is there a bad side to childminding

[jaynel]

i have been thinking about childminding, and have been looking at websites, which all say how good it is but are there any bad sides, also i have 2 dogs would this stop me in any way from ofsted allowing me to do it??

First of all, Ofstead won't stop you CMing with dogs.

Now, the downsides!

1. Lots and lots of paperwork
2. You home becomes a place of business and you have to have posters up all over the place (including no smoking signs and health & safety posters)
3. Parents aren't always great at being on time or paying on time.
4. Hundreds of rules & regs about what you can and can't do with your mindees, once you get them.

HOWEVER

If you are prepared for all that & you are sure you can cope with other peoples children, then it is the most rewarding job ever. I loved the sound of the children in my house and loved being a big part in guiding under 5's on their way in life.

thank you, what kind of paper work as im not that bright?
I am currently working part time, weekends and i miss my family time, i want another baby, i love being at home with my children and love kids, the money doesnt sound that great though

Well, I'm not a CM anymore, so I'm not sure how much paperwork is involved with the new EYFS programme. The girls in the Staff Room, will be able to tell you that. But, I do remember, there's a daily register, daily diary, weekly planning notes, menu plans, accounts, tax returns, permission notes, news letters. It does sound daunting, but it really is very rewarding, when its all running smoothly!

Financially, its difficult to say how much you'd earn. It depends on how many children you can look after and how much you charge. That's entirely up to you. Do remember though, that if you charge someone £40 a day, you may well only get half of that, after you've taken your tax stuff off!

Ditto thoughts MaureenMLove!!

Paperwork is a biggie - seemingly endless. And trying to keep on top of changing regulation etc. that relates to one's policies (I have 44). EYFS has scared some childminders off, there is a lot to get one's head around, but it becomes easier as you get more used to it.

You have to be strict re time keeping and paying on time with some parents (but then this is whatever business you have). As it is a service in the home though, sometimes that line btwn being professional/personal is blurred and one can be taken advantage of.

I also do not think there much protection for minders when they do not get paid for their services... the parents seem to have more security legally. I haven't had this happen to me but know others who have/are going through it.

Your home becomes a nursery ;)

I would not change it for the world though - I LOVE childminding The positives far outweigh the negatives in my opinion. Have a look at my site if you'd like:
www.freewebs.com/jenniflowers

You can claim for LOADS though... I would advise putting 20% away for tax, but it's more likely you'll only pay about 10% of that annually. You can claim a percentage of your elec/water/rent/council tax etc. etc.

It depends what area you are in and how many kids you look after as to how well you are paid.

Another thing that needs mentioning is that if you live in a small community EVERYONE will know the ins and outs of your familly life and you will be scrutinised everywhere you go!
So you have to be a very calm type of person and you must not lose your temper even when off duty
Won't be able to get off your face at weekends, because childminding is a very responsible job.
At least with EYFS it means that childminders do get more respect as NO-ONE is going to do all the work it entails just for a bit of extra money.

thank you all, i am put off a bit by the paperwork and tax but i am still thinking!

jennipenni, thank you so much for letting me see yr website, it is fantastic and i enjoyed it, Thank you again xx

Another downside can be very long hours. Because children must be dropped off before their parents go to work and collected after they have finished, 10 or 11 hour days are not uncommon especially if you have children from different families. You will also have to tidy up once the last child has gone and you will have to keep all of the toys and equipment you use clean, adding to the number of hours you are working. Book keeping and tax returns will also need to be done outside of minding hours

On the plus side, you won't have far to go to work. You can also make very good friends with some of the parents and the children you look after. I am still visited by some of the children I first looked after some 20 years ago and have recently seen some of them go off to university, which makes me very proud to have been able to help them in their early years.

Thank you sadpat, would you say that you think i should go for it or not, i am very interested in doing it but some things do put me off, eg the paperwork!!

Pleasure Jaynel, thanks for the compliment

Re paperwork, organisation is KEY. Once you get into a routine, it's OK, you just have to keep on top of it.

Sorry, jaynel, but the way things are with childminding at the moment and knowing what I know now, I would not like to start being a CM now. In my experience, whenever Ofsted find something to criticise you on they will expect you to remedy it by introducing yet more paperwork. Ofsted can't possibly discover just what sort of a CM you really are in the 2-4 hours they have with you so they rely on your paperwork to act as an audit trail for them. Anyone who has paperwork covering absolutely everything is more likely to be graded as outstanding, but somebody who works just as well with the children but has less paperwork will only get good or satisfactory.

In the last 21 years of minding, my methods of childcare have not deteriorated, but because I did not have 2 pieces of paper that the inspector expected to see and 1 piece of paper was not in the format they required, I was downgraded. Even though I have now done everything they asked for, that grading will stay with me until my next inspection, which will probably not be until sometime in 2011.

After the inspection, all of the parents I am currently minding for told me that they don't care what grading I got because they employ me for how I look after their children and not for how much paper I can generate. Many of them have had dealings with Ofsted before and know how unfair they can be because 3 of them are teachers and 1 is a careers officer. However, prospective parents, unless they come to me on recommendation, may not be as understanding.

