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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>School Age Kids
3amazingkiddos 07:10 AM 02-04-2013
Hi! I'm fairly new here and I'm sure this has been asked before, but how many only watch school age kids? I currently have 2 under 2, a 2 y/o, my 3 y/o twins, and my 8 y/o. One of the infant moms just told me they're expecting #2 and would like me 2 watch that one as well. I love my families and I love the kids, but my boys will be 4 next month and starting pre-k in the fall, which means I'll have to take everyone in and out several times a day for school pick-up/drop off, pre-k is only 1/2 day. I love the little ones, but as mine get older I'm finding It harder to give my own children the attention they need b/c the babies/toddlers are so time consuming. Also it would allow me some 1 on 1 time with my twins their last year before they go to school full time. So, I guess I'm asking for some positive and negatives of doing it. Thanks in advance!
mom2many 07:27 AM 02-04-2013
I started to watch S/A once my own kids were in school. In some cases, it would be their classmates and it always worked out great getting paid for their friends being here! My own loved having older kids to play with too.
Since I had to walk over to school to pick them up, it was easy just picking up one or two more!
It also made my day much easier, while everyone was at school, because I only had one or two little ones to watch.
The older ones always loved to play with the younger ones and read to them too.
The only issues for me were ensuring the S/A did not have anything that could be a choking hazard that the little ones could get to. I gave them a designated space to play games that had small pieces and tiny legos were kept in a separate room too.
Eventually I phased out the younger group for 5 years, while my own kids were growing up, so we could do more field trips and we weren't restricted by nap time schedules.
Now I am back to watching both age groups and it continues to work well for me!
Since I had to walk over to school to pick them up, it was easy just picking up one or two more!
It also made my day much easier, while everyone was at school, because I only had one or two little ones to watch.
The older ones always loved to play with the younger ones and read to them too.
The only issues for me were ensuring the S/A did not have anything that could be a choking hazard that the little ones could get to. I gave them a designated space to play games that had small pieces and tiny legos were kept in a separate room too.
Eventually I phased out the younger group for 5 years, while my own kids were growing up, so we could do more field trips and we weren't restricted by nap time schedules.
Now I am back to watching both age groups and it continues to work well for me!
MarinaVanessa 09:04 AM 02-04-2013
I used to take school agers and I still have one in pre-school right now that I pick up from his school. Honestly it's a hassle getting all of the kids in and out of the van every day and I doubt that I'll be providing transportation after this year. I also have to pick up my own DD from her school and doing that is a hassle. Plus I cater mostly to the 6 weeks-5yo so my 8yo DD doesn't exactly have a lot in common with the crowd I have, she prefers to do an after school program so we have her on a waiting list. Once she gets in I won't have to pick her up anymore and my DH will pick her up at 5pm.
Honestly in a way, I can't wait to not have to drive anymore. It takes up a lot of time that we could be spending doing other things.
You also the issue about needing a car that will hold enough kids. I had to buy an 8 passenger van to accommodate the kids and that still cuts down number of kids that I can care for by 1 child because 8 passengers means 7 kids fit in my van (because the driver takes up one spot) so I have to make sure that I never have more than 7 kids scheduled in a day (I am licensed for 8).
Car-seats and booster seats take up a lot of room and are cumbersome to install and uninstall. I had decided to buy and provide my own car seats so that I could always have them installed in my van vs having to install/uninstall them every day. This is costly and each car seat has to be replaced every 5 or so years (I buy 1 or 2 new car seats every year to help stagger the costs) but it saves you the space you'll need to have to store all of the kids car seats if the parents bring them everyday and it save you the time to have to put them in and take them out each day. Infants are easy, just buy an extra base and at least you don't have to buy infant car seats. The parents can supply those and all you have to do is drop the seat into the base already installed in your car (the most infant car seats you'll have to worry about storing for the day is about 2 or 3 this way).
