Am I being crazy or would this idea even work?

[Vtorrance]

Hi everyone ok so I know a lot of you don't do b/a which I understand. I have decided to take on the b/a for now. So I was thinking of offering a nursery school program from 9 to 2 for parents that are on mat leave and want to socialize their children. This way when my b/a kids are at school I can take on this additional child but they are gone before I pick them up from school. I obviously wouldn't charge a f/t fee but it would balance out 2 sharing 1 spot. Thoughts???....... I love hearing everyone's opinions and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[torontokids]

That's so funny, this was my original plan! I thought it was such a smart and new idea. I had thought though to offer it from 9-11:30 as a "preschool prep/discovery" type program and allow them to socialize and give mom's a break. I also thought that I could add an afternoon group if things picked up and offer it from 1-2:30pm allowing me ample time to do the school pickup. My plan had been to offer a "group" everyday so a different bunch would come every Monday and another bunch on Tues etc and they would pay for 10 wks up front (so if they drop out, miss a wk or whatever I would be covered). I also thought this would be perfect to have "friends" for my girls and not have to have kids "full time."

A couple of things I realized.

1) This isn't as new an idea as I thought. A lot of play type places offer something like this now and some community centres as well.

2) There might not be as much demand in my area (Toronto) as most people are 2 income families).

3) You may always be dealing with transitioning kids as you would only have them for a short time period.

4) You will spend a lot of time interviewing (if you still bother with this for such a short time and commitment) and recruiting.

I think if your area has a need, go for it. I think it would be fun.

[playfelt]

The biggest issue I see is that the parents of the b/a kids may be expecting you to be available to them when the children have a PD day, school closure due to snow, winter/spring/summer breaks. If you have the other children during the day then you wouldn't be able to take the older kids too.

I do know people that have done the school age but offered drop in for families needing a day to go shopping, the doctor, dentist, etc and couldn't take their kids always staying within ratio.

There are also a lot of caregivers that use the school age as a transition back to the workforce - generally it means their own kids are in school full days and they get a job that allows them to work part of the day. Many restaurants for instance love to have extra people work the 10-2 shift over the lunchtime rush.