CM, parents with CM, tell me if you think this is reasonable?

[afussyphase]

I met a CM who charges 8£ per hour for the after-school session (so 2.5 hours = 20£). It's 50£/day for toddlers which is totally reasonable IMO. The thing is, the TV is on for "two brief sessions" of an hour, after lunch and after school. I got the feeling it was kind of "on as background" rather than the toddlers sitting for an hour watching it, but of course I can't be sure. Also there was no place for the toddlers to nap really, maybe a mat in the hallway - it's London so small flats are very normal. We have a toddler and a 4yo.

So I have questions: do you or your CM charge that much for after school? If you do, is it OK to then just let them watch TV for a good portion of the time? I guess I kind of think that if someone's going to just bring DD1 (4yo) home and turn on the TV, I could do it myself (if I could work from home those days)...

And -- how do you find toddlers react to TV being on - do they actually just zone out and watch it or do they get on with their usual playing and ignore it? Is that too much TV time for a just-barely-2yo?
Would love any thoughts/advice you have!

I charge £5 per hour,but I'm not in London. Depends on child some will watch bits of tv and carry on playing some my ds included will totally zone into tv for hours on end. I do an activity after school them tea, clear up, maybe bit of homework or reading, tv not on at all or maybe half hour at most.

2 hours TV a day, personally I wouldn't mind - but do you think it is on all the time?

Nowhere to nap I would mind.

Not sure about after-school charges in London - have you compared to other local CMs/after school clubs?

The after-school club DD1 is in now is a council-run one and it's only 6£ per day (!!) but I think it's more suited to older DC and it got a really bad ofsted.. not that that's everything of course. DD1's kind of happy there but sometimes doesn't seem keen and it's not all that convenient for timing/location of pickup - not that I'm complaining but I want to look into both girls being in the same place at least twice a week! Don't know about other CMs in the area, I should try to find out.
Yeah, I kind of suspect that it's on a lot of the time, which I would hate myself, but I'm not the one who would spend a lot of time there!

sounds ok to me!! charges are right for London...

As for TV, it wouldn't bother me personally - I would be more concerned with finding the right person, and its a definate plus to have both dc in the same place i would think.

i do have the tv on a bit after school as my ds are home and like some down time. the mindees dont bother with it much, we still do our craft activities and they play, they certainly don't sit glued to it at the age of 2 ime.
I may be in a miniority but I don't see anything wrong with children who have been at school all day (especially young ones like your 4 year old) watching tv and having a bit of relax time, it;s a long day at school - I assume you watch a bit of tv/relax in some way after work? its the same for children!

is the cm looking after your younger one all day? if so,and you are happy with her and she is going out during the day with her, I wouldn't worry too much!!

I wouldn't be bothered if my son (who is now 11) watching tv after school and if I was paying a cm to mind a 4 year old who is at school all day then yes its a long day so some relaxation is good.

I used to be a cm and would let the children have an hour of tv and then perhaps do something -crafts were always available even if the children didn't wish to do them. We made pancakes, Chinese Lanterns, Divali lamps and other various things which tied in with EYFS planning. I mainly had older children who would rather play on the Wii or we would go to the park.

Sometimes I wish I had stayed as a cm but local nurseries had a monopoly as they could offer free sessions which I could not and I finally made the decision to finish.

The parents I had didn't seem to bother what I did as long as I looked after them and fed them but that is the kind of parents who live in the area.

I wouldn't call an hour a brief session & whilst I'm not anti tv especially for older ones, I do think 2 hours TV a day is both lazy childminding & not great for a 2 year old. I sometimes let my DS (3) watch half an hour after lunch whilst any little ones are napping and both he & his older brother (7) probably watch an hour most evenings after mindees have gone & I'm clearing dinner carnage etc but I'd be mighty pissed off to be paying someone to let them watch that much TV. Charges sound about right though

Oh and if the TV is on, the world around them doesn't exist - they are literally glued to the screen which is why I limit it to after mindees have gone & for limited periods at a time ( eg half hour before bath or 20 minutes whilst tea cooks etc) . maybe if it were on more as background they'd be less bothered but on the rare Saturday with no plans if we're just hanging around at home they will watch literally anything given the chance - milkshake, Saturday kitchen, Grand Prix, you've been framed..

I think that's hugely expensive - especially as she's clearly not buying in lots of craft stuff, or food, if she's just sitting them in front of TV. Don't get me wrong, after a long day at school, a lot of children are sometimes just ready to 'veg' for a bit, but I HATE 'background TV' with a passion. I'd rather they watched a whole film once every 3 days, or chose a programme to watch from Children's TV each day.
Looking after a baby / toddler is hard work, but school age children don't need the same level of input, so I can't see how she can justify the hike in fees, for the much easier part of the job.
I wouldn't be happy for my baby to not have a cot to sleep in either.

