Natasha and her family are thriving since she became an educator

Warragul family day care educator Natasha is providing new child care options for local families while operating her own business and caring for her children.

Natasha opened her own Family Day Care (home-based childcare) business when her second child was born. Although she was working in social work at the time she also had a decade’s experience in long daycare and after school care.  “I loved doing social work but when my second child came I didn’t want to go back full time to work, so I decided to look into family daycare,” she says.

Natasha operates her home-based business under Windermere Child & Family Services. “I chose Windermere because they have a good reputation and offered lots of support,” she says.

 Within a month of opening her new business, Natasha was fully booked, and caring for her two children plus two other children on a daily basis.

“Being a Family Day Care educator lets me get the best of both worlds. I can still work and support my family, but I can also care for my children while doing something that I have a passion for,” she says.

With small class numbers and an intimate, home away from home feel, Family Day Care is enjoying increased interest.  Family Day Care educators can educate and care for no more than seven children at any one time. This includes no more than four children preschool age or under. “Since covid, we’ve had increases in families who are wanting childcare with the smaller class numbers. There has also been lots of interest from families in Warragul and surrounding areas,” says Andrea Carmody, Family Day Care Team Leader, Windermere Child & Family Services.

Natasha says she felt closely supported by Windermere during the sign-up and start-up process. “Any questions I asked were answered straight away. They also came out to talk to me and check the house a few times to make sure everything was OK,” she says.

Natasha was relieved she did was not required to make expensive upgrades to her home environment to start her Family Day Care. “Windermere told me to hold off doing anything until I had an initial safety audit. In the end, I only had to make some minor adjustments which we probably would have done anyway,” she says.

Natasha has also been enjoying the opportunity to network with others. “It’s been really great. Windermere have given me the opportunity to link in with other local educators to swap ideas and share tips and tricks and questions,” she says.

Her children have also been thriving since she started her family daycare. “Since the start of covid my son hasn’t really had anyone his age to be around. Now he’s started family daycare I’ve noticed his growth, particularly with social aspects, such as learning to share and improved language skills. We’re also finding bedtime is a lot easier because he’s having more stimulation during the day. My daughter’s not old enough to play yet, but I can see she enjoys watching and interacting with the others too,” she says.

Natasha’s background in early childhood education and care has assisted her transition to family daycare.

 “Having experience in early childhood has really helped with the programming side of things. It’s so helpful to already have the knowledge and resources to set up daily routines and manage transitions during the day such as nap and mealtimes,” she says.

 Natasha encourages others to think about becoming a Family Day Care educator with Windermere. “If you love working with children and want some work-life balance, being a family daycare educator is great. I’ve been loving it,” she says.

Want to know more about becoming a Windermere Family Day Care Educator? Call 1300 946 337 or visit Become a Family Day Care educator.