I have a new baby starting in January. This baby will come 2 days a week. I'm not sure if I will have room in the fall for this baby as one of my current dcf's is pregnant and that one takes priority. (I talked about working that issue out before on here). So, the January baby most likely won't come this summer due to scheduling. If I do take the baby in the fall, what does everyone do about teachers kids? Currently I don't give any free days other than the days I take off for vacation /sick. My dcf's pay the same if the child does not come due to their absense or holiday. Typically, I have a teachers child come 1/2 the time in the summer and they pay only for that 1/2 spot. So right now I have another teacher and her kids come 4 days a week during the school year and 2 in the summer. I dont' mind this because at this time I have siblings come that fill the spot. However, I don't know how long I will have siblings filling the spots, so I hate to paint myself in a corner if that makes sense. What do you guys do?

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When you have situations like this the only advice I can offer is to make it VERY clear to parents that just because something is working now doesn't mean that it will still be the same scenario the next time....kwim?

I always type up a note saying "in the past I have done *** because I was in the postion to do so, however I will now be requiring ***."

Make sense? I used to take families that had summers off and I didn't charge because I too had older sibs and SA kids who needed the space.

Now I don't take SA kids so it doesn't work for me. I just let them (parents) know in enough time that they could make other arrangements and knew ahead of time that I would be ahndling the situation differently than I had in the past as far as holding spaces and required attendance.

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Good advice, I'll do it that way. Do you have any teachers kids? I do like to have the kids at least 1/2 the time just to at least keep them used to coming and such. I could tell her that the baby needs to come 1/2 the time, but if I don't have anyone to fill the other day, then she either needs to pay or bring the baby.

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Half of my 10 families are teacher kids. Currently what I do is allow the kids under 12 months stay home the whole summer without charging as I prefer to have no babies in care during the summer.

I require the kids who are older then 12 months but not yet potty trained to attend half time and the kids who are potty trained are required to attend/pay for a full space as they usually do during the school year.

HTH

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That is a great plan, I like that. Since I usually have an older group in the summer, that would be nice to not have the baby. Although this summer I will have a baby anyway. I don't know if you remember my dilemma from a little while ago when I said yes to the January baby (teacher) and then I found out that my current dcm is pregnant and due in April. January mom since she's a teacher will only need me until the first of June and the April baby isn't coming until July so that will work. then I will see what I will have available in the fall for the January baby.

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Black Cat I like your advice. It really does make perfect sense to me. If I get a teacher family that wants to attend summer care I will implement your ideas. I currently have two teachers and they each have one child enrolled. Neither one comes in the Summer. However, I have been requiring them to pay a deposit to hold their spot through the summer so they won't lose it once school starts back up and that turns out to be almost two months of their normal tuition. So far it has been working out. It's funny because neither teacher wants to bring their child durning the summer. They want to stay home with them.

I do try to schedule some play dates for them during the summer so they can stay connected with me and their friends at daycare.

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All but one of my teacher families WANT to keep their children home to but I also think as teachers they understand how hard it is to get a child on a routine and then have them have a large break from that routine.

Especially for the pre-school age when they are in the process of making friends and cultivating that relationship. It is hard to be left out of the loop when you are only 4 kwim?

I don't mind the really little ones staying home as not having them in care allows me a little more freedom for walks and field trips compared to the winter months when I have babies in care.

So far, most my teacher families are A-ok with the arrangement so it works well for me.

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