Would you charge a holding fee?

[mom-in-alberta]

Okay, I am putting my ads out for out-of-school care this week.
I will be starting the program in September, with the beginning of school. I tossed around the idea of taking kids in for the summer, too. But I decided that a summer
off wouldn't be so bad, either.

I will be doing interviews in June to fill these spaces. My question is; do I charge the families anything over the summer? Do I just charge a deposit? Do I then apply that deposit to the first month of care? In all honesty, it doesn't seem right to charge them on a monthly basis, since it's not like I am planning on filling any of the spots over summer.

Another thing; do you think I should offer care for the last week of summer? With the idea that I can then get to know the kids? Or is it feasible that we will all just start up in the fall on the first day of school?

[Inspired by Reggio]

Hmmm - if my open date was not until September because I wanted to the summer off I would not charge a holding fee over the summer cause IMO a holding fee is to make up for the lost income of holding that space for a client verses taking someone who could start earlier - so I would just have them sign their contract and charge a deposit to secure that September space as per normal - for me I do two weeks of fees for my deposit that is NON REFUNDABLE if they change their mind and do not enroll however it is applied to the LAST two weeks of care provide account is in good standing and they provide proper notice ... this gives me a security buffer should i have payment problems with a client during the relationship - aka a cheque bounces or they attempt to bolt without notice and so forth.

Personally I would plan to try to 'wean' my crew in slowly - I would not want several children starting on the same day cause that is stressful specially depending on the age they will be? So offering start dates before parents have to return to work might help with that ... plus not sure about Alberta but here in Ontario most teachers end up going back to work the week before the students do to prepare their classrooms and lessons for that first week so they might actually need care ... every teacher I have worked with anyway has needed care that last week in August.

Filler up vibes!

[playfelt]

I wouldn't do a holding fee either but I would do a non-refundable deposit - around here some of those looking for care will be on a wait list for the school based program and it can be the end of Sept before they finally find out if they have a space or not and then a week to take it.

I would have the deposit be the last two weeks of care which then carries over to the following Sept as their deposit if they plan to stay. Make it very clear what the withdrawal process is so they know how many paid weeks of notice they have to give.

As far as starting I would probably give myself till middle of Aug and then start integrating kids into care. I think it is important that they be settled in care before school starts so it isn't so much all at once. My kids that are going to school for JK are encouraged to leave middle of Aug for this reason. Then you can do a gradual integration of kids and as long as you have a few to test the system it will be fine to add the rest in Sept. Testing the system means getting your routines down, the layout and setup of the room, moving things for better flow, preventing space issues for overlapping activities, that sort of thing. It also gives you an idea of the appetite, interests - play, crafts, reading, etc. and that will help a lot with planning for Sept.

[Sandbox Sally]

I agree with playfelt - no holding fee unless you're losing income holding open a spot, but deffo a 2 week non refundable deposit. I use the deposit against the last two weeks the child is to be in my care, as this deters people from skipping out without notice.

Note: If someone pays you the deposit and then decides to not start care in September, it's yours to keep.

[Momof4]

You could always charge the deposit and make it clear that it is non-refundable, not applied to the last week of care or anything. That way once a space is filled the deposit also acts as the holding fee for that particular space. Does that make sense or am I explaining what I mean enough?

[playfelt]

Making it more like a registration fee than a deposit I think is what you mean.

[Momof4]

LOL, That's it playfelt!