Thinking of childminding - benefits?

[isheisnthe]

Am struggling with holiday care for my ds1 and have hit upon the idea that I either leave my job and go the benefits route or perhaps do all the relevant courses and set up as a childminder! (I know I am being flippant - dont shout!)

How much do childminders in the SE (guildford area) earn? and is there already an over subscription in this area? I really loved the childminder that I had for ds1 and 2 wen he was little, and I used to give her around £600 month (Much more expensive that nursery) and think its something that I would enjoy doing. I am just in such a dilema, as I either up my hours and never see the boys as put THEM to a childminder or I career change and hopefully get the best of both worlds. I am a single parent, is this a good career choice?

I think its a v good idea IF the need is there but some people think 'im a mum i dont mind children ill have a go' working with children isnt easy-im a nursery nurse i went to college full time for 2 years to earn my NNEB its not something you can pick up in a weekend or from reading a book.

Ofsted are making childminding much more tricky as far as i can gather you are supposed to become early years learning facilitators that doesnt mean saying to them oh we sing 1 2 buckle my shoe before lunch it means providing written evidence and reports to outline how you are stimulating children even babies.

childminding is definitely not a job anyone can do.

I hope it all works out for you and you can follow this through but think carefully.

I have thought about it very carefully, as I know that my own youngest son provided some "challenging" behaviour for my CM (I was called out of work on a few occasions as he would ot stop crying and temper tantruming - at 8 months!) and I know she did the right thing - but I also know that its not the easiest job, as some parents would not have been impressed to be called out of work.

I am just trying to think of the best solution for whats proving to be hard going, I dont want the boys in FT care, I want to do that and this seemed like a solution

When my boys where little i decided to give up my job -nursery nurse in school- and childmind from home. It made perfect sence, i was a lone parent at the time and it ment i could be at home during the holidays and earn a living as well. Just make sure you have a good set up of friends, other childminders etc as you can end up being on your own quite a lot and miss the company of other adults. It worked for me give it a go

I'm in the Guildford area - well, I'm further West than that, more Woking area, but still general ish location.
Childminders in West Surrey can expect childcare fees to be in the £4-£5 per hour region. Earnings are another matter though, as childminders have expenses.

How old are your children?

If you laid out 1m squares of newspaper in your living-room... how many squares do you think would fit (around the furniture)? - Do you have a separate play-room? I'm trying to get an impression of how large your home is.

Guildford centre itself has a fair number of childminders. Based on GU1 4AA (north street) postcode, within 5 miles there are 172 childminders, or which within 2 miles there are 67 registered childminders. Hard to know if that is a lot, or not. The population of Guildford is quite high - but how many parents use a childminder, how many a nursery, how many have nannies etc. The data just isn't available... so it is hard to know, but you certainly will have competition, so you need to look at the competition to see what they provide, how much they charge, that sort of thing.

£4-5 an hour??? I need to move lol

Is that per child nannynick?

Yes, per child.