Childminders Club how much do i charge?

[traceys]

Hi ya everyone
I have a family coming on thurs 1 full time and 1 before after school but only need term time as mother is a teacher so can anyone tell me what should i charge during the holiday period when places arn't required? I was thinking of 1/2 rate but is this too greedy? I don't want to put them off!

I have a policy of charging full fee for 50 weeks (out of 52).....then I give in and charge half....'cos I'm so nice.....and I make sure they know how nice I am

This may seem controversial and I'm not sure anyone will agree with me, but I personally would charge full price as you won't get anyone to fill those few weeks gaps in the year...If half price seems good to you then obviously that's great but look on it as a retainer of your professional services rather than being 'greedy', can you survive without that income for the term time weeks? Don't teachers still get paid whether it is term time or not?

Obviously if 'you' are on holiday then you look on it in a different light and maybe you could offer her your two weeks holiday in the term time to counter balance, but again, this is just my personal point of view which may not be popular.

Crossed with Katie Mac, seems I'm not quite so alone after all

I also do 39 X full fee + 13 X half fee divided by 12 - so they pay same each month. You have to recalc when they leave to allow for differences in month length & Hols - but it means they pay same each month and it's easier to budget

I only work for teachers at same school where DH teaches and only work term time

I do NOT charge holidays but that is because I do not want to work then more than any other reason.

It is a private school so they are very long holidays but I would rather have the time off than the money.

But I am unusual in that

Every one is different that is what makes us so special

When i did the childminder training course, our teacher said she always charged full price.

I think she charged say 48wks but divided the total by 12 mths, so she was paid every mth, but parents were given some "holiday" iykwim.

Well I ended up phoning my network co-ordinator for advice and basically she told me to charge 1/2 rate during the holidays as she said thats the norm (she's obviously not read this thread ) Anyway the visit is tonight so fingers crossed!

Good Luck
KMc

traceys - how did this go? Was just reading through and I thought I'd point out, if you charge them for holidays (because you can't fill the space) then you need to be prepared for them to drop the child on you at any time! If they're paying for you, but having their child at home, they have the right to make you care for them anyways!

Hi lunavix
I'm charging half rate for the holidays the parents were happy with this, I've also agreed to take my holidays during school hols and for this I also get paid half rate. We've worked out all hols monies ect for the next 6months and they pay the same amount each month. Been with me 3weeks and so far so good