Ok, so the deal is really... if you work with horses, it will be next to impossible for the families to actually cover your running costs. Because if you think about the cost for the horse, the facility, the people on the kids and the horses, the cost for caring for the horse, the additional training cost for the horse after or before playdates etc. It's really difficult to cover all that.

But if we are talking about Movement Method, the costs are much lower. Do you know what your actual costs are? Where are you running the sessions out of? Is this part of an existing business? Are you starting them out of your house? are you going the to families? Are you meeting families in public places like parks? What other than your salary are your costs?
Once you know that you will be better able to determine if you want/need to/can charge the families. Also, are you doing this as main source of income? Are you supplementing another job? How many families are you planning on working with? How many hours are you planning to spend with each family?

Among our Mentors you find just about anything, some are charging and working with an awful log of kids and charge a small amount, we also have some families that pay for full time salaries for one or sometimes even more child care people. We also have at least 2 people looking to hire and while I don't know where you are or what you exactly want to do or if you can relocate, maybe something like that is an option.

We do have places that are completely run on donations. We have others that supplement sessions that they offer for free to families that can't afford the sessions by serving school groups who do pay and cover running costs that way. We have places that offer scholarships for families that really can't afford it but charge other people that can afford it.

So while this might be frustrating... the options are endless. Tell us a bit more about what exactly you want to do and we can probably give you some more pointers on how to start raising your funds if that is through donations, fees or other ways.

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What seems to be going on with my guy is that it's a combination of fear of loud noises and unpredictability. He's not autistic so it's all a bit easier but he is very young. What I have been doing is show him how the toilets work. I.e. you need to press the handle to make the loud noise happen. That way he feels more in control. The ones that startled him the most at the beginning were the ones that have the motion sensory. So again we played with a bit with when and how they get triggered and always warn him before they end up making the loud noise.
Little but little he started asking to go with and sort of feel him self forward a bit more and more to the toilet. Also made a bit of a game out of it. He loves roaring like a lion so we answered to the loud toilet by roaring at it. I don't know for sure but I have the feeling it makes him all feel little by little to be more in control, and to understand the process, which helps him deal with his fear.

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Hey Joel, thank you for sharing! Very cool that Davis is blogging!

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Again this varies.

For us here at New Trails we have had sessions that are only 1h long, we have had playdates up to 3 h long, and the last set of playdates were usually around 1:30-1:45h long. This of course also depend on the child and how long they want to stay, we had a few kids that came, wanted to ride for 30-45min and then leave. Others want to hang for 1h before they feel ready to get on a horse and others don't ride at all. So you Follow The Child.

For us at New Trails parents were always mandatory to be with the child at all times. Because of how our property is set up (wooded trails) it would be difficult if a child has a meltdown in the woods and the Expert (the parent or carer) was not right there to help. We also don't want parents to randomly wander in the woods and when the child is looking for them we can't find them. Other places have different set up and therefore different rules around this.
At the end what is important is what firstly works for the kids and family and secondly makes sense in your unique environment.

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Hi Sophie, most of them are in regular schools. Some are homeschooled. You will most likely get a mix of everything, but for most parents it's really difficult to take the time off work and live on one salary only to homeschool the children.

The more you can help the parent see how important movement is (and the right kind of movement) the more will you be able to help the child, if the parents replicate the movement at home.

What we also often saw is that kids were with us over the weekend then the teachers says "what did you do over the weekend they were so chilled" so no matter what you do, it can really change the kids, even if you only have them for a little while each week. The more you can put them into the right environment or maybe more out of the wrong environments and the more they can move the better your results will get.

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This is a really good question and I am hoping that other people will chime in here as well as everybody handles their sessions independently and therefore differently.

Here at New Trails, we here usually see a child once a week. We do not charge for our sessions and because we do not charge we do not need to advertise much - or at all really.

Other people charge, see kids one session a week, others more, others again are much more working with one or two children exclusively. So everything is possible.

We have a few people that have figured out how to bill the sessions to insurance and that way can see children more than once a week and we also have a few families that have hired MM Mentors as 'nannies'/'teachers'.

If you tell us a bit more about your exact situation, it'll be easier for us to help you out!

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thank you! Bianca is doing a fabulous job!

You guys all know where we live and are more than welcome to come and play with that Currently...

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