By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Jessica Normandin, a Hays native, wasn't sure she was going to make it as a child care provider as she was starting out.
"The first four months, I questioned myself," she said.
"I was a mom. I was a parent. When you add a whole bunch of other kids, it's different. You have to figure it out," Normandin said.
However, the in-home provider has been in the business for more than 20 years.
Normandin, 44, was nominated for the February Child Care Champion Award by Dana Stanton, member of the Child Care Task Force of Ellis County.
Normandin and her husband knew they wanted to have four children. Knowing what child care costs, opening her own child care was a way to stay home with her kids, be her own boss and make child care for her children affordable.
Her children have long since outgrown child care. They are 16 through 26. Her youngest is a Hays High School student.
"We were able to spend plenty of time with them," Normandin said. "They were able to play and make new friends. We had lots of fun stuff to do because of the day care."
She said she continued as a child care provider after her children entered school because she said she enjoyed being home, being her own boss and working with small children.
Normandin usually does not take babies. Most of her children are 3 to 5. During the summer, she takes some school-age children.
She is not a licensed preschool but follows a pre-K curriculum.
The walls of her child care, which is in a remodeled addition to her home, are covered with brightly colored cutouts and posters depicting numbers, letters, colors, shapes and days of the month.
Normandin said she thinks children greatly benefit from building skills like numbers and shapes before kindergarten.
"I think the more repetition they get going with the kids, the more they know and the more they retain once they get to kindergarten," she said. "It makes their job a little easier if they have a good baseline."
Normandin also has toys that help the children develop fine motor skills and playground equipment that helps them develop gross motor skills.
"We really enjoy going outside. I really encourage them to get creative on their own," she said. "All the fine motor stuff, I leave them open-ended so they can create what they want."
She said she appreciates having a section of her home dedicated to child care and separate from her family's living space.
The child care rooms are child-proofed and made for the children, Normandin said.
This helps her concentrate on the aspects she loves about being a child care provider.
"I love getting to watch how much they learn and how much they grow in the time that they come," Normandin said. "I make each of my kids a scrapbook. Typically, I have them for a two-year span. It's neat to see where they started with me and how much they grew and learned within that two years."
Normandin said her greatest challenge recently has been filing her openings. Last year, there was a shift in the local child care industry as new centers opened.
She said it's difficult for in-home child care providers to adjust to those changes when they depend on staying full to pay their bills.
However, Normandin said her child care is full at this time.
Her advice to new providers is not to give up.
"Kids can be challenging at times, but there's always better times coming. Once you get in the routine of how you are going to keep everything going, it's better," she said.
Someone needs a diaper change. Someone needs a drink. Someone needs a toy. The children are pulling you in all different directions, she said.
"Once you get a clear routine established, they know what to expect," Normandin said. "They know what they can and they can't do. It just seems the day goes better when everyone knows the expectations, routine and what's going to happen next."