Want to start childminding - Advice Please

flis21

Hi All,

I was wondering if there are any childminders on this thread who could offer me some advice.

I currently work in a day nursery and am a qualified nursery nurse and primary school teacher. I am now expecting my own little one. I would like to stay at home once the baby is born, but once my maternity pay has run out I will need to earn a small income.

I am seriously considering child minding and would like some advice about how to start. Did you have to make many changes to your home? Did you have to spend a lot on toys / equipment when you started? Do you prove lunches / food? If so are these charged for seperately or in with the normal fees? Do you provide nappies or do the children bring their own? How did you work out your fees? Do you invoice weekly / monthly / termly? Are the invoices done in advance or arrears?

Was a little concerned as I live in a two bedroom flat, but have seen something that says as long as it is a reasonable size (we have a huge living room) and that there is some opportunity for nearby outdoor play (we live round the corner from a huge park) that it should be ok. Also tho, I have a pet rabbit who lives in a cage in the front room. Could I move him into the bedroom during the day or do you think I will have to get rid of him. (Really don't want to, but have to be sensible, if that is all that is going to stop me doing this).

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Flis

Justie

being in a flat and having a rabbit shouldn't be a problem. You may need to look at access if it's not ground floor but there shouldn't be any barrier. You'll have to fit smoke alarms in the light fittings but otherwise shouldn't have to do too much dofferent to what you'd do for your own child.

impecunious

To answer all your many questions would take too long so I've PM'd you with our telephone number so if you want to you can speak to my wife who is a Registered Childminder with about 6 years on the job. There's also lots of info. which i'm sure you'll have already read, on http://www.surestart.gov.uk/

Oh, and the rabbit can stay! We have a dog, two cats and two rabbits and the kids obviously enjoy them. In fact, OFSTED positively encourage interaction with pets.

Rachie_B

take a look at the NCMA website http://www.ncma.org.uk/

and book to go along to a briefing meeting where things are explained a bit.

theres also a huge thread about CMing on netmums http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/showthread.php?t=37296

Counting_Pennies_2

My friend is a childminder and in fact my son was her first customer, so I went through an awful lot of the preparation with her before hand.

The local council will offer courses for childminders to attend.

It is necessary to child proof your home, safety glass, stair gates into rooms that shouldn't be accessed. It is important to have quiet rooms for the little ones to have their rest time away from the main living area. Somewhere for cots to be erected etc.

My friend offered food, she often provided lunch and snacks in with the hourly fee, but if the child's family wanted breakfast or supper included they paid for this additionally. One of the child's families my friend later worked for insisted on organic food, so she asked them to provide it and she would prepare it and feed it to the child.

Toys - my friend just purchased a variety of toys to suit a variety of ages that she knew her child would eventually play with anyway. Do make sure you include some multicultural toys and special needs. My friend was marked down for not having something with disabilies in her first ofsted report, so she purchased a fisher price bus with a wheelchair in it and had a few story books that included details such as going to the opticians and one that had other special needs included in it.

It is possible to get toys at a reasonable price at NCT nearly new sales and charity shops

In terms of nappies child's families provided a changing bag each day with nappies, wipes, sacks etc. When the fortnightly bin collection was introduced in our area we were sent home with the soiled nappies as she wouldn't be able to store them all in her wheelie bin, although I have to say that wasn't particularly welcomed to receive a smelly bag back each day. Some parents whose children were full-time with my friend provided a monthly supply of nappies and wipes to save having to cart a change bag daily with them.

My childminder invoiced a month in advance, and her fees were competitive to the area, I was charged £3.50 and about to be increased to £4 an hour when my son ended up leaving to go to preschool. It really is important though to check the local area for what they charge, as some areas charge £2.50 and others £5 an hour dependant on the going rate. You don't want to price yourself too high or too low for the area.

I was going to say that the only thing I would add is that my friend has found that she doesn't much enjoy childminding, and to make sure it is something you are happy to take on, as looking after other people's children on top of your own isn't a barrel of laughs and I think some times she really isn't happy and therefore the children won't be happy either. But given your career history I would say you have probably had enough experience to know you are happy looking after others children.

Good luck.

If it is something you are interested seriously into doing, look into it now as it can sometimes take a time to get on the local courses and then get Ofsted approval etc.

silvercar

Childminder are very undervalued IMHO, they seem to work very hard for very little financial reward. Good on you if you want to go for this.

As a qualified teacher you could probably earn a lot more money, in a lot less time, by doing a small amount of private tutoring. I know money isn't everything but it may be worth considering.

Savvy_Sue

I believe that as a qualified teacher you may be able to charge a premium as a childminder because you can offer 'nursery' type stuff.

BTW, your first purchase should be a filing cabinet (with safety corners of course), because Ofsted require you to keep records, copious records, not only of which children you mind when, but also what you do each day, what they eat, and possibly how many nappies you change as well. These records must be kept confidential, and for quite a long period! I have a friend who's not long given up, but the filing cabinet has to stay!

flis21

silvercar wrote: »

Childminder are very undervalued IMHO, they seem to work very hard for very little financial reward. Good on you if you want to go for this.

As a qualified teacher you could probably earn a lot more money, in a lot less time, by doing a small amount of private tutoring. I know money isn't everything but it may be worth considering.

I am only qualified to teach children up tp 8 years, so I don't really imagine parents want tutors for this age group. (although maybe I am wrong!)

The other thing is I really enjoy working with the under 5's and have enjoyed my time working in nurseries much more than I enjoyed my time in schools, so I must admit the childminding appeals to me more than tutoring. Financially I am not looking to earn a fortune. I need to be taking a wage of around £400 a month, although I realise that my gross wage will have to be higher than this to cover tax, NI and overheads.

flis21

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I believe that as a qualified teacher you may be able to charge a premium as a childminder because you can offer 'nursery' type stuff.

BTW, your first purchase should be a filing cabinet (with safety corners of course), because Ofsted require you to keep records, copious records, not only of which children you mind when, but also what you do each day, what they eat, and possibly how many nappies you change as well. These records must be kept confidential, and for quite a long period! I have a friend who's not long given up, but the filing cabinet has to stay!

We have to keep similar records at nursery (although not about how many nappies, thank goodness!) and I think they have to be kept for 3 years after the child turns 18, so it is a long time!!

Flowerpower_2

I am a full time private tutor, although I specialise in A Level Sciences.Whilst I am aware that you would be more happy considering childminding, if you decide to consider private tutoring at a later stage perhaps you may find the following helpful also.
http://www.hometutorsdirectory.co.uk/TutorGuide.html

Good Luck.

Savvy_Sue

flis21 wrote: »

I am only qualified to teach children up tp 8 years, so I don't really imagine parents want tutors for this age group. (although maybe I am wrong!)

Sadly (IMO) there probably are parents out there who feel their children need coaching for Level 1 SATs at 7 ... And there MIGHT be a market for children who genuinely do need some extra help and are not getting it through school, even though they should.