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What do nannies do to develop and stimulate your children

31 replies

Phys · 08/10/2005 11:12

I am currently interviewing nannies and I'm not sure whether my expectations are too high with regards to planning activities to support the development of my children. My eldest (now at school) went to a nursery for 3 years and really benefitted from a great 'learning through play' programme designed for each stage of her development. Based on this experience I have asked each candidate 'how do you structure your day?'. I was disappointed by the responses which included...we'll take it easy in the mornings and do some toddler groups....friday is always an easy day etc etc. I was expecting them to say that they would have a weekly or monthly written plan of various activities to support my 9 month old baby's development whether it be a walk in the park, toddler groups, messy play, learning about colours, etc. I need to be confident that a nanny is spending quality time with my baby particularly as the thought of returning to work is a very daunting one. What can I expect? Help!!!

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katymac · 08/10/2005 20:53

Phys - see if you can get the gov pack called "Birth to Three Matters" - it will give you lots of ideas of a framework for your 9mo

It is a well researched and comprehensive pack which addresses the needs of the under 3's

nzshar · 08/10/2005 20:49

The phrase 'hot-housing' springs to mind. Not much help i know but my opinion all the same

HappyMumofWhooo · 08/10/2005 20:22

I think it's a been extreme to expect all that. If you want that kind of structure, why don't you put him in a nursery?
You may find a nanny who will do everything you want but I wouldn't have thought you would have a very happy baby,tbh.

mandieb2004 · 08/10/2005 20:15

Shes 9 months old FGS surley all she wants is a nice happy chatty nanny .One who will talk to her and take her out for fresh air teaching her things along the way and feed her suitable food freshly cooked ,Show her suitable books and toys .She is in her own home not an office .

SANanny · 08/10/2005 16:34

I must add that I didn't sit him down to learn colours - we learn them during meals (peas are green, pumpkin orange etc) during walks, choosing clothes and so on. Same for counting etc

SANanny · 08/10/2005 16:31

As a nanny, I don't have a set schedule of what we do, esp for the little ones. We learn through every day activities. My 17 month old charge knows his colours (red, blue, green, yellow, black, white, purple) and numbers up to 5 (understands, not just by rote learning) and some letters. We read a lot, play games, go on outings etc. As he gets older, I will start a more 'formal' focusing on a specific topic (like farm animals, or weather etc)

Each month I do research various activites that I know will help my charges development and during the month I will teach him new songs, finger plays, activities etc. This month we were doing a lot of threading and colour matching. But I don't write down a planned outline of the month. We do do things like library every week, mom and tot class, playdates, outings etc on a regular basis. I have drawn up a list of suitable activities to do with different aged chidlren, but I don't do them with every child I nanny for. Also, depending on what is happening at home (ie at the moment, the family is doing extensive renovations to the house) so the kitchen and most of our garden as well as a good deal of the living area is out of commission! We have to plan our activities around that.

HTH
Sarah

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