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By
Catherine M. Pruissen
Craft supplies, books, and staff all
cost you and your child care facility a great portion of your income. Luckily
there are ways to obtain these and other resources free or next-to-free. Here's
how:
- Conduct a scavenger hunt with your
parents. Send home a list of items needed for your
art and craft works and see how many each family
can scavenge together from their home.
- Ask home decorating stores if
they would donate outdated wallpaper sample books.
- Print shops may be more than happy
to donate left over paper scraps.
- Check with local businesses to
see if you might be able to receive their empty shoe boxes, ice cream buckets
(great for storage), or empty cardboard boxes.
- Fabric stores may have fabric
ends or cardboard bolts they would be happy to donate.
- Thrift stores are a great way
to build or revamp your "dress up" items for mere pennies.
- Local libraries often sell used
books for as little as fifty cents. Most hold free story times or will offer
to have a librarian bring the wonderful world of books to your kids.
- Some utility companies, airlines,
children's societies have free learn and colour books for children. Call
and order as many as you need. Video stores offer free rentals on community
based videos like streetproofing, etc. Ask the staff to show you their free
rental section.
- Contact your local early childhood
teaching facility for volunteers for your centre.
- Often parents know of a retired
person who would be more than happy to read to the children, teach a craft,
music lesson, dance, etc. Put the recruitment word out to your parents.
- Post notices for volunteers with
your local volunteer advisory/contact board.
- Place a free ad in the local bargain
newspaper for used computers for your kids. Companies
are forever upgrading their computer systems and
are looking for great ways to discard old models.
- Contact as many child care organizations
as possible to see what free information they have on issues of concern
to you. Become a member if finances allow as networking is one of the most
powerful tool we have for finding those almost free resources.
From: 101 Tips: Resources for You and Your Centre By Silvana Clark and Priscilla Burris, Warren Publishing House, Everett,
Washington.
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©
Catherine M. Pruissen
Catherine M. Pruissen is the CEO of About Child Care
Consumer Services and developer of child care online.
She has published numerous child care related literature,
including Start and
Run a Profitable Home Day Care, The
Daycare Alternative, How to Find Good Child Care,
Caregiver Aids: Business
Forms for Caregivers and Parents, Income
Tax & Record Keeping for Child Care Providers,
and a host of workshops and workbooks. She was the editor
and publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter, Parent Care,
Your Child Care News-line. Catherine was also the coordinator
and workshop facilitator for The Child Care Information
Centre in Calgary, Alberta, and ran a successful dayhome
for eight years. |
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