Advice please about Childminders holiday charges

[OverflowingMum]

Hi, can anyone help me with a few questions about childminers? I went to see a possible new childminder last night, and I really liked her. She went through lots of things with me, and I just have a couple of questions about how holidays work. I've never used a childminder beofore - so not sure how things usually work....
I am wanting her to mind my 2 yr old mon-thurs , and she has worked out hours for this and that seems fine, but then I also need her to collect my 4 older girls from school one evening a week and mind them for 2 hours. She has kindly agredd a small discount on hourly rate for the 4 of them. So far so good.
But she only wants to take 2 weeks holiday a year, which we would pay at half price. I thought she might take more than that, which would have suited us as DH is a teacher, so ds would be at home with dh for a lot of school hols. I realise I can't expect her to take all school hols, but I was thinking more of 4 weeks hols a year at 1/2 price? Also from the figures she's worked out we would still be paying the after school charge for the girls during the hols, when obviously she wont be collecting them or minding them. This will make this a much more expensive option than the after school club we are currently using which obvioulsy we just pay for during term time.I realise that she needs to make a decent living, and I do want to be fair , but not sure we can pay after school care for the girls for 50 weeks of the year instead of just term time
Would it be reasonable to ask her to review the figures and to maybe charge half price for the girls during holidays as they're not actually there?Or is this not reasonable?
What do other folks do that use childminders for after school care? Do you still pay through the holidays?
I do really like her, and would be prepared to pay a bit more as she is by far the best out of 4 I have seen, and her hourly rate is average, but obbviously I have a budget to stick to as well LOL
any views??
TIA

Although you only need the after school care for 38 weeks of the year she can't take on other children for the other 12 weeks - very unlikely someone would want that slot - so that's why she's charging you all year - because effectively that's what you are taking up. YOu could ask if she'll charge 1/2 price but I can see why she's charging full rates tbh. 2 weeks holiday isn't very much but tbh is two week's worth of 1/2 fees really worth making a fuss over? What is that - about £300-£400 maximum?

I agree with the last poster. I don't charge holidays at all and take 4 weeks off so that's different but tbh, it's not about the amount of time she takes off (it's up to her if she only wants 2 weeks off - in my first year of minding I took NO holiday), it's the rate you could maybe discuss with her. Does she charge full or half when you're on holiday? As for school holidays, how many hours is she charging during school holidays? If it's just the after school hours then you're actually very lucky. I personally wouldn't be able to take your children on because I need to maximise my income during the school holidays. I do, however, offer TT only or full time contracts but understand why some don't, it depends on whether your childminder has any school holiday only enquiries.

My advice is to sit down with her now and have a frank negotiation about which aspects of her charging you are going to find difficult and see if there is any room for change. Just be polite a friendly about this and there is no need for any offience to be taken. She can either say yes or no to any compromise that you suggest. It may be that she is willing to shift things because of the number of children involved.

but make sure that you sort this out now or it will continue to bug you. Once you have signed contracts you can't expect her to change the deal.

(FWIW my CM takes 4 weeks holiday on no pay, but compensates for this by having a slightly higher hourly rate than other local CMers. Make sure you look at the overall annual cost when comparing with other options)

You could ask for a term time only contract for the girls and offer to pay slightly more per hour. This is what I do as its simple to work out and then frees up the holidays but not all childminders will do it.
I take all my holiday in the school hols and offer term time contracts for teachers, its a bit late though if youve signed and agreed a deal, perhaps you could ask her to think about it and renegotiate in the new year.

I do not charge if not worked. If worked its £1 extra per hour. I have not worked one yet.

Thats my treat to those using my services

Every cm is different.

I may be different here, but as long as the children don't mess my early years numbers up I don't charge after schoolies during the holidays, otherwise their parents might send them to me which I wouldn't want during the holidays. . For children I care for after school which are still under 8, so count in my numbers I charge 50% during the holidays if they don't require holiday care.

She will have to charge for your 2 yo for the full time as she can't fill that space for the other 13 weeks, unless you find a minder which does term time only contracts.

Where do the older girls go to during the holidays? and how old are they?

Remember if you are paying for the space you can still use it. Your DH may be happy to have 2 hours to do a bit of shopping for you

Don't be scared to chat to her, a good childminder will always listen to what you have to say, even if she doesn't agree with it at the end of the day.

does she know your dh is a teacher?

I think she is gambling on you having the kids at home every school holiday anyway, so she'll get paid for 6 weeks over the summer even though she is only on her holidays for two weeks.

I'd definately renegotiate with her especially regarding paying for the older girls all year round - thats silly to expect payment for that.

Or mention that you will want her to have the baby in the summer hols and see what reaction you get.

why can't you keep using after school club for the older ones and the childminder for the baby?

that way, you still have the option of giving her the baby during the summer hols etc when she is not on "hols" if you wanted a day out with the older ones.

ask for a term time only contract, all my childminders have done this for me

OK, thanks for all the replies
I havent signed anything yet, havent made a final decision...but think I am going to choose her.
Overall I can see it is actually not that big a deal whether she has 2 or 4 weeks hols a year. I explained DH was a teacher, so DS would be at home for a lot of the hols. But as you say I understand I cant expect her to take all that holiday, and we can (and probably will!) send DS2 some of the days, just to give dh a break and keep some continuity for ds....
And yes, we could use her for the youngest and continue to send the girls to the afterschool club, which would definitely be the cheapest option, but they aren't over keen on it, and I do think they would prefer coming home to a more homely environment, and it would be much easier to collect them all from one place!
The girls are 11,8,6 and 4. So am I right in thinking that only the younger 2 would count in her numbers? TBH the oldest would be old enough to go home herself if we lived within walking distance of the school, so she doesn't need much minding, but we live too far from school for her to get home.
Overall though working out total annual costs, it will be slightly cheaper for DS2 (even with the hols as they are) and slightly more expensive for the girls, but it will balance out to be about the same....and they will all be happier...so all's good