I have 6 full time kids and 2 are mine so I only have 4 dcf. I am open M-F 7 - 6 and that has worked well in the past but now all 4 of my families are constantly changing schedules and I never know when they are coming or going and it is driving me nuts. I know a lot of you do contracted time but I want to consider my options before changing my sctructure. I have a lot of one parent drops off and another picks up and one DCP that has a different schedule everyday. I need to get control of my schedule . Please help me figure the best way to get a set schedule with parents. I don't want to change my hours and I currently have a 10 hour or less a day rule but that is all besides the standard late pick up and early drop off fees.

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I have a section that parents fill out their regular hours of care. If they want earlier or later they need to ask 24 hr in advance, and it is at my discretion. I don't charge extra when they adjust their schedule with advanced notice. I do, however, still charge a late fee if they come later than the arranged time without asking a head of time. Hope that makes sense!

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I would switch to contracted hours for everyone except the one family that has different hours all the time.

For that family, they would be required to give you a schedule no later than Wednesday of the previous week. No schedule, then their contracted hours will be 8-5 for that week.

Even though YOU don't know know when they're picking up and dropping off all week, THEY know and are just going about their schedule with no care that you're floundering. it's not unreasonable to ask that you're informed.

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I had the same problem years ago. I determined that it was too hard to maintain a work schedule and the mandated ratios unless I figured out how to get a more consistent schedule with the parents.

So I changed to "contracted time" with a 9-hour limit. I also send out occasional reminders to stick to this rule. If you would like me to share the wording, just send me a PM with your email.

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I operate on contracted hours only and require parents to submit a written schedule on Friday for the upcoming week. I do NOT allow changes to the submitted schedule without a 24 hour notice AND approval by me as I may not be able to accommodate the change.

Care is only available during the hours/times each family contracts and pays for.

I make MORE money than I did when I was just open from 7-5 and work LESS hours. I know EXACTLY when I am off work every day.

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Do you charge whether the child is there or not?

What works for me is that I shortened my work day to 7-5, because the works best with my family schedule. And I charge by enrollment, not attendance, so I get paid the same no matter what time the child is here. So now I don't really care when a child is dropped off or picked up, as long as it's after 7 and before 5.

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Yes I charge whether the child attends or not. My fustration is that parents do not communicate at all. 95% of the time the kids don't show up until 8 but this morning I had a parent here at 7 on the dot when I open and I was running a little late from working out and was just getting out of the shower. For the past few months no one has showed up at 7 and I have been available. I checked my email and text just to make sure I had no messages and worked out and jumped into the shower. I assumed dcm would let me know if all the sudden she is going to show up at 7 but no. I understand I am supposed to open at 7 but I also thought common courtesy would mean the DCP would let me know if all the sudden their drop off or pick up schedule is going to change. One day I have no kids for breakfast and then all the sudden everyone is here early including some who never eat breakfast here.

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I would so change how you charge.I would revamp my contract.It seems that no one consistently needs the early drop off . What I did was tell parents that for an additional fee I would open earlier with a 24 hr notice.I would base the normal tuition on 8 am ---5:30 pm .When I did this I did not open the door until 8 and only accepted cash for the occasional early start ten dollars per half hour. It was funny how everyone was good with the 8 am open (when they had to pay extra).I also changed how I fed the children.All children were to arrive already fed.Breakfast at home.Our morning snack at 9 am was "breakfast snack"all components of a food program meal.You could spin it that studies show the more time at home the better.....or something. Oh also I would charge extra for 5;30-6;00

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