I should point out that it isn't just the paperwork aspect that upsets me. I dislike the statutory nature of the EYFS and believe it to be fundamentally flawed as it tries to introduce formal learning at an age which is far too early. I know the government say that it is learning through play, but how are children expected to learn punctuation etc through play? So, at the moment, I intend to continue CMing, but only because I am attempting, with the full backing of the parents, to gain exemption from the statutory nature of the EYFS. I know it won't be easy, but I am not prepared to give in to this experiment with our children. Remember when SATs were introduced as a simple test to see how children were progressing? Now SATs are used to grade children, teachers, head teachers and schools. At least the tide seems to be turning for SATs as people realise that the stress they cause is counter productive.

I am sorry to have gone on at such length, but your question has hit a raw nerve and it is something I feel very strongly about. I wish you well in whatever you decide to do.

There are many good points and many bad ones, like with all careers I suppose, but if you start as a CM now, and go on all the relevant training, you will learn as you go along and you will probably find it easier to gte to grips with EYFS than people who have minded a long time.

I think it helps to get to know other cms, join a group or become a Network minder, go to all the baby and toddler groups, play sessions, and organise your own, events, outings etc, all of this will strengthen your bonds and support with other cms which is invaluable, and will help you love the job more. PLus it strengthens your contacts, business wise, if people in your area see you abou, get to know your face etc.

You are always on show, so if you are with your own kids, be aware than people will know you are a cm and gossip about you if they see you get mad with your own dc !

Paperwork I find manageable if I do it twice a week, planning I do every sunday for the week ahead, obs, assessments I don once a month for ea ch child, and books I fill in weekly, then monthly.

But the training is a lot - it is relentless and ongoing - but sayingt that I have gained alot from most of the courses I have gone on, and am probably a better cm beacuse of them.

In conclusion, as long as you go in with your eyes wide open, and genuinely love being with kids, then go for it. I would never want to do anything else !!

Thank you all x

I also love 'childminding' and that is why I want to continue, but as I and all parents and CMs I have come into contact with recently agree that there is a fine line between being a childminder and taking over their role as a parent. Going on courses does not always make anyone a better childminder, all it does is give you a certificate to say you have attended the course on that day. At the end of the day, they are someone else's children and being a childminder should be a partnership between CM and parents with no outside interference.

This isn't just the view of a 'dinosaur' CM. I know quite a few CMs who think the same way and some of them have been minding for 5 years or less.

I love childminding but it certainly does have its down side. Apart from struggling with the paperwork, it does seem to put a fair amount of pressure on family life. My older son has to make sure that if he brings any of his toys/junk modelling downstairs, every last bit must be cleared away every day. This may sound easy but I constantly have to check the downstairs after my husband and two children have gone to bed as I know they don't look as thoroughly as I do! If you can keep good order with stuff like that then you'll be fine. Its a great job which can be as flexible as you want it to be - you're the boss! If you only want to work 25 hrs per week then so be it, you'll always find families that will want what you can offer.

Hello Sadpat
as a parent I agree with you about the EYFS. I was surprised when I discovered childminders also had to observe this prescriptive approach to 'play'. ....sigh. It's great that you are seeking exemption. I suspect many feel the same- the OPEN EYE campaign lobbied earlier this year openeyecampaign.wordpress.com/
I intend to seek exemption.

Ofsted will love the fact you have dogs. I can't have dogs or cats due to asthma with my husband and children. Instead, I thought I would foster two lambs to help a local farmer so the mindees could experience bottle feeding and learning about how to care for animals. I also had a tank of frogspawn/tadpoles which created lots of interest. Ofsted's response was that they felt it was a shame I didn't have a cat!? You just can't win. Any cats I know just go and lie on a bed to escape children, I can't see how they could get as much from a cat but maybe I'm being stupid? I think the trick is to take ofsted with a bucket of salt and you'll be fine!

I second the downsides are long hours and lots of paperwork, and also courses that are run late into the eveing (till ten pm in my area), or at the weekend, which can be tiring. But it is a good way to earn while you have little ones at home, and it is great to be your own boss (although you dont have the freedom to do as you please as much as this might imply!)
Triggerfish, I think your lamb adopting idea is BRILLIANT!!! How can ofsted be anything other than impressed at that idea!?! they are ridiculous sometimes! How did you go about it, I would LOVE to do it with mindees!!

ultraviolet: Thanks for your support. Incidentally, I will be attending a seminar next Saturday in London organised by the Open EYE group. The LibDems and the Green party are sending their education spokespeople and Beverley Hughes for Labour and Maria Miller for the Conservatives have also been invited, but have not yet confirmed. We'll see on Saturday whether they turn up or not. Somehow I don't think we'll be seeing Beverley Hughes although she will be attending the NCMA conference in Southport in November.

you have to apply for a holding number from ?defra, which isn't at all complicated. Then ask any local sheep farmers if they need any volunteers to bottle feed orphaned lambs - they are usually plenty! They just needed 4 feeds a day which the kids adored. We, as a family, really enjoyed them, especially as we can't really have the standard pets that most other families enjoy. We had them for 12 weeks and then took them back to the farm where they went out in the field with the rest of the flock. We were honest with our kids as to where they would end up! This has not stopped them eating lamb, or any other meat.

OMG, did you have them in your garden? That is fantastic, I dont think mine is big enough though! I think that is brilliant, triggerfish, how could ofsted not be totally impressed, sometimes the yare so !!!!!

really sorry for hijack ofyour thread jaynel, so are you going for it, do you think?