Contract Hours

[Inspired by Reggio]

Yup - everyone is going to have different views on this based on their values!

When I was new I was open 11 hours a day trying to accomodate as many people as 'possible' to be full. I had a '9 hour recommendation' because in my opinion that is a LONG time for a babe to be in the care of someone other than a parent and only ONE fee. I only charged a 'late fee' if the parent arrived after I CLOSED .... I found that more and more clients left their kids longer and longer initially they were 8 hours and than it was past the 9 hours and closer to 10 in many cases ... and I was burning out having a full house for 10 hours a day when it was obviously not NEEDED but had just gotten 'easier' for clients!

So I changed things .... now my program hours are only 9 hours ... 7:30 - 4:30 and my full day fees are based on those hours - if you need additional care before or after that you pay extended hour fee as per each individual contract and you book it in advance ....suddenly everyone is able to arrange to have their child here less than 9 hours again because they do not want to commit to pay an 'additional' fee for care they do not really NEED but was just EASY ... so they invest in a second car seat so one parent drops off and another picks up and so forth and suddenly babes are at HOME where they belong after nine hours in care and everyone is happy

[michellesmunchkins]

Yup - everyone is going to have different views on this based on their values!

When I was new I was open 11 hours a day trying to accomodate as many people as 'possible' to be full. I had a '9 hour recommendation' because in my opinion that is a LONG time for a babe to be in the care of someone other than a parent and only ONE fee. I only charged a 'late fee' if the parent arrived after I CLOSED .... I found that more and more clients left their kids longer and longer initially they were 8 hours and than it was past the 9 hours and closer to 10 in many cases ... and I was burning out having a full house for 10 hours a day when it was obviously not NEEDED but had just gotten 'easier' for clients!

So I changed things .... now my program hours are only 9 hours ... 7:30 - 4:30 and my full day fees are based on those hours - if you need additional care before or after that you pay extended hour fee as per each individual contract and you book it in advance ....suddenly everyone is able to arrange to have their child here less than 9 hours again because they do not want to commit to pay an 'additional' fee for care they do not really NEED but was just EASY ... so they invest in a second car seat so one parent drops off and another picks up and so forth and suddenly babes are at HOME where they belong after nine hours in care and everyone is happy

Exactly Reggio!!! Its exhausting at the end of the 12 hour days for me, I can't imagine how the little one feels being 'left' here for that long a day just because the parents want 'free' time after work and before work. I'm sure if the Mom I posted about had to pay for those extra hours she would very rarely be late. It frustrates and surprises me the amount of people who choose to leave their children in daycare way longer than necessary...I would think they would want to spend as much time as possible with their child...