CHILDMINDERS - talk to me for a moment, if you please!

[MaureenMLove]

From Monday, I will be doing an experiment! Everytime you post and eveytime you have 'down' time in the Staff room, I want you to note how long you've been there (and how much time you have deglected your duties as a cm! )

I won't be on all day, contrary to popular belief, but I know now that my mindee will be asleep between 9.30 and 10.30 and again between 2 - 3.30! This means that I am allowed to be in there for at 2 1/2 hours!

Family style eating I really like the sound of. Even better to have that as multi-age group, so there are a variety of ages at each table. Also siblings could sit together.
Perhaps there could be some rotation of children as well - so they all get to know each other. For example, each child could have their own placemat, which is put somewhere different each time. Tip: Placemat can be handy for including details of foods a child is not permitted to have / allergies. Placemat could be a laminated A3 or A4 sheet (depending on size of plates used).

I've been in small nurseries where everyone sat around a big table - one adult at each end, children on both sides. Cold food, on plates in middle. Hot food at side of room, with ladles. Children line up to get their hot food in small groups (so 3 or 4 children at a time) - the older children could help themselves (younger children assisted) - when they return to the table, more children are sent to get their hot food. Once all children had got their food, staff going on their own lunch break could go... leaving others with the children, sat at the table (if they were the designated ones), or on a separate staff table. I think this was how it worked - been a few years since I temped at the nursery.

Thanks for the ideas NannyNick. I'm hoping that with the new shared age area, they will see the sense in having mixed age tables for meals too. It helps on a purely practical level with staff going off on lunches because the ratios are easier to sort out (I hope). (love the idea of siblings sitting together too )

Really like the idea of the placemats too - particlarly as we seem to have quite a lot of agency staff at the moment, so as you say, it would really help re. allergies/vegetarian etc.

Siblings need not be next to each other... just on the same table. In fact siblings next to each other may cause the same sort of issues you get at home... poking each other etc.

Allergy info should be as clear as possible at all times, so placemats certainly help. Also it helps agency staff to know children's name - as the placemat has picture of child on (in middle) plus their name printed on. Educationally wise, they teach Children to recognise their name and also to know where knife, fork, spoon go. Picture the placemat if you can, as having shapes for where each item is put - hope that makes sense.

Hey, maybe stick a 3 piece suite in, a PC in the corner to use for IT, the usual junk you get in your living room -toys, fireguard, video/dvd with lock, socket covers everywhere and stairgates on doors - and bingo you are childminder-like!

Thats what my house looks like from Mon - fri - something resembling a nursery. At weekends its a 'normal' family room.

I have to laugh about OFSTED too, maybe they could learn from you Littlefish, its time they did anyway my house is not a nursery (yet).

Nannynick , you have the most wonderful ideas, I am going to get them to write over their name if they are old enough, maybe get them to draw where their spoon etc should go and put allergy list on before laminating it for them.

I do have the bakerross handprint placemats but I think this would be better for us to identfy which child is/not allowed to have which foods at a glance. You can't always look at contracts when preparing meals can you?

Great, activity planned for tuesday! Making placemats before lunch! Dunno in mindee will enjoy it, he's not really into writing and he is 4 and in reception class. Will let you know how it goes....

wow nick i am loving that placemat idea - that is sooooooo cool - we could do that at c/m group as they have a laminater !!!

Thanks Littlefish

They are all ideas I have already agreed to (apart from the mixing ages - as I do that already - the room will be 2-5)

How would you feel about the children sitting at normal sized tables - I wonder at the artificialness of small tables

We do place mats with the Brownies when we go to camp. They do there own on an A4 peice of paper and then we laminate them. We usually have a circle drawn in the middle and a knife and fork on either side, so we have some form of uniform about them, but other than that, they just get creative! Hadn't thought of the allergy etc thing though. That could be easily added on the back, by the Guider once the front has been coloured.

Oh, I have a minded child with me by the way. She's sitting in the highchair colouring, whilst I flit between clearing up breakfast things and getting ready for library time and a quick nose on here! Hope this meets with everyones approval!

just logging in to let you all know i HAVE A DAY OFF so may possibly be surfing the net all day......just in case anyones checking!

me too smee actually two of my kids have sick bug. I chose to be a cm to not have to answer to anyone ha irony. nanny nick you live very near me wonder if i have seen you about smee hows your boy now x

I could be on here all day every day this week as I am on half term, in fact as I work term time only I could be on here 14 weeks of the year non stop!

Mindees been and gone today, off to college in an hour or so

candifloss, my ds is just fine and dandy!
plods along without a care in the world other than how big he can stretch his ear lobe...ewwwwwww!

i ment your teen

so did i candifloss! i only have teens!

cool you were having hassle with his school last time i spoke to you hope thats all sorted now x