Advice on fees

[kathlb]

Hi i am a newly registered childminder and had a enquiry for a 3yr old for two days per wk, picking him up from nursery at 11.30 until 3.15 term time and in holidays 10 til 3 two days per wk. Would you charge for a full day or just from when i pick him up from nursery?

I am a childminder and one of my children is at school. It works out roughly that i have him for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. So during term time i charge just for these 3 hours. During the holidays i have him for 3 full days (9 hours) which i charge accordingly. If i have to have him for any extra time, like if i had to collect him from school earlier then i would add this extra time onto the following weeks bill. I hope this helps, it can be a bit daunting to begin with.

Its usual to charge for the time at preschool/nursery as you're not likely to be able to find another family wanting to use this time slot. Even more difficult if you've got to hold the place open for them all day in the holidays. Once you've committed one of your places to a part time child, you are accepting a reduction in income, but you need to weigh this up against the likelihood of finding a full time mindee.

I now do a "short day" charge which covers the hours 9-3:15 (which means in term time I can have an extra one before/after school sharing the day's place). They can instead opt for a morning only place if they go to preschool/nursery in afternoon and don't need me to care in afternoon in holidays. This again, leaves me an opportunity to make up for the reduced income by taking a different child after school.