Frequently Asked Questions

WHO

To give you an idea of my background, I was born in New Jersey in 1954. I have two older twin brothers and a sister 14 months younger. I was raised in Denmark, Norway and Belgium between the ages of 3 and 15. My mother was the best in the world and was a housewife. My father was a Vice President of Finance for Ford, ITT, CBS and Rockwell International. I finished High School in Greenwich, Connecticut and went to college in Boston. I have two business associate degrees and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. In California, I was a word processing consultant for one year and a sales representative for A.B. Dick Word Processing Equipment for two years there. I was married in June 1979 and became a mother in August 1980. We moved to Maryland in October 1980 and I lost my first marriage shortly thereafter. Renee’s first father lives nearby and is active in her life.

My husband, Don Ackad, met me in 1982 and we married in February 1983. He retired from the Secret Service as a safety manager and is active in the Boy Scouts.

Donnie was born in December, 1983. About the same time my career with A. B. Dick as a word processing sales representative was being phased out with the industry . When Donnie was six months old, I was trying and failing to find and keep quality childcare for a preschooler and an infant.

I filled my own needs by becoming a family child care provider in 1983. Christopher was born in 1985, just before I lost my Mom. My Dad followed her 9 months later. Michelle was born in October 1987. My husband became a father to 4 children during the first 3 ½ years of our marriage. He made friends with a doctor and said I could borrow as many babies as I wanted.

Montgomery County had a program to encourage family child care providers to expand their business and care for more children. To get the permits I needed I moved from Bethesda to North Potomac in 1990. I continued my child care profession as a family child care provider until I finally got the permits I needed to be financially feasible as a center.

Before the State of Maryland merged its child care regulations into one agency, there was a lot of work to be done by providers, parents, government agencies and concerned citizens. I am proud to say that I was a very active participant during that time and I know I have made a difference in my profession. I have continued to be active and my center was one of the first in the State of Maryland to join the credentialing program that started in July of 2001.

My child care education meets the State requirements for Family Child Care and the level of the Child Care regulations which permits me to be a director of a center for more than 40 children. My center was one of the first to participate in the credentialing program. My staff members all apply to be credentialed. My credential level is Level 4.

For more information about me, Please see my Resumé and it will give you my resume and a list of the Workshops and College Educational Classes I have attended.

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WHERE

My husband and I designed and built our home for our personal and business needs. Important features for child care are:

• Non-smoking home - Guests of my home and clients who have to smoke are asked to do so outside if they cannot wait until they go home.

• Space – Child care centers are required to have 35 square feet of space per child. Some centers are grandfathered to the old requirement of 30 square feet per child. The space used for child care in my home gives each child about 50 square feet.

• Phone – I have two phone lines so you can reach me:
(301) 926-2229
(301) 926-9112 -My children answer this phone and it can be used to send and receive fax messages.
I also have an e-mail address robin@robinsnestchildcare.com

• Entrance - The entrance door goes directly into the main play area so the parents can come in without an adult having to leave the children. All of the doors are tempered glass for safety, and parents can see in and we can see who is coming.

• Intercom system – I can talk to someone who comes to the front door of the house and hear and speak to anyone upstairs without leaving the children.

• A flushing baby potty – For toilet training children to sit on comfortably and be free of the fear of falling in. This helps a lot during potty training.

• A portable phone permits the children to be supervised outside and it permits me to stay accessible to the parents who might call.

• Ceiling height, light windows, a separate air conditioner, a separate heater for the day care space, a carpet shampoo machine, a central vacumn system and a Hepa filter attached directly to the furnace for the child care space all makes a nice comfortable environment for your child and the staff members who work here helping me.

• Playground exit – Exit goes directly from the house with a ground level walkout. This makes caring for multiple children easy. There are no steps to cause a potential hazard.

• The playground is filled with Little Tykes equipment and swings. The larger swings have Fibar Mulch, an approved ground covering designed for playgrounds underneath them.

• A residential sprinkler system is installed for fire protection.

• All care is provided on-site unless prior permission is obtained with the exception of our “field trip” to the lot next door that I used to own that has fruit trees on it.

We have pets. We have a black lab named Lady and a yellow lab named Nudge. They are around the kids to play but most of the time they stay upstairs. My daughter’s dog Inka currently visits a lot. We have fish in a tank also. Our yard is filled with worms, frogs, turtles, deer, birds and a lot of other animals we get to see and clean up after.

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WHAT

FOOD – I provide the food for the children with some exceptions. Parents provide formula, breast milk, baby cereal, baby jar food (if you don’t want to use my baby food) and special items like soy milk, non-dairy foods or other items needed for a special diet.

