Shopping for a child day care center is not easy. There is so much you have to look for to spot a quality care center and make sure your children will be happy, entertained, educated, and fed. Unfortunately, quality care also means high tuition. When day care costs eats more of your paycheck than your kids eat groceries, you need to find ways to make day care more affordable. Here are some solutions.
Multiple Child Discount
Most day care centers offer "multiple child" discounts. This means that the more children you have enrolled in their center, the less you pay for each additional child. Quite often, you will pay full price for the first child, twenty-five percent off for the next child, half off for the third child, and any children beyond that may be half off to seventy-five percent off. Some really exceptional day care centers can afford to give fourth, fifth and beyond children free tuition, which really helps parents who are already struggling.
Day Care Subsidies Through the County
If you are a low-income family and/or you qualify for other public assistance programs, you can apply for childcare subsidies through the county human services department where you reside. It takes a couple of weeks for the subsidies to kick in, and you have to find a daycare that is certified to take the government subsidies. However, it means that you would pay very little or nothing at all for child care.
In-Home Daycare
Daycare that is provided in the privacy of someone else's home is often less expensive because these providers have less overhead than physical centers who manage one hundred or more children every day. It may be something to consider if you want a more homey environment for your children and less stimulation for your kids. The children still get an education, and activities to keep their minds engaged, but they will not contend with twelve to twenty other children in a classroom or with the fluorescent lighting and commercial food.
Consider Part-Time Day Care Instead
If and when possible, consider just part-time day care instead. In many instances, part-time care costs less because your child is not in day care all day, every day of the week. Just make sure you do the math before enrolling your child because there are some centers that charge a little more for part-time care on a price-per-day basis rather than a flat-rate part-time rate.
Start with a place like Carousel Of Learning Pre-School & Nursery to fit your child care needs.
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