Parents what do you look for in a childminder?

[MUM2BLESS]

I am a parent and a childminder. 4 of my own 7 cm.

Parents

It would be interesting to hear what yoy look for in a cm. As a cm there are childminders that I would definately not take my kids to.

Some of what I would look for in a cm:

Someone who is approachable/friendly yet professional
Warm and stimulating atmosphere in their home
Kids like going there
Multicutural setting or multicutrual awareness
Someone who is a good time keeper (hate lateness)

What I offer as a CM

Flexibilbe hours within 07.30 to 18.00 hrs
A safe and stimulating environ,. for learning
Compettive rates
Opportunities for learning (homework, lots and lots of books)
Good communication with parents (text, phone calls, emails, newsletters, face to face or notes etc) I like to let parents be a part of the deciisons I make
Allow children to make suggestions on what they would like to eat and do.

Love to hear from parents and cm or those who are both

When I needed a childminder at short notice I called about 10, and went to see two or three. I hired the one who bothered to ask me DD's name.

Wow. thereistheball

This is an opportunity for cm to look at what they are offering parents. SOmeitmes you may have to ask yourself what would I be looking for in a cm, then apply it to what you offer parents.

We are being watched cm, what we do will determine who comes to us for our services. If I cannot take on a child I think of the cm that would offer a good service.

I got fed up with the CM I breifly used as was paying the same rates as the local nursery for DD to be doing 3 school runs a day and the supermarket shop. The few fun or educational activities seemed to involve going to McDonald's for lunch afterwards. Not what I was looking for (or was told at the start).

Options for hot food would be good. Being upfront about total numbers of mindees, plus the others which aren't in the offical count. Emphasis on the things which make CMs different to nurseries, which isn't always obvious to outsiders.

Time keeping is important, as is engaging with DC when they first visit.

Why I have chosen to be a cm, is because I feel some children would benefit from a cm because you may have small numbers , individual attention, develop good social skills by going to a variety of places not just nursery or pe-school setting. I have seen children in daycare who are on their own playing and wait until an area has less children before they join in. ie a sandpit. I would presume this maybe an a requirement that parents would like plus regular one on one chats about their child.

Thanks for the feedback so far ,

Love to hear from some more parents and cms or parents/cms.

This is great opportunity to reflect on what we as cms are doing.

What makes one cm get business and another struggle?

I see cm as a professional business/responsiblity rather than just a job. More and more is expected of us in the role we play.

I'm a parent of 2 children. I've used a CM for DD from 9mo-3 and now looking again for someone to mind baby DS (8mo).

I like a CM for babies because its closest to a normal family structure. I think its very important for babies to have one person they can bond with and great for the parent too.

I look for:

Someone who seems to really like children and is interested in my baby
Home is clean and safe but with lots of toys and maybe drawings/ photos up
Able to tell me what activities they do
personal recommendation if possible or able to speak to current families
Able to respect my parenting choices. DS has never had a bottle or formula or food from a jar: Anyone who thinks this is weird isn't the CM for me.

Less important but nice:
Good organisation and communication
home cooked food (I am willing to send my own though)

Absolute no no:
Smoking
would think twice about big dogs too

In terms of getting business I go for

1. personal experience or recommendation so I guess being seen out and about at groups etc will help
2. checking CIS and childcare.co.uk. I feel wary of profiles with almost no info (looks like they can't be bothered) or with bad English

I love my CM - gnuinely likes children, genuinely (seems to) like spending time with my children (no matter how challenging), loads of creative ideas but also not afraid of the reaction of the parents to turning the TV on after school if she thinks they just need to slob out. Flexible and adaptable, doing stuff with the children matters more to her than writing in their diaries. It helps that she has a dd my DS's age, and they get on, so for him it's like going to a friend's after school.

I don't know that this is a very constructive comment, but when we hired our only CM 9 years ago, it was very much a gut instinct that I would liken to walking into a house that you know you want to make an offer on (in as much as other houses may tick all of the boxes that you have, but don't give you 'the feeling'). We thought so much of our CM that we delayed relocating by a year or more as we didn't want to change from using her. Sorry that's not very helpful!

I work with my husband and we are both CM's.
We are in a good position to be able to offer flexibillity and where we have the school runs he goes while I stay behind with the younger ones.
Sometimes I have to take the children out with me while I go on the school run but not everyday.
We are fully inclusive.
We only charge for the hours the children are with us. We offer short hours as well as longer hours.
When we first set up we wanted to help parents to have the option of this.
I know we are sucessful where others are not so in our area.
But they can't afford to be as flexible as we are as they are on their own.
For us to do that is a luxuary.
Where we have term time only children we have also holiday only children too.
We are registered 0 - 11 so that siblings can stay together.

Oh as far as the day go we encourage free play. We do occasionally do activities with them but we find that we can still do the eyfs this way. The children are happy. The parents have an online diary and a verbal debrief on collection. Our parents text us with changes in hours or if they need more hours. Or if they are going to be late.

