First I must point out that I am bias towards registered child minders because I was one for many years.
Child minders are quite different from other providers, such as nannies, nurseries and pre-schools.
To start child minders work in their own homes; offering a home-from-home to the children in their care. This in my opinion is the best form of daycare for young children, especially babies.
Child minders take children out to toddler groups, parks and other places meaning that the children get to socialise with other children ( many parent wrongly think that by using a child minder their children won’t mix with others like they would in a larger setting).
When taking the children out child minders teach road safety; something that a nursery may not have the time or staff available to do.
Many nurseries will also split up siblings; rules state that they must have a separate room for babies, child minders look after all the children together; which I believe is best. Babies learn from older children and older children learn about caring for younger ones. I looked after an 8 year old who loved helping me with the smaller children.
Child minders can accommodate children from tiny babies to when they start school and even longer if they mind during the school holidays, as I did, some will do school drop off and collection if required.
Child minders tend to be more flexible with their working hours than nurseries; who may have strict opening hours.
Pre-schools tend to offer sessions of a few hours at a time rather than full days which may not accommodate working parents, child minders will sometimes take and collect children from a pre-school if this is a requirement.
Child minders have a much lower child to staff ratio; in my day it was one under the age of 1, 3 under the age of 5 and 6 under 8, I also had 1 or 2 over 8 years during the holidays.
I was forced to give up my child minding career due to ill health. I am still in touch with many of the parents and children; 2 of the children still refer to me as their second mum 12 years after I gave up caring for them (which is what I inspired to be – the next best thing to mummy, when mummy wasn’t there!)
If reading this has made you want to find out more about child minding. I have written an e book also titled The next best thing to mummy which may be helpful. It is available to download from Amazon.
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Or contact Ofsted, Pacey or your local authority for information on becoming a child minder and for a list of local child minders in your area.
As always questions and comments are welcome and please share on social media if you think others may benefit from reading this.
Until next time’
Karen
x
Being with a childminder is simply the best option in my mind . They soon get to think of thier childminder as a second mum as your ” the next best thing to mummy ” suggests. Far nicer for a child to be in a normal home doing familiar things. Very interesting subject .
Thanks Pearl xx
Thank you so much for sharing and to keep your point in post.
Nahid | https://bestclicknow.com
I rather send my kids to a child minder than to a nursery. How true that child-minders are like second moms. My MIL was a child-minder to 3 sisters when they were toddlers. They are now in their 30s and they love her to death! Very interesting post.
#kcacols
The helping professions–those who actually care for others and perform hands-on, necessary tasks–are so under-valued in our culture. They deserve more respect and more compensation.
My mum was a childminder for many years and I totally agree with you. So I was really sad not to be able to find a childminder local to me who could accommodate both my children. I have had to split them up as a result, one goes to before and after school club and the other one to nursery. Whilst both types of providers have their merits (and I’m very happy with both), it’s a shame I couldn’t find a minder so they could be together for part of my working day. #TwinklyTuesday
Thanks for clarifying my point about child minders accommodating all ages x
It was difficult to find a childminder in our area when we needed one, so E went to nursery. But I do appreciate a lot of these points! #BloggerClubUK
I would definitely have chosen a childminder if i’d Needed childcare. We have some great ones where I love and they are very much in demand! #thatfridaylinky
I totally agree (also an ex childminder). The opportunities to be outdoors and be around real life everyday homes to me make it a more nurturing experience than a nursery #dreamteam
Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time xxx
Having never used a child minder or nanny, I was curious about this. Interesting post.Thanks for joining in with #ThatFridayLinky
Such a great post. Thanks for sharing. #KCACOLS
I worked as a Private Nanny for a while, it was so rewarding. I like the idea of the Child Minder as apposed to Day care as you said siblings can be together and they get to socialise with other children as well, it is like the best of both worlds. Thanks for linking up #ABloggingGoodTime
Wonderful. I totally agree with you. In France , we have ‘Assistantes Maternelles’. Which is basically the same thing. They have a fixed daily rate, guaranteed by the state’s welfare system. A guaranteed contract, regular training, a diploma, and the mothers also have financial aids to help them pay the child-minder. They also have ‘relays’ where each nanny can bring the children she is minding, to socialize with other children 👶 and for them to talk with other nannies. Usually an assistante maternelle will take care of about 2 to 3 children at the same time, from 4 months to 3 years. Then the children have kindergarten in France . But the nanny usually still takes them after school, or sometimes even before if the mothers have to leave for work early. I employed child-minders for my three children. The first two, I was working part-time in a firm. The third, I went back to University. Needless to say, that during nine years, I didn’t get much writing done ! But the child minding system was a god-send as my husband is an Export manager and always travelling far and wide across the globe ! 🌎
Thank you, I wasn’t aware of the system in France, it sounds great x
My nephew went to a child minder and I couldn’t believe the range of activities he was able to experience. Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama
We have never used a childminder because we found a nursery we lived for the first & all three have gone there – I do see the benefits though! #KCACOLS
I enjoy reading about you’re experiences from your childminder days. As a young child, I used to go to a childminder myself (then later I transferred to pre-school), and as I remember it, it was great! In Sweden (where I grew up) the word for childminders is ‘dagmamma’, which literaly translates to ‘day-mummy’ 🙂
Thank you for linking up with #KCACOLS! Hope you come back again next time x
Thank you, day mummy is a fantastic way to describe a child minder, I will remember that! x
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