You waited a long time to have a baby and those little jars are so cute, but I am over the idea of spending $24.00 per pound for a squished banana. I take a real banana and squish it myself for the babies. I use a large can of applesauce, cook real carrots, use green beans, peas and cherrios a lot for the babies. Cherrios are a safe “toy” and they might actually eat one. I cut hot dogs and grapes into triangle pieces and I use thin coats of peanut butter for the younger children.

Diapers and wipes are provided for by the parents. Children are changed before nap, after nap, and in groups, and as needed. I try not to waste diapers on light wetters and check heavy wetters for as needed frequently. If a child has one piece underwear and one piece outfits it is harder to check them than the ones that wear two piece underwear and outfits with no snaps.

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ACTIVITIES

The day is divided into:

Our program is not specifically scheduled to have for example, music time on Thursday at 10:00 until 10:45. The activity depends on the children.

•Big waffle blocks – these are the most favorite toy. You can create forts, chairs, towers, houses, tunnels, bumper cars….

• Skates – another favorite – they shuffle roll on the carpet.

• Furniture arranging – kids love to make their own spaces for creative play.

• Table Time – once or twice a day, table time is arts and crafts, play dough, coloring books, chalk board, painting, cutting and gluing. I like the kids to choose the table time they would like to do and create their own “art” instead of showing them how to follow preschool instructions by doing most of it for them. Other staff members prefer to do a specific structure routine daily. Either way the kids are having fun while learning. I make sure that all of the children are kindergarden ready before they start school in September. They need to know their shapes, colors, most letters and numbers and some words, especially their own name. More important, are their social skills, the ability to sit at table time, listen to a teacher and feel the love and concern from the adults that take care of them and their friends.

• Mrs. Ackad says: (I have the kids call me by my married name, the parents call me by my first name Robin, the business name is Robin’s Nest, the checks needed to be made out to Robin Rice and my eldest daughter has a different last name just to get you confused). The white shelves create something to circle around. I tell the kids to yell “I love my Mommy” and run around in a circle. New kids look at me and are amazed that I want them to make noise and have fun, “now go around and yell, I love my Daddy… hop like a bunny, hop like a frog and rabbit, slither like a snake… the kids soon try their own ideas… such fun.

• Tackle the big kid is another favorite. I have always had a mixed age group. Children learn a lot from kids their own age but nurturing skills can only be learned by mixed age groups. Children spend 13 years in school with the competition of their peers and the authority of their teachers. It is really important that they spend time with older and younger children. The favorite part of the day is often when the big kids are around. Now that my kids are staff members, they still like to play the big kid.

• Outside Time – is up to 3 times a day. The big kids have big swings, we blow and catch bubbles frequently, we paint occasionally, and play "Mrs. Ackad says".

• Nap time is early afternoon if we are tired and cranky, especially if I’m tired & cranky – it is late if we’re having a good time, normally it is around 1 to 3 p.m. for the one nappers.

• Reading flash cards, preschool ABC’s 123’s books, shapes and colors – These activities are used during table time and/or while some of the children are occupied with blocks, etc.

I recently made a video tape of the children and their activities during the day that I have loaned out to my parents.

The babies spend about 20 minutes in one “container” or another. They go from the bouncy seat to a providers arms, from an exersaucer to a providers arms, from the floor to the providers arms, from a high chair to the providers arms and sometimes they take a nap in the crib or in the providers arms. When they start crawling, the provider is on the floor with the babies crawling around them. I try to care for the babies according to what the parents want me to do. A note is a big help. Do you want them on their back, side or stomach? Demand feeding or a schedule? What can they eat and what do you want me to avoid? As long as it fits caring for children in a group setting, and meets the regulations, I like to follow the parents wishes when I can.

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POLICIES

The policies for the parents to comply with are in the contract and the new parent letter.

For the children, the policies are:

• Be nice to your friends
• Use your words
• Share
• Wait your turn

A lot of parents ask me about my discipline policy. I don’t have one, I have several. One thing that really surprised me when I became a parent of my second child was that I did not know what I was doing. Children are different and what works with one does not work with the other one at all.

If your child is shy, my discipline would be for me to bend down and suggest in a quiet soft voice that they should or should not do something.

If your child is a high energy child, I pick them up, sit them on a shelf in front of me and tell them that they should or should not do something in a loud hard voice. Most children are somewhere in between.

What is important is to follow these ideas up with teaching the child what to do and showing them what to do with a good balance of appropriate rewards and appropriate losses of privileges.

• You can not sit by your friends if you hit or bite or push…
• You will not get the cookie if you scream…
• If you and your friend fight over a toy, the teacher gets it
• If you push to get to the front of the line, you will be sent to the back
• You can sit by your friends if you are nice and gentle
• You will get the cookie if you say please, or gurgle, point and smile
• If you and your friend play together with the toy, you can both keep it
• If you are good at being in line, you will be invited to be first in line

You could get a sticker at the end of the day, or your Mom and Dad could get a phone call at work.