Thanks Everyone.

mamdoc somtimes it can come across as parents being too fussy, but I do not blame you for looking carefully. I as a parent/cm would be very fussy if I was leaving my precious little ones with someone I did not know too well. Love your imput, thanks so much

StealthPolarBear it does help to have children simular age to yours. I look after 3 children simulare age to my youngest. I have an awareness of the school system as mine are still in it.

parttimedomesticgoddess your comments are amazing. You have to follow your gut feeling. It cannot always be able ticking all the right boxes if your child does not like going there or if you do not feel a peace about your cm.s. You delayed moveing due to your cm, that awesome.

mumo3g How did you register for 0-11. Is that the age group you advertist for. I know Ofsted dont regulate over 8's. Your business sound very warm and welcoming.

I will make a note for myself of some of the comments, it will help me to ensure that I try to offer what my parents maybe looking for if not already doing so.

Very interesting comments everyone.

Am I allowed to copy and paste your comments. For my own use. i will leave out your log in names?

This will enable me to reflect on what I am doing or not doing.

Agree with other posters that it's not always the most qualified that you'd want to look after your child - I chose the lesser qualified of the two CMs on my shortlist, partly as she was more experienced by about 20 years, but mostly because she was so much more enthusiastic. It was clear she actively enjoyed looking after children and playing with them. I realised that I didn't want my child left with someone who did childminding primarily because it's a convenient way to fit in some paid work in around family life or a convenient way to work after retirement. I wanted someone who actually loves being with kids, enjoys helping them develop new skills and encourages their creativity. She was closer to us in her attitudes and personality than the other CM I was considering using. These are all factors that no level of qualification will ensure. They are completely subjective and personal but are really important factors to consider when choosing a CM.

someone non-judgy, who genuinely likes children!

we LOVE our CM, she is an absolute god-send - she has 2 children of her own, but they are a lot older than the 3 mindees she currently has - all 3 of whom are the same age. DS adores her, adores her kids, and adores his 2 little friends too. I have already booked a place for DC2 who is due in June :o

I love that she is brilliant at disciplining them, doesn't push them too much (nursery are a bit keener on potty training, encouraging independence etc - for obvious reasons!), and just lets them potter around like they would at home. Occasional craft/cooking activities, but not too many, twice weekly playgroup sessions (DS only attends one, as is at nursery on the other day).

One other point - although my CM did not breastfeed her kids, she has been 100% supportive of me leaving expressed milk for DS when he was smaller. She has never judged me for still bfing him at 2.5, even though she knows I do - I love her all the more for that, and wish my bloody family could be as supportive!!

I always looked for someone who actually wanted to be a childminder and saw it as a "proper job", so was professional and organized, rather than those who fell into it as a way of making money while staying home with their own kids. My last, amazing, CM was a single parent of four - you would have to be bloody organized!

I started cm in September 2008. The smae year and month that the Early Fondation Stage started. It was very daunting at first, took a while to get my head round it.

There is a lot expected from cm today. Not only are we responsible for looking after your little gems but we have so much paper work that we are expected to do.

Its great seening little ones going through the various stages of development, learning to walk, talk etc etc etc.

Thank you so much for answering my question.

What puts you off from using a cm?,

Excuse my mistakes its been a long day.

My dcs are 19 and 16......so it was a while ago!

I wanted a cm to be like life with me. Doing the washing, the shopping, helping to dust, having some say over what to eat, having active days and lazy days....in short a real life. The cm I found was wonderful, her house was welcoming, clean, bright, full of pictures, the letter of the week, books. She took an interest in the family (age gap meant she was nearer to my mum than my sister iyswim). My kids ADORE her still. Firm, fair, loving.

She is a star, and had a huge impact on all our lives at the time. My eldest still goes to see her when he is back home.

Lovely last post. I am a cm but giving up soon because of all the paperwork and stress of learning journeys etc and also need to put own dd first for a while after a recent terrible trauma.

I am so very heartened that none of the parents stresses eyfs, qualifications and paperwork as making a good cm but rather, warm, welcoming, loving kids, doing normal activities, sensible and reliable.

When I said I was giving up all and I mean all ,my mums cried, that made me cry too but think that also meant I have been a good cm on the whole..

Sorry to hear thebody that your giving up.

Childminding has seen some real changes over the years. Not sure if its harder for those who been doing it for years or for the new ones coming in.

This September will be my fourth year. Its been the most rewarding yet at times challenging job I have done. At the same time it gives me the flexibility to be there for my own family (in some things).

Thanks for your comments everyone. Feel free to give more comments

Over 8's are on the voluntry register. I've tried to do a search on some info on it. I've found this

Don't know what area your from but there is a phone number for ofsted in relation to the voluntry part of the register or something like that. We do advertise that we are registered from 0 - 11. The youngest so far we have looked after is 9 months and the oldest is currently 9 years. It works really well for us. Doesn't work for everyone as it is considered that there is more money in only pre school which is true. Also not everyone likes doing the school run. But we are going where the work is for us.