Sharon Speight enjoys interacting with youngsters in her Northside home child care center.

As a gentle rain contributed to the calm outside Sharon Speight’s Northside house, six youngsters filled the inside of her child care business with excitement. 

Seated at a kids-sized table, Darius, 6, intently made a spider web with glue and glitter. He proudly stated that he has a library card, then pointed to 1-year-old Preston and exclaimed: “Me and him are buddies.”  

Meanwhile, Aniyah, 5, and her brother Charlesallen, 3, and J-sean, 5, and sister J-aura, 1, put together puzzles and turned the pages of books. 

Their parents were away working in jobs such as home health aide or school bus driver, or participating in programs such as Community Link, which helps Ohio Works First (OWF) recipients transition to work and self-sufficiency.

Second stint as home child care provider
Speight completed the second year of her second tenure as a home provider on Aug. 19. She served as a home provider 1992-2003 before leaving to go back to school and work as a home visitor and pre-school teacher for the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency.

“I’ve been at this a long time,” said Speight, as she held a tired 1-year-old in her arms. “I’ve raised five grandkids in the day care. Right now, they are, 21, 18... .” 

Walter, her husband of 30-plus years, has seen dozens of kids in the home over the years. He works at Siemens Energy and Automation in Norwood. 

“He’s so used to this,” she said. “He’s always thinking about the children. Like, he knows that Darius loves dinosaurs.” 

Sharon and Walter Speight have three adult children and five grandchildren. She eagerly awaits the arrival of great-grandchild, born in July, in her child care center. 

Can care for up to six children
Speight is a Type B child care provider for Hamilton County Child Care, a division of the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services. Type B Child Care homes provide care to families eligible for the state subsidized program. They care for up to six children in the provider’s personal residence.  

She became a child care provider to help her daughter, then a young mother. 

“I was working full-time and going to school,” Speight said. “I was basically working to pay for child care.” 

A child care provider suggested that Speight become certified by Hamilton County. “She said: ‘You look so tired all of the time,’” she said. “This has allowed me to raise my grandchildren. I’ve raised a lot of babies.” 

Builds close bonds with families
More than half of her former day care families come back for visits. 

“It’s good to see them later on,” she said. “I saw one young man, who was here for maybe six months. I didn’t know who he was. He’s six feet tall. He was looking for day care. Now that makes me feel old.” 

Speight describes her operation as a neighborhood day care. She gets referrals from local businesses such as a bakery around the corner. 

“You walk around with the kids,” she said, “and people get to know you.” 

In the summer, Speight keeps children busy with field trips, visits to parks and other activities. In other seasons, she prepares children ages 3-5 for future school careers. She watches one school-aged child after the school day ends. Her child care work runs 6:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Reading emphasized; not much TV
The children visit the library once a week. In fact, the library calls to let her know when new children’s tapes have arrived. Speight doesn’t have the television on much, outside of early in the day as children arrive.

Speight earned her Child Development Associate (CDA) credential during her first term as a home provider. She since has received Parent as Teachers certification. She is one class, Business Math, from obtaining an associate’s degree.  

“When I started out, the first five years, I realized that working with kids you need to know a lot about kids and their different personalities,” she said. “It helped me know how to understand and work with the kids.”

Speight learned that automatic timeouts don’t work. She discovered that redirecting children works better and doesn’t upset them. She only uses timeouts when children get out of control – and she explains why.  

“You have a tendency to discipline kids the way you disciplined your own kids, and I never really spanked my kids,” she said. 

Training still important
Speight still takes 15-20 hours of training per year. Most center on infant, toddler and pre-schoolers. Other classes help with parental interactions. 

“When I first started, there was only CPR and first aid training,” she said. “Now, there’s a lot more involving early childhood development.” 

Speight appreciates skills learned and contacts made during a stint with Head Start in the 1990s. Training offerings expanded as the number of home child care providers climbed.

As a result of the training, Speight developed and implemented more structured days for children. They know the times of breakfast and snacks, and what days they’ll go to a park or library. They look forward to eating their favorite food, chicken, on Friday. 

“As long as the children know what to expect, you have a much calmer day care center,” she said.

Interactions with parents get special care
Speight keeps parents updated about child care activities in a monthly newsletter. She also offers a topic such as “parent day,” where discussion centers on celebrating parenthood. She provides lists of resources, such as free air conditioners and fans during summer, and articles with back-to-school suggestions. 

“I try to run this professionally and keep it as family friendly as possible,” Speight said. 

Child care providers must deal with situations where parents don’t show and don’t call to say their children won’t be there. Parents sign a contract with Speight and get a handbook. 

“The biggest challenge is deciding where to draw the line,” she said. “You don’t want to always penalize a parent, but what do you do if a parent arrives two hours late? With cell phones, some can’t call because they have run out of minutes. That’s my biggest dilemma.” 

Families refer friends and family members to Speight’s center. When she decided to return to home child care, people started calling her. 

Melanie Montgomery, home provider specialist, praised Speight for putting her early childhood development education in practice. Montgomery described her as an excellent record keeper with great organizational skills. She said Speight has made a big impact through her closeness with children from the time they were babies until their entered kindergarten. 

“Being a home child care provider allowed me to raise my grandkids – and my daughter felt more comfortable going to work,” Speight said. “It allowed me to make money and go to school.”