Operating a Family Child Care Home (FCCH) is deeply rewarding, but it also can be overwhelming to juggle all of the aspects that come with running a small business. From meeting licensing requirements to engaging families to staying on top of taxes, FCCH providers wear more hats than most people realize. At Early Learning Ventures (ELV), we know how challenging it can be to manage it all while still providing high‑quality care to children.
The Family Child Care Toolkit is a comprehensive resource hub designed to streamline business operations with essential resources right at your fingertips. Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been in the field for years, ELV's Shared Resource Platform toolkit brings together the essential guidance, templates, and resources you need to run a successful child care business.
The toolkit is organized into easy‑to‑navigate sections so you can find what you need right when you need it.
Business Basics & Professionalism
Build your business with guidance on financial management, recordkeeping, compliance, professionalism, and policies. You’ll also find tips for working effectively with families and strategies to save money along the way. These resources are designed to support you in running your program with confidence, clarity, and long‑term sustainability.
Classroom & Activities
Discover developmentally appropriate practices, links to curriculums, samples of daily schedules, and more. This section is packed with practical resources and tips to support high‑quality care and enriching learning experiences in your FCCH.
Emergency Readiness
From fire drills to tornados, this section helps you prepare for the unexpected and comply with licensing regulations, keeping the children in your care safe and giving families peace of mind.
Family Engagement
Build strong relationships with parents and guardians through ELV’s Resource Platform courses, templates, and handouts that promote family engagement.
Health & Safety
Dive into essential learning on topics such as hand washing, child abuse identification and reporting, crib safety, and first aid. You’ll also find safety checklist samples and assessments to help you maintain a healthy, safe environment every day.
Human Resources
Whether it’s just you or you also employ an assistant, substitute, or educator, this section supports you in your HR role. Access quick links to tax documents, wage information, and more!
Marketing
Grow your enrollment and visibility with simple and practical marketing tools, such as website builders, a free logo maker, business cards, flyer templates, and monthly newsletter templates.
Meals & Nutrition
Support nutritional eating with cookbooks & recipes, resources on food allergies & food safety, and a guide on how to implement family style dinging. You can also find out more about the Child and Adult Care Food Program!
Regulations
Navigate Colorado’s licensing requirements with confidence. This section links to state-specific licensing regulations and provides a handout of recommended vaccines and the appropriate age for them.
Tax Tips
There are many special rules for FCCH when it comes to shared expenses. Find simple explanations, checklists, and tips to help you prepare for tax season—including the tax return process, recordkeeping tips and guides, and guidance on home‑based business and shared expenses.
Training & Professional Development
Continue growing your skills and knowledge with training opportunities and professional development pathways tailored to early childhood educators.
P.S. Thanks to grant funding, registration is completely free and available to all staff at ECE businesses.
Read more about what ELV's Shared Resource Platform can do for you:
