Childminder with just one 'customer' alongside own children?

[PensionPuzzle]

Looking for advice/realism about an idea that has occured to me today. I am a qualified teacher who has been made redundant, with a second child due imminently. Previously I have thought about going back to work in a support staff role, we are fortunate that we don't need me to be on a full time teacher salary any more so there is some flex in what I do going forward but I do want to do work of some sort. I enjoy working in education but my experience is with older kids although I do have some SEN experience and some fairly unusual experience and qualifications relating to outdoor learning and suchlike.

I have taken DD1 out of nursery for the time being and the teacher in me is enjoying getting stuck into learning about EYFS and looking for some loose structure in our days. Then it occurred to me- if I set up as a childminder could I have one child to look after alongside my own? I haven't looked at the figures as suspect might not be viable with insurance and DBS costs etc but I don't want to hit the spreadsheet if it's a non-starter anyway.

The eldest will be going to preschool 15 hours a week (2.5 short days) from Sept on funded hours but I would like to keep the younger one at home rather than using childcare until she too gets her funded hours. Would it be unworkable to have one mindee alongside my own two? I think I would offer term time only plus teacher days to attract a teacher's child as we would like to have family time to ourselves during the preschool holidays (and maybe offer the odd extra day here and there by arrangement). As my own children get bigger this could evolve into a different pattern but I just wondered if it was a ridiculous idea to look into this further? Would it be really weird and off-putting for your child to be the only actual mindee in a setting?

I started childminding When I had one dc of my own, doing very part time hours with two extra dc, then when I had my own second dc, I only had one extra and it stayed like that for a few years as then I had dc3. As dc 2 went to school I took on the sibling of mindee number 1. Now that my dc are secondary age, I have built up and have 3 or 4 each day.

It’s years since I started out, so not sure on start up costs, but annually I pay £35 to ofsted, insurance is £120, safeguarding and first aid, in total about £150 every 2-3 years. Cost of other cpd- I budget about £10-20 a month for this. Food/snacks, groups, activities, petrol are all regular outgoings, but these are as high/low as you want them to be and depends how imaginative you can be.

Equipment can be costly when you start out, double buggy, extra cost/high chairs etc, but you can get them second hand and once you have them, if you look after them, they will last.

Obviously it won’t be anywhere near a teacher wage, but if you just need to bring in a little bit extra and are prepared for the amount of work lo9king after little ones actually is, I think it’s workable.

I've been a childminder op.

Do you have any idea what it involves? Quite honestly one child would not make it even close to worth your while financially.

It's not just dbs and insurance, you're required to have health & safety, 1st aid, safeguarding, food and hygiene and other various registrations and certification

You also are required to have your home laid out a certain way and provide certain toys, books and equipment.

Then there are various other overheads inc but not ltd to wear and tear on your home, transport, food etc

It's honestly not worth doing if you're only going to have one charge.

Very few parents want term time only too!

Maybe you could do respite care for SEN ? But they may need one to one care.

If you have 2 children of your own you could only take on one child as the limit is 3 under fives, unless that has changed recently. Only one of those 3 can be under 12 months. I was a childminder for 25 years.When I started out I looked after one child who came to me only in term time. I had a child aged 4 of my own and I liked that I was free to be with just DD in the school holidays. I then increased the number of children I cared for but there were usually some teacher's children in the mix which meant the school holidays were a bit quieter and it made going on outings easier.

Thanks for all the input so far- my next step is to look at the sums if it wasn't going to be laughable to offer a single place initially so I think it may well pan out as you say @Graphista and be a financial no go. But if it then becomes more viable as my own move up to school age then perhaps it would be worth exploring further.

There is a real scarcity of term time only places round here though from my own experience trying to find one so I'm less worried about that, colleagues were in the same boat paying for all year round places they weren't using fully.

Lots to think about!

I think you are misunderstanding the market/profession

Childminders are unlikely to take on term time only children not due to lack of places/availability but because it's financially not worth their while to do so

One of the things you are presuming is that you will have one child for 5 days a week.

Lots of parents send their child to childcare including CMs part-time due to the cost.

Even the teachers I know have a wide variety of family circumstances so they don't/didn't all need and want 5 days a week term time only childcare.

So you could be looking after 2 different children or just have one 4 days a week.

You may also find that on Mondays, as that's when there are the most bank holidays, you may not have any other children.

Despite breakfast clubs and after school clubs there remains a huge demand for wraparound care and holiday care. You decide how many days,hours and amount of children to have.
Perhaps this could work for you?

If you don't mind doing school runs, and are walking distance, my childminder makes a good living with 2-3 littlies and then 2-3 other older school children (5-11) after school which works well.

