Anyone passionate about helping children take their first steps toward learning but aren’t quite ready to open a school would be more interested in offering day care preschool instead. If you have just realized this is your dream, you probably don’t know how to start a playschool at home but would like to know and start it up.
Well, we have you covered and will let you know everything you need to know for your playschool.
Why is Playschool Important?
Preschool is often termed as the starting point for early years for education of young children. However, there is actually something that comes before preschool. Playschool is the like preschool except for a few key differences:
- Playschool is for children aged 18 months to 3 years and possibly higher depending on the progress and requirements of the child.
- Daily playschool sessions only last a few hours, much less than a preschool.
Most children may suffer from separation anxiety and stress when taken out of their regular home environment and introduced to a new environment and people. To avoid this and a child the best chances of adapting to varying situations, playschool attendance is the best start!
How to Start a Playschool at Home
If you are wondering how to start to start a playschool at home and don’t know where to begin, we have put down a few points to help you navigate this interesting journey.
1) Legalities & Licensing
Before opening up a playschool to the public you first have to find out what the legal requirements are for offering these services. Often, you must register your playschool as it is a business entity and will be subject to taxes and liability.
The three options available to playschool owners are Sole Proprietor, Limited liability company (LLC), or Corporation. Owners will have to choose one based on how they want their playschool business to be viewed by the government and other regulatory bodies.
2) Curriculum
Next comes the step of defining how you will be providing value to the minds of such young children. A gentle and slow approach will be necessary for children this young who attend the playschool.
A great deal of the curriculum will probably take place outdoors or in a play area that has been specifically designated for children of a young age. The curriculum should be based on the natural curiosity of very young children so as to allow them to learn a few things very early on.
3) Timetable
A timetable helps teachers manage time and get the maximum teachings out of a short amount of time. That’s not all, a timetable will help to introduce children to some form of routine and timing that will help when the child moves on to preschool.
Timely, playing, eating, and drinking are important activities to teach children who are young and will spending time away from their parents. Parents will be pleased with the fact that their children will start to garner some sense of time from playschool.
4) Training Teachers and Other Staff
Considering that this playschool outing will be the very first time for children of such a young age to be away from their home and parents, extra support will be needed to ensure they feel safe and confident.
This extra form of comfort and support can be provided to children in the form of teachers and support staff. Teachers who are experienced are obviously desirable when want to start a playschool for the first time. However, teacher training is available to ensure all staff are aware of the patient, compassionate, and reinforcing training methods required by playschool children.
5) Branding & Marketing to Drive Enrollment
Once your playschool is legitimate and legalized, it comes to the difficult task of branding and promoting your school to ensure that you have students. Activities that will aid in branding and marketing and eventually filling up your school.
- Choosing an easy and memorable playschool name
- Designs an attractive logo that relates to your playschool name and values
- Promoting the playschool using a variety of marketing media
- Offer discounts or limited time concessions when opening your playschool for first enrollees.
6) Managing Finances
Finances should be arranged prior to the decision to start a playschool, if you ask anyone how to start a playschool at home, finances plays an integral part of making it a success.
Although the playschool will be set up at your home, certain renovations need to be made to ensure the environment is fully customized to suit the requirements of young children who will be out of their comfort zone for possibly the first time.
7) Ensuring Health & Safety
Parents who are looking to send their child to a playschool will be highly concerned with the safety and hygiene of the location and facilities. Prospective playschool owners must be highly aware of what facilities are required and how to make a playschool child-friendly.
A clean premises in a safe and quiet neighbourhood would be most ideal to attract parents who are willing to send their child to such a location. The actual playroom and play area should also be welcoming to children without sharp or poisonous items in the proximity.
8) Involving Parents in Child Growth
Parent support is undoubtedly a highly important part of ensuring that children are able to grow and learn in any situation. Parent-teacher communication is essential for parents to understand how far their child’s efforts have taken them and to continue the learning process at home as well.
Conclusion
With the help of a day care preschool or playschool parents can watch their child develop in a relatively short amount of time. As an education enthusiast, you can be the turning point in this process. Using our guide you can find out how to start a playschool at home and then expand.
FAQs
Q.1) Is it legal to operate a playschool from your home?
Ans. It depends from city to city but generally any business must first register as a business before being able to offer services to the public.
Q.2) How can child safety and security be ensured in a playschool?
Ans. Child safety can be ensured by maintaining a clean environment with child-appropriate furniture, clearly designated playing areas, and round the clock adult supervision.
Q.3) What is the best way of marketing my playschool to parents?
Ans. To get parents to enroll their children into your playschool will require an intense marketing campaign. Creating a website, utilizing multiple social media platforms, and word of mouth are the best forms of getting word of your playschool out.