My friend used to run a home daycare many moons ago when her kids were little. Now her kids are grown and she is wanting to start a homebased preschool/daycare again but doesn't know what the going rate is. For those of you who have kids in preschool/daycare what is the current rate? If she were to do a preschool 2 days a week for 4 hours what is the rate or 3 days a week for 4 hours per day?
Thank you so much for all of your input. As several have suggested she will be calling around to get quotes of the local prices.
I can only tell you what we pay...
2 dys a week/2.5 hrs a day = $105 per month 3 yr olds
3 dys a week/2.5 hrs a day = $130 per month 4 yr olds
4 dys a week/2.5 hrs a day = $155 per month...this is Jr. Kindergarten.
We pay $238 per month for 3 hour 5 day, but that is for pre-school with certified teachers, not day care. You did not mention if she was a certified teacher or only certified for child care.
Have her call the local daycares/preschools.....that's the only way to figure a baseline fee for what she wants to provide. Another resource would be the local health dept/division of family services (not sure which applies in your area) which will be responsible for her licensing assessments. They'll know what the norm is for the area.
Since it's been such a long time, I highly recommend she visit/tour the local facilites to see what's out there. To compete/succeed in today's world of childcare, you have to be "up" on new technology, products, & approved methods of care. Lots of rules out there to be followed! She'll also need to add a rider to her homeowners insurance & will need a good tax prep person to fully utilize the available deductions. Lots of planning involved. !!
The one we are looking at is $25 per day but it is all day from 8-4:30 and you can do 2 or 3 days. The actual preschool part is a couple hours in the morning, the rest of the day is like daycare. This is also a catholic school, it is through the church we go to so I'm not sure how it compares to others.
For 2 days a week 3.5 hours a day preschool for 3 year olds we pay $65 per month.
For 3 days per week 3.5 hours per day preschool for 4 year olds we pay $90 per month.
what we pay
2 days/wk 3 hrs - $120 (3 yr olds)
3 days/wk 3 hrs - $160 (4 yr olds)
Both classes do 5 programs/yr of songs and poems, the kids make a Thanksgiving Feast, 2 Field trips, and 3 classroom parties
At the baptist church with certified teachers
This is definitely an area specific question. I look at Riley J.'s cost and I think that's insane, but she lives clear across the country from me. I also looked at JoAnn C.'s and I think that is really cheap. We pay $125 a month for 2 day a week preschool from 9-12. Ours happens to be one of the least expensive ones in the area as well, so I would say an average here is about $160 a month for 2 day a week.
She really needs to call around though and find what the average cost is in your area. Like I said, some of these are SO far from what we are paying, but we are also sending our son to a church preschool and not an "academic" one (those run about $300 a month for the same 2 days and 3 hours in our area). Good luck!
She'll need to check in her area. In **our** area the "midline" for group care is:
Infants- pottytrained toddlers : 1600 a month for full time
potty trained toddlers PRESCHOOL : (aka typically 9am - 3pm) 1200 a month
potty trained toddlers DAYCARE : (8am-6pm) : 800
Afterschool care : apx 100-250 per week or $40 per day
The way most PRESCHOOLS in our area work is that there is a full time weekly fee... any less and it's priced evenly. So if it's 1200 a month for full day preschool 5 days a week, then it's 600 a month for 1/2 day preschool 5 days a week. Also that siblings get a 20% discount, and there's only 1 enrollment/paperwork fee per year. I personally like this style because it's EASY to figure out. Ditto, in our area, it's a monthly tuition rate that doesn't change if they "miss" days of school. Ditto holidays, etc. Because what it *really* is is a year rate divided by 10.
But again, this isn't the standard nationwide. Some areas it's more expensive to do half days (aka a half day would be 700 a month, or 800... or instead of 600 for 5 days = 475 for 4 days, 600 for 5 days but 525 for 4 days ... aka there's a discount for people who enroll full time). Some are paid by the hour, some are paid by the day, some are paid by the week.