The older ones can be lovely with the littlies, but also are easy to entertain. You feed them at table when they get home, sit them at table to do homework (they do it - if need lots of help , then save for parents) or read, play on a game , watch some TV and check how their day went. If each child has 2 1/2 -3 hours after school that's £17-21 per child (an extra £41-63/ day) (so run it as an "after school collection til 6pm")

Tea snacks we had were spaghetti on toast, jam on toast , apples, oranges, 2 biscuits, pasta with cheese etc jacket potato and baked beans.

The logistics to and from school is a faff but you may enjoy the experience - lots of fresh air walks !

We used an exceptionally good childminder who had left teaching to set up. She had two daughters, but her mum was a helper, which meant she could have more children. She also did wraparound. If you don’t need to make much money, and just setting up with the eye on the future then go for it. But you will make very little with what your suggesting. I would look at wrap around to your local primary. Plenty of parents are looking for this service.

My twins are in term time only as we can't afford 50 weeks of the year. This month our bill was £1500 which is more than my husband earns a month so I do think it's financially worth thinking about? I think if more parents knew about term time only options they would want them it's just that most childminders I spoke to would only "allow" it if you could prove you were a teacher! (I'm not a teacher) also I was only allowed it because my twins are 5 days per week. If you have an older child already at school who has all school holidays off anyway (like I do) it makes sense that younger children are also on term time only care as ive got to take the holidays off anyway for the eldest?

My eldest has a before and after school childminder - that costs £400 a month - she has around 5 children which is also a nice littler earner for only working 4 hours per day (7.30-830am and then 330-530pm)

As a parent, the thing that would put me off is that it's pretty clear that you want to be at home with your own child and are doing childminding just as a way of funding that. Now obviously almost everyone works for the money but I would worry that your priority would always be your own children over mine and that you might judge me as a working parent. But this may just be me!

If you don't want a career in childcare but just some extra cash to get you through a few years, I would definitely think about after school childminding or after school nannying as lots of demand for that around here. I would also look at babysitting - as a qualified teacher, you could charge £10-12/hour here, evenings when your DC are in bed, it's easy money if your DH can look after your kids

My ds went to a childminder with just the childminders granddaughter so not dissimilar. We only send term time (teacher) but pay 50% in holiday as retainer. I’d happily send my child to you, and if any of my teacher friends locally had set up would have jumped at the chance! If you don’t need to work any extra income would make it financially viable and enjoyable for your child I imagine! You can then decide if you want to expand and continue when your youngest goes to school or not…

When DD1 was little she was the sole charge of the childminder while childminders own kids were at school and childminder also had other kids before and after school. So she enjoyed some individual attention plus a whole gang of them being there before and after school. From a parent's perspective I think this worked really well.

@MattyGroves

As a parent, the thing that would put me off is that it's pretty clear that you want to be at home with your own child and are doing childminding just as a way of funding that. Now obviously almost everyone works for the money but I would worry that your priority would always be your own children over mine and that you might judge me as a working parent. But this may just be me!

If you don't want a career in childcare but just some extra cash to get you through a few years, I would definitely think about after school childminding or after school nannying as lots of demand for that around here. I would also look at babysitting - as a qualified teacher, you could charge £10-12/hour here, evenings when your DC are in bed, it's easy money if your DH can look after your kids

This. I sent DC twice to childminders who had their own small kids at home - never again something I would consider. Both times it was very clear they had little interest in other children, just used childminding as a way to stay home with their own. Have made some excellent experiences with other childminders with much older children (teenagers) and Dc enjoyed her time there.

Brilliant, love all the extra insights! Interesting that for some having the family children at home would be off-putting, I can see both sides on that one. I suppose that might be a barrier to picking up a client but if you can get over that hurdle and ensure its a non-issue by being professional about it that would resolve that one.

I like the idea of doing wraparound once mine are at school too. I suppose the model would be to offer other the service that mirrors what's going on in my own household at the time, because of understanding what they need on the basis that it's what I would have needed myself?

I'm firm that round here TTO (with a little bit of ad-hoc flex for an established relationship is what I'm thinking) is the way forward though, so many of my colleagues paying for 51 week care that they only need for 39, or paying for 7.30am-6pm when they would pick up at 4.30. If I went back to the same job I'd have one child at the village preschool on funded hours but with full wraparound needed, and one on 51 week 8-6 at nursery, due to their ages and what's available (or not) locally. Logistically and financially not great but of course what many people have no choice but to do and what I may yet have to do myself.

More research required on my part now but I really do appreciate all the insights here, all adds to the thought process.