I'm parent of a 5 yr old and not quite 2yo who go to a cm.
I am really pleased that they're together and dd (5) does seem to prefer the cm to after school club. She found the club quite stressful- friendship politics, wouldn't go to the toilet there! She is much happier with the cm where she can relax. There is sometimes tv in the evening for 30 mins or so before pick up but I don't mind that and often she would rather draw or colour.
I would be more bothered about tv for ds as he gets quite glued to it if its on at home. Fortunately she doesn't put it on in the daytime. They are usually too busy out and about at groups or the park. He naps in the pushchair which I'm not especially fussed about although he would go in the cot at home. He seems fine with it and I understand that it would be hard to do otherwise as her house is small.
It's 5 pounds per hour each which I find a fair price. Doesn't include meals. I send packed lunch and give them tea when they get home.
Another advantage is that cm will have them both together in the holidays rather than me having to book separate holiday club for dd.
Have you any other options? I found it helpful to see a few different people before making up my mind. It's such an individual thing. What one person considers a complete no no another might be fine with.

I charge £20 for the whole session. It does include a cooked meal.

Petrol costs of collecting those children are also factored in and most of the children are here until 6, often later.

I recently needed a taxi back from the hospital not far from one of the schools I pick up from. It cost me £25.

I think the after-school charge is high but the hourly rate is on the lower side for London (I charge more than that and I'm in Oxford). Neither as a CM nor as a parent would I use the TV that much (we don't have TV at all, actually - my own DCs watch a film at the weekend but that's it). The lack of a place to sleep would bother me too.

I'm not a fan of background TV. I do occasionally let the after-schoolers watch a little or a bit of a DVD or play on the Wii, but during the day we are usually too busy. I also find the idea of watching a particular programme together during the day a good one in principle, but in practice have had problems with children who are pretty TV-obsessed then throwing tantrums, getting whingy etc when I then turn it off! Incidentally I have found that the parents who are most anti=TV and want to be reassured about how little I have the TV on are the ones whose children know every TV character and theme tune and even the adverts.

Im Herts and have just put my fees up for the 1st time in nearly 5yrs, I charge 4.80 per child per hour, they get a substantial snack and either milk or water when we get in from school,
On a Tuesday due to various clubs when they leave here (normally 5.15ish) etc I provide Tea for them all.
I have 4 mindees, they are all term time, afterschoolers, my youngest mindee is 6.6yrs

The TV goes on as soon as we get in, All my parents are fine with their children chilling out in front of the TV when they get in from school.

However there is always some sort of craft activity going on/available in the dining room if others do not wish to watch the TV.

I've got a couple of after school mindees, one was removed from after school club because her parents felt she was sitting about doing nothing. Every day is different here. Some days the mindees are all tired and all they want to do is watch tv and chill out, other days they are all wound up and need outside to run about. When your cm says 2 hours a day, is she giving you a sample timetable or do you think this tv time is set in stone? Do you think she's able to be flexible to the needs of the children? I'm in Scotland so not ofsted reg but our care insp insist that there is a quiet area set aside for mindees to sleep. I don't usually have the tv on when littlest mindees are here, but if it is on they tend not to bother with it for more than a couple of minutes. The older mindees and my dc usually put a movie on just before home time, this gives everyone a chance to wind down and lets me gather all their stuff together for when the parents arrive.
In the 3 hours after school we usually get changed out of uniform, snack, homework, art activity and/or baking, play with toys, jigsaws, board games etc and then if we have time (and they can all agree what to watch) movie time til home time.
Always go with your gut instinct when choosing a cm - hope you find someone lovely.

I pay £5 an hour after school. In nice weather they are outside all the time and in winter they do colouring or tv or Ds has taken to doing his homework there.

Thanks everyone! I think Backforgood and mamadoc put their fingers on it -- why the hike in fees (higher hourly for the 4yo than the baby) if they're watching a lot of TV? i'm not even that unhappy with DD1 watching some tv, as many of you point out, they have a long day, but given the hike in cost and the total tv being pretty high for a toddler I have some misgivings. Also that's the only room, really, as far as I could see, so they wouldn't have access to activities in the other room. I think I should look for more options, really... what we have now (DD2 at the other after-school club, and DD1 at a nursery farther away) is inconvenient and maybe not ideal for DD1 but I'm thinking I probably don't want to give up DD2's spot at the current nursery for this particular CM.
fivesacrowd, no, there wasn't really a schedule. I don't know if she'd be flexible about it, I think it's probably on "as background" (which I really hate). I'd be really happy with what you describe! that's why we started looking for childminders in the first place :)

£8 an hour????? OMG!!!!......I need to move house...!!!
I live in the midlands and charge £3.50 an hour.That includes snack and drink, and any art/crafts etc they want to use.
TV is on rarely-the only time I use it is if they're all stuck indoors after school and they start getting a bit restless,so I may put it on for 20 minutes.

My DC's school charges £8 a day for after school club which is 3:30 until 6 with no flexibility.

lis1968, I agree! I think it's a little weird that the babies/toddlers, who are way more work, average out to about 5£/hr with this CM (a bit more because practically speaking mine would never ever arrive at 8am!), but after-school is 8ph. I'd be totally fine with 20 minutes of tv, too ...
NumericalMum, yeah, ours is also 3:30-6, no flexibility - and not on the school site so it's oddly hard to get to, or anyway hard to get to reliably on time due to bus routes/traffic / not near tube/ that line not that predictable... Cycling will be a good option soon though when it's warmer and lighter out.

Thanks CMs for letting me know what you charge, too - really helpful to know what the normal rates are for per hour, and after school, looks like most people don't have a much much higher after school rate than their normal hourly rate, which I think makes sense :)