Want poncey organic childminder-your thoughts?

[Fillyjonk]

I want some childcare. Am looking at various options.

A childminder really appeals. But also, am fussy, as you will see below.

I want:

fresh, vegetarian food. No frigging angel delight. No trans fats. Home baking with butter not marg is great. Am not fussy re sugar.

And I don't want anyone telling my kids to "finish whats on their plate" or "try everything".

Daily walking. And not to some huge soft play place where the CM sits with a coffee and chats to other CM and ignores the kids (this is what happens at the local soft play and it is really putting me off using any local CMs, tbh).

No dogs or smoking

Lots of reading and no tv

No overt attempt to teach reading or anything

Oh and I only want maybe 3 mornings a week, but have a lot of flexibiliyt as to which. A weekend day would also be fine.

Ok basically I am a ponce and a yummy mummy. But I am prepared to pay for this. I need some childcare right now and Cardiff has bllx all choice, all the nurseries are pretty much the same.

I kind of just want to know if CMs like this exist. Basially I want someone else to be a yummy mummy to my kids. I will pay for this. Is this possible? Are any of you guys such CMs? (this will give me hope)

Here's to not sounding too judgmental....You sound like a lovely person and someone who is passionate about life, can I ask what you do that takes you away from the home? The way you write about Childminders has the taint of distrust and even dislike about them, why not do the job yourself..I'm sure there are more fulfilling things than raising kids but that can come later. Having said that I am in a position where I don't have to work, I realise that I am very lucky. Could this be an option for you?

filly - yes I imagine you have. I hover around scrapbooking and paper-making threads, and am also a wannabe knitter but can't seem to manage it.

Or possibly the environment section.

Have you tried the children's information service? I assume you have, but they might have some information on their ad that gives you a clue (for example, a higher price, or they may specify home-cooked etc)

CIS I'm sure it covers Wales too.

please don't take offense at my replica comment, i jusy meant we as parents never get exactly the same person as us to mind our kids.

but you know what sometimes we get someone better, eg. someone who is different to us, but still really great with our kids and who our kids enjoy going to.

actually that would be at the top of my list, someone who is fun, laughs with my kids and enjoys their company. and if they have the tv on for say half an hour when they prepare lunch then I don't think that would be the end of the world.

"The way you write about Childminders has the taint of distrust and even dislike about them"

Eh?

I have said that they are professionals, I have said that they are community figures, I have said that I think they do a great job. I have said that they are massively underpaid. Where do I suggest I dislike or distrust them?

I know a lot of people do dislike and distrust them.

I think they are professionals offering a service. I am trying to find out if that service is for me. Just as I would if I were considering hiring any other professional.

It is absolutely news to me that some people treat them as babysitters. That is rather IMO.

and I think the fun bit and so on goes without saying really. I certainly would not want some dour grumpy woman who nevertheless fed the kids organic lentils.

ALL I am trying to do with this thread is to work out if there is even any point looking at CMs. I have never really considered them before, tbh , I have always used nurseries but I am not sure why because, when I think about it, CM are a very good option. Ds's nursery did offer all the 4 basic things I want (freshly prepared food, outside exercise each day, no tv and at least some reading) and one option is always to just send him back there.

If the only way to get those 4 basics-freshly prepared food, outside exercise each day, no tv and at least some reading-were to send my kids to nursery or keep them at home then-we'll theres a gap in the market, IMO.

I know that there are CMs out there who cover this stuff though-several have replied here.

Not read all thread but saw this but from OP (IIRR):

I want someone a lot better tempered for a start

I want fresh food (not even organic, not even lentils), daily walks, no tv (for the 3 or 4 hours they are there, and bear in mind that this is flexible) and some reading.

no dogs or smoking (due to allergies btw)

I don't think they are difficult requests are they?

Unless you mean that there can be no flexibility at all - no soft play at all, no occasional treats food wise, no occasional TV if there is a reason - TV can be educational afterall). Then it might be a little more restrictive. DD went to a nurseryw hich offered much of what you describe, expect daily walks - they had daily outside running about in a large garden though. And they had there own soft play room.

But nursery fails on:

"No overt attempt to teach reading or anything"

As nurseries, like Child Minders, do Birth 2 Three Matters and Foundation Stage Curriculum.

DD wasn't taught to read at nursery. They do follow the foundation stage, but that doesn't mean learning to read. They did fun activities about letters and numbers, they wrote their names on their work, etc. DD enjoyed letter work so did some extra writing activities if she asked but it wasn't overt by any means. Infact I often felt DD could have been doing more stuff about reading as she was interested enough that if they had pushed it she could have read there. However, looking back I realise it is better they concentrate on fun stuff, and not go down the "teaching" route.

agree with hula

no objection to covert attempts to teach this stuff. Its any real overt stuff, flashcard style, that I am concerned about (and yes I know some nurseries at least who do this)

I am familiar with foundation stage, I do make sure to cover it at home with ds already since he is not in nursery. I think it can all be delivered through play really at this early stage. I think if you do stuff like cooking, gardening, reading, drawing-normal activities with them, and chuck an odd word over to them-tbh you would struggle not to cover the foundation stage/birth-3.

for ds, he needs stuff like this delivered through play. He is an utterly typical, late August birthday, 3 1/2 year old boy

Ok, so now that you have clarified what you meant... I can say that I fit your requirement (except that I'm not a Childminder and not in Cardiff).

