What should I ask when 'interviewing' childminders?

[AlmondFrangipani]

Just starting to look into childminders for my little boy who will be 13 months when I go back to work. I'm a complete novice and need some advice on what I should be looking for?

You don't really interview CM's!

It's more of a meeting to discuss what she (or he) has to offer, what you need and for you to get a feel of the home and the person who will be looking after your child. You might actually find that she runs the show! I know I usually do.

You need to think about what you would like and ask if that's what is offered - e.g nap arrangements, food, outings, cost, how to pay.

A lot of it is down to gut instinct though.

Yy I 'interview' parents during meetings too. If I don't think they are a right fit for me then I won't offer a space either.

I've had many a child arrive and climb over furniture, hurt current mindees, break toys and generally cause chaos but parents sit and do bog all at disciplining them. All because the parents think they are 'interviewing me and I'm going to accept their little darling whatever. No no no. :-)

I had a family over once. Their son was awful! He was really rude and as they were leaving, he spat on my floor. I was so shocked......he was only 4.

Trust your instinct. Maybe ask about holidays, sleeping arrangements, what a typical day looks like and what meals will be consumed.

Good luck

Oh Ladies....I must have had a very sheltered 30+ years as a CM/nanny!!! You all make me laugh! Just read about sacking sulky AP and hamster/yellow fluid in jars...now spitting little boys. Did have a dad chase me through house once, swearing at me cos I had to report him for something serious. Never told anyone about this! (apart from police as had to report it). I was a CM for 15 years and its a case of interviewing each other to see if the dynamics work. Good Luck.

Try and go at a time when they have a mindee there. See if the tv is on. If they make you a drink, watch to see whether they leave you alone with the mindee while they get it.

Ask about pay arrangements for your/their holidays and what happens for your/their sickness.

Ask what measures they use to help new mindees settle in.

Ask about what type of activities she does with them.

Ask about food arrangements: what do you provide/ what does she provide?

And any other areas of particular concern to you, eg if your DC has allergies, is poor at napping, needs a dummy, etc.

We went through the practicalities, timings, what sort of food served and when, warning CM that DD was a rubbish napper, daily routine, how many other children/what ages, what sort of activities she does, what sort of settling in sessions she likes to do. And what we were looking for a CM to do in terms of where we'd need her to follow our routines, where we'd expect DD to fit round hers. And yes, I'm sure that bit was just as much her interviewing us as vice versa.

But mainly for me it was about watching how CM interacted with DD and with the other mindee who was there when we visited.

You can have a look at the FAQs on my website if you like. Many of them were stolen from ideas on here :)

www.3mxchildcare.co.uk

Not an advert as I have no vacancies and a waiting list

HSMMaCM just to say you have a fantastic website :)

watch to see whether they leave you alone with the mindee while they get it.
unless the kitchen is in the west wing and 10 minutes walk away, I think nipping into the kitchen is fine, especially as they will be back in 5 secs. while the kettle boils etc.
What do you envisage might happen?

Well maybe the drink was a bad example. It was born out of a CM meeting where I went with my mum and DD, and the CM left her mindee alone with my mum for about 15 mins while she took me into another room to show me pictures of her the children's art and crafts. Taught me that an 'Excellent' from Ofsted isn't the only thing to go by, at any rate.

Thanks almaradlu

I went largely with my gut instinct (and found a childminder who was SO wonderful I feel quite emotional remembering the first time I met her! Sniff) but I also brought along some questions, for info but also to fill in the gaps in conversation.
Arrangements for bank holidays, whether s/he will take unwell (obv not contagious) children, what a typical day looks like, are they part of a childminder's network, how many children do they have, how many are they registered to have, holidays, do they take childcare vouchers, do they do school drop offs (relevant whether or not you have school age children, as your baby might spend a long time dropping off other children. Not a deal breaker with an excellent cm, but worth considering), check whether they have carseats or whether you would need to provide, ask for a typical menu, how much tv do their charges watch, ask about their last Ofsted (but look them up as well). I also asked why they became childminders, and whether they enjoyed it, which was really interesting!
Overall, though, I chose the person who was most interested in my PFB: treated our meeting as her getting to know both of us, spoke v warmly about how much she loved looking after children... (Although the fact I knew she did lots of home cooking, had charming children of her own, and got out to local children's centres full of people I knew helped lots as well!)

Thank you for all the tips, that's very helpful. Are fees normally negotiable? The childminder I'm meeting is about £1 more an hour as she was a reception teacher whose having a career change and feels she can justify to charge this but she doesn't have a track record yet...?

My fees aren't negotiable.
Are you looking round a few? Go to look at some that don't charge as much. There might be no difference in the quality of care.

When I started up I started at about 25p - 50p higher than existing minders. I think that once you get families in you can be a bit reluctant to raise prices.
The price I charged was the going rate in the borough. And I wanted to start as I meant to go on. That said I haven't raised my prices since 2012.

My fees aren't negotiable either, but you can ask.