Hi everyone, I'm trying to get a grasp of what the hourly costs are for Day Care costs in MA. Also, do you prefer Day Care centers or licensed Day Care providers? Any experience you have with this issue would be greatly appreciated.

I can imagine it varies by location but was trying to get a general idea of the costs.

I'll be calling around to see if I can get any answers to my question.

Thanks in advance for your input.

I only know it in multiples of 3..... when the girls started O was in Kindergarten and the twins preschool (at the daycare)... it was $450/week. She was actually giving me 15% off so that was for all 3. Summer I cannot remember but I was paying $804 when the little ones started Kindergarten and Olivia was in first so only in the afterschool program. At that point she was giving me about 30% off, I believe I should have been paying closer to $315/week with the normal family discount (which was 10% I think) This was a center where they had 2.9yrs through school age.

I am using a home-based one this week so I'll let you know what I think once they are finished with the week. They are both VERY different but I see positives in both of them.

I think the nice thing about the center is you get the preschool too and a bit more socialization and routine following... more of a school setting to prepare for when they go. I also think they are monitored better as far as OFC goes.... At a home you have to take into consideration people just stopping in to visit, phones ringing, family happenings, etc.

Hey,

When little Bobby's mother first left, her brother moved in with us to help with the babysitting. I wouldn't recommend that...

Next we had a friend's wife babysit. It was after school from 1-6 or so. She wasn't licensed, but it was a healthy place for him to go and it was affordable: $150/week or so. After a year I bought a two family house, and they moved into the upstairs apartment. It was great, as the school bus now brought Bobby to his own house, and going upstairs was hardly like going to daycare at all. I deducted the babysitting costs from their rent. The amount I paid varied a bit, with the max cost being $300/week in the summer.

That arrangement went well for awhile, but then the husband moved out and three more children (teen girls) moved in. The situation wasn't as healthy after that, and I ultimately made them move to another (larger) place. I felt bad about it, as they'd helped me at a time that I needed help, but I had to think of my son first.

After that, my son started going to the Boy's and Girl's Club after school. He was 9yo by then, and they have good programs for kids that age. There fees are $20/year (yes, really!). He went to a YMCA outdoors camp for two summers at $350/week, but he didn't want to go after that. I don't think that the (teenage) counselors disciplined the troublemaking kids very well there, and I think that's what made my son not want to go...

My son's middle school now has an afterschool program. They charge $15 a day, and they run from 3:30 to 6:00.

Hope some of that info helped...

Bobby

Thanks Sue and Bobby for replying.

Sue - I'm thinking of home based instead of a large Day Care center. Though it depends upon if I continue to live in the marital home or move. The costs you gave are in line with what I'm finding out there. It'll be interesting to see how this all works out.

Bobby - thanks for all the great info. on after school programs.

My daughter will turn 5 on 09-10-06 so I'm right on the edge of getting her into Kindergarten for the 2006/2007 school year. We'll see if that works. I have no family and friends are few (mothers of children in my daughter's preschool class) back here; that's one of the reasons I've petitioned the courts for removal back to the west coast to be closer to family and friends so they can help me out with child care.

I can't trust the father's family to watch her since they have some "unique issues" of their own. I have never left her alone with any of them.

I've also been looking at companies back here that have on-sight Day Care to work for in case I don't get removal. They are few and far between but they do exist.

So it looks like it'll be a juggling act and as with everything else works out in the end.

Check into the area towns' cut-off dates for Kindergarten.... most have changed over to August so that they have to be 5 prior to starting....... it would be great if you could find a system that would take her as a Kindergartener and has full-day! That would help the bill, or at least cut it down. I know a few make you pay for full-day, it can sometimes work out cheaper (but not always) than daycare. Also, if they do it on lottery sometimes they will make allowances for financial reasons so being a single mom that has to work you might just be able to get your full-day slot without going through a lottery.

Sue the cut off date is Sept. 1st for MA. It is a full day kindergarten in this wonderful little town. I've sent a letter to the principal already requesting that she consider my daughter for the 2006/2007 class.

What it comes down to is the class size and the number of FTE they need to hire. So being a small town if there are only 25 kids for the class that will be 5 by the cutoff date she won't be accepted but if there are more than 25 kids then she would be accepted, at the discretion of the school principal.

I have a mole on the town's school committee so I checked it out with him first beforing writing the letter.

Thanks for the input. I'll wait and see what happens. If I get removal this will all be moot.

Oh lordy. Do I really confess what a sucker I am right now? I have sitting on the kitchen table the statement of my son's preschool tuition (for taxes). $15003.47 is the 2005 grand total. Now granted my 40% comes only to the discount price of $6001.39. Which is approximately $500.12 a month. Which is approximately $116.31 a week. For 9 hours of preschool Monday through Friday...

Which teamed up with rent, and student loans is why I'm perpetually broke.

Wow! That's a ton!

Will you send your son to the Lawrence schools when he's old enough? Little Bobby isn't in a Lowell school anymore...

Later,
Bobby

Not all towns Supplied... it can be different town to town.

Hi Sue, I know it's different from town to town but I'm assuming that because my daughter is on the edge of the "tender years" the judge, if he doesn't allow relocation, will allow us to stay in the marital home. Too much legalese.

I'm aware that it would be different depending on the town but the MA General Laws are such that the principal gets the final decision about letting children who don't meet the age deadline by Sept. 1st to enter Kindergarten.

Hope that makes sense.

Yes it does. Well, I guess you can just cross your fingers there are a lot of 5 yr olds entering school this coming year.... I hate when things are out of my control, I'm not so good at the waiting game. Get your ducks in a row and assume she won't be there and it will be a welcome surprise if they can get another class up and running!

Bobby, nah, I don't really want Ian in Lawrence schools. If I'm still here when he's ready to go into public school I hope to live somewhere with nicer schools. Maybe Andover or Wilmington or something. I'd say North Andover but with all their rate hikes and such lately I'm not sure... There have been some interesting articles about it in the Eagle Tribune.

Does Little Bobby go to a private school?

And Ian's school is a bundle but I really wanted it to be top-notch since he *hated* his daycare in Boston, which he only went to very part time, when I was still with his dad. I figured if this place was to be his home-away-from-home it had better be somewhere he would love, where he could thrive and grow. I love the school, it's just ridiculously expensive. Without his dad's contribution he could never go there.

Little Bobby goes to a charter school in a neighboring suburb. I dunno...I feel bad about it, because the public schools in this area have *such* a hard job given the backgrounds of the children they have to teach. Every time one of the good kids leaves, it just makes their job harder. Still...little Bobby only gets one childhood and it's not fair for me to sacrifice it for a social cause, so I investigated every possible option when he started middle school.

I looked into private schools, and the neighboring schools that participated in School Choice, but the charter school was by far the best option that I found (short of moving). Haha...it's definitely a hippy school, but that's actually pretty good for my son. The big thing is that it's free as long as I drive him, and it's about 2 min from where I work so that's no problem.