what happens re paying if children go to pre-school?

[CarlyP]

if i have a cm for my 2 boys, and ask her to take them to preschool 2 out of the 4 mornings theyd be with her, what happens re paying for those hours they ar enot with her? jsut interested.

we currently have a nanny, so obviously i dont 'dock' her wages, jsut wondering. presume i still pay as if they are there?

thanks

cx

as a general rule, you pay as if they were there. At the end of the day, a CM won't be able to fill a 2 hour session (or less depending on travelling times, I'm assuming around half an hour should cover it) so it's time they can't get an income from.

Plus lots of preshcools barely operate on school terms, most are still a good 6 weeks less. Plus they all seem to close at the drop of a hat! And your CM will be covering all these eventuallities (eg if your child can't go for some reason, if it's closed, if it's the holidays) so you will still be using the space at some point.

You might find a CM who will either charge a retainer during the day (usually half I'd imagine) or if you are very lucky one who doesn't at all - but this isn't normal. It's not like a school day and school age kids - all school age kids have to go to school, so a CM can't fill a school day with kids. Under 5s don't have to go anywhere.

As lunavix says, some minders will charge full-fee, partial fee or, possibly, nothing at all.

i charge half fee but know other cms that charge full or dont charge atall.
i think its totally acceptable to charge full as you are not able to fill a space for the 2 or so hours a child is at nursery/school.

my cm used to charge full fee. For 2 reasons, that I would expect her to be on call to pick up if there was a problem and secondly , if you are expectingly the childminder to look after your child for those hours in the holidays. For the sake of a few pounds just made it more straightforward,

thanks for all your help.

cx

i personally would not charge if you dropped your child off at pre-school and i only had to pick up at 12pm
if i was dropping and picking up i would charge while child is in pre-school

i agree FOM, i don't think i will be so keen for my ds to go to nursery if i still get charged for it by my cm, it kind of negates the free place thing & surely that is meant as a motivator to get mums back to work. i can understand it from the c-minder pov but as i considered going into c-minding myself ( am still registered) i had just considered it parr for the course, just as you would know you can only get full time rates for 3 under 5s you accept that over 3s will be for a reduced amount of hours. i guess i will have to talk to my cm and investigate nurseries- do private nurseries still give the free hours? i had presumed that nurseries were funded by the gov't for the free hours, surely there must be something like that for c-minders? actually there bloody well ought to be. this is not a rant against c-minders, i wish i was one actually but with 2 kids under 5 i just can't afford it

I thought the free places were to encourage children to have social interaction to get them ready for school in a more formal setting than childminding? Also they do more planned activites like schools do where as cm is more home from home and much more flexible with times (opening and drop off plus meal times etc)

I've arranged an afternoon place for DS3 from September, the CM will drop off and I will collect then (or DH0 much easier TBH

Childminders tend to charge if they are expected to drop off AND pick up FOM. As they cannot fill the session. However lots don't charge if they are only expected to pick up IYKWIM.

i agree FOM it does suck for parents and i'm a c/m
but the free sessions are to help the child settle in with lots of children their own age and to get used to new enviroments etc

Hi!

Sorry I will state that yes if I was only dropping off or picking up I wouldn't charge for the whole day.

For example, if a child had afternoon sessions (usually 1 - 3.30 around here) and I had them say 9 till drop off, I wouldn't charge till 3.30 even though the liklihood of me filling the afternoon is a tad remote. I'd only charge the 9 till 1. At the end of the day I could possibly fill the 1 - whenever.

But if I had the child all day (say 9 - 4) then I'd definately charge for those two and a half hours.

The nursery funding isn't to make parents lives easier (sadly!) it's so they learn the more important social skills, and start on the educational ones needed at school. It's meant to be encouragement for parents to send them.

If it's a big problem for parents to pay once the child has started funded pre-school, accredited childminders can provide places in their setting, and receive the nursery grant. Not a lot offer this, but some do.

maybe its because round here there is a high level of unemployment but the funded places are definitely used as an incentive to encourage women back into work. i have no intention of not sending my ds, i think pre school is vital in preparing them for school. i got my knickers into a bit of a knot earlier as I was frantically calculating what my income will be when i reduce to a 3day week and was hoping that my cm wouldn't charge me for the nursery hours.
can i just check- is the general consensus among cm that you would only charge for the whole time if you dropped off and picked up, so if I dropped my ds off i most probably wouldn't get charged?

justamum - it will all depend on the cm - some will charge you for that time even if you have dropped off - though some may just charge a retainer (half fees?) and then full price when you need those two hours. if you are already using a cm then there will probably be no change to fees. if looking for a new one then you have space to negotiate.

you need to consider all the times when you might need cm in this 2hr window - i.e. when preschool is closed because of no heating; flood; illness etc but do you also need holiday cover?

I have resigned myself to the fact that i'll be paying for what I don't use in the next year or so and not likely to make any savings until they go to school - and then, with all the will in the world I'll have a nice term time 9-3 post and be able to enjoy the holidays!

btw - with private nurseries and accredited cm's (those that offer pre-school education) they can claim back the 15hrs a week - you just sign a form.

We had a nanny at that point and I was just glad the 3 of my under 4s was getting the attention of nursery school in the mornings. When the youngest twins were born I kept paying the nanny full time when she took them to morning nursery school for 2 years. She used to come back here and do laundry and stuff for a bit and it was only 3 hours anyway.

how many times are they likely to be closed by floods etc (or would i be surprised!) the pre-school nursery ds will go to is attached to the school and operates under the same circumstances, in these rare instances i would probably come home myself or ask my dad to have him for a couple of hours. i am lucky with holidays as my mum is a teacher and happy to have my 2 for one day a week which would more than make up for a couple of days without nursery. i'm not sure if my cm is preschool accredited, she used to run a playgroup for preschoolers so she may well be. Basically i need to stop being such a wimp and discuss it with her don't I?