If both parents WOTH, what is your childcare this school year?

[elektra]

If both parents WOTH, what is your childcare this school year? Annie's post got me curious how everyone is handling it this year.

Gonna try a poll.

This year I am going to try an afterschool sitter. We tried last year towards the end of the year, and the girl did not work out. I put the kids back into aftercare even though I am not happy with the quality there anymore.
I think I have found someone who will work as an afterschool sitter though! She is 21 and was just married and I think she wants to start having kids of her own and be a housewife, (eventually a SAHM) and do sitting to supplement their income.

We have done onsite aftercare, but with my job travel and the kids activities, my dad had to drive them all around and it's too much for just him. DH and I can't get home til 5:45 or later each evening so we need coverage

[twowhat?]

We use a daycare aftercare. It's better quality than the YMCA afterschool care on-site at the school. There are a number of daycare options around that offer this - they bus the kids from their school to the daycare facility.

We actually switched to a different daycare this year because we were starting to get unhappy with the care at the daycare we used last year. Most of the daycare facilities here are open until 6pm or 6:30pm, and some even have early morning hours for parents who need to drop kids off before school starts.

The biggest "issue" with the daycare aftercare is I feel like kids will age out of it around 3rd grade-ish.

[AnnieW625]

Dd1 will be in aftercare most afternoons, but she might also be picked up early a few days by a friend's mom so she can go to ballet. She might also play volleyball so practice and games will be after school. Dd1 has to do her homework at daycare before she can do any other activity like crafts or outside play.

Dd2 will be in aftercare everyday unless she has Daisy Scouts and then if she decides to play baseball in the spring then she may have practice in the afternoon.

Our after care is $220 a month total for both kids so there is really no other alternative that is that affordable. Lots of people at our school use a sitter, but honestly we don't do a lot of activities that are after school by choice to keep daycare expenses down. Dd1's godparents can pick up as well if needed and will most likely be covering the half days when there is no aftercare.

Daycare at public schools is $5.50 per hour per child so that would be $660 a month for two kids who go to daycare 15 hours a week, which doesn't have any extra curricular activities included. If we lived in one of the top schools in our district then we probably would've chosen public school, and then used onsite daycare.

[carolinacool]

We use school aftercare. I really didn't have many complaints last year, but he was just a kindergartner. They helped with homework, and I do wish they were a little more attentive with that. But I wasn't bothered enough to pull him and pay more money elsewhere (We pay $46 a week).

His aftercare teacher told me that generally kids seem to transition to the Y's aftercare around second grade, especially boys. There's a little more for them to do there, particularly if they are sporty, which DS is. I'm not sure how much the Y is, but I don't think it's much more than the school. (They're both at the same intersection).

[westwoodmom04]

We have a part time nanny. She does do full time coverage on holidays,snow days, and some vacations. Arrives at 2 otherwise and do laundry, light cleaning, and takes care of dog. Drives a lot, kids need to be picked up at their separate schools (private with no bus service) and she often needs to take them to sports practices. She is older, close to 50, with grown kids of her own.

[StantonHyde]

Kids are in onsite after care 1-2, max 3 days a week. They get a snack and do their homework and play. The math may not be all right, but it is done. Usually, between DH and I, we can get them 3 days a week after school and bring them home. I work 20 hours a week and DH is an ER MD so he works all sorts of odd hours. (e.g. he might work a 5pm-1 am shift, so he can get the kids by around 3:30 and run home and then leave for work by 4)

When one of them has an activity on a day I know we can't be there, I have hired a college/HS student to drive them to the activity and then I pick up.

On site after care is $3-6 an hour, so it is really cheap!

[boolady]

After-school babysitter/part-time nanny, whatever you want to call her. In K, 1, and 2, DD went to the aftercare program, but we decided to switch to a sitter last year. Best decision ever, despite the increased cost. She will take DD to dance and sports when needed, can get her a meal before a later practice or game, and it is helpful to have DD home to start on homework in more peaceful surroundings than the aftercare program was able to provide. It has resulted in a lot less rushing around, getting changed in the car, etc., for all of us. She handles half-days and weather-related early dismissals and handled one full vacation day last year; I elected to take some of the full days off with DD and spend the day with her, and she went with my dad on one or two other occasions. Same sitter as last year, she is a treasure-- in her mid-50s, has raised her own kids, and was a classroom aide for many years. She lives 5 minutes away, and just wants to work a few hours a day to keep busy because her husband still works FT.

[Ms B]

The Biscuit's preschool is open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We drop off around 8 a.m. (earlier if things are on schedule, ha!) and pick up between 5:40 and 6:00 p.m.

Once he starts kindy next year, we plan to use the on-site aftercare three days a week and have a sitter pick up and take him to swimming plus one other activity two days a week so that we can have more free time on the weekends. The aftercare program also covers half-days and some of the break days, but while he is in kindy we may let him spend full days off at our old daycare because they are licensed through age 6 and he still has a lot of fun there.

[smiles33]

On-site school district after-care. Not ideal for a number of reasons, including the fact that they're really only there to monitor kids as they do arts and crafts or play on the playground. DD1 no longer asks for help with homework as the staff consistently get it wrong--which means DH or I check her homework carefully every night. Yet it's cheap and they're only there for 3 hours 2 days' week. The other 3 days, they are in after-care about 2 hours as my parents and MIL each go pick them up once/week and DH doesn't work on one weekday. If I could find someone I trusted to drive my kids to activities, they'd have more options but as it is now, I pick them up and drive them to 2/week martial arts class.

[ged]

on-site school district after care as well. would prefer a better option, but have none. i'm a single mother to two, working full-time.we live with my parents, but they are not the "take care of their grandkids" type. i therefore cannot put them in after school activities either, but we do (barely) squeeze in soccer in the evenings.