Thinking of becoming a childminder

[Indi2010]

Hi, I'm currently on my maternity leave and I'm thinking of becoming a childminder instead of going back to my previous work. Just wanted to ask all the childminders out there how difficult it is to get started with no experience? (Will obviously get the relevant qualifications though!) Thank you

Hi, I did all the courses when I was on maternity leave to become a childminder, the courses are really easy which I found slightly worrying, the first aid course took around 5 hours, one of the women on it fell asleep and still got a attendance certificate at the end of it, in my previous job which was HR manager I had to do a week course and pass a test at the end so I thought 5 hours to definatly not be enough when your looking after something a precious as children.
All you need to do is contact your local council who will put you on a waiting list (mine was a years wait) and then they provide all the courses free of charge and then you get Ofsted come round and sign you off.
It is very basic, after all the training I choose not to become a childminder as my mum was diagnosed with a terminal illness and my DS2 was diagnosed with ADHD and he struggles quite a lot with other children and I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable in his own home.
Hope this helps.

Gomesmum- I don't think you did the correct First Aid course. The EYFS specifies a 12 hr paediatric course.

Also in my area, not all the courses are free. They funded the ICP course but i had to pay for my first aid.

The first step though is to contact your local Early Years dept and they will tell you how things are done in your area.

What experience of children do you have? Do you know ways of handling a toddler having a tantrum? Have you experienced a stroppy 7 year old?

Think back to your teenage years, did you ever do any babysitting. Did you help at any youth group?

I think you are trying to establish if parents would use a childminder who had a young baby of their own but no other previous childcare experience. Everyone has to start somewhere but you find it puts some parents off - so try to think about previous childcare experience you do actually have, even if it was some time ago.

Hi,
The course I did was the one the local council organised as part of the whole childminding course, I got a certificate at the end of it which was required and that was it, We were told we had to be at the venue for 12 hours but if you took out the tea breaks the lunch break and the letting us go early and all the general chit chat and story telling the actual learning was at best 5 hours, I could have like the other lady attending fallen asleep through it as there was no exam at the end to test whether you actually learnt anything, the certificate was only an attendance one rather than.
The previous first aid course that I attended was done by Clayton and there was no chatting or messing about and we had to sit a written exam and then demonstrate situations as part of the exam, I just found the 2 courses very very different.
All course that I did was done through the early years department in my area who also attended my home to do a safety check.
All the courses I did were the right ones I just don't think they were run very well.
NickNacks it sound like your area take things a lot more seriously than mine, I know after seeing what the training is I would not feel confident in using a childminder in my area.
Some of us in the group were shocked by some of the other people on the course and the things they were saying and they were childminders already who had been sent for a refresher because they had mover area.

Gosh it sounds awful Gomesmum!

Ours is def not like that at all!

NickNacks
I was very shocked when I went on the courses and found out how easy it was to become a childminder in my area considering it is probably the most important job.
In my last job I was a HR and Training manager and the training would be more complex for things as simple as how to complete an accident report form, the first thing the First Aid trainer said was "right you have to be here for 12 hours but it is never going to take that long so we will be having lots of breaks as you have to be here for that long", obviously you paying for yours means you have been trained properly.
The quality of childminder in my area is shocking because I was looking for something to have my DS3 who is nearly 3 whilst I went on school trips with the other 2 and one of the houses I turned up at had fag ends and empty beer cans littering the front garden, the whole time we were there we felt uncomfortable because we was clearly getting in the way of the husbands football match on TV, it really is shocking, sounds like you are properly trained, thank god there are still some councils who take it seriously.
One lady that was there was clearly racist and vocal about it and she managed to pass it all and when I saw her in a shopping center she told me she is looking after children.
Having said that there was a few people there I would happily leave my children with but there was a lot more I wouldn't.

OP - NickNacks experience is more like mine. If you are serious about doing it, speak to your Local Authority asap, as there may be some wait time for courses. Also Ofsted can take a lifetime over CRB checks.

I started as a Mum with a young baby, but I had previous experience as a foster carer. I don't know if that helped, or not.

Good luck if you decide to go ahead. If you can be better than some of the people Gomesmum met, then you are ahead already :)

Thanks all of you :)