Childminder or nursery?

[cripez]

My DD has a wonderful childminder who she goes to 2 days a week. It's a small setting with 5 kids max, and she has made friends with the kids there and is very settled.

She turns 3 in June and I am wondering what to do about next year, as I kind of feel like she should go to the nursery attached to the school she will be attending, she is quite ahead developmentally, very bright and verbal and I think she would quite enjoy the bigger classroom experience.

But she's also my last baby, and very happy with her childminder, so an equally huge part of my brain says keep her there, she will have plenty of time for classroom learning throughout the rest of her childhood (she will have only just turned 4 when she starts Reception).

Would be interested to hear from parents and childminders who have had similar dilemmas, and what worked out best for you. I keep swinging from one option to the other.

Is there not the option for using a preschool & childminder combined? My childminder did preschool pick up & drop off so for example some of the little ones would do two days at preschool and two with her, then in the holidays when preschool was closed they’d spend the extra days with her.

It meant the children got used to socialising in a wider group but working parents still had cover in the school holidays.

We are only entitled to the 15 hours from Sept, so I would be using those for three long mornings at nursery, or two short days with childminder.

My mindees rarley go to nursery. Possibly 1 in 6 of them. They've all gone to reception happily and been confident outgoing children doing more than most in their classes....independent, and meeting all the school readiness targets of listening, seeking support, turn taking, sharing etc. And many skills above what is termed school readiness such as writing their names and simple words, understanding stage 1 and 2 of phonics, counting and recognising numbers. Ive also had one removed from school nursery becouse he was board.
If your child is happy and meeting their learning goals there is no need to make the change. Ask your childminder what her plans are to get her school ready and go from there.

My little one starts ore school in April and I'm doing three morning at present school abd two full days at childminder, he'll love the balance!

I'm just wondering why you would remove your child from a setting where she is thriving, developmentally ahead and very happy.

Don't you think the childminder might have had something to do with that?

I think the nursery is better

So much of this depends on what your local settings are like. Our childminder is amazing, but can't substitute the lack of socialisation he's suffered thanks to COVID. She now takes him to a local preschool a couple of mornings a week and he's thriving. We also intent on moving him to school nursery in September to join elder siblings, but ours allows you to pay for extra hours if you're not entitled

I'd go for nursery. A nursery is not a classroom setting, at least none of the ones my kids have attended resembled a classroom in any way! I'd much rather pay for something more than I can provide at home, I don't really see the point in the 'home-from-home' idea unless you're out of the house at work or whatever.

I moved DS2 from one awesome nursery to the school nursery, so that he'll start reception with friends. DS1 started and half his class already knew each other from the school nursery, so lots of the mums new each other etc. Just thought it would be nice for DS2 to already know people :)

It's so hard to decide. My heart says keep her with lovely childminder under whom she is thriving. Not sure why I got a couple of snarky replies that suggested I felt otherwise. I fully credit our childminder with helping her development.

But then I think about the other things mentioned here like making friends with classmates, preparation for Reception etc etc.

I haven't decided yet.

My mindees know each other and other minders children they start school together make friends easily etc. School readiness is a major part of what we do which is about being confident and outgoing they really don't have issues.

Can you do a combo of both? Children make friends anyway abs they won't likely def be in same class as nursery anyways

I'm in the same boat. DD loves her childminder. One of the issues is the children her age or a little older are leaving to attend pre-school or school which will leave her with much younger children. I'm thinking that when she turns 3 I will start her off 2 days a week in a pre-school and still have the other 3 days with her childminder. I feel like suddenly sending her to school with no experience of a classroom type environment where she can socialise with lots of other children might be a big shock to the system.

I'm a childminder in scotland. All children go to nursery at 3 here. I've never met anyone who didn't send their child to nursery. Sometimes they stay with me aswell, so I do drop offs and pick ups, sometimes the parents work put different arrangements because it's obvious cheaper to use the wrap round care or family once they don't need a full day place anymore.
It's a shame to leave the childminder if your dd is so happy there, but I do think it is good for children to get to know some of the other kids they will start school with.

