DC Parents Who Are Teachers...

[Dsquared]

What do you guys do about DC parents who are teachers and don't want DC over the 3 summer months? My wife only has 4 kids in her small DC (that's all my wife wants) and 2 kids have moms that are teachers. My wife doesn't want to lose the $$ for 3 months. Should she just get 2 new kids? What do you guys do?

[Live and Learn]

I work mostly for teachers.

My work schedule follows the teacher's work schedule. I take off all school holidays, winter break, spring break (yay!!!), and summer break. I charge a higher daily rate than anybody I know around here ($43 day 8am-4pm) my daycare families and I take the whole summer off!!

I receive no income during the summer.

The one non teacher family I have has alternate care for the summer.........

LOVE IT!!

The best part of this is having the entire summer and other holidays for my own kids!!!!....next week is spring break....10 days with just my kids!

[juliebug]

depends on you
1. have them pay for summer to hold there spot,
2. try to fill it with school agers if you want.
3. if they don't want to pay for summer fill there spot with new kids.

[snbauser]

I actually have 5 of my 12 parents that work for the school system. Some of them choose to leave their children here full time for the summer. I do give them an option of going to a set part time schedule for the summer and being able to go back to full time when the school year starts. This year is the most I have ever had so I'm a little concerned as to how many might go part time and how I will continue to pay my staff but we will wait and see. They have until April 15th to let me know so I can plan accordingly.

[Dsquared]

depends on you
1. have them pay for summer to hold there spot,
2. try to fill it with school agers if you want.
3. if they don't want to pay for summer fill there spot with new kids.

I wish they would pay to hold their spot, but both of them won't do it. I guess will just have to look for replacements...

[youretooloud]

I LOVE my teachers and their kids!! They are by far my favorite clients.

So, I am in the minority when I don't charge the teachers for summers or Christmas break. It's hard to get through the summer on such a small income. I can usually pick up a few summer only kids.. but, it doesn't offset the loss of income.

Still, it's worth it to me. I couldn't design better families to work with. The kids have the best of both worlds. By May, they are ready to be home for summer, but by August, they are ready to come back.

I think most of my provider friends charge 1/2 the week in order to keep the spot open. I just chose not to do that.

[youretooloud]

I wish they would pay to hold their spot, but both of them won't do it. I guess will just have to look for replacements...

Just the fact they they won't pay a partial payment to hold the spot would bother me. It's disrespectful to you, and it says they don't value you enough... they'd rather look for new childcare every fall.

[e.j.]

When my own kids were younger and counted in my numbers, I would let the teachers take the summer off without pay because I needed those spots.

Once my own kids stopped having to be counted in my numbers, my policy changed because I couldn't afford to continue to hold spots without being paid for them. I gave them a choice: they could pay to hold their spot or not pay and take the chance that there would be an opening in the Fall. I was very lucky in that all of my teacher parents chose to keep their child in care for the summer. They all understood that I could not remain open if I didn't have an income. Most brought their kids part-time, saying they could use the time the kids were with me to do errands, housecleaning, yardwork, etc.

[Lucy]

I work mostly for teachers.

My work schedule follows the teacher's work schedule. I take off all school holidays, winter break, spring break (yay!!!), and summer break. I charge a higher daily rate than anybody I know around here ($43 day 8am-4pm) my daycare families and I take the whole summer off!!

I receive no income during the summer.

The one non teacher family I have has alternate care for the summer.........

LOVE IT!!

The best part of this is having the entire summer and other holidays for my own kids!!!!....next week is spring break....10 days with just my kids!

I've been thinking about trying this too. My question is, what do you do when there is a teacher work day and the kids are out of school but the teachers still have to work? Do you have the kids for the full day? If you do, what do you charge extra?

[Live and Learn]

I've been thinking about trying this too. My question is, what do you do when there is a teacher work day and the kids are out of school but the teachers still have to work? Do you have the kids for the full day? If you do, what do you charge extra?

Honestly, those teacher work days are my least favorite days!!!::

My own kids are off for the day and some are old enough to want to sleep in but the noisy dc babies arrive at 8am sharp!

All told there are probably only 10 to 12 of these teacher work days throughout the year.......Three days before school starts,1 day after school ends, 4 days of parent teacher conferences, some full day and half day inservices.

I do not charge extra for those inservice days. My policy is that I work all teacher work days.

[melskids]

i don't charge my teacher parents either. only because there is such a need for SA care for the summer, i can usually fill up the spots with them easily. its a perk for the teacher-parents, and i make sure they know it

if your parents refuse to pay to hold the spot, and you're not willing to fill up with SA for the summer, it is probably time to find full time / all year families.

[SunflowerMama]

I just charge my teacher's one weekly rate for each month to hold the spot over the summer. Then they are welcome to bring them a few times each month if they need to get things done or just want a day to relax.

[AnythingsPossible]

I don't charge my teacher parents for summer, christmas, or spring break. I always have SA's that want to come in the summer, so now it isn't an issue, but next year I will not watch SA anymore. I plan on saving throughout the year to help through the summer. Also, the teacher families plan on coming one day a week, and they will really only be gone 2 months due to their schedule of needing to get back to work early. You could look at how much you truly need to make it through the summer, and tell the teacher parents that if they want the spot, that is what they need to pay.

[mac60]

For those providers who can take summers off without pay, who don't depend on your childcare income 12 months out of the year, you are very fortunate to be in that position. Myself, I depend 110% on my childcare business income to support the family. I offer 1/2 rate for school teachers. It is very early into the summer schedule. I would simply send out a memo of the payment change. I allow 2 days care for 1/2 rate if ft, 1 day care for half rate if pt.

[E Daycare]

I charge a monthly holding spot fee. If they need to take time off for summer break or say maternity leave I have it written in my contract they can pay a non refundable monthly fee. This keeps some income coming in as well as guarantees their spot in my care. If they decide to not come back after extended leave then they forfeit their spot and their holding fees. If they decide to opt of the fee then I look for replacement care.

Right now my teacher parent suggested she bring her child in once or twice a week as a a way for her to spend some time with her oldest child. This holds her spot and my DS has a playmate. I also have feelers out there for drop in care and told her to spread the word to her teacher friends. This way if someone is in need of a sitter here and there during the summer they can call me. I get a mini vacation on some days and still get income. The difference with me though is I dont mind really. Hes a 3-4 day a week child anyways so its not gonna kill me if he goes down to 1 or 2 days.