Before & After School Charges

[Christina72684]

I live 1/4 mile from an elementary school and have had several parents ask what I would charge for before & after school care. I can have 4 additional B&A kids on top of the normal 12 FT kids. I have no clue what to charge them! I just opened this summer so this is all new to me. I charge $100 for Full Time and $25/day for Part Time.

Should I charge per hour or per day? What if they only come in the morning or only after school? What do you do?

[momofboys]

I live 1/4 mile from an elementary school and have had several parents ask what I would charge for before & after school care. I can have 4 additional B&A kids on top of the normal 12 FT kids. I have no clue what to charge them! I just opened this summer so this is all new to me. I charge $100 for Full Time and $25/day for Part Time.

Should I charge per hour or per day? What if they only come in the morning or only after school? What do you do?

Around me in my small central Ohio town the normal rate is $10-15/day for before & after - a local center charges $75/week for both or $45/week for one or the other. I'd pick a price per day rather than dealing with the "hours" but DEFINITELY charge extra on school delay days & days that school is cancelled for bad weather.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

Our rates average out to about $13/day, but we have a 3 day/week minimum.
During school breaks or summer vacations we charge $15/week less than the preschool rate, but I do NOT recommend it. I'd charge the same for school age as preschool (we can't because our area rates are lower for school age, but it shouldn't be!). They eat more, they need more attention, more entertainment, etc. Just more work all the way around, AND they cost more (due to eating more food, using more supplies, school age toys/materials, Art & Crafts, they're more wasteful with tp, and paper towels, etc). Make sure you make the parents aware that school age has the same policies as the others (full payment due regardless of attendance, for example. Some parents think if there's no school and they choose to keep their children home, they think they don't have to pay that day). Or fall breaks, spring break, etc. Those two day breaks, or one week breaks should still be paid for, even if they don't attend, because that's their weekly rate, due whether or not they attend. You're open and holding those spots for them. Just my two cents...
Oh, and you asked about just before or just after school rates. We charge $20/week less for just one or the other than we do for both. And I would recommend doing a weekly rate, rather than hourly. It wouldn't be worth the trouble for just an hourly rate. We have a 3 day minimum, and their rate is the same each week, even if they only come one day, or not at all, that week. Like I said above, the rate for school breaks and vacations are more, since they're there all day.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I charge about $17 per day, due regardless of attendance, and charge an extra $15 per day for full days when they're off. If they don't come on a school holiday, they still owe the 17 but not the extra 15.

[meganlavonnesmommy]

I charge a flat rate of $400 a month for school age. But that rate is the same regardless of the school schedule. So if school is out, they pay the same. They are guaranteed a spot if school is cancelled or closes, and during holiday breaks.

It may seem steep, but I am only allowed to take 5 kids, so if I take a school age child, it takes up a full time slot, and I lose money. So I charge to make it worth my time.