Childminder -v- Nursery (advice needed asap!)

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Hi

We put our lo's name down at a local nursery in June 2007...before she was born! We had researched all nurseries and decided this was where we wanted her to go. Imagine our horror when last week we were told she had a place and then yesterday we get a letter saying they didn't have spaces after all!! They can shove us in their sister nursery down the road but we're not sure if that is what we want so I have started to look into childminders.

Basically would appreciate people's thoughts, views and experience on advantages and disadvantages of Childminders v Nursery.

Initially I was keen for her to go to nursery, wanted her to be with peers, receive broad and balanced curriculum and activities, variety of carers etc, rather than be with one carer and children of different ages. Anyway would really appreciate some advice asap as need to make a decision by end of week!

Thanks

There are pros and cons for both, imo.

With a childminder, the child is in a 'home' environment with the same carer all the time (rather than changing key workers when they change rooms). There are typically more opportunities for the child to go out on outings and to external activities, and the childminder may be able to do the things that you would have liked to (for instance, with my lo, I wanted her to go to Jo Jingles, and my cm made it happen).

I think that the child being in a mixed age environment is a good thing in the main (it was for us as dd is an only child, so there was a kind of sibling thing going on) but we also mixed it up with going to nursery school so that she got to know her peers prior to school.

On the downside for cms, if she/he is sick, you have no care, whereas at a nursery, others will cover. You also have to take your holidays at the same time as your cm unless you can take more leave to cover her holiday time. That's a pain when your cm has school aged kids and you don't because you can't go at the less expensive times. Also, I had a situation where I was facing a £500 bill for August in return for no care because my cm moved her holiday after I'd booked mine around her original plans.

Finally, I found it hard to extricate myself out of my arrangement with my cm because she had become such a big part of our lives and a friend to me. It became a bit personal and that was hard.

We have gone for nursery over childminder mainly due to the sickness/holiday issues - we have no family nearby who can help out. I'm also happier that DS is with a group of children around his own age who he will be staying with probably into his school years.

Hi I am a registered childminder so I can basically tell you the sort of things we do, if that helps.

I am also a newtork registered childminder, I attend local playgroups, soft play, do a variety of days out - Chessington, Thorpe Park, Woodlands for trails and walks etc, picnics in summertime, parks to name a few. We also do cooking, colouring, drawing, painting, songs, role play again to name a few. The list is quite long

The best advice I can give you is to see a few childminders, but make sure they are all registered with Ofsted - you can get a list of those from the the Surrey website. Always ask to see there certificate, first aid certificate and insurance. Ask lots of questions we don't mind. We also do a lot training in the evnings and weekends to keep abreast with the all the regulations, rules and things required

We also have to follow guidence from Early Years the same a nurserys do.

Hope this brief reply is of help to you.

Regards
Maureen

Thanks Kiddsters, oddly I am in Surrey and work for LEA!! So have looked at website but almost wanted a lay persons opinion and not rely on my work related thinking if you see what I mean?

Waiting for a Childminder to contact me but am on a tight time schedule to get it sorted now that nursery have let us down.

I work term time only so holidays might not cause us any problems depending on CM.

Just really confused now about what is best to do, makes going back to work an even harder decision!!

I am a registered cm, but before that I become one and worked in an office, dd went to nursery.

We were very happy with nursery and tbh, we never even considered a cm at the time.

What I would say, from my experience, is that if I was going to do things again, I would have put dd with a childminder. I personally think that it is good for babies and younger children to be in a home environment. When dd was in nursery, it kind of felt like school to a degree being with 'teachers' and doing more structured learning. I think younger children do well with free play and lots of outings.

DD now goes to preschool where she gets to learn and will be starting school in September where she will be learning every single week day.

That's just my opinion! As I say, nursery did her no harm and we were happy with it, but had I looked into things better then I think I would have settled on a cm instead.

An advantage of a nursery is that if a member of staff is ill, they can often get a temp in to cover. A disadvantage is that some nurseries do not take children out at all... so they are stuck in the confines of the nursery and nursery garden.

Think you need to have a look around at what is available. A local nursery putting you down on their waiting list, saying you have a place, then retracting that and saying you can have a place at another nursery in their group, I don't feel is a good sign. They knew you were wanting a place and offered it. Then withdrew.
Just because one nursery in the group is good, does not mean another is good. In my experience temping for nurseries, it is the manager of a particular nursery which can make a huge difference. Visit the other nursery though, to see if you like it or not. Visit some local childminders. Then you will have more insight to be able to compare the different settings.

Nurseries can be good for children aged 3 to school age. I feel for under 3's they may not be as good, as under 3's like more individual attention and may not get on with other children of a similar age.
A childminder is often limited to caring for only one under 1, whereas a nursery could be caring for 6, 9, 12 under 1's.
When visiting a nursery, visit at Feeding Time... you will then find out if they cope with feeding many little ones at the same time.