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Do you follow the school calendar year for your daycare?
I know that daycares are closed during statutory holidays, but what about spring and summer breaks. Is it optional to keep the daycare open, and do you have to charge more per child during breaks if you do keep it open? Sorry I am new to this...:D
I don't follow the school calendar, no. Unless you have all teachers as clients, there's really no need to. I don't charge more for those times either. Christmas break, March Break, Summer break - unless I choose to close, is just like any other block of time, with a couple stats thrown in the mix. The only breaks I observe during the year are my own, self imposed holidays. Of course I discuss my ideas for timing with clients to see if we can work together to make it work for all of us. I went to Puerto Rico a couple weeks ago and 2 of my families chose to take their vacation at the same time...worked out well. Other than that, regular hours, regular pay.
I have a home daycare and close on stat holidays plus will take vacation days as I want/need them, but always give parents lots of notice. If it is your own daycare then it would be up to you whether or not to stay open during school breaks. I know for me, none of my daycare parents are off during school breaks and would not be too happy if I closed for the whole summer. But I know people who close for the summer and have made it work. As far as charging more, the only way I would charge more is in the case of a school-aged child - they would pay a full day rate when they are off school.:)
Babybear, do you have all teachers in care? If so then you should speak to others who run their daycare for teachers only because they set up different pay schedules and are closed at the same time as the schools depending on the teacher's needs.
Otherwise, normally we close for stat days and it's best if the exact dates you are closed are listed in your contract or policies. I'm not sure if I understood your question, but hope this helps.
Most of us care for children not in school so the school schedule has minimal effect on our daycare. For those that take school age they generally have two rates depending on if the child is there just before/after school or if they are in school full days if school is closed. Many parents make use of daycamps for older kids.