1/2 Day Preschool

How do you handle children that go to half day preschool? Do you still charge for full time spot? Had a parent ask me how it would work. I have never had one go half day. They either go full day or I keep them until they go to kindergarten. How do you all handle half day preschool schedules?

[CountryRoads]

I've got a couple kids that go to 1/2 day preschool, and they pay the full day rate. There's no way I'd be able to fill the other half of the day with another child. Also, I'm so limited on spots that I just can't take anything less than full day's rate.

I also have it in my policy that I do not offer half day rates. Also, there have been several times that they've needed the whole day. Spring break, for example. Another point is that it was her choice to send her child to preschool, so I don't know why she would expect you to take a loss.

Bottom line is they pay for the spot, not time used.

[Blackcat31]

I charge weekly 52 weeks a year regardless of attendance or time used.

If they go to any activity during the day, they still pay the same. I am not in the business of holding space open/available for use when it suits individual families.

Nor do I wish to play Tetris when trying to fill open spaces for partial days or random days here and there.

[Sunshine69]

I charged as a full-time too. I’ve never been able to find 2 families without overlapping part-time schedules anyway.

In my local pre-k program there’s half-day morning and afternoon classes. I’ve had two children, one in each program. They were both still at daycare in the morning until the bus picked up, still here at the same time for lunch as there were different buses dropping off and picking up, and still here together after the afternoon bus dropped off until closing. Plus the parents want the availability when school is closed. Ratio says they’re 2 kids so I charge that way.