Business wise, transporting can be a big benefit because clients that don't have a way to get their kids to your home after school will see this as a HUGE perk. Clients aren't always able to get someone to pick their kids up after school and get them to DC.
Other potential clients will see transporting as a deal-breaker. Some parents don't feel safe allowing another person driving their child around.
All in all it all just depends on whether or not you feel comfortable taking school agers and whether or not you feel comfortable driving the kids around. I'd also get a feel for how your current clients would feel if you drove your DC kids around.
Honestly in a way, I can't wait to not have to drive anymore. It takes up a lot of time that we could be spending doing other things.
You also the issue about needing a car that will hold enough kids. I had to buy an 8 passenger van to accommodate the kids and that still cuts down number of kids that I can care for by 1 child because 8 passengers means 7 kids fit in my van (because the driver takes up one spot) so I have to make sure that I never have more than 7 kids scheduled in a day (I am licensed for 8).
Car-seats and booster seats take up a lot of room and are cumbersome to install and uninstall. I had decided to buy and provide my own car seats so that I could always have them installed in my van vs having to install/uninstall them every day. This is costly and each car seat has to be replaced every 5 or so years (I buy 1 or 2 new car seats every year to help stagger the costs) but it saves you the space you'll need to have to store all of the kids car seats if the parents bring them everyday and it save you the time to have to put them in and take them out each day. Infants are easy, just buy an extra base and at least you don't have to buy infant car seats. The parents can supply those and all you have to do is drop the seat into the base already installed in your car (the most infant car seats you'll have to worry about storing for the day is about 2 or 3 this way).
Business wise, transporting can be a big benefit because clients that don't have a way to get their kids to your home after school will see this as a HUGE perk. Clients aren't always able to get someone to pick their kids up after school and get them to DC.
Other potential clients will see transporting as a deal-breaker. Some parents don't feel safe allowing another person driving their child around.
All in all it all just depends on whether or not you feel comfortable taking school agers and whether or not you feel comfortable driving the kids around. I'd also get a feel for how your current clients would feel if you drove your DC kids around.
canadiancare 09:29 AM 02-04-2013
When we first moved here 10 years ago I only wanted to do Before and After school care. I was planning to volunteer at the school reading with the kids and doing yard duty (for pay). I couldn't get 5 kids quickly enough so I ended up taking a full time child and once I did that I might as well fill my space with all full times rather than use some for SA kids. (5 kids under the age of ten is our max here).
mbullette 12:14 PM 02-04-2013
School aged kids are A LOT of work. I had some last summer and it was problem after problem. They dont listen, they get bored very fast, they eat non-stop, they dont like to follow rules, they expect everything and the list goes on and on. I decided after being disrespected by certain kids last summer I will NOT take SA kids ever again. I have learned that infants and school aged kids are the hardest groups to deal with or at least for me they are. I had one SAB tell his parents that I wouldnt allow him to have soda when he wanted it which I dont allow my kids to have. He brought some in his bag the next day to have with lunch. I took it away and the parents got very mad at me. They are just hard to deal with. For how much they eat and what I was charging,m I was not making anything off of them.
Please think long and hard before taking them. Some of them are not honest and when things dont go their way they make things up. I learned the hard way. Has to term a family and they called the state on me with false stories to try to get me in trouble. I would hate for that to happen to you.
Please think long and hard before taking them. Some of them are not honest and when things dont go their way they make things up. I learned the hard way. Has to term a family and they called the state on me with false stories to try to get me in trouble. I would hate for that to happen to you.
familyschoolcare 05:42 PM 02-04-2013
I only do school aged. I love it. I make a little less per week than if I took younger kids all day.
cheerfuldom 06:01 PM 02-04-2013
The big thing to consider is if you offer full day care when school is not in session. Those are the days that that age are really hard and you do not get a nap time. Thats a huge deal breaker for a lot of providers, especially if you are also juggling younger kids that need naps. But I understand not wanting babies and toddlers. perhaps sticking to 2 years and up would be a start towards lightening the load. That is what i have recently done.