Teachers (Elementary, Secondary) and daycare needs

I saw a question the other day asking what elementary, junior high, and high school teachers do for daycares. After all, they won't necessarily need the daycare services each summer and won't want to pay to hold the spot during the summer break.

There a few options for the teacher:

• Sometimes it can become a second job during the summer-- daycares may need more help because more children will be in need of daycare services when school is not in.
• Other times, the daycare may want to operate during similar months to public schools and prefer to serve teachers with that same schedule.
• It isn't uncommon for secondary institutions to offer daycare services. This allows the teenage students to learn about child development and the different teaching professions.
• The teacher may also contract for the 9 month period. Chances are, an education professional is going to be understanding (and thus easier) client to serve. A daycare does have an interest in keeping easy to serve clients even if the schedule isn't year round.

What IRS Tax Form does a daycare give its customers?

The W-10 is the form that parents in the United States need from their daycare providers in order to claim the daycare costs when filing income tax returns.

One item of note is that the provider's taxpayer identification number (tax ID or tid) is a required field on this form. If the provider hasn't been assigned one of these by the IRS, the provider's social security number will be input instead.

Since sharing one's SSN is less than ideal, it is suggested one register for the tax ID.

Years of college to be a preschool teacher

A very difficult question to answer is "How many years of college do I need to be a preschool teacher?"

It is difficult, because the biggest variable is the state you are trying to be a teacher in. There are preschool teachers out there that were required to have a 4-year bachelor degree and there are others teaching with nothing more than a high school diploma.

Another variable is if the preschool is trying to receive some sort of government or other organization credential.

Please let us know in the comments below if there is a specific state you are inquiring about.

Start an at home daycare in Maine

Question:

How do I run a daycare out of my home in Maine?

Answer:

This answer is focusing on the bare minimum daycare requirements for Maine. It better answers the question, "How do I run a daycare in my home in Maine and have the least amount of government certification necessary?"

It makes sense why you would ask this. You want to run a small business, but don't want a lot of organizational headaches. Looking at the regulation, for the state of Maine, it seems the magical number is 2.

If you look on Maine's Child Care licensing page, the Rules for Family Child Care Providers document states that having 3 to 12 children in your home (who aren't your children) in a child care like setting on a regular basis requires certification.

So if you want an easy to manage, small business, initially, start with two children in the state of Maine. If you grow from there, look further into getting certified.

Good Luck! In the comments sections, please feel free to ask any questions about operating a daycare (in Maine or any other states).