School Age or No School Age? (Sorry So Long)

[Lilbutterflie]

Well, I am a Listed Provider in TX, which means I don't have to do inspections and regulations BUT I can only have 3 in my care at one time other than my own.
I am lucky right now, all 3 of my dck's are from the same family. I love the family, they pay me on time, they are considerate and call if dropping off or picking up late (which is usually only ever b/c of traffic). DCM even offered to pay me early since I have to close on payday due to a family funeral (usually if I have decided to be closed on payday on short notice, they pay when they come back). I told her to postdate the check, and she insisted on me cashing it early b/c I would need it for trip (the funeral is out of state)!! I mean, how NICE is that?!
Let me get to my point... 2 of the 3 are starting kindergarten next fall. Their rate would drop significantly b/c they are full time now & I would only be watching them after school. In addition, their kindergarten is about 6 miles away and the bus doesn't come to my neighborhood, so I'd have to pick them up. Just a little added stress, but mostly what concerns me is the decrease in pay. I would only have their sister with me during the day, though. So here's my options:
1. I could try to fill 1 or 2 part time spots with hours up to 2:00pm (I would need to leave to pick them up by 2:15 or 2:20). Do any of your clients pick up by 2? This seems too early for any working parent??
2. I could try to advertise "Mommy's Day Out" twice a week. I would need to make about $70 per week from this to equal what I'm getting paid now. For those that offer Mommy's Day Out, what do you charge for say 3-4 hours? I like this option, but I feel as if I may not always be able to fill those spots each week.
3. I could tell DCM that I have decided not to offer school age care since I only have 3 spots and they all need to be full time. I most likely will lose all 3 and a wonderful family. Then I will have to try to fill 3 spots and hope that all 3 spots treat me well!!

What do you all think?

[missnikki]

I would tell her point blank that you are going to have a significant drop in pay when the 2 go off to kindy and only need part time, and you need your spots filled with full time kids. I think as reasonable as she sounds, she will understand, and perhaps think about the quality of care you offer and what it is worth to her. It will work itself out.

[marniewon]

Is there before/after school care at the school that the SA's could take advantage of? I have one here who is the younger sib of a SA and she goes to the b/a school program at her school and dcb comes here full time. It seems to be working for them.

[Lilbutterflie]

Thanks for your responses. We are in a farely rural area, so there is no before and after school program that I'm aware of. There's a local daycare center that I have heard terrible things about, and other home daycares. So if she finds another home daycare for the two kindy boys, she'll send her little one there too. No sense in going to two home daycares!
I was really hoping to hear from someone who offers the Mommy's Day Out program. I know there was a thread about this a while back, but I could not find it. If anyone offering this program would let me know if it's been successful, I'd really appreciate it!!

[marniewon]

Thanks for your responses. We are in a farely rural area, so there is no before and after school program that I'm aware of. There's a local daycare center that I have heard terrible things about, and other home daycares. So if she finds another home daycare for the two kindy boys, she'll send her little one there too. No sense in going to two home daycares!
I was really hoping to hear from someone who offers the Mommy's Day Out program. I know there was a thread about this a while back, but I could not find it. If anyone offering this program would let me know if it's been successful, I'd really appreciate it!!

I would love to hear about that too - is it like a drop-in program?

[Lilbutterflie]

Yes, it's a drop-in program. Like once or twice a week you would advertise having a "Mommy's Day Out" for about 3-4 hours. There are a LOT of SAHM's in our area, so I'm thinking it just might work. So I would have it during the day when I'm only watching one child. But I don't know if it would be successful enough to compensate for not having 3 full timers. I just KNOW there was a thread about this, but it's not pulling up when I search for it.

[Rachel]

I would put out feelers for a mommy's day out. Also, have you tried a preschool with extended hours? I know the 9 - 11 type preschool is more trouble than it's worth for a lot of people. Maybe looking into offering a preschool program from 9 - 1 or 2 and see if you can get kids that way to fill the gap.

[Abigail]

Wow, you are planning all the way out to next September 2011 right?! I wouldn't make a big deal of it now because you obviously have a long time left with all three full time. I would let her know that you will be trying to fill their day time spots with two full timers and try to work with her to take them part time. You could just ask if she would still want to keep her twins, assuming they're twins, part time for just after school too. How late do you keep them? If it's just an hour or even two hours after school she might be fine with two different daycares.

Either way, I am sure you can easily find a few kids who need full time care and require no transportation. You could also give the "Mommy's Day Out" a try for Saturdays starting soon to see how frequently it works. Have it be just 2-3 hours depending how long you can do basic errands in your area. If you start getting many clients, I am sure you could do it week days next year to equal their pay and still just keep this one family. Sounds like you're in a good situation though.