As a provider just starting out, you need to remember that your daycare is a business. This is the same way you need to treat your new daycare operation, whether it is in your home or downtown in a center for 100 children. In its simplest form a contract is an agreement between two parties. You agree to do something, and in return, they agree to do something. In the daycare field, the provider agrees to provide care for a child and the parent or guardian agrees to pay for that service.
Verbal contracts are technically legal and binding, but are next to impossible to enforce.
You will want to include details about your rates, hours, methods of payments you will accept, when payments will be due, what will happen if a parent does not pay according to the contract. Include information for the parent about fees and other charges. Consider how you will handle parents who arrive late to pick up their children. What about parents who find another care provider and take their children elsewhere. Have a place for full name, date of birth, address, phone number, employer and employer phone number.