mix it up a bit by having the children take turns picking a favourite menu item.  We also sometimes do a "try something new" day.  This is fun when we pair it up by reading one of our favourite books, Green Eggs and Ham.

Answer: Often my children and those that I care for will become good friends.  Just like any child, my children like to invite friends over to play.  They know there is a difference between working hours and family time, so it's very special to them when they can 'invite' a friend over to play. This play date is usually offered after work, so mom and dad can decide if they have any extra errands they would like to do, or enjoy some time to themselves.  As this is not business related, I do not charge for this time.  You wouldn't bill a friend to visit, would you?

I also offer from time to time, bonus play dates, that are my way of showing appreciation for my clients.   This is something that is not part of a schedule, and not an expectation from my clients.  As any child care provider will tell you, most of the rewards in this field come from the care you give and get from the children you are trusted with daily.  They truly are a treasure that will enrich your life if you open your eyes to the blessings in front of you.  The other rewards of this field, though not seen as much, are the warm comments and thoughtfulness that is shown from clients who appreciate our time and efforts.   I have been so blessed to have clients who make me feel truy appreciated by their warm comments, words of thanks, and even the little goodies I've been spoiled with.  I know without a doubt that I have the best clients around!  So my way of showing thanks is through the little extras that I do for my clients - things like offering bonus play dates for my clients to go out and enjoy a dinner or movie together.  This is not to be confused with extended care for when you want to go out on a date, and ask for me to watch your children. 

I like to enhance the children's learning whenever opportunity allows.  We love to fit in 'educational' moments in all sorts of situations.
I have worked with children who have had learning disabilities, and have worked closely with KidsAbility staff as well as occupational therapists from K-W Hab in order to support children with special circumstances. 

I have taught beginner ASL (American Sign Language), participated in speech therapy sessions for children, tactile development coaching, central auditory processing support, auditory learning assistance device programming, brain gym, early literacy skills, reading programs, phonics lessons, and various preschool developmental programming.  When I have a client who requests that I become involved with their child's developmental programming, we go over together their strategy that can be customized to fit in to our daily routines.  For example, we have fit in physical therapy sessions easily within our daily exercise routines, while brain gym can be done comfortably during free play time.

I encourage learning through play;  a lot of learning can get done when we are busy having fun.  My clients have said that I go above and beyond when it comes to caring for their children, but I wouldn't be doing this job if I wasn't compassionate about my work.  As the saying goes, "The work is hard, but the play is great!"

Yes, I do.

I've spent 5 years as a live in nanny for a large family.  Some of the children had different challenges, such as Turret syndrome, ADHD, dementia (caused by sleep disorders) and frequent brain seizures.  I was able to help with the individual programming needs of these children, which allowed them to function as creative, energetic children.  This is what fueled my dedication to work with special needs people of all ages.  I spent a few years working for adults and seniors with disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, MS, paraplegics, stroke victims, as well as seniors suffering from Alzheimer's and other dementia. 

After having my first child, my heart was still wanting to work with people who had special needs, but I decided to focus on helping children so I could stay home with my own child as well.  I started by working in a private home day care, then after a few requests from the parents of the children I worked with, I opened my own home for child care.  It's been 9 years since I started working as a licensed Home Child Caregiver with the Region's Home Child Care Program.  During that time, I have had the privilege of working with some very special children, many of which I still see when we have our 'reunion' visits. 

I have done respite care for children when their caregivers/parents needed a break, and only care for one special needs child/client at a time, to keep our ratio fair and manageable for everyone.  I make sure that I only take on enough clients that I can give fair and generous attention to each child, while meeting their emotional, physical, and developmental needs. 

Many of the skills I have used to work with special needs children I find to be very helpful in working with all children.  For example, we like to use sign language as actions to our songs, and it's great for communicating with infants.  Many infants can sign more words than they can speak.  Some of the skills I've used for ADHD children can come in handy for children who need coping skills when they are angry or frustrated in situations. 

My rates are negotiable and can be customized to suit each client's needs and time schedule. 

My full time clients usually pay about $175 per week.  This price includes some bonuses I've thrown in, like 2 free weeks vacation per year without having to pay to reserve their time off.  Most daycare centers and child care facilities charge for you to reserve your spot when clients are away. 

For those who pay $35 per day, I have also given them an incentive of waiving all late fees.  They seem to really like this deal, so I haven't had to charge a late fee for a long time now! I'm told the daycare centers charge parents $1 per minute for late fees.  Personally, I would much rather know you are safe and on your way (a phone call if possible is appreciated), than have you trying to rush back here during bad weather or traffic problems. 

Some of the other providers around here charge $35 per day without including vacation time, or charge up to $40 per day (some of them more, ouch).  I am trying to keep my rates competitive and reasonable, as the economy is not doing so well and I feel that parents can appreciate this.

I provide receipts for all my clients, and they may choose if they would like them weekly, monthly, or yearly.

I do have a contract available on my website.  This is printable, so you could either print one off at home, or I can print one off when a client notifies me they have read through it and are ready to sign up for care.  This is my way of ensuring that all clients have read through my basic policies and are up to date.  We go through this once a year together, and any amendments are added as needed. 

I ask that parents commit to giving me two weeks notice if they will no longer need care, although I understand that there are times when this might not be possible, such as a client getting laid off from work.  So time commitment would be about 2 weeks, with payment being made one week at a time for the upcoming week.  This means that on Friday, you would pay me for the next week's care.  I leave it on good faith that all my clients will give 2 weeks notice if they are going to be moving, having a vacation, taking parental leave, etc.

Yes, I do.  I have taken emergency first aid and infant CPR as well as adult and child CPR with St. John's Ambulance. My current certification is valid till December of 2010.

Jennie's Home Child Care is located in the Laurentian Forest area of Kitchener, Ontario.

My home is on Peach Blossom Crescent, which is just off David Bergey Drive in Kitchener.  

This is on the west side of Kitchener, a short drive from the Sunrise Shopping Centre.

The nearest intersections are David Bergey Drive & Activa Ave, or Ottawa Street South & David Bergey Drive. 

There is a Google Map of this area at the bottom of my Home page on my childcare website.