Changing my hours...

[WImom]

I used to be open until 4:30 (7-4:30) and last fall changed to 4:45 to try and get more clients. I ended up with one one that needs that time. Fast Forward to now...I have been getting requests from clients that say they may need past 4:45 occasionally (we all know that it won't be that ) so I'm thinking of changing my hours back to 4:30 and offering an extended care choice - 4:30-4:45 - $5.00 a day extra or 4:30-5:00 - $10 per day extra.

Is this too much? Should I offer a weekly fee if they always need it or frequently need it - $15/20 more a week? I feel like my husband can't work late on days my kids have 5pm activities since he has to be here incase I have to work late so we are missing out on his overtime but on the otherhand I'm missing out on clients if I stay at 4:30 only.

Also, how should I word this for new and my one current client? Also my current client use to pick up at 4:30 and maybe one every two weeks it was 4:45 to it being 4:45 almost every day this summer. I'm sometimes here with this one child (my problem child of course) 30 minutes after everyone else is gone. If I lose them over this I really don't care.

[Familycare71]

I'm in the same boat . I have a long time family that is switching from 4:30 pick up to 5:30 pick up and 6:00 on Fridays!!! I don't want to do it but really need to financially and I love these kids-
So ill be interested to see what others suggest- I really don't know what to charge for the late fri!!

[WImom]

This is the letter I came up with - Does it make sense?
Dear Parents,
This letter is to inform you that starting the week of August 19th, 2013 my hours will be changing back to my original hours of 7:00am to 4:30pm. This will only affect a very small amount of you. But the good news is I will be offering extended care until 5:00pm.

Extended Care:
I will offer extended care for $5.00 from 4:30-4:45pm or $10.00 for care from 4:30-5:00pm.

My rates were kept low due to my hours being shorter than most in-home childcares. Instead of raising rates across the board (which I haven’t done in 4 years) I felt this was the easiest solution. Even if you chose to go with extended care my rates are comparable to other nearby in-home childcares.

Another change taking place is that my husband, Jon may be caring for the kids some days if your child is here for extended care. My own children have activities that start at 5:00/5:30 so some evenings I need to get dinner ready so they can eat before practice. I will be here as well but he will be helping me so I can leave the childcare space if needed.

I am also attaching the updated rates sheet for you to fill out as well as an example extended care form. This extended care form will be used anytime your child is here past 4:30.

If you have any questions please let me know.
Thank you,
XXXXXXXX

[SunnyDay]

You will want to be specific about whether that is $5 per day or $5 per week

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

For one hour of extended care each day I charge $6.00 daily (5:00-6:00 PM). If it's less than that, I just charge the $1.00 per 10 minute charge. If they wrote on the contract that they'd be picking up at 5:20, it would be $2.00 extra per day and $1.00 a minute after 5:20. If that family that arrives at 5:20 was doing so M-F they would be paying an additional $10.00 per week.
I think $10.00 for 30 minutes is a bit steep, personally, but if that would work well for you in your area you could give it a go!