do childminders get respect

[kt36]

childminders get paid peanuts for so much responsibility

i think word of mouth gains you respect

agree with dmo about word of mouth, this is how I have gained most of my mindees and I have kids I don't even know saying hi to me at school!

However I often get asked "how's the babysitting going?' aargh!, or will you get a proper job when xx goes to school. To which I reply that I will expand my professional and successful childcare business even further when my son is at school.

I know what kt36 means about pay - this morning I had a brother and sister 6.30am-8am then a school run to breakfast club for a measly £7.50!

you have to be more harder KaySamuels
i only start work at 7.30 but if i did do 6.30 then it would be double rates
6.30-7.30 = £6 each
7.30 - 8 = £1.50 each

i have a brother and sister after school i charge £6 per night and by the time we have walked home from school had a snack their mum is here

I find that reputation commands respect. I don't take any nonsense from the parents and the children are happy well cared for and well fed. I'd up those prices too kay

my charges are at the higher end of the scale which in return seems to get me lovely respecing parents who are wonderful but then i am a trained N.N.E.B with 20+ years of experience so charge more...plus im already having to turn people away for next summer!!! as recommendations have got around about me ..aaahh my lovely parents..im so lucky

yes i am too soft, put my prices up to £2.50ph this year and was made to feel bad!! I posted recently that i need to change to full fees if mindees dont come, currently only do half fee. However there is a new minder and i worry they will go there instead.

I am confident tho as I do lots of training and one family have moved recently and still come to me and same school as mum who worl=ks for surestart likes her dd (7) to come to mine.

errr...NO or thats the way i feel right now

errr...NO or thats the way i feel right now

The going rate is what I charge, there are four minders who do the local primary shcool and our rates are £2.50, £2.50, £2.60, and £3 p.h.

The two with the higher rates have the most vacancies. Coincidence - I think not.

Childcare practitioners across the board need more respect, we are caring for the next generation, a parents most precious possession and the government should allocate more campaigns to raise awareness of what we all do and what a high quality service we all provide.

no, I don't think they do, sorry

do you think offsted support childminders enough i had alot of trouble with a parent which was not my fault and it ended up costing me nearly £800 . offsted are useless

£800! You poor thing!

I wish I had more parents like bambi06 has! You are soo lucky

im with strawb on this im afraid, at the mo i dont feel cms get any/enough respect ive been crapped on from a great height one too many times right now!
i do agree that reputation earns respect but i do also believe its alot to do with who you know! i have older children and although i have a good repuation and am not new to this game i do occsionally still struggle to find new mindees because im not getting the buisness from people i know through young kiddies like a alot of cms do.

would you have a minded child if it had head lice and parent didnt treat it and it happened alot

My childminder gets my respect - I don't know how she does it - children in from about 7.40am and she doesn't see the last ones off till about 6pm. I've had two CMs and they have both been great and I go on about how childminders are a good choice in childcare at every opportunity. I think the press like to portray them as somehow not as good as nursery, but I wanted the home atmosphere, flexibility and small group attention. And while I'm at it I wish Ofsted wasn't so pointlessly rigid with their assessment system. Anyway I say childminders do a great job.

here here crochety!

i'm in that situation too smeenit, my mindees are aged 6-14 so less earning potential compared to littlies, thats why I work unsociable hours 6am -- 8.30pm)as I have no kids in school time.

I feel sorry for kids with head lice when their parents don't bother getting rid

i def would not take a child that had head lice untill they were 100% clear. head lice are a horrible uncomfortable thing to have and i feel for the little kiddies that get them repeatedly,its not their fault its the parents who cant be bothered to condition comb the hair every night. i had a friend whos all 3 children had head lice permenantly from the age of 4 to 14,she justified it by saying the treatments dont work!! lazy cow couldnt be bothered to comb the hair through every night! ewwwwwww!

god im itching now!..................who mentioned head lice?!!!!!!

i itching too lol

I was told by my network co-ordinator to have a head lice policy - I thought it was a bit OTT but now reading this i am so glad i have!

Basically it says I cannot exclude a child i discover has head lice but would inform the parents on pick up and expect it to be treated before the child returns for their next scheduled childcare date.

Although this does depend on the parents

kay,if i found a child in my care had head lice i would ring the parents to collect them. this is what nurseries/schools do and if i ever had to i would send them home immeditaly.

I respect mine to bits - as do my kids!!! (And pay her £5/hr + food fees - think you lot sound increadibly good value!!)

I'm still in touch with my old childminder (I'm 32 btw), and she came to my wedding . . . She is lovely!

I think that, generally, childminders don't get a lot of respect (the "glorified babysitter" type of idea).

However, I feel very lucky with most of the families I have worked with over the years - they tend to appreciate what I do, but think I'm totally mental to want to do it.

I don't think childminders get any respect at all. I often get comments about "babysitting" and geting a "proper job". I like what i do, i get time off, i choose my holidays, i choose my hours, but at the other end of the scale, i get messed about by parents, i (sometimes) get messed around with paymetns, etc.
I am taking tomorrow of to spend the day christmas shopping with Dh, going for lunch, friend picking my sons up, and generally having a nice day wioth DH. I told all parents 6 weeks ago. Mindee 3's mum has expected me to run around asking all the other CM's if they would have mindee for the day, and getting annoyed when they couldn't. I have parents phone me up at 10 pm and say mindee not coming tomorrow, and then moaning when i charge them full price.
Can you tell i've had a bad day!?