Before/after school worth it??

i'm a new daycare provider. i was hoping to open in january but still do not have any clients. i have a parent coming to meet on friday for possible before/after school care for her son. i have a few questions for those who do this..
1. what do you charge daily? (i was going to charge $20 per day)
2. how do you handle school holidays, p.d days, snow days, etc? does the parent still pay?
i have 2 little ones of my own ages 3 & 1 who sleep normally until 8 or 9am so this would be a big change for them as well. they would need to be up, fed and ready to go to take this little boy to the bus stop between 8:15-8:30. And these FRIGID temperatures don't make this too attractive lol.
also a bit off topic, is starting up normally difficult..i didn't think gettingn clients would be so tough-thought kids would just pour in when i opened. i have been advertising for months!
please help..thanks!

1) it depends on your area. I charge $100/week ($20/day) for school months, and my reg full time fee if here over the summer. I charge for enrollment not by the day. go to the home page here and enter your postal code too see what people in your area are charging.

2) yes, they pay for those, they also pay for stats

you could use a wagon with lots of blankets to keep the children warm. Some providers will even refuse to do pick ups when its to cold. so parents need back up care. right now the only B&A kid i have is old enough to walk to and from the school (across the street) on his own.

the first year is the hardest. i started last October. the first two weeks i didn't have any clients. i had started adverting in august. it will take time.

do you have a website? it will help

yes starting is tough, for many reasons....1) no one has heard of you, 99% of my clients come from other clients word of mouth, until you build up some sort of reputation of course...you will have no word of mouth! 2) it takes a select few that are willing to go with a provider who is just starting out, most parents prefer (of course) someone who has been around a little while, they can check up on their record of care and such. Their are parents out there who are willing to try a new provider, just fewer of them IMO will go with a new provider as opposed to a more seasoned. So theres two strikes off the bat, it is hard to get clients to start, and I found IME also, you need to weed through the "not so good" to get to the great, when you start out. stick in there though after your first year, you should have enough experience with keepers and non keepers and enough word of mouth (hopefully from the good :)) that you should have no problem after that. It is tough to get started though.
As far a after/before school care....I don't do it, for many reasons. but it may be a good start for you! Good luck with everything! keep posting. :)

as far as the b/a school $$$. I would look at whatever your local YMCA or School b/a daycare costs. My local school charges $19 for b/a care and their hours are actually later then mine. LOL So, I can't charge any more then 15 and get away with it. Unless it's a real early morning, then it makes sense.

I couldn't do the walk to the bus or walk to school thing in these temps. I am very lucky that the bus stops on my front lawn, so I send my kids out the door and off they go, I can stay inside with the little ones.

It's a little bit of money for a big pain in the butt when it comes to on and off the bus or back and forth to school.

PD days I charge per day used at my normal daily rate.

The other thing you have to remember about before/after is they are older. They eat more, they need more planning, higher end crafts and they don't always get along with kids their own age, so be very selective if this is the route you choose to take.

Starting up is tough. YOu have to be patient and trust that the right people will come eventually. and don't settle for the money, settle for good clients.

I dont like B&A because they take the spot of a possible full-time child which brings more money in, but if you have no other options for now... On snow day, no school day and summer time, they pay the full amount of course. I'm lucky the bus stop is right infront of my house so I dont have to go out, in the summer always, but in winter no no !

I opened last year and request poored in like crazy all at once at some point. Also I was the only daycare in the area and so... parents had no options I guess. I advertised in the paper, on kijiji, on daycarebear and daycarecanada. Last november I advertised again for 2 spots and didnt get that many calls, there is now 5 other daycares in my area so, the competition is there. I had the best price when I started out but now I decided to have the same fees as others, so parents have to decide according to location, daycare setup, hours, vacations fees etc...Obviously, the less money they have to pay, the better for them, of course perhaps not the better for you but, to start and get your ''name'' out, you might have to sacrifice a little.

I don't offer B/A care either. I wouldn't want to bundle up infants in all kinds of weather 4 times a day and make the long trek. If you have a vehicle that's a different story but still that's the better part of your day and everything revolves around it. I'm happy that I can arrange the fun things we want to do every day and take our time instead of having to rush.

I am doing before/after, and I absolutely hate it. I really do. The kids aren't meshing with my kids, and I am more set up for babies and toddlers.

It might just be me, but I love love love little ones, not so much the bigger ones. ;) Manners, respect and such is a huge thing for us in our family, and having walking talking children being rude to me pushes all of my buttons.

I also find that on PA days and holidays and such, the big kids get bored and cranky during nap time.

So in summary, B/A is not for me. It might be for you, though. :)

I did B/A school my first year and then in April I told the parents that I would not be continuing in the fall. It was a real nightmare. It meant I had to go to our school to do a pickup with the little ones who were freezing waiting for the big kids to get ready and come out whenever they felt like it....

Then I had another trip to the bus stop after to get my own kids.

And then....they ate A LOT and complained about being bored or still hungry or wanting something else to eat.

I charged $10 for after school only and it was not worth it. I wouldn't do it again unless I decided to ONLY do B/A and not little ones.

I hope you get some daycare parents/children signed soon. Wishing you filler up vibes :)

I too took b/a at first as I was slow to fill up during my first year. I also HATED it, bored, eat tons, fight with each other, however it helped other prospective clients have confidence in me. So I grinned :unsure: and got on with it until all my other spaces were filled with full time clients then I gave them 4 weeks notice. You have to do what you think is best for your circumstances. I would do it again as it got me where I am now, a full daycare with wonderful children, a big change from before when I dreaded p/d days and 3pm!!! Good luck in what you decide x

Oh and I forgot to say that after school kids are usually going to drive you batty saying "I am bored" and wanting you to play or do things with them.

Mine wanted me to play board games with them all the time and that is not really easy when you have 3 little kids still around. It is hard to give anyone proper attention in that scenario and I was torn feeling like a failure on both ends.

The older ones seem to have a hard time entertaining themselves unless they have video games or TV I guess

Hi Scharron, I've been doing just B&A daycare for 6 years now, including half day kindergarten sometimes, for me works great since I'm the kind of person that loves to do lots of activities with them, sports, homework, games, crafts etc... so older kids love coming to a daycare that is not full of "babies" even though I have a set of rules set up from day one, normally all my kids get adjusted to them pretty fast and even go home trying to apply them lol... I don't charge the 15-20 dollar fee though, I explain to the parents there is craft materials, outings, baking supplies ( for bake day) etc. I even do Spanish lessons once a week, zumba dance etc... so they take into consideration that it's like extracurricular activity/daycare all at once!! offering something "extra" it is definitely a good idea, specially if you just want to have older kids.
I charge 30.00 a day for part time (2-3 days/w) and 25.00 full time (5 days/w) P.A days 45.00