Tough Situation, Holding A Spot, But Still Can't Guarantee?
 

So i am considering taking a younger child than I normally enroll.

The thing is, is that I require the child to be able to walk and self feed before I will allow enrollment.

The child is 9 months right now, but will not need to enroll until they are 13.5 months old. Which is perfect timing as I will have kids age out of my program into kinder leaving spots open.

Normally I would just charge a holding fee to guarantee the spot. But with this situation, we don't know if the child will be walking and self feeding at that time, so I won't be able to guarantee the spot to the family. I would hate to charge them, hold the spot and then on the start date we can't move forward because the LO is not walking or self feeding. ANd it's not like we can force or pressure the child to do these things.

So what should I do? The family liked my program so much that they are actually considering moving their older child age 3 from her private preschool academy to my program too, so it would actually be two kids not just one. I would really like to be able to work this out.

Just now sure how.......
any ideas or suggestions????

If the child isn't walking/self feeding by 13.5months, it's very likely they would be very soon. I would just enroll them/charge them and deal with it for a few days/weeks until they are walking/self feeding.

Originally Posted by butterfly:
If the child isn't walking/self feeding by 13.5months, it's very likely they would be very soon. I would just enroll them/charge them and deal with it for a few days/weeks until they are walking/self feeding.

I can't do that... there is no way I could have a child here that can't walk or self feed.

The no walking would be dangerous for them. My set up does not support non walkers or those that can't self feed

If you can't accommodate non walkers and kids who can't feed themselves.You may want to reconsider the minimum age you take to 18 months.Just a thought...

Originally Posted by Unregistered:
If you can't accommodate non walkers and kids who can't feed themselves.You may want to reconsider the minimum age you take to 18 months.Just a thought...

well that is my normal age that I allow to enroll....BUT the issue is that I have only been getting calls for children around 13-15 months old.. I have had 9 calls this week alone and everyone of them was for children in this age group....

So due to popular demand for this age group, I may have to consider taking younger ages......

If it were me, I would not hold the spot but would consider letting the family know that should the child meet your requirements (self-feeding/walking) by the time the space is open that you will contact them first.

Or, I would be perfectly willing to hold the space IF they did move their older child there.

Should the younger child not meet the requirements by the enrollment date and the parents still wanted the space, you could begin charging a holding fee at that time.

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
If it were me, I would not hold the spot but would consider letting the family know that should the child meet your requirements (self-feeding/walking) by the time the space is open that you will contact them first.

Or, I would be perfectly willing to hold the space IF they did move their older child there.

Should the younger child not meet the requirements by the enrollment date and the parents still wanted the space, you could begin charging a holding fee at that time.

lol I always complicate things.....

you make it sound so easy...Yes I can do that huh...

I did tell the parents my concern about the not walking and self feeding. They understood, but still asked to move forward.

Now needing to word this in a contract.....lol

Originally Posted by daycare:
lol I always complicate things.....

you make it sound so easy...Yes I can do that huh...

I did tell the parents my concern about the not walking and self feeding. They understood, but still asked to move forward.

Now needing to word this in a contract.....lol

ok so let me ask this....what if they end up only wanting to enroll the little girl. Should I just say call me back closer to her enrollment date and we will go from there??

This is months away and I can't hold the spot for them without $$$$

Originally Posted by daycare:
ok so let me ask this....what if they end up only wanting to enroll the little girl. Should I just say call me back closer to her enrollment date and we will go from there??

This is months away and I can't hold the spot for them without $$$$

The little girl being the older sibling right?

I would absolutely require them to pay a holding fee if they want to enroll her at a later date or need to give notice to her other program.

If they want to enroll her immediately, then tell them when the other space (for younger child) gets closer to being available you will revisit the situation and make plans from that point forward.

Honestly, it is always easiest to NEVER commit yourself to something farther out than 30 days. At least in my honest opinion. ALOT can happen in 30 days.

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The little girl being the older sibling right?

I would absolutely require them to pay a holding fee if they want to enroll her at a later date or need to give notice to her other program.

If they want to enroll her immediately, then tell them when the other space (for younger child) gets closer to being available you will revisit the situation and make plans from that point forward.

Honestly, it is always easiest to NEVER commit yourself to something farther out than 30 days. At least in my honest opinion. ALOT can happen in 30 days.

sorry for the confusion, the girl is the younger one......

very good point. They won't need care until fall. Mom is a teacher and she will finish out this school year as is.

I think all that I can do is carry on with my interviews and if the spot gets filled it gets filled. If not, then I can contact them to let them know I won't have a spot for them.

Originally Posted by daycare:
sorry for the confusion, the girl is the younger one......

very good point. They won't need care until fall. Mom is a teacher and she will finish out this school year as is.

I think all that I can do is carry on with my interviews and if the spot gets filled it gets filled. If not, then I can contact them to let them know I won't have a spot for them.

To me, that is the fairest thing all around.

I love having a cool parent on here....Just don't get mad at us when you have a hard time understanding where we are coming from.....lol

thanks for your perspective...much appreciated

Personally, I'd change my program to accommodate the little one, especially if the older sibling would be coming along too. There's a lot of competition around here...

Originally Posted by daycare:
I love having a cool parent on here....Just don't get mad at us when you have a hard time understanding where we are coming from.....lol

thanks for your perspective...much appreciated

Lol. There's stuff said on here I disagree with or don't get from the providers' perspective but I'm an adult, people are entitled to their opinions and at the end of the day, are entitled to run their businesses how they want (I own a business and I run mine how I want at the end of the day as well).