So - I went back to the school to pick up my daughter today and I had told the director that morning I was interested in bringing my daughter on for 2 full days/3 half days a week. She said she'd write up a quote and have it for me at pickup.
So...I get there today and she hands me a piece of paper with the cost - $700 a month!!!! I was shocked and kindly pointed out to her that her own price sheet (which they gave me that morning) had the cost of 4 full time days at $550 a month - so why would 2 f/t days and 3 half days cost $150 MORE than? She didn't know what to say to that. I told her there was no way I could afford (nor would I pay) $700 for my child to attend her school on a part time basis.
This is so frustrating! As it is she charged me $150 for this week (5 half days) which works out to $30 a day - but then said if I wanted to bring her next week for 3 half days (in case I went to my old daycare provider in the meantime to fulfill my obligations) it would be $98 - which is closer to $33 for a half day.
I'm so confused. At this point I'm just ready to throw in the towel and suck up the constant vacations at my current daycare provider but know my daughter is ready for more.
Should I go back tomorrow with my own notes (btw this is a formal school - not an in-home facility) and prices based on their price sheet - or is that just being presumptous and jerky?
Ok - I feel I need to add that their price sheet had 5 HALF DAYS at $550 a month - and 4 FULL DAYS at $555 a month. So even so - I still can't see where the extra $150 is coming in - it just doesn't add up. This is not a IN HOUSE provider - it's a PRIVATE SCHOOL run by directors/etc.
Part time daycare is never going to work out equal $$$ to full time care. The problem is that a daycare provider is only able to take in a certain number of children. If you have a child attending part time he/she is taking a spot for a full time child which of course cuts into the amount of money the daycare can make. In addition the part time child changes the dynamics of the daycare which can be a little stressful on the care provider.
if i remember correctly, the pricing doesn't make sense because even if your child is going part time, for half days, the spot is taken by her and they cannot bring anyone else full time because your daughter takes up those spaces. you might be better off paying full time for half days for 5 days and just send her in whenever you way to. that is what i did. financially it made more sense.
She may have made an honest mistake... or you may have looked at the price sheet wrong.
Half days typically cost "more" in the scheme of things than full time days around here. Because there's a price break for more hours. Just as an example:
Full Day = $100
Half Day = $70
On the surface, the full day looks like it costs more, but two half days (aka a full day) = $140.
So 2 full days + 3 half days would = $510
But 5 full days = $500
Our preschool's price sheet was pretty easy to follow. It listed out the cost per full day and cost per half day and cost for lunch hour (which could be added onto the end or beginning of a half day).
I would go over yours' sheet and add them up. If you believe there was just a math mistake (happens!), go in with a smile and that attitude (instead of a 'You were trying to screw me over!' attitude... which I just bring up because that's my own knee jerk response... and I have to remind myself that people goof from time to time).
((This 'discount for time' is reeeeeeeeally common. 1 hour of gymnastics a week costs $180 for the quarter. 2 hours costs $220. 3 hours costs $245. So I could have my son in gymnastics 3x per week for $245... but one doesn't divide by 3 to find out the 1 hour cost. It's not $81 per hour. It's $180 for the first hour. $40 for the second hour. $30 for the the third hour. It's a discount given to parents who have their kids in more classes in order to make them affordable.))
I second exactly what Diane said below.
I think she's basing it on a per-day rate. For example, let's say that the average month has 22 working days. My old provider charged $299/week for an infant. That's $59.80 per day. The "by the day" rate was $78. HUGE difference. If you can't work something out - either with your schedule or her rates, then I'd look around and see what else there is to be offered. If the price doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out.
(FYI, our preschool for the fall will be $415/month for 5 half days. It was by far the least expensive non-coop option I found for our area.)
And here's a bit of math - if your DD is signed up for 4 full time days and one half, but really only attended on your schedule, would that give you a price you can live with? Or would that totally mess up your DD's days?
It may also vary depending on her staffing needs. If your DD is not there, maybe one of her people doesn't work a full day or she can use a PT person/aid. If your daughter is there longer, by law they need a certain ratio so she needs to add a staffer. A PT-er may have a lower pay rate than a FT person, etc.
WOW I am shocked at some of the prices that are being said for pre-school. Our DD goes to a Christian School that is PreK-12gr with preschool added through the church. Its $85 T/TH $95 M/W/F thats per month and for 5 full days its $95 a week as early as 6:30am-6:30pm. They dont do 5 1/2 days which I think my dd would love. I guess I am lucky to have found this place.gl
Child care is way more expensive for part time. She has to do a lot more work in scheduling people and deal with angry workers who need a paycheck to live on. Most child care facility's won't even do part time.
Full time care for your child is what you should be paying. That teacher needs a stable income and they can't fill that spot with another child if you don't show up. You need to pay a weekly fee that is the regular price. That should be posted somewhere. Then if you want to bring her her slot is guaranteed, if she stays home they just have a smaller class that day. It will give this child the stability too if she goes every day and gets used to the schedule.
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On page 6 you can see across the age group what the most highly rated child care facilities in the state can get paid for a child in their care by the state. Some parents get subsidy to help pay child care and this is what the state will pay for that child in a 3 STAR rated facility.
In Oklahoma the normal price for a child that comes:
http://www.okdhs.org/NR/rdonlyres/2E81F###-###-####-487B-...
For a child 2-3 years old in a 3 STAR child care place, full time, M-f over 4 hours per day you would pay:
$27.75 per day for a center and in a home setting $23.75. So I think your prices are not too much for good quality care.
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If there were 20 work days in a particular month that would be $550 for that month. Most people pay every Monday so that ends up being a less confusing way to go about it.
