FAQ
These are the questions I have answered in this section. If you have more questions please feel free to contact me.
How much does it cost?
How do I put my child on your waiting list?
What happens if you or one of your children get sick?
How do you discipline the children?
How do you plan on teaching both English and Swedish?
What kind of experience do you have?
What do you consider to be good food?
How do you decide what to teach the children?
How much does it cost?
A private home daycare is the same price as any other city daycare. We follow the same rules and regulations. (Rules and Regulations ) The current price is 3% of your household income or a maximum of 1260 SEK which is paid directly to the kommun, the same as all other daycares.
How do I put my child on your waiting list?
Dexter is the program used by the city of Linköping for assisting parents with childcare. Normally everybody uses this program on their webpage but if you are not connected to the program or you have already used up your three choices, feel free to contact me anyway. The best is to both call and send me an email so I am sure to be able to contact you again should an opening arise.
What happens if you or one of your children get sick?
Because we are two people working here, it is rare that both of us are sick at the same time. However, if we have the stomach flu present in our home then we close the entire daycare as it is so contagious.
In the case that one or both of my children are sick but not highly contagious, there is the possibility that they remain downstairs and away from the daycare. This means that I would remain open as usual but that I would be running a more relaxed day so that I may tend to both the daycare and my own chrilden if needed. Naturally I always inform parents when any of my children are home sick.
How do you discipline the children?
I prefer to use the "Time-Out" method for both children and toys, but I am not against "a stern talking to" either depending on the age and situation. I find that most children behave much better for adults other than their own parents (my children included), so I do not expect to be needing it very often.
I use this method for my daughter as well. For those times I feel my temper start to rise, I find the time-out method to be a good cool off time for both of us. If you would like to know more about how it works and how to apply it, please let me know and I would be glad to tell you more about it.
How do you plan on teaching both English and Swedish?
First of all, my plan is not to "teach" either language. Language is something that comes on its own. I can encourage language thru play but it is ultimately up to the child as to which language they use.
It is my job to see that every child in my care learns Swedish but we also have English and some Swedish sign language in the daycare.
Which language we use depends on the child and situation at hand. I will never instruct or reprimand a child in a language they do not understand, as relationships and good communication must come first.
What kind of experience do you have?
I have always loved children. In fact, when I was younger, I liked spending more of my time with the babies and younger children than I did my own peers. When I was 12 years old I was offered an after school job watching a two year old. Yes, I was very young to have had such a responsibility, but it was my flute teacher who arranged the job. I watched her friend's daughter at my flute teacher's house while my teacher was there, but it was made very clear to me that I was not to disturb her unless there was an emergency. And that is where it all began.
I later had two different summers where I worked full time watching children as the parents worked. The first summer was a family with two girls while the second summer was a family with four children. I had a lot of fun then, being able to "play" the whole day as apposed to just a few hours like when you are babysitting during an evening.
All of High School I worked for a foster family who had up to 7 children ranging between 1 and 13 years of age. That is also one of the experiences that made me want to continue working with children. Even if I don't know where all of the 7 children are today, I still love each one of them as I was able to watch them grow in so many ways.
Finally, after living here in Sweden a few years, I took a part time job at Atlas School. One of the jobs I had was as a home language teacher/trainer. You are a teacher when working with school children, and a trainer when you work with 4-6 year olds. I was both. So two days a week I worked as a trainer. I must say, it was a very giving experience. I was not given the impression that there is a lot of money in the school system, which might explain why there was no real curriculum material to go after. That meant that I got to plan every lesson from scratch, on my own. That was when I discovered the internet and imagination.
Working at Atlas was also an eye opener for me, helping me to see that my favorite classes were indeed with the younger children. This too is another reason why I decided to pursue the job of being a home daycare provider as apposed to becoming a school teacher. But I also like the idea of being my own boss and of being the one who decides on everything - from the theme of the week to the fact that I would rather eat food free from preservatives and other harmful additives. But that, my friend, is a different topic all together.
What do you consider to be good food?
Good food to me is food that is prepared with no preservatives and few to no other additives (commonly called E-numbers). I recently discovered that preservatives were the largest cause of my headaches. Since then I have started making nearly all of my food from scratch. This means no more soup mixes in my recipes, and the few ready-made foods I still use on the days I just don't have time to make a full meal are free from most additives. I will admit that I do still eat some foods with preservatives/additives, but they are normally things I cannot make myself such as blodpudding (never made for the daycare) or Falukorv. "Good food", in a sense, means I take the time to read the labels instead of buying the cheapest brands all of the time.
I was once asked if I only ate sandwiches (because I am American). I can assure you, sandwiches are nice, but not every day for lunch. I really do prefer to make my own food and sandwiches are not the norm for me, much to the opposite of my upbringing and probably every other American I know. I am of the opinion that children need 2 hot meals per day and that both should be well rounded.
How do you decide what to teach the children?
I love being inspired by the kids and what's going on around us but when I decide to come up with something more I use either personal experience, internet or the books in my home library. Infact, I can warmly recommend all of the "busy books" to any parent. The books are based on age so they are pretty age appropriate with loads of ideas. Here are the books I use for inspiration and help. Feel free to take a closer look at them.
PS. It's not that I do not recommend the last two books, it's just that they are written for a classroom environment while the busy books were written by a mother with three young children who needed ideas to keep her kids happy and activiated with things that required little time and money. Like I said, I have really enjoyed her books.
Post Address:
Fridtunag 21
58212 Linköping
Home Telephone:
013-148331
Mobile Telephone:
0737-774930
Email:
Susan Sundström Post Address: Telefon: Email:
Familjedaghem, Fridtunag 21, lgh 1201 013-148331 dagmamma@ladybughomedaycare.se
Pedagogiskt Omsorg 582 12 Linköping 0737-774930