do childminders given the children dinner?

[racmac]

Is it part of their job to provide and give them dinner in the evening?

Never used childminder before so dont know how it works

Depends entirely on the individual childminder.

Some request that you leave a packed meal for your child, some cook a meal but you have to pay extra for it and some cook a meal and include it in their overall charge.

It's down to the childminder. She or he should tell you from the off what they will and will not provide and that will be in the contract too.

My old childminder started off giving dinner but no longer does - so I won't use her again. I personally think that young children need their dinner around 4.30 - 5pm and would not employ one who doesn't give dinner.

HTH

It all depends, there are no hard and fast rules

The CM may offer dinner, or may ask the parents to provide the food (this may be reflected in the hourly rate)

Also finish time will be involved; if the child finishes at 4.30, then dinner may not be even on the CMs horizon

Also the parents may want control over what their child eats and so send in food

HTH

thanks thats helpful - i will ask the question

I finish at 6pm. I used to provide dinner, but I have stopped, because some parents wanted to have a family dinner after work and it was very difficult to feed some children and not others. Also I have children leaving between 3:30 and 6:00, so when should I do tea? My comprimise is that I offer the children an afternoon snack at approx 3:30-4:00, to keep them going til tea time.

Any CMs you visit should be able to tell you exactly what they provide and why.

I give the children I mind tea as they don't go home till 6-6.30 or later if Mum is working till 7 and doesn't come home till 7.30-8. I take them to a friend of hers if she is working later as I finish at 6.30.

She pays me £45 before and after school for the 8 year old and £3.50 per hour for the other as she is at nursery till 4.30 and then I pick her up. I am putting fees up to £50 and £4.25 soon though as everything is going up.

If they are picked up early they can have toast, fruit, breadsticks or sandwiches with cheese spread or ham or something as a snack with drinks.

If the child comes before 8 am I can give breakfast.

Id rather not provide/cook for mindees and therefore I charge extra for meals in the hope it will deter.

mine does. I pick my girls up at 6, it's great not to have to worry about feeding them when I get home

I do tea at 5pm. I don't charge extra for it. If they are here at 5, they get fed, end off. I won't feed some and not others, there are just too many people to cater for if they all want different things.

I am quite flexible on most things . honest. But this is the most stressful time of day for me and I need it to be structured.

I do not offer dinner, as quite frankly i don't want my dd having dinner with my mindees as i want to sit down once im finished with her and my OH and have dinner together. And i couldnt feed mindees and not my own child.

But i feel most parents in my area dont want dinner to be given as they like me feel it is family time and a chance to sit down together and chat about ur day etc etc

Just out of curiosity, what are your minding hours stated as, Pollywolly?

8-6 altho my last mindee leaves at about 5.20 at latest.

It depends what time the child is there till, I would expect a child who is with a minder up till 6pm to have had tea/dinner unless it was said that they do not provide meals none of this deciding not to give meals to when it suits them, in which case i wouldn't use them as the last thing I want to be doing after paying alot of money for a full days care and being at work myself is getting home and making a meal.

I offer a light tea at about 4pm. I have 8 children after school that go between 5pm and 6:30pm, so its simply not practical to offer a full meal. However I do offer to give children a full meal if circumstances dictate i.e. attending brownies as soon as they leave me.

I used to offer full meals in my early minding days, but I soon learnt that most parents prefer to eat with their own children later in the day.

I try to give a bigger meal at lunch time (reflecting the fact that all my over 5's have hot school meals).

I offer food thats easy to make and eat and involve the children where I can. For example, they all love making their own wraps or pizzas. I just put the ingredients out for them to choose from.

They can eat as much or as little as they feel like, and my fruit bowl is free access too.

I give parents the choice of booking a dinner, which is charged separately or the child will be offered a snack if a dinner is not booked. Some parents prefer to eat family dinner together at home, others have to fit in swimming/music lessons etc and appreciate not having to fit in a dinner as well. And people get back from work at different times too.

Put a cooked then frozen home made meal in if youd rather they had a hot meal for dinner?