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The decision has been made, the full time job discarded and you are starting your day care however, you're only now realizing what you've let yourself in for. Weighty questions must be tackled, decisions must be made e.g. Montessori day care or Steiner, daycare franchises or go it alone and the to do list continues to grow.

A day care franchise can be a great, no fuss, instant business way to go. First off you'll get the benefit of instant brand recognition thus making it easier for you to gain customer loyalty. Generally there will be a development process in place to help with funding acquisition, unit selection, the construction process, getting licensed, training and launching your business.

Packages may also include design templates for buildings, proprietary curriculum plus ongoing training and support for owners and staff. Operations manuals will make hitting the ground running a breeze and having the use of a recognized brand for advertising may well mean a busy opening day. Some deals even offer home office support.

There is no doubting the appeal of all of the above. However, franchises are extremely pricey and require an upfront financial commitment plus proof of a healthy net worth (and that's before you even open your doors). Now, where did I leave that goose with the golden egg laying capabilities??

So, to the curriculum question. There are many, excellent programs to choose from so you really need to do some thorough research to establish which method might best suit your day care (or you could just draw straws :-)). Ever helpful I've included a list of some of the more popular curriculums with a brief explanation to get you started:

- Play based program - play is the educator with children learning through focused play - Montessori - development is observed by the teacher, who neither interfere nor get in the way but support the child - Waldorf Method - learning through imagination, imitation and play due to an inbuilt love of play - High/Scope - teachers are facilitators as children have responsibility for their work and learn through doing - Reggio Emilio - focuses on the natural development of the child in relation to their environment - Piaget - interaction based - Steiner - the changing needs of the children as they develop dictates how the education is designed

Should you have extra money but not a lot of spare time then daycare franchises will have definite appeal for you. The program you choose is also extremely important and while I find my Montessori day care to be a fantastic method only you can decide which is the best fit for your day care.