New childminder confused about Fee's

Hi,

I have just registered as a childminder and could really do with some help and advice around Fee's. I have 3 boys of my own aged 3,5 and 8 so I can have 2 under 5 and 2 over 5. I intend to do an hourly rate of £4 which would include snacks.

I really some clarity around fees to charge in the school holidays for example if I take on a teachers child who doesn't need me during this time, is it acceptable to charge? and is so what?

I have also had a lady wanting me to pick her 3 year old up from nursery at 11.30am Monday to Thursday alternate weeks, Is is acceptable to charge for the place whilst the child is in Nursery if I am not dropping her off?

Thanks in advance :blush:

Hi :),
It might be a good idea to start by looking at how many spaces you have, what hours you are prepared to work and how much yearly income you will be happy to work for.

Its really up to you what you charge, although if you can, it would be a good idea to find out what other childminders in the area charge so you are not underselling yourself or charging way more.

Then go from there, based on 2 places at x number of hours a week and 2 places at x number of hours a week, including the possibility that you may have empty or pat filled spaces for long lengths of time, how much do you need to charge?

There are lots of ways to deal with the term time only issue. I went from part time, year round to term time only as hardly any of my families needed holiday care and I was working them for about what I was spending on food and resources, so went full time but term time only and kept my hourly rate the same.
If I had stayed full time I would probably have introduced a higher rate for term time only children ( my normal rate x no of weeks I work then divide by number of term time weeks)..

How I do preschool time is I charge normal fee for a minimum of 30 hours a week and if that is met, then I don't charge for the pre school time. HOWEVER, if I worked year round I would need to charge at least a 50% retainer to keep spaces for parents needing holiday care.

Again, its up to you and what you need to earn a decent living :).

Good luck :thumbsup:

I charge a full day for a nursery child - but I don't charge for holidays ... other cms do! We are all self employed and charge differently.

I suggest you contact other cms locally and find out what they do - then you will not be undercutting / overpricing yourself out of work :D

I have a mix of year round & term time only children & don't charge anything during the holidays to the term time ones because I'm not wanting to fill the space (prefer to have less mindees & get some time with my own DC.) Other CM's near me charge half fees during the holiday (but usually end up having them at least some days).

With only got 2 pre-school spaces I'd charge full day & also every week as you'll never fill those 2 days every other week.

It's a good idea to find out what cm in your area charge, have a look on childcare.co.uk and search for cm in your area as fees vary hugely across the country. With regards to charging whilst at pre-school I charge a minimum of 5 hours a day to children under school age so if a child needing picking up from preschool and the hours were more than 5 then no I wouldn't but if they needed less they would be charged for the minimum of 5 hours, if I was dropping off and collecting then its full fees whilst at pre-school, also I would probably be charging at least half fees for the weeks not needed maybe full fees dependant on how well it suited me and weather I needed to be full every week.

I have a term time only and charge half fees during the holidays as 14 weeks of the year is a lot to have no wages. Previous nursery children were charged if the parent expected me to take child to nursery and pick them up. Again I wouldn't be able to fill those hours with another charge and generally the parent is sending their child at 3 (when they get funded from the government), also charging them gives parents reassurance that if nursery closed/child ill I was able to collect/sort. I agree with others that you should look at what other cm's are doing in your area.