School Year Care - Before and/or After School
August 30, 2011
We always feel for so many families this time of year looking for before and after school care. It can be tough to find but certainly not impossible. We recommend that parents look now in order to have time to interview and determine options for this type of need.
To make your search easier, we have a few suggestions:
- We recommend that you set realistic duties for your nanny/babysitter for the time they are with your children. Finding someone to do child pick-up/drop-off as well as driving them to activities, making/prepping dinner, doing laundry, and helping the kids with their homework can be very difficult.
- Consider finding more than one person to help you out; usually if your children are older they will not be affected by this as much as a younger child.
- Finding care for the hour or so before school is very hard to find. See if you can work it out at home or with a neighbour so that this time is covered, rather than trying to hire someone for this short time period.
- Finding someone willing to work for an hour or two can be challenging. Make the position worthwhile for them if you can; do you have other duties they could do? For example, pick up dry-cleaning, light housekeeping, meal prep. More hours may be more appealing to someone looking for employment.
- We find this type of care is offered a premium rate. Expect to pay more than the average rate for your area. Part-time caregivers usually charge more than a full-time caregiver to make it worth their while to take only part-time hours.
- Look all over the place for before and after school care. For example, in addition to using our site, post ads in your neighbourhood or community centre and call moms that stay at home full -time, as they might be interested in helping you out for those few after-school hours.
- Have an emergency back-up plan in case the person you hire is unable to come to work that day so you're not scrambling for care or having to leave work yourself
Consider a Nanny Share! This may help with the hourly cost, and you can use each other as back-up care. - Provide compensation for the caregiver’s for extra costs , like the cost of driving the children around, or taking them to activities/events.
- Always discuss with your caregiver and the children how the relationship is going, ensuring that the relationship continues to be smooth and helpful to you and your family.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-866-221-7918.
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