It can be extremely daunting for a parent to visit a potential child minder, for their child for the first time.
It may be helpful to have a few questions to ask the child minder written down beforehand.
Usually a parent makes first contact with a child minder over the phone when checking on availability. My advice to parents is to visit several child minders, as although they all follow strict rules and regulations set by ofsted, they are individuals and it is important to find one that you feel confident with.
Now onto those questions:-
How many other children and what are their ages will be present when my child is here?
Do you have extra children during the school holidays and if so how will that impact my child?
Do you take the children out and will that cost extra on top of my regular child minding fees?
How do you manage children’s behaviour? (child minders should have a behaviour management policy to show parents along with other policies)
Where will my child sleep if he needs a nap?
Do you include lunch/snacks/ drinks or do I need to send them?
If a parent is claiming the government funding for nursery education this would also need to be discussed.
A well organised child minder will be able to answer all of your questions she ( I refer to child minders as she because the majority of them are female, there are however several good male child minders) should have her registration certificate on display. I kept a port folio containing all my qualification certificates and policies which I would give to parents to look through while I was making a cuppa. I would also offer to let them take it home to read in more detail if they wished.
Before parents left I would tell them that if they thought of any questions when they got home to ring me later.
Go with your gut instinct when choosing a child minder, a child minder should do a written contract with parents that both parties should agree and sign. My earlier post on looking for childcare offers more advice on this subject.
As always questions/comments are welcome and share this on social media if you think others would benefit from reading this.
Until next time.
Karen
x
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Some great tips! I am fortunate that my childminder used to run a preschool that my eldest attended but decided to go back to childminding so has my youngest and then my eldest after school two days a week.
I wish I had had some written down questions like this when I was choosing my child care setting, the would have been very useful #blogstravaganza
Luckily we are past this stage! Soon our daughter will be a potential child minder! We will give her an excellent reference — she’s lovely with other people!! #LGRTStumble
Really helpful advice her,I am sure it will be very useful,for any parent looking for a childminder to care for her children .
This is great advice. Some of these questions I wouldn;t think to ask initially, but I know they would crop up at some point! Thanks so much for sharing with #Blogstravaganza xx
Great! Thanks. Visited two just this weekend and never thought to ask the behaviour question (though one did cover as happens) x
#thesatsesh a really useful post, i like a list of questions and how practical and accessible this is. thanks for joining us, so much wisdom
Great tips! Very informative and important questions to ask those you will be entrusting your child with. #fortheloveofBLOG
This is great advice, so many things I wouldn’t have thought of #thesatsesh
Great questions. But I would add on to this one: “Do you include lunch/snacks/drinks or do I need to send them?” I’m very particular about what we eat and drink, so I would want to know exactly what they would be serving. #BloggerClubUK
This is a great go-to list for parents looking for childcare.
Thanks for joining #WanderingWednesday! 🙂
I have never used a childminder but see many on the school playground. So many parents rely on this service and it is important to choose the right person to suit your family. Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging
These are really great tips. I found it very daunting interviewing our childminder, but she’s great and it’s worked perfectly for our family #PoCoLo
This will be a really helpful post for someone looking for a babysitter. Thanks for joining in with #TriumphantTales, hope to see you again next week!
I agree our children are the most precious things in our world, as are other people’s, so we should not be afraid to ask the tough questions as really a good child minder should not find them tough. Trusting our gut is hugely important!!! Well written and thank you for joining us for #ablogginggoodtime
Great very important questions Thank you for linking to #Thatfridaylinky please come back next week
Great post here and some top tips for any parents considering using a childminder to look after their children. I can see how it would be daunting on the first visit to a potential childminder, and it is a good idea that parents see a few before making a decision. Thanks for linking up at #fortheloveofBLOG. Claire x