Cm considering concentrating on school age children only.

[fizzfagins]

Hi
I've been a childminder for 10 years and over that time I've cared for babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers and school age children. At the moment I have only one 2.5yr old on my register (the others and my own children are all in full time school now - youngest DD has just started infants). The little mindee is missing DD very much and keeps looking, and asking for her. I still take him to groups, trips out etc and sometimes it's nice to have 1-2-1 time, but I can't help wondering if it's best for him. However, when DD comes home from school, he is very posessive and pushes, hit & kicks her (out of character for him) which leads to distraction, time out etc. My dilemma is that I'd really like to return to study now that my own children are in school and just concentrate on the school age ones, I'm just about to start an NVQ3 Diploma. Has anyone phased out the little ones and concentrated on the 'schoolies', I don't mind covering holidays. Little one has been with me a year, part-time hours (but all over the place due to shift-work, between 8am & 6pm).
I've thought long & hard about this, and am not sure if I did withdraw from daytime childminding, the best way to phrase a letter (I don't want to discriminate in favour of the older ones, but life is moving on now). Children have only lef me before thru natural progression (schools out of my area etc). The only letters I've sent out in the past have been when I've gone on maternity leave (and then I helped parents by working closely with another CM to settle them elsewhere so that the transition went smoothly - visited each other, went to same playgroups etc so the children made friends with her mindees).
Incidently, I will stay on early years register because youngest 'schoolie' is just 4, so still need to back up eyfs.
I'd welcome any feedback, sorry it's such a convoluted story.

What are the requirements for your NVQ3 Diploma? Will you be going to College to do that... or is it a Home Based course... thus would you need to be caring for a child under 5?

I would look at the course requirements first... as you have signed up for that course and if you stop caring for this child it may prevent you from doing the course, if it requires you to do observations on a pre-school aged child.

Hi
I've already enrolled on the course it is an NVQ 3 distance learning course as a Teaching Assistant (I already volunteer in my local infant school, on the day that I don't childmind, as a parent helper in order to gain practical classroom experience, and I do enjoy the 'teamwork' aspect as opposed to childminding, which can be very isolated). Therefore it's not directly connected to young childcare ref observations etc (although I do those in school, working with small groups of children, following the class teacher's guidance). I'm keen to knuckle down and gain the level 3, I need to update other training as well (renewals).

Why didn't you just bump your last thread on this? It was only from last week!

I've ended up just doing schoolies by default. And for the next 12 months there are too many 5-7's for me to be able to offer full time spaces. It has left me wondering how financially viable preschoolers are. I have a p/t baby starting in November but after expenses I'll be lucky if I'm earning £2 an hour between 9am - 3pm.

I do find it so much easier to just cater for the school aged children. And it's meant that we can be much more adventurous in the holidays without a pushchair in tow!