For those of you that watch kids in your home...Would you be willing to answer some questions for me?

How many children do you watch total (including your own) during the day?

How many of those children are with you full days? If yes, what do you charge?

How many of those children are 1/2 days? If yes, what do you charge?

How many children are strictly before & after school and school holidays/ PA days? If yes, what do you charge?

Also, do you give receipts?

Thanks in advance!!!

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Santa gets all the credit but I swipe the card...

Rosie
Single mom of 2 boys~ DS#1 (17) & DS#2 (6)
Burn the good candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion...Today IS special.

I had a home day care many years ago. Our state allowed for a maximum of six children, with no more than two under age 2, plus two children before or after school for a total of 8. This included my children. I did my best to keep my daycare filled to the allowable amounts.

I had few 1/2 day kids and only one after school child, since my kids were home then too.

I did 24/7 care in my home and accepted special needs children. One of them was a child with Down's who's grandfather had custody. His grandfather was a tour bus driver, so I often had him for 2-3 days straight. Special needs kids have a hard time finding day care, so try to take them when you can. You can charge more for them, depending on their needs. I cared for deaf children, ones with CP and even had one that was wheelchair bound and had to be fed by a feeding tube. It was a wonderful learning experience for myself and the children.

Parents also have a hard time finding care that's outside the "normal" M-F, 8-5 job range. So be open minded to taking kids at other times.

Of course since my daycare was years ago, so I don't think my pay scales would help. Many of the kids there had their care paid for by the state, and that was a lower scale than my regular pay. At the time the state paid $15/day for regular children and $19/day for special needs. I think I charged $25/day for all others, and yes, I gave receipts.

If you do become a licensed daycare provider I HIGHLY suggest using a food program (CACFP) to reimburse you for meals (whether you charge for them or not). Yes, it's a lot more paperwork, but the reimbursement will greatly make up for the paperwork headaches. I don't know what current reimbursement rates are but it's around $1 for breakfast, $2 for lunch and dinner and .50 per snack. (you can claim 2 meals and 1 snack or 2 snacks and 1 meal, depending on when they are there) You can also include your own children in the reimbursement as long as there is at least 1 day care child in the home during that meal. There is software out there to help you with the paperwork. You could be looking at about $1000 extra per month (minus what you paid for the food) by doing the food program.

Also, take advantage of grants that are available to home daycares. I got a grant to replace the carpet in our day care area, grant's to buy tables and chairs and other supplies and even got a grant to buy outdoor play equipment!

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WAHM of 7!

I don't have a daycare but my mom is in her 25th year of it.

She has between 7 - 12 kids a day. 5 kids are full time, 2 are 1/2 days Tues. and Thurs. and full days on M, W, F. 2 kids are morning kids, who get on the bus there. 3 kids are after school. When there is no school, she usually takes the day off. But sometimes she will remain open and that is when she might have up to 12 kids.

She charges $2.00/hr. for the 1st kid in the family and $1.75/hr. for the following kids in the family.

She doesn't have a different pay rate for 1/2 days or after school kids.

If she is open and a family decides to send their kids to grandmas or the parent takes a vacation day, she will charge them 1/2 a day. If she is open and there is a "no show", she will charge them a full day.

Wow, your state allows TWELVE? Is that with a helper or just her?

Here you can have the six, with 2 school age for 8 total as well. If you have more than 2 infants, then you can't have the 8.

You are allowed more with a helper after a year of small home day care or other early childhood experiences.

I was licensed a few years ago and getting licensed again for the upcoming year. Gotta let it rain awhile so they can dig postholes in this decomposed granite lol

Right now I 'just babysit' for one family of 2,, so I don't have to yet be licensed, but will to increase my amount of kids soon.

Receipts are necessary imho and rate vary so greatly from one area to another that it isn't really possible to compare from here and there and anywhere. Best bet, call around for daycare or get a friend to do so. Find out what the going rate is in your specific area. Here infants are a few dollars more a day than pottytrained bigger kiddos

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Think big! Change the world! One A.R.K at a time.

i watch kids.

right now i have one...plus my two( my kids are 15 and 12 1/2 and can watch themselves)....come the end of the month i will have three more kids here... and in november i might have three more.

right now NONE are full day here...but when the others come i will have one every other day here and a baby here all day( he will be a year in december). the ones in november, one will be every other day as well.

i charge :

$30 a day for under 2

$25 per full days( toilet trained and up)...... i provide lunch and snacks.

$15 half day

** i also will watch kids who are sick( a lot of sitters will not)..if sick then its $30 a day as i have to clean up after them more then usual.

YES i do give receipts ( everyone gets them the end of the year as people lose them and i have to write them up again).

*** since the kids i will have come from families..i give discounts for the families ( depends on the number of kids and how well behaved they are...i know all the kids coming very well).

* i will do overnighters but they have to let me know 48 hours in advance if they need me for this.( overnighters are $40)

hope that helps out

Nice of you to have this in your home. Me, I have a 2 yr old. Maybe doing something like this can be beneficial for my sister.

I babysit 2 children. One comes Tuesday and Thursday (sometimes on Fridays if her mom is OOT for work) and my other child comes on Tues-Thurs.

I charge $50 a day, and that is for a 8hr day. I provide snacks and drinks, and the parents send the kids with a lunch. The kids are 18mths and 14mths.

I don't charge for missed days, I probably should, but I just never brought it up and it would seem weird to do it now. My 18th old, I have been watching for more than a year. The 14th I just started watching a few months ago.

I have 2 children of my own (6 and 4) and they go to school. Both of my babysitting kids go home about an hour after my own kids get home, so it's not to terribly crowed in our house, lol

My husband is currently out of work, so he is quite helpful with the babysitting kids as well. If I had the chance to pick up a 3rd child, I probably would.

NICE, 50 bucks a day! It doesn't pay half as well here as that

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Think big! Change the world! One A.R.K at a time.

It's nice. It's pretty much what everyone else charges. I tried to make sure I was like everyone else.

Not to much, not to little,