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This is mostly directed at those of you that work at centers and or have larger family day homes...but I would like to hear any ideas
Im responsible for creating/managing the Summer Program (and just about every other special program
). Last year the one I did was awesome if I do say so...full of learning activities, field trips, in-house fitness camp, etc. The Activity fees were $45 for the Twos, $65 for Preschoolers and $75 for SA. And this the was the BARE minimum....we added a few dollars for gas...but we netted NO profit from the activity fees...and we allowed them to pay in installments over a two month period. Still we had about half the parents NOT pay the entire fee, and we were unwilling to have so many kids sit out of activities, so we ended up LOSING money because we went on and covered those kids. We had to provide swimsuits for kids whose parents "forgot" to send theirs, lunches for kids when we asked parents to pack a lunch...etc.
It ****ED. And this summer we have about 15 more kids than we did last year, so even getting to these field trips will be harder. The parents are asking for the summer program itenerary already, but Im afraid to schedule and make deposits on some of the more expensive activities and then have families not pay. But I also dont want bored SAs all summer because we didn't do a big summer program...
The Two's and Preschool Parents were mostly good about paying the activity fees...its was SA's and some older Preschoolers who we had trouble with....ironically who I had planned the most activities for. Some of them actually said they didnt care if their kids just ran around in the yard or watched tv all summer
...but the KIDS minded and we minded.
Any ideas or advice?
Im responsible for creating/managing the Summer Program (and just about every other special program
). Last year the one I did was awesome if I do say so...full of learning activities, field trips, in-house fitness camp, etc. The Activity fees were $45 for the Twos, $65 for Preschoolers and $75 for SA. And this the was the BARE minimum....we added a few dollars for gas...but we netted NO profit from the activity fees...and we allowed them to pay in installments over a two month period. Still we had about half the parents NOT pay the entire fee, and we were unwilling to have so many kids sit out of activities, so we ended up LOSING money because we went on and covered those kids. We had to provide swimsuits for kids whose parents "forgot" to send theirs, lunches for kids when we asked parents to pack a lunch...etc.It ****ED. And this summer we have about 15 more kids than we did last year, so even getting to these field trips will be harder. The parents are asking for the summer program itenerary already, but Im afraid to schedule and make deposits on some of the more expensive activities and then have families not pay. But I also dont want bored SAs all summer because we didn't do a big summer program...
The Two's and Preschool Parents were mostly good about paying the activity fees...its was SA's and some older Preschoolers who we had trouble with....ironically who I had planned the most activities for. Some of them actually said they didnt care if their kids just ran around in the yard or watched tv all summer
...but the KIDS minded and we minded.Any ideas or advice?
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