where do i begin to become a childminder?

[nailpolish]

hi

over the weekend i have decided that this may be a good idea for me. i am moving house in june and to a brand new house, but its my old home town so i know it pretty well. instead a looking for a new job, in nursing which i HATE, i have decided to look into childminding. i have 2 dd's, age 4 mths and 2.4yrs and i would love to be at home with them all week. i dont think i would take lots of children, maybe 1 to start with (my brother and sister in law would like me to look after their 1.9yr old son, they are teachers) but i want to go about it properly since they will pay me

any advice where to start? i live in scotland

TIA

Hi nailpolish try here hope this helps....

Scottish rules are different

but could contact NCMA

Local council/ofsted office and ask about courses and inspections.

hi

thanks for the link!

so what are the advantages and the disadvantages?

i can see the advantages with me getting to stay at home with dd's, but through my rose tinted specs i cant see any bad points! are there any?

and how do you go about with your tax? and how do parents pay you? (i currently use a childminder myself 2 days a wk and i pay her cash, but is this the norm?

Advantage
Stay home with your children.
Get paid for doing so.
Get to meet other parents.
Children get to socialise more.
Time passes very quickly when you have a structured day.
You can doyour house work while they sleep.

Dissadvantage
Being used as a 'drop off' unless you have a signed agreement/contract
Not being able to say 'No sorry not today I'm ill',
Changing other peoples babies nappies.
Potty training other people children when parents say so, {even if they are not ready.}
Feeding them only things their parents want you to feed them.
Your children have to share toys, even if you have special toys for minded children. (your own won't always want to play with these they may well want to play with their own}
Having to go to school twice a day and pick up more than one child out of other classrooms.
etc etc etc...

Even if it is family

consider things like

food

disappline

I get paid by direct debit

And do a contract

thanks mn

i can see what you mean. im going to start off with my nephew, 8 til 430 mon to fri, and hopefully i may get confident enough to take other children.

one more thing, do you charge for looking after children who are at school, during the school hours, if you are the one the school would call if any probs?

RT, i am definitely going to get contracts, and DD

i want to do it properly, as you say even though i t is family

When I did childminding I was only paid for the hours I actually looked after them, if I was called to the school because of illness I would expect the parent to come and collect, you cannot look after a ill child. You are the first call because you are the nearest, {usually}. If they had a day off with the parents they still paid me, if I had a day off they did not pay me. need to sit down and come up with a contract you are happy with and the parents agree to, they should have a copy to take away with them. As far as being paid I was paid cash, if you check with your local employemnt office they will tell you all about it, how much you can earn before being taxed etc. You do need to keep records/accounts.