Today we’d like to introduce you to Caitlin Haight and Sarah Taylor.
Caitlin and Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
ST:
We met about eight years ago when we were co-teachers in a two-year-old classroom at a preschool here in San Diego. I worked there in the same classroom for three years before deciding to take a break from the classroom and nanny. I stayed with that family until last year when the youngest was moving on to school. I was questioning going back into a classroom but wasn’t sure if I was ready to go back to the traditional classroom setting.
CH:
I left the preschool and went to China to teach English for a year and a half. When I moved home, I went back to work at the preschool and stayed until last year.
I was starting to feel the need to branch out and do something different but still wanted to work in early childhood.
Me and Sarah had talked about opening our own daycare together but run it a little differently than most home daycares. We wanted to combine a traditional daycare with all the aspects of a preschool.We wanted to be able to use everything we had learned as preschool teachers and implement it in a setting where us and the children could really thrive. The home daycare would provide us with smaller child to teacher ratios, so we could spend more quality time with each child during the day. We also wanted a place to provide a sense of community with our families, and really get to bond with them over the next couple years.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We were very fortunate to have all this experience in childcare to help us understand a lot of the logistics of starting a daycare.
It took us about six months to renovate our space and get our licenses, permits and pass inspections.
However, the process of leaving our stable jobs, and not having a steady paycheck, was the scariest part. We didn’t really have any kind of support system of people who have gone through opening a home daycare before. The uncertainty of starting from the beginning was hard for both of us.
We are extremely lucky to have amazing family and friends that supported us from the beginning.
Tell us about Luna Bay Family Childcare. What should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Since we’ve opened our home daycare we noticed a lot of parents were looking for a smaller, more intimate setting for the care of their children. With that intimate setting, we have incorporated the structure and learning that happens at a larger center. We include age-appropriate learning activities such as music, art, science, and more.
We use a learning, and parent communication app during the day to send updates, pictures and explain what we’re learning every day. An added benefit of having a home daycare is that we are able to provide healthy, organic meals during the day.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We are definitely proud of ourselves for being able to leave our jobs and start this amazing journey. The whole reason we wanted to do this is because of the kids. It has been so rewarding to see these children grow every single day. From taking their first steps to learning new songs, every single day we are so proud of their accomplishments.
Contact Info:
- Address: Bay Ho, San Diego 92117
- Phone: 6194366901
- Email: lunabayfamilychildcare@gmail.com
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/qTKq/GstJUsuyLZ
- Other: https://luna-bay-family-childcare.business.site/
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