Is It Worth It to Watch One Child? Teacher Client Related Post

[Indoorvoice]

I have kind of posted about this before and I'm still just not sure what to do.

In the fall, I will have only 2 families by choice. I need a break. One family is a teacher. I can't decide if I should adopt the school schedule or stick to what I have been doing. I currently give families 2 weeks free vacation, I take 2 weeks unpaid vacation but take holidays paid. I have been letting the teacher pay $50 per week for the summer and not come while the non teacher family comes every single day.

If I don't adopt the school schedule, the teacher will use her free vacation time during most of the breaks and I will be left with just one child. Is that worth it? She will send her kid during breaks once she has used up her 2 weeks, making it hard for me to get a break.

If I do adopt the school schedule, I have no idea how to charge. I currently charge $145 per week during the school year minus her vacations and mine. Then only $50 per week in the summer. It's a lot of unpaid time. Plus I will have only one family the whole summer and it doesn't seem worth it to stay home for 10 hour days for only a few bucks an hour. Also though, I will probably make less than I do now? Help me figure this out!

[daycarediva]

A few things come to mind-
1. Are you willing to lose the non teacher family? Most families would rather find steady care than arrange for that amount of back up care. Could you find another teacher family?
2. What do you NEED/WANT to make per year? I would take that amount, divide it up by the amount of weeks the families will be paying for (and I probably would not take unpaid vacations anymore since you will have so much unpaid time off anyway)
3. I would also not give unpaid vacations- just that you follow the school schedule and these (list breaks) are the times you will be closed and are unpaid. The remaining weeks are paid regardless of attendance.

I would LOVE to run by the school calendar, but I can't fill all of my spaces with teacher families. We are close to several different schools, public, private, and colleges but they all run on different schedules, and enough difference that it would be a big deal for the families.

[midaycare]

I can think of a few things. First, the teacher family might not stay if there aren't any other kids to interact with. Second, just watching one child (or siblings?) gets harder and boring. You have to entertain so much more.

[Indoorvoice]

A few things come to mind-
1. Are you willing to lose the non teacher family? Most families would rather find steady care than arrange for that amount of back up care. Could you find another teacher family?
2. What do you NEED/WANT to make per year? I would take that amount, divide it up by the amount of weeks the families will be paying for (and I probably would not take unpaid vacations anymore since you will have so much unpaid time off anyway)
3. I would also not give unpaid vacations- just that you follow the school schedule and these (list breaks) are the times you will be closed and are unpaid. The remaining weeks are paid regardless of attendance.

I would LOVE to run by the school calendar, but I can't fill all of my spaces with teacher families. We are close to several different schools, public, private, and colleges but they all run on different schedules, and enough difference that it would be a big deal for the families.

1. I would be willing to lose the non teacher family. They do have a school age child they would have to find care for anyway though, so I wonder if it would even be a huge issue?
2.and 3. I was thinking of doing it that way and spreading out the payments so I get paid over the summer still and am not left without a paycheck. Or is that having my cake and eating it too?

[Controlled Chaos]

1. I would be willing to lose the non teacher family. They do have a school age child they would have to find care for anyway though, so I wonder if it would even be a huge issue?
2.and 3. I was thinking of doing it that way and spreading out the payments so I get paid over the summer still and am not left without a paycheck. Or is that having my cake and eating it too?

One should always eat their cake ::

When I was a middle school teacher my dd attended the attached daycare. My pay was spread out over 12 months and so was the payments to the daycare even though dd didn't go at all Jun - Aug.

[AmyKidsCo]

Only you know what's worth it to you.

Personally it wouldn't be worth it to me to only have 1 child over breaks. I want to spend that time with my own children so I'd either close or make sure it was financially worth my while to stay open.

[childcaremom]

I have only teachers as clients. I offered one family a few days here and there over the summer. I will NOT do it again.

Boooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg.

I charge a much higher rate throughout the school year. Do not charge for school breaks. It is pricey but my parents love it and it is so nice to have a break!

I have one opening left and will take a full year client if I have to but will not hesitate to replace with a teacher if one came along.

[Crazy8]

Only you know what's worth it to you.

Personally it wouldn't be worth it to me to only have 1 child over breaks. I want to spend that time with my own children so I'd either close or make sure it was financially worth my while to stay open.

Same here! There have been years (in the past) where financially I needed clients all summer and dreaded taking on teachers because of that. Now that my kids are older and more active and we are better off financially I would LOVE to have the summers off.
Only you can really decide the "is it worth it" part.

[Indoorvoice]

I have only teachers as clients. I offered one family a few days here and there over the summer. I will NOT do it again.

Boooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg.

I charge a much higher rate throughout the school year. Do not charge for school breaks. It is pricey but my parents love it and it is so nice to have a break!

I have one opening left and will take a full year client if I have to but will not hesitate to replace with a teacher if one came along.

How much higher? I'm thinking I need to do this gradually because the teacher has been used to this awesome setup for her for 2 years now.

[childcaremom]

How much higher? I'm thinking I need to do this gradually because the teacher has been used to this awesome setup for her for 2 years now.

I tried to figure out by calculating my regular rate for a year and spreading that over 10 months rather than 12. The rate was way too high.

So I figured I would try my part time rate (which is $5 more than my full time rate) and see if I had bites. I did. I was shocked, tbh, as I already charge really high rates (already charge almost $10 more per day over other providers). But I make the promise that they are not charged for christmas, march or summer breaks. My own children are all school aged and we all LOVE it. Totally worth having the built in mental breaks.

[Indoorvoice]

I tried to figure out by calculating my regular rate for a year and spreading that over 10 months rather than 12. The rate was way too high.

So I figured I would try my part time rate (which is $5 more than my full time rate) and see if I had bites. I did. I was shocked, tbh, as I already charge really high rates (already charge almost $10 more per day over other providers). But I make the promise that they are not charged for christmas, march or summer breaks. My own children are all school aged and we all LOVE it. Totally worth having the built in mental breaks.

So do you spread that out over 12 months so you have a set weekly rate, or do they just pay for the weeks they come? I'm trying to figure out breaks that start half way through the week and breaks that are only one or 2 days like MLK day and mid winter break.

[childcaremom]

So do you spread that out over 12 months so you have a set weekly rate, or do they just pay for the weeks they come? I'm trying to figure out breaks that start half way through the week and breaks that are only one or 2 days like MLK day and mid winter break.

I do bi-weekly payments and they are only billed during care periods. I take a 2 week deposit at the end of June to secure placement for September.

This is my first year doing it and it def. takes planning to do it this way but so far it works for me.