As a nanny, I:

Prepare fresh, most of the time vegetarian food (and certainly could do all vegetarian food). Get a box of fruit and box of veg delivered each week via one National Organic Box Scheme (Fruit) and one organic Local Box Scheme (Veg). Sometimes our outings take us to Organic Farms, so we may supplement our Box Supply at times.

We do lots of Home Baking and used to use Butter only. At present we use a mixture of Butter and Marg, but could easily go back to just using Organic Butter alone - if we can get suppliers to drop their prices a bit (sorry, we are on a budget).

Previous to this month, the children I care for didn't have to Try everything. This month however I have started trying to get them taste new things, so they do now Try Everything. But easy to go back to letting them leave as much as they like - and just eat pudding.

We go outside daily... sometimes for walks, other times play in the garden, local parks. Also go on local transport - train station within walking distance (though safer to drive alas - pity Surrey CC doesn't think about that sort of thing much when designing road layouts).

No dogs, don't smoke. But we do have Free Range Chickens and a Cat, plus a large compost heap - so expect rather a lot of worms unless the chickens have found them all.

We do some reading, though not major amounts. Favourite books currently are Gruffalo, Squash and a Squeeze, and a collection of old Lady Bird Aesop fables and short stories.

I don't teach the children to read or write. However we do use words and signs during play and outings. The children like maps for example, especially my GPS hand-held digital map (aerial now held on by sticky tape, due to 3 year old dropping it too often). We also use other IT equipment, such as a PC with Internet access, plus we make music as many instruments in the house.

No broadcast TV in the house. But we do have DVD - which is watched, generally while food is being prepared, if the children can't/won't help prepare the food. Also eldest child tends to chill-out after school with a DVD. We would meet your requirement of not having DVD on for at least half of the day, but it would be on for 30 to 90mins at times - depending on programme/film length.

I do this 50 hours per week, as a nanny. You may find a nanny who will do the part-time hours you require, though not all nannies will consider part-time work... plus it is care at your home, not you taking your children somewhere else.

So YES it is possible to find this sort of thing, but it may have to be care in your home.

LOL What is an utterly typical late August birthday boy....I've got one of these and I wondered whether he fitted into your category!

well that sounds splendid, nick

let me just say re the tv-the difficulty is that I am only looking for 3-4 hours care at a time. i don't really want that to include a load of tv, I want it to be running around and so on. My kids watch tv but only before bed.

And I also have flexibility re when in the day my kids would be there. So the tv problem only arises if it was on intermittantly throughout the day

oh utterly typical 3 1/2 yo late august birthday...well. doesn't sit still (except he does for books...needs to be exercised daily for quite a long time...needs to do things his way...no fecking idea or interesting in writing his name or anything like that...think "puppy" and you have it, really...

Nick, a question please. Out of interest and nosiness. Is there actually scope to do what you are doing as a CM? Is there any, say, legal reason why it could not be done?

With only 3 to 4 hours care, I feel you are quite justified in requesting no TV/DVD usage. I certainly like avoiding broadcast TV, far easier to control what children watch if only using DVD/Video.

Pre-School Children I find in general need lots of exercise. Far better to charge around outdoors, than in the house - though of course they still do that as well!

For me, there is not scope for doing what I do as a CM, as I can not use my home for Childminding - due to its small size. However, a CM I who I often go walking with (long walks always better with two adults and a group of similar aged children - thus they encourage each other to walk/run/hide/jump in puddles), operates much along the same lines - though does tend to have TV on at home more than I would like.

No legal reasons I can think of why it would not be possible. Not fully sure as to how much control DfES has over childminders implementing B23 and FSCurriculum but I suspect much can be covered via learning-though-play. Multi-cultural requirements may be tricky, though could implement via appropriate jigsaws, food varieties, making paper dolls with dolls clothing, reading books about cultures, that sort of thing. Same with disabilities - could incorporate into play - I always remember the time I went along to a playgroup to help with an inspection, and they didn't have disabled figures, so told them to rip a leg off a dinosaur - it was then a Disabled Dinosaur!

at dinosaur

thanks for answering question

ok sooo another question

any particualr reason why say a montesorri or steiner themed CM would not be possible?

You get montesorri nurseries, so can't see why it wouldn't work being a montesorri CM. However, I have no experience of montesorri or steiner, so can't really make a sensible educated comment.

ta

very helpful

am still undecided. am veering towards returning to ds's lovely nursery atm, though will look at expensive local CM in optomism.

dear filly,

come and live in lincolnshire

it is a lovely rural county, cheap housing/low crime AND i could fulfil your list of requirements for childcare (exept i have a dog - a border collie - but as he lives outside in kennel/run and not in the house maybe this would be ok?)

and i know at least two or three other cms nearby who would also tick the boxes on your list..

and with regard to cost (unfortunately ) the going rate for cm's in my area is £2.50 p/hr. i do have friends who charge more because they think their service is worth it, and i agree with them BUT they struggle to get business.

i see my role as a professional one, but prior to being a cm i was working as an occupational therapist UNFORTUNATELY i have to say that since becoming a cm i get a 'less favourable' reaction when i tell people what my job is. this is madness really because being a cm is about five time more difficult (but also five times more enjoyable )

i hope you find what you are looking for - good luck. xx

lincoln it is....