Yes, the childminder's children were 7, 10 and 14 at the time so they made a lot of fuss of DD1 and she loved being given so much attention by older children. They were also very used to having other children there, all their lives.

It’s a lot of extra work to have another preschooler to care for and you’re going to make a tiny amount of money from it. Your children will get less of your attention and they won’t like that. I think you’ll decide it’s not worth it.

It’s definitely possible to get term time only children. Out of the 6 dc I childmind for, 3 of them are TTO, one Is on funding (which is tto) and the other two have parents in education. I don’t charge a retainer for the holidays, I quite like to be quieter when my own (teenage) dc are here. But I’m happy to do extra days if the parents ask, which they generally do, especially in the summer.

Ime it won't really work. You won't make much profit, unless you charge A LOT, people don't really want a childminder that only does term time. I have 4 weeks holiday a year and I think sometimes people think that's too much.

My mum is also a childminder and she's only had 3 kids that were term time only in the last 28 years. I've never had one and I've been doing this job for 8 years now.

I would have thought that many teachers/other TTO employees would still want more than just term time childcare. Partly because I had understood from the various teachers on here that some work still happens in school holidays - lesson planning etc - but also to have a bit of down time without either work or young children. We don't spend every day of our annual leave with our kids - we keep a few days for ourselves.

I know you said you would be up for some ad hoc flex but I suspect many parents would want a bit more than that

Hi OP,

Some thoughts I’ve had reading this thread:
•childminder ratios are somewhat flexible. If your eldest is attending full time preschool (term time only) then they class into ratios as an over 5, meaning you could actually have 2 minded children not 1.
•IME parents are much less likely to be put off by you having your own child if there is another minded child there too. It makes their child less of the ‘outcast’ if you see what I mean? So having 2 minded children rather than 1 would make your setting more desirable, IMO.
•I think it’s silly to suggest anyone who childminds with young children is only doing so to be able to to stay at home with their own child, and even more so to suggest that is a problem. Isn’t everyone doing their job for some sort of gain? Is it even relevant if that is the case? I was a childminder for 3 years before coming a parent so it certainly wasn’t a factor for me, but of course it’s a bonus of the job. Surely you would like a childcare provider who wants to be around their own children?
•I agree with previous posters that you probably would barely break even having only one child. Being a childminder has quite a few overheads. PACEY can help somewhat with expected costs but I found even that to massively underestimate my actual expenditure. However you do say that you don’t need the money- in which case childminding could be an excellent way to justify the cost of extra opportunities for your own child. For example I have just started working an extra day for a family who needed it. The extra day enables me to take my own daughter and her son to an expensive forestry class which I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.
•A final thing- Working with your own child around can be wonderful, but it isn’t always to their benefit, or yours. As I’ve said, I was a childminder for 3 years before having children and for another 3 since my first was born. I now have 2 children and a 3rd on the way (I work with my partner). There are many a time where I feel like my own children are missing out and coming last because of my job. There are lots of things I resent, and they resent. It is incredibly difficult to split yourself, and for your little one to share not only their mummy but their home and their toys. If you truly don’t need to do it, I wouldn’t. I adore my job, but I know my children would be happier if I wasn’t working. Have you maybe looked into running a playgroup? This is something I’ve always loved the idea of, and it might appeal to your interest in the EYFS/ early years without being quite so intense.

Good luck!

Hi OP
I am a term time only childminder and I have a huge waiting list.
Financially for parents they love that they don't have to pay for care they don't need in the holidays as I am closed and the parents who do need the care use grandparents/holiday clubs.
I started when my ds was 1 and only had one other child, they grew up together and were a real part of the family. Dd came along 3 years later and I then stopped for a while as was offered a job managing my local preschool.
When I took redundancy from that I returned to childminding 8 years ago. Dc are now 13 and 16 and like the little ones here (I work from a cabin in the garden so they aren't actually 'in' our house) but they also LOVE that they aren't here in the holidays!! I have always set my work hours around my own children (my dd dances at 5 a couple times a week so I close at 4.30 those days to enable me to get her there).
Financially it's hard with just one little one at a time but you can make money by offering wrap around care (I earn more in the first and last hour of the day than during it).
As your dc are younger you will have a lot of resources already but just bare in mind how they will feel about having to 'share' their toys and their mum! It used to really annoy me when a mindee broke a toy which my child played so lovely with. Also on birthdays etc I used to put dc new toys in their bedrooms so they felt 'theirs' for a while before being played with by the rest of the children.
Happy for you to PM me if you want with any questions.
My main piece of advice if you do decide to go ahead would be remember you are doing it for your dc as well as others and don't take any crap off parents!!
Good Luck