There was a great commercial on TV. A proud Daddy has this tiny little adorable baby boy…… he rolls this baby ball to his son……… the next shot shows a little boy successfully playing ball……the next shot this BOY is all over the room bouncing, throwing and kicking the ball……….the next shot the kid slam dunks the ball in the house and breaks the lamp. Adults are confusing. Somewhere along the line playing ball in the house made Daddy smile……… later it made him frown. The kid is doing the same thing, playing ball the best he can.

We teach our babies to play patty cake with our face…….. mommy smiles………the baby gets really good at it……….mommy’s face is red and the smile is gone.

We teach our kids to play high five, down low, the adult smiles….they play the same swatting games with their friends and the adult frowns.

We literally lie to our kids. “You don’t bite”. “Yes I do mommy”.

“I want you to tell the truth, what happened? Now go say you are sorry to your friend”

“OK, now which does Mommy really want? The truth is I’m not sorry”

Kids feel more secure when they have a list of things that are not optional. A list of things that always work. Dad will always put on a frown when I try to play with an electric outlet. Mom will always make me sit in the car seat. Mommy will always give me a hug when I have a boo boo. Kids learn the difference between a scary NO like when they try and touch something that can hurt, and a NO that does not mean NO like you can’t have another cookie.

If you take your child’s hand and teach them that “hot” is a scary word. Put warm food on the high chair tray and use a scary voice, take them to the fireplace, furnace and use a scary voice “hot” “hurt” while keeping them safely away. Take them to the staircase and use a scary voice “no” “hurt” while holding them face forward so they can see the stairs. Then turn them around and teach them how to go down the staircase backwards. They will find themselves on the staircase without you before they turn 13 and know more than you do. Teach them what to do before they get there without you.

If your child hits you, catch their hand, hold it for seconds, that is a hugh amount of time for a child to lose the use of their hand. They won’t hit you when they think you can catch their hand.

Take a child’s hand and show them how to gently “pet” their friend, parent, teacher and say, "Be nice."

If two kids are fighting over a toy, make them both sit down. Tell them we are going to play share. Kids are always interested in a game IF the adult is going to play too and they know it is not optional. Jack has the toy and the teacher/parent says he can keep the toy for a count of three, then Jill gets the toy for a count of three. Jill is crying and complaining because she does not have the toy, Jack is clinging onto it. The teacher/parent pries the toy out of Jack's hand and gives it to Jill. Now Jack is crying and Jill is clinging but they both soon start concentrating on the rules of this game, they are both getting to play with the toy, they both have the teacher’s attention, the teacher encourages both kids to pass the toy to the other kid, their confidence that they will get the toy back at the count of three increases and they are both starting to pass the toy to each other. Within a few minutes you have excellent success. They are passing the toy back and forth to each other and enjoying this game…….which last for several minutes…..until they both don’t want to play with the toy. Days later the same two children will be found playing share by passing the toy back and forth without the teacher. OK, well maybe weeks later.

Tell an older child that babies LOVE their feet to be rubbed. That puts the older child away from the face of the baby. Kisses and hugs are what you are supposed to do when you love somebody, everybody loves the baby but adults like children who play with the babies feet better than when children smother and get their germs in the babies face.

I don’t like time outs very much, but I try everything. I heard one story that a child was put in time out when they did something wrong, when he got older he had to go further away to his room when he did something wrong, when he was a teenager, he ran further away and left home because he did something wrong, then he really messed up and he really left.

Children need a list of things that are not optional. The list can be different and they understand that the list is different with different adults. It is ok to bounce the ball in the house when Dad is home but not when Mom is. Children also need to be able to make their own choices, just make sure if you offer them a or b that it is really ok for them to have their choice. The choice is the red car or the blue car not the Honda or the Mercedes.

Children hear NO all the time and they know the adults don’t mean it most of the time. There are so many ways to communicate with a child, your voice, your tone, your touch, your smiles your frowns.

A crying child wants you to do something about their problem. Give them two choices you are willing to do and they have to stop crying to think about which choice they want. Is it a one kiss boo or a two kiss boo? Where do you need the kiss? Do you want a new paper to color or do you want me to put tape on this one?

I want my Mommy is a problem. I tell them I want my mommy too. I want my Daddy too, do you want your daddy? I want my mommy three and I want my daddy five. Now the problem is what number should mommy get and what number should daddy get and now we have a problem we can do something about.

The kids are better at learning and complying with my policies than the adults are.

Still have more questions? Of course you do!

Call me at 301-926-2229 or e-mail me at robin@robinsnestchildcare.com

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