As I childminder I have some children who stay with me until school age and others leave to go to nursery/ preschool once they are 3. Even though I still get them ready for school I do think some children thrive with more children around to play with in a nursery setting. I do not mind if they do mixture of nursery and me but I don’t offer wrap round care for nursery or preschool so it would have to be on days they are not with me. I don’t offer wrap around care as I don’t want my days taken up with lots of school drops and collections and feel it’s unfair on the younger children in and out of the car all the time, having to stop playing, woken
up from naps etc

I agree @Apple40 and I wouldn't mix. That wouldn't benefit any of us in our situation.

I can't even send her for a taster session, to see what she makes of it, cos of COVID. So bloody hard! Much much harder than DS1, who had to be nursery all the way because of SEN.

It is hard to decide, especially when you worry about your child missing out, and my earlier reply wasn't really meant to be snarky - it's difficult to convey tone of voice when writing.

Some of the children here stay for their nursery education; some attend a local nursery for a couple of days and take the remainder with me. These days, they all stay with me, except one, and her mother is talking about using just me. It's understandable.

In your shoes and at this time, I would not risk changing your DD when she is settled and happy. Why not talk with your childminder and see what she recommends?

I work in a nursery but I know good childminders will be offering the same opportunities by covering the EYFS. A lot of school readiness is about covering independence skills such as dressing themselves, toileting and helping them with speech and language skills such as understanding and following instructions. A reception classroom won’t be too much different from a nursery classroom so there is probably no rush in moving a child who is happy and learning with a childminder, especially if there are other children with the minder they have made a good friendship with.

In COVID times it’s likely less of a risk to stay with a childminder than to start mixing with lots of other children and staff.

I would consider moving them to a nursery if there were development concerns that you felt weren’t being addressed or if you felt they weren’t getting enough peer interaction - maybe if the minder has much younger children for example. But this year I would likely only do so for the summer term before school.

I have had this dilemma this year. My older two went to nursery school for a year before started reception with childminder wrap around.
My youngest starts school in sept and is at the same childminder.
This year she isn't doing wraparound nursery so I had to make the choice.
I decided to stick with the childminder and I'm so glad I did.
My little one has had some health issues and esp this year I was worried about the big group setting. There are two others at the childminder the same age and I know she is working really hard to get them ready for school. She is an amazing childminder though (we've been using her for 9 years!)
The other factor for me is that he will continue to go after school and in the holidays when he starts school.
My older two loved nursery and definitely benefited (they could read and write when they started school) but I think you have to be guided by your child. There is no right or wrong answer.

@Tumbleweed101....
Well said so many dont realise that the standards are the same or what school readiness is.

So many also say x worked wonders but unless you can take the same child back in time and put them through a different setting you cant say it was a setting as much as normal child development in any quality setting.

What some people fail to understand is that childminders are held to account in exactly the same way as a nursery is and have to follow the EYFS curriculum like nurseries do. The fact childminders work from their own home often goes against them as they are not seen as professional as nursery settings.

I would speak to your childminder to see what her view is. It may be that she has lots of very young children so your child would benefit more from being with children their own age in nursery. Lots of childminders actively encourage a move to nursery for various reasons depending on the individual child. Lots of childminders are also highly capable of preparing children to start school without the need for nursery or by sharing a child with nursery.

I haven't failed to understand anything @PrincessScarlett - I'm a qualified teacher

@cripez

Oh I didn't mean you OP, sorry if it came across that way. I've just come across a lot of parents being told by professionals that children are better off in nursery when they have an amazing childminder who is just as qualified as nursery staff and rated higher by Ofsted than the local nursery.

@cripez
Totally agree and most of those professionals don't know what a childminder does. Ive been inviting settings into my home for 15 years not one has taken me up on it. I've been asked why I'm bothering attending conferences and training by the teachers I've sat next to as 'you dont have to know about safegaurding, EYFS Ofsted do you". I am part of a quality improvement panel, when we had our first meeting the nurseries were all saying why is a childminder here? When they meet me in my assessor role I'm treated equally but once they know I'm a childminder they seem to think I know less than their apprentices. I did a presentation at a conference which was fully booked when I was introduced as a childminder a lot just walked out....luckily the ones who stayed were very supportive and the afternoon session was well attended. I have a degree, this week I've done over 6 hours of courses,after 10 hour working days, that go towards a recognised qualification to support children going through adverse experiences. But our professionalism is continually ignored with the media portraying babysitters with no qualifications or training as childminders.