What do you do for after school for your elementary school aged child?

[Anonymous]

DS is going to start kindergarten this fall. There are 80+ kids in front of us on the wait list and we were told that we would probably not get in until the following school year. I work ~30 hours a week in DC. His school will get out at 3:25 so I need only about 1 hour of care per day.

What would you do?
A. Hire a PT nanny to do pick up, give him a snack and start homework with DS. She could also take him to soccer, playdates, etc. in the future.
B. Karate Place - this place is about half mile from our house. I would have a reliable place where I could pick up my son everyday.
C. Daycare - DS could be bused to certain daycares in our area

I want to do A but I feel it would be hard to find someone who would want to work 2 hours per day.

[Anonymous]

I would do A, and see if there's a SAHM with a similarly aged child looking to make a little extra cash each week. Maybe offer $50 a week?

[Anonymous]

Option A. As previous poster said, would be great for a SAHM and the children would have fun together. Allows time for you being stuck in traffic, weather or even to make a quick errand after work. Wouldn't know how much to charge but it would be way cheaper than the other options.

[Anonymous]

What about after-care at the school/through the school?

I WAH so I pick my kids up after school, but most of my working mom friends use the aftercare through the home elementary school. We are in Arlington.

Our school has 1 hour enrichments after school Mon-Fri each semester, e.g., chess, Lego video design, robotics, lacrosse, flag football, tennis, etc. I usually sign my kids up for a few each week which gives me 1 extra hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about after-care at the school/through the school?

I WAH so I pick my kids up after school, but most of my working mom friends use the aftercare through the home elementary school. We are in Arlington.

Our school has 1 hour enrichments after school Mon-Fri each semester, e.g., chess, Lego video design, robotics, lacrosse, flag football, tennis, etc. I usually sign my kids up for a few each week which gives me 1 extra hour.

OP here. My original post wasn't clear and I can't edit. I meant to say that they are 80+ kids ahead of us at aftercare at school. The PTA does host after school activities but I don't think it is everyday so it won't be reliable. I need about 1-2 hours everyday.

We would be willing to pay well. We previously paid $15/hour for our full time nanny. We would pay up to $25/hour for part time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about after-care at the school/through the school?

I WAH so I pick my kids up after school, but most of my working mom friends use the aftercare through the home elementary school. We are in Arlington.

Our school has 1 hour enrichments after school Mon-Fri each semester, e.g., chess, Lego video design, robotics, lacrosse, flag football, tennis, etc. I usually sign my kids up for a few each week which gives me 1 extra hour.

OP here. My original post wasn't clear and I can't edit. I meant to say that they are 80+ kids ahead of us at aftercare at school. The PTA does host after school activities but I don't think it is everyday so it won't be reliable. I need about 1-2 hours everyday.

We would be willing to pay well. We previously paid $15/hour for our full time nanny. We would pay up to $25/hour for part time.

I'm a SAHM, and I'd certainly watch your kids for that rate! Heck, I used to be an adjunct professor at a local college, and I barely earned more than that!

[Anonymous]

We pay a local sitter $10/hour to pick up my child and watch her for a couple hours twice a week. For 1 hour a day, I think $50 a week a right on target. It worked out nicely for us because the sitter has a daughter in the same grade as mine 1 they are in the same class this year. They do their homework together. So, look at the local in home daycares to see if one of them could do after school pickups.

Are you near any teenagers? A mothers helper/sitter situation would be good here, too. We live around the corner from a high school, so I have no problem with this as an alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay a local sitter $10/hour to pick up my child and watch her for a couple hours twice a week. For 1 hour a day, I think $50 a week a right on target. It worked out nicely for us because the sitter has a daughter in the same grade as mine 1 they are in the same class this year. They do their homework together. So, look at the local in home daycares to see if one of them could do after school pickups.

Are you near any teenagers? A mothers helper/sitter situation would be good here, too. We live around the corner from a high school, so I have no problem with this as an alternative.

OP here. We are going to look for a part time babysitter. I guess I have an issue trusting a teenager/college student. I just picture DS waiting at school not being picked up.

Our immediate neighbors are either empty nesters or other families with young children.

[Anonymous]

See if your PTA has a parent contact list or try your local SAHM group.

Look at Karate places as a back up.

[Anonymous]

That's too bad. I as a teenager could have easily, and happily, done that job. But if you don't live near a high school and/or know any teens, it likely wouldn't work anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See if your PTA has a parent contact list or try your local SAHM group.

Look at Karate places as a back up.

I reached out to a mom's group I am in where several moms are SAHMs. Not one person responded. I also asked a handful of SAHMs that I know and they all did not seem interested. I don't know if it a pride thing or it just isn't worth the money to them.

I know I certainly would not want that responsibility daily. I'm sure they would do be the occasional favor but they don't want it to be a regular gig.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's too bad. I as a teenager could have easily, and happily, done that job. But if you don't live near a high school and/or know any teens, it likely wouldn't work anyway.

We are going to try to find someone. I just thought it would be hard to find someone good to work 2 hours per day. I would think it is not worth the trouble.

In an ideal world, we could find someone who could clean, cook and pick up the kids. We could use the person 4 hours per day 5 times per week. Then we could get rid of our cleaning people and be able to offer more hours/pay.

[Anonymous]

I'm a SAHM and I don't want to be unkind, but I would not be interested in caring for someone else's child every day, and particularly not for $50 a week. I might do it for a close friend who really needed my help, but then I would do it for free.

I really enjoy that after school time with my child:it just wouldn't be the same with another child there. I also wouldn't be willing to give up our ability to spontaneously take off and go somewhere after school. I'm at home to be with my kids. I just can't see having someone else's child there every single day.

[Anonymous]

Twice a week this year, I have HS sitters pick up my 2 little ones (k and 1). On those days, my older son gets dropped off. They have never been forgotten. This is the perfect gig for a HS student, a few hours of work, and still time for homework/social life.

Next year I'm going back full time after 8 yrs. part- time. I plan to hire a college sitter who can drive as she/ he will need to drop my oldest off and pick him up. I'll need a little am care, Monday early release and a little after.
For 3 I was looking at 1200 for SACC

[Anonymous]

If you are in Fairfax, go to the child care search site and filter for daycares with elementary aftercare in your school zone. That is how I found our aftercare sitter.

The karate place might be good too. It would be a good activity/experience to do for that hour.

If you're willing to do $25/day, I'm sure you could find someone on Craigslist.