Kathy Ligon is the founder & CEO of HINGE Advisors. Trained as a public accountant, Kathy has more than 35 years of experience in educational operations. During that time, she has found there are five pillars to the success of a child care business:  occupancy, tuition rates, discounting practices, salary costs and rent-cost management. Listen as Kathy walks us through each of these pillars in detail to learn how you can grow your child care business! To learn more about Kathy and her company, visit hingeadvisors.com.  And check out Framework by Hinge, which is an easy-to-use ap ..read more

Procare Solutions recently released our 2024 Child Care Management Software Industry Trends Report, which provides a comprehensive look at the current state of the child care industry’s use of technology as well as challenges that early childhood education programs must adapt to, and overcome, to thrive. But the findings detailed in this report go deeper than software. In compiling this data, the goal was to better understand the obstacles being faced by child care providers. To provide more context to the findings, we partnered with experts in several areas of early childhood education.  ..read more

Technology scares people, and that's true for child care employees. "Easing them into it helps, and really slowing it down and teaching them," says LaToya Riggins, vice president of professional development of CRAFT by Better Futures.  Proper training and guidance is key, and so is showing employees how they'll benefit from using technology ... and that you're ready to help them. "Don't be afraid. Technology is a beautiful thing when used correctly. Give it a chance," she says. In this podcast, LaToya shares her tips for how to get your staff on board with using technology in their cl ..read more

Tuition collection can be a breeze when families can easily pay you on time and with their preferred method of payment. And for today’s parents, their preferred method overwhelmingly is digital, whether through autopay from their checking accounts or by debit cards and credit cards.     The perks of accepting digital payments at your child care program are many, for both you and them! In this podcast, you'll learn more how your center will benefit with streamlined financial processes, and how families can reap the benefits of using their credit cards, such as flights or cashback offe ..read more

A tour of your child care center should be your Super Bowl, says Molly Hichens. Are you doing enough to wow families who tour your daycare or preschool? Molly is a second-generation owner at Bright Beginnings Preschool, which has three locations in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is about to celebrate 40 years in business! She’s also an accomplished child care consultant and speaker. And when it comes to giving tours to prospective families, she has a lot of great ideas to share, including:  Setting specific days and times to give tours Make the tour posh (her centers bake cookies and of ..read more

Beginning September 30, 2023, states could be forced to deal with the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding, which will lead to a mass disruption in the child care landscape. The $24 billion that went to child cares was part of a pandemic program, and has been the largest investment in child care in history. Without that funding, 3.2 million children could lose spots in child cares and more than 70,000 centers could close, according to a Century Foundation report. In this podcast, Cindy Lehnhoff, the director of the National Child Care Association, explains what's happening and what ..read more

Allyx Schiavone had intended to start a new elementary school in New Haven, Connecticut, until she listened to her community and saw the need for an early childhood education center.  In this episode, she talks about partnering with local Quakers to form the Friends Center for Children. Allyx is the executive director of the center, which is supported by a comprehensive emotional wellbeing program and made accessible with sliding scale tuition.  Allyx also serves as the co-chair of the Child Care for Connecticut’s Future Coalition, representing partners working to increase public f ..read more

Today's millennial and Gen Z workers are mission driven, tech savvy and they expect to be onboarded and given professional development and coaching, says Kris Murray. Kris is the founder and president and founder of The Child Care Success Company and a leading child care business expert.  In this podcast, she talks about how to help child care staff grow within your organization and the importance of professional development to make that happen. Her tips for successfully onboarding and retaining employees include:  Offering a retention bonus after a certain number of days Creatin ..read more

AJ Crabill has strong opinions about early childhood education and he's quick to dispel any notion that it should start around preschool. He is a champion of ECE, and his education experience includes chairing the Kansas City School Board and serving as the deputy commissioner of the Texas Education Agency where he helped spearhead statewide incentives for school districts to expand their pre-K offerings outcomes statewide.  He's now a conservator with the DeSoto Independent School District and he coaches school systems nationwide to get clear about what they want for their students. In ..read more

Dr. Rosemarie Allen has served as an educational leader for over 30 years and her life’s work is centered on ensuring all children have access to high-quality early childhood programs that are developmentally and culturally appropriate.  She’s an associate professor in the school of education at Metropolitan State University in Denver, and other career highlights include serving as Colorado’s director of the division of early learning, and she oversaw the state’s licensing program. She also helped implement the state’s professional development plan and helped create its early learning gu ..read more