Just summer care ??

[bright sparks]

I think cost of living is always relative to wages though right? So if a family were to relocate from Manitoba to Ontario, the childcare costs wouldn't be higher comparatively because their wage would go up so it's not that childcare is more expensive in Ontario when you look at it like this. It's like the cost of childcare in Toronto being @ $60 a day on average, that's a reflection of the fact that peoples wages are generally higher in the city and property prices are also higher. I live in Niagara Region and while the wages are still not considered low, there is a high ratio of poverty in certain areas so this means that childcare is generally cheaper than say 20 minutes up the road in Burlington. Burlington wages are not higher than here in Niagara, but a lot of wealth is there. It is one of the most expensive cities in the country to live in so it commands a higher daily rate for childcare because people can afford it. In the south of the city near the lake where I used to live and do home daycare, the going rate now is $50-$55 on average. I think where ever you live, the average cost of childcare is relative to the area so that doesn't make Ontario more expensive. What about BC?? It is expensive to live there, but minimum wage is higher. My husbands job pays an additional $20 an hour out their but it's not better paying for him as the cost of living is so much higher than here.

I think just as there are people offering childcare at a much lower rate undercutting a lot of providers with their $25 a day childcare in areas 10-15 more a day generally, there are also people offering cheap summer care. I think maybe as more and more of these cheapy rates are coming up parents are finding the courage or having the nerve depending on how you look at things, to ask for a reduced rate. I am not digging at anyone who charges less than the average, so lets not go there lol A parent of an older child likely thinks an older child is easier because at home they spend their days in their rooms playing video games and watching tv. They don't understand that in offering a childcare service we are providing activities for all ages so they can be entertained, engaged and educated. If anything it is more expensive to accommodate an older child who will need more to keep them happy all day than a 2 year old, and it is much more work accommodating the needs of a providers regular early years group in addition to having a suitable program for the older children. Those with experience and their own children obviously know how to integrate the older kids into their regular activities to reduce the potential extra costs, but over an extended period of time, 9 weeks of summer, the majority of older children are going to be bored and under stimulated being a "daycare helper" for that many hours and that many weeks. It's kind of a disservice to them too. Oh and did I mention the food....anyone with older children of their own know first hand how much food a growing child/adolescent eats. Jeez, with my kids school doing a balanced day my two are famished when they get in.

[bright sparks]

Yes, I don't know if I would/could do this job if I was making only $30 a day (I charge $60 per day). Of course if I lived somewhere where daycare was $30/day my house would probably cost a third of what I paid for mine and I would also have more space/backyard and maybe an en suite...oh to dream.

It's so true. I used to live in Burlington and when I moved to Niagara Region, I got double the lot size++ and an equally nice sized house for a good $300k less. You can't beat the city life though, I travel into TO at least 2 or 3 times a month just for fun. I love it

[Secondtimearound]

I wish !!! Where I am it's 1 1/2 to the "cities"!!! I do my shopping there !! I used to live near Vancouver !!! Culture shock !!!
If I was going to do older kids I would still charge higher than $20 a day as food and entertaining them would def be different !!!
I would only have older kids and do outings for sure !!! I've had 4 school aged children at home !!! Boredom usually equals problems !!!
I would not mix ages and allow them to be jr helpers because they are not mature enough to make the best decisions with their actions around the little ones ! ( I've seen an innocent game of catch go bad fast !) and I wouldn't be comfortable as a mom with my own dd hanging out with older kids I don't know !!!

[superfun]

If I was going to do older kids I would still charge higher than $20 a day as food and entertaining them would def be different !!!
I would only have older kids and do outings for sure !!! I've had 4 school aged children at home !!! Boredom usually equals problems !!!

I also find the older kids (mostly the older boys) are much harder on my toys and house, and I only have them on inservice days. I can't imagine how fast things would get worn out if I had older kids all summer.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I agree....it's all relative to where we live. I actually think homes are over priced where we are because there are not a whole lot of high paying jobs near us. There are some higher paying ones within 1-2 hours though so if someone wanted to commute, there is that option. I don't think our area could take a big increase in childcare fee's either. I am at $32/day now and more and more people are commenting on that whereas when I was at $30/day very few, if any, complained.

No matter where we are though, I do think charging around the average is best. There will always be the ones on either end of the spectrum but that is okay too. I prefer to be on the higher end

In regard to childcare for school agers......I used to work in the school age dept at one of the centres and I really enjoyed it even though they were probably one of the hardest groups. They would get bored easy (I actually think they don't get bored, they are just so used to saying they are bored lol), the girls would be catty to each other, the boys were rough, they thought they were too cool for dc,they would back talk(to appear "cool") they could be rude etc etc but I enjoyed being able to do things with them that you can't with younger kids. I also enjoyed the 10-12 year stage as they are really starting to find them selves and it's very interesting to see them grow up to be nice, polite teens. It's harder to entertain them in a home setting with mixed ages but it can be done. I lucked out with the 2 boys I had in my hdc, they were fantastic in regard to playing with the children and wanting to help out (hand out the cups/plates, cleaning the table, reading them stories, pushing them on the swings) but it would have been a lot more difficult had they had the attitudes that I was used to seeing in centres. It also helped that these 2 were only dc friends and didn't see each other in school (went to diff ones) so they really liked coming here and playing with each other. If all school agers were like them, I would only take school agers lol. The biggest downfall to having schoolager's in my hdc was not having a naptime to myself LOL. Thankfully they were okay with playing video games or watching a movie or playing lego during this time.