Nursery or childminder?

[formidablescent]

My daughter has not attended either so far, she has always been with me at home. So does anyone have any advice on which might be better for her to prepare her for school next September? Having not been in any formal childcare up until now makes me a bit worried for her about starting school. I was thinking a couple of days in nursery/preschool/childminders, might be good for her. Thanks

To prepare for school I would say Nursery, had my kids at both for different stages it's a very personal decision you need to fit round your family life and circumstances as well as what your own child needs.

Find an experienced childminder. The best of both worlds. They will probably have older children, a warmer environment and more one to one stability

Nurseries and child-minders do exactly the same things with regard to preparation for school - this is independence skills -self dressing toileting getting own drinks/snack, sharing and turn taking, attention skills like sitting in group reading times, recognising their own names, seeking support form other adults, separation from main carer.
Their inspections look at the ability of a setting to do this - if you see a cm ask them how they achieve these things.
My children mix with 10 to 15 others every day and I network with others cm's so they happily seek support from them. We do group singing and story times both at each others homes and also in the toddler groups I run where children join in and speak up commonly singing a song to the others by the time they are ready for school.
we develop finger strength through messy play and activities like using tweezers and threading. All my 3 year olds can write their name put on own coat and zip it up self toilet and pour own drinks before they move to school nursery so are way ahead of many of their peers who commonly cant do any of this even at 4.

Thanks everyone

I'd say a pre-school, as all the other children will be the same age and they will do some school-type things such as circle time. If you find one close to the school she'll go to, she may move with some of the other children she has got to know which helps them to settle.

I think that it really depends on the nurseries in your area. Sone of the nurseries we have visited have been incredible, three years olds with perfect table manners, doing everything themselves, lots of educational play, discussions about art, everything. Others have been downright grim. Children practically being ignored by lazy staff essentially being forced to learn the skills they need by virtue of not being able to eat etc if they don't do it themselves. As a general rule we have found that nurseries attatched to schools are better than stand alone nurseries and nurseries attatched to expensive schools/schools in expensive areas are usually the best. We put our three year old into a nursery to prepare him for school and they have done a good job.

I agree with@underneaththeash pre school without a doubt. These tend to be near or attached to primary schools and will get your DD used to the setting. Most come with jumpers to wear (uniform). My DS loves preschool compared to nursery, he goes three mornings a week (2.5) and at 3 we will up this to 5

underneaththeash ......I'm a cm we do circle time everyday with between 10 and 25 children.

Having children of different ages is beneficial as it encourages them to try new things improves language and boosts confidence in children as they get self esteem from being the one that is looked up to and helping others who cant do things. Schools are always commenting on how advanced children from a cm setting are.

jannier - it think you're unusual though. most childminders aren't legally able to have that many children in one setting in the UK.

I have 3 under 5 each day but meet up daily with other minders so the children mix with a large group. We also do circle time and story time and song time etc.

My local school can always tell 'my littles' as they are wonderfully prepared for School and are unphased by it as they have been visiting as long as they've been with me for assemblies, school productions, fairs etc.

underneaththeash....

No its done by networking with 2 or 3 others we meet in some combination every day at child-minder drop ins, you can also hire a hall between you for an hour or 2. Most child-minders I know do this in some form or other. I run a toddler group twice a week so my co minder does the children while I do the group we end with a groups singing where up to 15 adults and their children join in but on other days we meet in groups or houses where 5 adults and up to 20 children are together.
Rooms are divided so that children seeking help go to a familiar adult for say support at a craft table (like in a nursery) Because the children know each other and the adults its also easy to arrange emergency care. But when we go back to mine they get one to one targeted support Research has shown that young children's language and communication as well as social development is best supported from small groups Hence the Key worker system which is an attempt to rectify this but as an Assessor in nurseries often is not applied as it was intended and is used more for admin that the child's benefit.

Pre school is perfect for this; it does what it says on the tin! I found it was quite a similar set up to a school nursery/reception class, just a little less formal (teachers were called by first names, not Mrs X as they are at school) and you didn't have to go every morning and could build up into a pattern that suited your child.

There are benefits to both so maybe visit some of each and go with your gut.

We chose nursery because we got a good feeling when we went, we needed the regular hours and opening times due to work, and it has been great for our son. They are fab and do so many crafts and activities. He seems to really enjoy it. That said, he does miss out on the benefits of a childminder - a smaller group and close relationship, as well as regular trips and outings, even to toddler groups, that a lot of childminders do.

DD1 went to nursery as it was a nice place and the times suited us. Dd2 goes to a CM which I actually prefer as she gets to interact with a whole range of ages and I think it’s actually better that way (nursery was heavily age segregated).

Take a look at your options and don’t discount any based purely on assumptions.

Just had the final count for todays end of term party....4 child-minders 2 assistants 33 children to see Santa Pepper Pig and bounce around in 4 bouncy castles then 14 off to panto all free to families so even our outings and school parties are matched to what other types of settings provide.