Considering Childminding, a few questions

[midori1999]

I am have been a SAHM for some years now, my youngest DC is 22 months and am also expecting a baby in October. I am considering childminding, but am thinking I would start when my baby was around 6 months old as I think this is more realistic in terms of how much of my attention he will need by then, although I may think about it before then.

I am in Scotland, so going to contact the SCMA tomorrow for their information pack, as I am not sure how long the registration process takes. Also, I notice the SCMA offer a number of courses for members, does anyone know if I can join and complete their courses while I am in the process of registration or will I have to wait until I am registered? I feel that it would be good to get these courses completed prior to beginning childminding.

Finally, are there any other childcare related courses that aren't SCMA run that anyone would recommend? I think it would need to be evenings/weekends for now.

Thanks.

Hi,

I'm in the process of registering in Scotland too. I'm in North Ayrshire and in my area the council hold courses for childminders for free, or as part of the Individual Learning account.

My first step was to contact the local council and then go on a 5 day pre-registration course. In North Ayrshire you need to attend this before you can be registered. I found out everything I needed to know when I was there. It's supposed to take on average 3 months, but many people say it can take double, or even more. I attended my course in February and will hopefully be registered by next month. Good luck!

Hi there. I registered 2 years ago just as care comm was changing to scswis. Do you know any local cm? If you do, speak to them about what your local council provide before you go to scma. I'm a member and get my insurance through them, but don't use their training as my local council have a really good training framework (East Renfrewshire). I didn't do a pre reg training course. Just made sure I got first aid, child protection & first aid training within a few months of registering. All the training ER provide is in the evenings as we all work most days! I also go to a local cm group and get loads of advice there. My registration took 6 months and was really straightforward.