May I ask Parents, Do many of you actually know what a childminder does?

[Shoshable]

As from many conversations, it seems that there is so many different opinions. Not getting at anyone, but it would be helpful to know what the general census is

From a parent's point of view, a cm should be someone who will love and care for my child when I can't be there.

I would want them to nurture a relationship with ds, feed him healthy foods, read him stories, play and have fun with him.

And I'm lucky, my cm does all of these

Why?

haven't used one for ds yet, but my family are still in contact with the one me and my sister went to (she was fantastic).

I see a childminder as someone who cares for children in a home environment and does all the things that parents mean to or hate (painting, activities etc). SOmeone who acts as a stand in parent (IYSWIM).

Off the top of my head

My definition of a childminder is an individual who provides care for other peoples' child(ren) in their own home.

A Childminder does in her home what a Nanny does in someone else's home!

Hi Shosh, need a drink?

had presumed they did home from home care

school run

activities with younger ones...colouring, painting, arts and crafts, singing, baking, visiting toddler groups , park etc

feed them good whoelsome food

teach them colours, numbers , letters

someone who is like a favourite auntie,does all the things a mum means to do but never gets round to it.
I admire them very much,couldn't do it myself.

My childminder takes care of my little boy.

She plays with him the same as I do.

She takes my place & cares & nurtures ds. She is the one who is in total control when ds is with her.

She makes his lunch, kisses his hurts, pushes him on the swings.

And when he is asleep she does her ironing

She is an angel!! If I have a problem we talk about it, if she has a problem we talk about it

She is part of my team

My goodness go and make a cuppa and half of MN answer thank you very much

A childminder looks after children in his/her own home. The hours vary according to the individual agreements/circumstances, and the standard of care varies too.

In my own case, my childminder has looked after my two daughters, cared for them, entertained them, taken them to playgroup, arranged their preschool places, facilitated their social lives by providing them with a wide circle of friends, given them boundaries, taught them to say please and thankyou, loved them, told them off, fed them, laughed with them, and done a damn good job.

To me a childminder is like an aunt/ granny / close family friend looking after the child, but with being a bit more professional

I disagree with Booh. A childminder is, or should be, a skilled childcare professional. I know mine is and so are a number of other childminders I know and/or have talked to in the course of my work.

I have a huge amount of time for childminders.

Well, those of us who have CMs know and it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks!! Like lots of jobs!

Not read the thread yet - will do that after posting this, but my interpretation of a child minder is someone who looks after my child as though they were part of their own family - feeds them, cares for them, takes them out on trips etc. Daytime only though. I think if it was overnight I would call them a nanny.

The childminder who looks after ds looks after him like she does her own children ... she plays with him, takes him to school, picks him up from school, picks him up if he falls over, tells him off if he misbehaves, does cooking, painting and stories with him.

She also has a wonderful family of her own, and as a result, my ds has 2 nannies, a grampy and and grandad to add to his own grandparents.

She does a wonderful job, and I thank my lucky stars for the fact that I found her .... and I make sure that I pay her on time - and give her plenty of notice of any changes in arrangements!!

Just as an aside, I can't believe how some of the CMs on here get treated by the parents they work for ... it makes me ashamed!

I agree wriggle jiggle!

I am a childminder, my mindees are like extensions of my family, and I also have lots of formal childcare qualifications (NNEB, NVQ3 & 4 etc etc)

Some lovely things being said, but does anyone NOT have a CM and know what to expect of one?

shosha put this under chat and see what is said.

Ok Mumlove will do

Shosha, what ever happened to the matchmaking sideline...You promised me a man in uniform!

Sorry Scottie fotgot!!!!! Will keep looking

Some of the posts here make me feel like a CM would be providing better care for my child than I do. I'm a SAHM and, while we certainly do a fair amount of activities, craft, baking, etc, it certainly isn't all day everyday. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn but the one or two CMs I know don't spend all day, everyday on those things either. There are times when I'm at theirs for coffee or they're at mine and the children are just playing by themselves. No criticism of CMs intended - quite the contrary as it's exactly what I do as a full-time mum - but I wonder if some parents are expecting a little too much perfection from CMs.

When everyone has finished answering this we can all print it off and send it to ofsted. No-one yet has listed all the paperwork that we do when the children are not there, but if ofsted keep increasing it we will have to do it during our working time and not play with the children as much.

Have put it in chat but asking parents who dont have CM's what they expect of us? I find that most people who have never used a childminder eally have no idea what we do, or what qualifications we have, so was intrested to find out if MN mums are better informed. Just being nosey really!

mumlove - as I was working my way through this thread, I was thinking exactly what you have posted ... that I should print out this thread and send it to Ofsted, and remind them that this is what CMs are supposed to be doing.

If I asked my minding parents what a CM does, they would definitely say (very tongue-in-cheek and very much full of sarcasm-ThePrisoner-style) that what I actually do is log the exact hours their child has arrived; write down all the existing injuries the child has; gets parent to sign permission form for medicine they might need during the day ... and this is before they even set foot through the front door.

I then do a full safety assessment of my sitting room (in case anything dangerous has happened without me noticing in the few minutes it took me to answer the front door); quickly put out all my individual hand towels so that the children can wash/dry their hands before handling any nuclear-washed toys (obviously done in my own time); quickly test the smoke alarm and do an emergency house evacuation; sterilise all the children before sitting down to a free-range, organic breakfast; put on protective gloves, mask and gown to change any nappies (out of sight of any other minded children to protect their privacy) but quickly read my Health and Safety Policy/permission forms to see if I'm allowed to apply nappy cream to that particular mindee (but make mental note to phone parents in advance next time to ensure that I have used the correct brand of cream); check I have written permission to leave house with mindees to walk to toddler group ... oh, you get the picture ... I'm sure that I pencilled in a couple of minutes of quality play time somewhere in the day ...

My head hurts ... (but can't remember where the aspirin is because I treble-locked it in a fire-and-waterproof box and left it in a vault somewhere) ...

pmsl

wow can i just copy and paste that as my operational plan - thanks