First, I think you need to realize that like with anything, the more you buy, the less you pay. Thus, the difference between the prices for 3 half days versus five half days.
Also, the schedule you are asking for is obviously not one they anticipated so she's trying to come up with a figure based on what they normally charge.
If I were you, and given the problems your daycare provider has caused you, I would put my child in for either the 4 full days or the five half days and still go with letting the nanny go.
Go to the daycare with your notes in hand and try to work something out, but I bet the schedule you're asking for they had not contemplated and they are trying to work something out that fits your schedule/needs.
Most daycares/preschools have a set rate per day or week. For example, my daughter's daycare/preschool (same for 3 and 4 year olds w/ 4yr olds being a preschool class) is $175 per week (which works out to $35 per day and if you were to average it out for the year it works out to $758 a month). You pay for the whole week, there or not. I don't remember what the PT rate is but it is by the hour and anything over 4 hours (I think) is considered a full day.
I would say that their rate on the rate sheet should be accurate but I wouldn't expect it to be different if you are bouncing between FT and PT. You should expect to pay for FT and then just pick her up early if that is what you are doing.
Something is REALLY wrong with this picture. They don't have set rates for the different options? It sounds like she tries to get big bucks from interested people to see if they "bite".
Glad you didn't give notice with your lady yet. Start looking elsewhere and find a center that doesn't do what this place does.
I've never heard of something like this - not just frustrating, but infuriating! So sorry!
Dawn
At all the Preschools I have check out, here locally in my city... they have a certain schedule... part-days or full-days and either 2 days a week or 3 days a week or 5 days a week. And THEN, the parent chooses from THEIR scheduling, when they want to bring their child.
At no time, does the Preschool, veer from that nor do they accommodate a hybrid of that schedule. If they did, then they would need to allow ALL the parents, to make up their own schedules.
Which would be a nightmare, for the school, to say the least.
Typical half-day 3-days a week Preschool here... is about $550/month.
On the low average.
Whether or not a child is enrolled, it also had to do with IF the classrooms, have the open spots, for another child.
Very often, there is a wait-list.
Wow...I pay $1060/month per kid for our preschool...and my kids go 3 full days per week, they are home the other 2 days. I'd love to have your prices! Though there should be standard pricing set for any scenario, since they offer both full and half days. Kind of sounds like she's making it up as she goes which is definitely confusing. I would go in with the attitude that you're going to pay what she asks for, but have her explain to you how she arrived at that number ($700) and maybe you can reason down to a lower price.
It's worth it if you really like the school otherwise.
This doesn't really answer your dilemma, but I pay more than $400/mo for private preschool at a church - 2 full days 9:15 - 2:30 and 1 half day 9:15 - 11:45. Plus $85/mo extra for my son to do soccer and dance while already there. And we are a CO-OP PRESCHOOL so I'm there in the classroom about 10 times a semester, responsible for snack and at least one activity a month. I'm so lucky I can write part of it off!
Next year I am hoping to switch him to a slightly cheaper school at $410/mo for three full days 9:00 - 2:30 and one half 9:00 - 12:00.
So there is a $5 different between full days and half days? Why not just enroll her in full days and then, if you want her home for half the day on certain days, just tell the teacher on a weekly basis. Jill won't be here from 1PM on on Tuesday and Thursday this week type of thing.
As for price, the least expensive preschool here is $85/month for two days a week, 3 hours each day. Which would be about $620/month for 8 hour days 5 days a week.
look on the montesorri site and price out a few more and look into a few other preschools and find one that meets your needs. let your provider know you'll be looking and use her in the meantime
Overall, I am very satisfied with the preschool my son is attending part-time, but .... I have heard some complaints from other parents mostly about administrative issues. The worst complaint I heard was from one couple who were paying full-time fees for their son, but they were never told that they could pick him up anytime before 5:30. The poor dad was killing himself to get out of work to be there by 4 only to eventually learn that was not the case. Needless to say, they were very annoyed when this was "revealed" to them, as if they should have known all along.
While I am no expert on daycares, my observation based on my own experience and what I've heard from other parents is that most daycares and preschools run on very little money, with the exception of the really high-end expensive ones. If you work out the math, it is remarkable to me that they are able to stay in business at all. The only way they are able to that I can figure out is to pay low wages to their staff, accept donations of every kind, and stretch their staff to the max. I can definitely say that about the preschool my son attends - it seems to me that the director is pretty much a one-woman-show, handling all aspects of management and finances as well as caring for a class of toddlers all day. The example I gave in the previous paragraph I think is one of lack of adequate staffing and time, not of intentional deceit.
They also have the issue of keeping the legal ratio of staff to kids, which makes part-time students tricky. At first we were told that we'd be able to choose which days of the week my son could go, but once it was out turn on the wait list and he was able to register, they only offered Thur and Friday which wasn't ideal for our schedules.
I would not hesitate to sit down with the director of the school, or arrange for a time to meet and go over the numbers with her. It is certainly your right to know how they are calculating the fees. It really does sound as if there was a mistake. Try to keep your cool in the meantime and you will get the best results. After discussion if they are still holding to the price of the part-time being more than full-time, I'd look else where! Best of luck to you!
EDITED: I just calculated some figures based on the structure of our preschool, and I think i may know why the discrepancy. Many daycares charge for full-time based on a 10 hour day (between 7:30-5:30), and part-time is often 6 or 5 hours a day. If you calculate by hour using two 10 hours days, the schedule you want is actually more hours than 5 part-time days. So maybe they aren't trying to pull your leg!
