What makes your childminder great?

[LesbianMummy1]

Hi everybody. After 8 years of childminding alone or with an assistant I am just about to embark on a new adventure.

My back up childminder and I have agreed to work together and continue to use my assistant as well, everyday as opposed to just spending time together. My worry by combining settings is that some of the best parts we offer may get forgotten along the way. We are going to register at both addresses so we can separate for parts of the day if needed or in case of emergencies that make one address unavailable e.g. sickness. We have got our Ofsted form filled in and drawn up our proposal to each other with the terms we agree to work with.

We have been gradually increasing the times we work together and ensuring we streamline both settings so the change is as small as possible for our existing mindees and we work in very similar ways already.

It would be helpful to ask parents we do not already provide care for and childminders what makes childminders great so we can ensure we continue to offer high quality childcare when our new registrations are given the go ahead.

My childminder has a way with dcs which I don't have. She can stop them doing something naughty, without shouting at them. She can make them eat all kinds of new things - with encouragement and stickers. She is not a pushover, but somehow she creates an atmosphere where all the dcs have a great time without chaos and destruction. This is invaluable to me as my dc begs to go back. It would be a nightmare if she didn't want to go there. I think I'd call it a good discipline structure.

She also provides lots of activities. Not all the time - sometimes if the dcs are playing a nice game in the garden it's not so necessary. But ones my DD likes are glittery sticker type things, decorating biscuits and cakes. If they've been out to a farm park or something, and they're tired, she'll put a DVD on. I have no problem with this. She plans the whole week if my DD is there the whole week in the holidays (farms, playschemes, cinema etc). I feel very guilty that I can't take my DD out and about in the holidays - it's great if she can still have these experiences when I'm working. I wouldn't be happy with the stay at home of cminder.

She has a small house and a small garden - I don't think a happy atmosphere is necessarily down to resources.

Professionalism is another thing. I take it for granted with my cminder but have heard of one who used to open the door in her dressing gown to a messy house. I think when people are paying a lot of money, they expect a working type professionalism.

Most of all it's peace of mind. I know I don't have to worry about her being unhappy or unsafe.

I'm sure you know all of this though - you sound very experienced.

Thank you howtoapproach that is exactly what I was thinking. I always make sure I am professional and recently changed assistants because the one I had employed was not prepared to put enough effort in and I feel children should be given consistent boundaries and all children deserve attention even if they are not asking for it, she just wanted to sit and cuddle babies. My new assistant had a very long interview with me to ensure she understood exactly what I expected of her and that she was happy with how I run my business.

It is just great to get feedback as people moan about childminders but don't always say what they would like childminders to offer.