Hello! I am a stay at home mom here in Finland, and I have a daughter that will be in third grade in August. After some thought, I have decided it would be a good idea to offer services for those parents who need care for their children when school is out in the afternoons. I will make sure the child leaves school safely, provide after school snacks and drinks and provide homework time and help if necessary. Each day we will do a variety of planned activities such as swimming, going to the library, visiting the park, going to the sports arena, nature walks and more. In the states I had a licensed family home child care center set up to where I provided care for small children, but also had an after school program for children aged 6 to 12. I provided this service for 7 years before we moved to Finland. Since there is no such program at this time (to my knowledge) for the third graders, I thought I could provide a safe, active environment for a few in my daughters class. Then depending on the parents needs, I would see that the child gets home safely. Plus, my daughter would have friends to do activities with on a regular basis. Seeral parents have expressed interest, if only to keep the child from going home to an empty house, eating chips and watching the tele for hours.
I was planning on charging only 5 euros a day, just to cover the cost of snacks, crafts, swimming fees, etc., and it would only be for 1-4 children.
My questions are this: is there any procedure that I have to go through to make sure that I am doing this legally? Where would I register this type on thing? Technically, is it really a business if there is so little money involved? If so, what should I do to make sure that I am not breaking any rules or laws?
I have looked through the search, and nothing I have found pertained to this situation. If anyone has any helpful advice or thoughts, please let me know.
Thanks in advance!
Jessica
having a afterschool program...what do I need to do?
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jessicapowell
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:12 am
- Location: Espoo, Finland
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Re: having a afterschool program...what do I need to do?
At a guess I would say it depends on the relationship you have with the parents involved. Presumably if it is done on "a casual basis" (ie very informal set up and all the parents are OK with it) then there is no need to set up a business or go through the municipal channels. You could set up a "ry" (non-profitmaking association) for the bookkeeping if you wanted to make it a bit more formal.
If you want to run it as a business then I think you need to speak to Espoo municipality. Not sure if after-school clubs are part of the koulutuskeskus or if they come under family welfare. The headmaster at the school could probably give you a contact person. The municipality will tell you what the regulations are. Or try talking to the people who run the after school club for the 1st and 2nd graders and get some info from them.
If you want to run it as a business then I think you need to speak to Espoo municipality. Not sure if after-school clubs are part of the koulutuskeskus or if they come under family welfare. The headmaster at the school could probably give you a contact person. The municipality will tell you what the regulations are. Or try talking to the people who run the after school club for the 1st and 2nd graders and get some info from them.