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Araem910 12:48 PM 09-11-2019
I’m curious about what others charge. What are rates for all day and what are “ all day” hours? What do you charge for before school care and lastly, what do you charge for part time ( 5 hours or less).
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Michael 01:08 PM 09-11-2019
Welcome to the forum. We TAG all of our threads here and that is the best way to search for topics. I've included several tags(that you can click on) on the bottom left of this thread that relate to your question.
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Blackcat31 01:09 PM 09-11-2019
Originally Posted by Araem910:
I’m curious about what others charge. What are rates for all day and what are “ all day” hours? What do you charge for before school care and lastly, what do you charge for part time ( 5 hours or less).

I charge based on contracted hours so there is no such thing in my program as all day hours. I do not have standard open to close hours and open when the first child is scheduled to arrive and close when the last child is scheduled to be picked up.

Parents provide the times they need and then stick to them. Even if other children are scheduled to be in attendance later. So if Jane's mom says 4:00 pick up, she is late and charged a fee if she arrives any time after 4:00.

My rates are weekly and are based on the pick up time.
I do not discount rates for absences or time not used.

I do offer weekly rates for 3, 4 and 5 days a week and those too have parameters such as the 3 or 4 days (and times) specified in a family's contract is the ONLY time care is available for them without additional fees added.

For example if you contract for M,T,F care you pay for M,T,F care regardless of absences and you need to add in Wednesday you pay for that day IN ADDITION to paying for M,T,F. Make sense?

I do not provide care to school aged children and just this year amended my policies to no longer offer care to children that attend a preschool.

My rates are loosely based on pick up time. For example if Family A contracts for 5 days a week with a 3:00 pick up time and Family B contracts for 5 days a week with a 5:00 pick up time, Family B will pay a much higher weekly rate than Family A.

I do not count hours in care. The only hour I care about is which one the child is scheduled for pick up.

As for what I charge... I have no issue sharing although it is considered illegal to share with those in direct competition with you but you will find that what each program charges is very individual to not only each provider but each of the different areas as well.

I know a provider in the southern part of my state that charges almost twice what I do but again, she lives in a completely different area so she clearly tailors her rates to match her community.

My weekly rate starts at $140 minimum to $225 maximum
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Cat Herder 02:02 PM 09-11-2019
I don't like to police hours, fees or rates so I have one set rate for full-time, Monday-Friday, 7:30-5:30. I don't offer part-time at all. Tuition does not change based on attendance or federal holidays. I am currently at $150 per week. I do have a $1 per minute late fee, but terminate if I have to charge it more than a few times. My time with my DH is more valuable to me.

Getting rates might not help much, though, because they will be different based on your local economy. I am on the high end for where I live, but at the low end for many other places.
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Josiegirl 08:18 AM 09-12-2019
I agree rates will vary depending on your area. When I closed I was charging 135 a week, open from 7-5. I charged based upon enrollment not attendance and did not accept PT. My insurance company allowed me 6 dcks so I told everybody I had to enroll FT kiddos. And I charged the same right across the board, infants/prek/school-age. I didn't want to mess with 'ok, your infant is not a 2 yo, I can drop your rates' type of thing. I guess I could never understand that because to me, prek and SA were a lot more work and expense. Lol But anyways...
When I closed my doors, a dcm spent 2 months becoming legal to provide dc in her own home. Talk about jumping through hoops. She charges 100 a week year round for SA(I have to think eventually that'll come back to bite her in the butt but IDK?), 165 for infant care, and 150 for toddler/prek. She's full and is developing a waiting list. I am so very happy for her but also wish I had upped my rates when I was still open, KWIM? Lol
Centers charge more but home dc is charging around 135-150 a week here.
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jenboo 10:17 AM 09-12-2019
Im similar to cat herder.
I have one rate and I'm open 730am-530pm Monday thru Friday.

I have late pick up fees and late payment fees.

I have the highest rates in our city, including centers. I found a niche and I do it well with rave reviews which allows me to charge what I do.

Rates really depend on so much.... what are you offering, what are comparable rates in your city, what do you provide, e.t.c.
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Unregistered 07:13 PM 09-14-2019
open 7am-6pm
full-time only
$450 per week
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rosieteddy 08:49 AM 09-17-2019
When I closed 4 years ago tuition was 350 weekly full time.Parents paid a month in advance.I had paid holidays and 3 weeks vacation I was open 8am to 5:30.I did take some part time three days was 225.weekly.I was full and sought after for my program.(darn heart attack).
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AmyKidsCo 12:34 PM 09-17-2019
I'm open 7am - 5 pm.

I offer FT, 2-day PT or 3-day PT. PT is only on contracted days; any additional days are extra. I have 3 age tiers for each: 0-2, 2-5 & 5+.

I also offer a monthly flat-rate option for each age tier that's a little cheaper overall than paying weekly. IMO it's worth it to only have 12 payments to keep track of.
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TaylorTots 08:18 AM 09-19-2019
My personal rates are being determined by our local factors:

-Our area has a childcare shortage and is a suburb with housing that averages $200k in price. Most families are two parent working households.
-Our centers charge $215-225 a week for infants to 2 years and it only drops maybe $10 a week after the child turns two.
-Our after school care options in this area are $75-80 a week including transportation to the center. In the summer school agers are charged $150 a week at centers and parents provides a $150 pass to a local waterpark/amusement park that the center takes them to a few times a week.
-My operating costs require me to charge a certain amount to make a worthwhile profit. My rates sit between that minimum amount and the local childcare center rates. I don't provide transportation or field trips but I am 2 walking blocks from the elementary.

It's going to be based on what your area is in terms of income, ability to pay, cost of living and local competition in terms of childcare in my opinion.
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Tags:before school - fee, part time rate, rates, rates - 24 hour
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