Becoming a child minder - information required please!

[Sophrosyne1]

I am considering becoming a child-minder and have just spoken to my local authority who are going to send me info about the appropriate courses, etc. Just have a few questions for those who have registered recently (or those who know lots about the process):

How long does the process take?
How much does it cost to register?
What is the best/ worst thing about being a child-minder?

Thanks,

S xx

don't do it

Second Sammy

Dont do it

Give it at the very least 4 months from the point you post your application form off to the day you get registered. CRB checks can take a while & with the EYFS changes you must complete your First Aid course first before being registered. Depending on your council, they should offer loads of support, mine do.

Best advise i can give you is look at all the threads on here about childminding and especially EYFS!
If you have a local pre-school, volunteer as a helper as many times as possible to get an idea what is involved and imagine them being in your house with all the noise and the mess!
Put loads of toys in your living room and see how long it is before it gets on your nerves.
Hope you enjoy lots of paperwork and you must learn Ofsted speak, because i'm getting confused by them myself and i'm registering as a CM!
You must be prepared to have your every move scrutinised by EVERYONE, including strangers.
But most of all, do not do it just so that you can stay at home with your own child as you may find they get even less time with you!
Sorry, but you need to go in with your eyes WIDE open.
Good luck.

I'm used to the scrutiny and working with large groups of young children (I'm a qualified primary school teacher and have worked in out of school and summer kids clubs too). My main reason for looking into child-minding is that we aren't really able to afford for me to work full time (I don't want to go back into full time classroom teaching) so, on the days I'm at home, it would be good to be able to earn a little extra cash. I'm under no illusions that it will be easy or particularly lucrative.

Is there anyone who thinks it IS something worth doing?!

I've only been cm for about 3 months so still a newbie. From briefing session to registration certificate took about 6 months. During this time I did my ICP course and first aid course, wrote all policies, got house ready etc etc. In terms of cost, registration fee I think was only about £20 but then had to pay insurance, NCMA membership, pay for courses etc. I did get a grant from council for £250 but that didn't cover all of it. Best things so far is the children definatley. I like planning my own days around the childrens needs. i like getting out and about with them and meeting up with other cm. Worst things, dealing with money etc, i've never been self employed before so not too comfortable with all that yet. I second the feeling of being scutinised by everyone. At toddlers I do feel like people are looking at me and judging me because they know I'm a cm. maybe it's in my head but I knwo i used to look at cm before I did it and think omg I wouldn't do that but then I guess we do that to everyone. EYFS is time consuming and feels largely unnecessary and grates on you even more when in spills into your family time. Everything is open to interpretation and it is difficult to know if you are doing it right. Ofsted themselves vary in how they look at things so just because you are doing exactly the same as someone else doesn't mean you will get the same grading. In my opinion your own children gain in some ways but loose out in others. They get other children to play with and may be more toys if that is what you choose to do. maybe they will get to do activities that maybe if you weren't cm you might not bother with. They do loose out on your time and have to share you more that maybe they would like. i have the odd day where i wish I hadn't started cm but on the whole I think it is still the right thing for us at the moment. just want to get my ofsted inspection out the way so I can relax a bit, i hate having that hanging over me. HTH

I'm sure the OFSTED thing will be the most irritating, have been through OFSTED in a school and holiday club and it was v.stressful but I suppose the experience will come in handy.

Sounds like you are already used to the gripes with ofsted and obviously wold have experience of planning activites and as a teacher I'm sure you are used to having to do stuff in your own time. From a financial point of view I feel I would earn more working in tescos but then I would be bored stupid (no offence to anyone who does work in a supermarket) and would have to have someone else with the dcs. When my 2 year old starts school I could take on more children and therefore earn more. For the moment it works for us. One thing though is that, I'm sure you have been told this already, it impacts your dh. they have to not leave things lying around and be much more concious of safety etc, it's kind of like a whole family job with sacrifices being made all round and your home sometimes doesn't feel 100% yours anymore. For example today my dh says "I might come home early today, if i can I'm really tired" I have to say " Well i have after schoolers till 6pm so come home early by all means but don't expect any peace and quiet" "Oh I might as well stay at work then" But then we have 3 ds so he wasn't exactly going to get any peace and quiet anyway!!!

Best things for me:

The challenge and satisfaction of being self employed and realising your own vision.

Seeing the children grow and develop, and the mutual pleasure gained from your relationship with them.

Feeling valued and respected by your clients (parents).

Gaining practical experience and learning at your own speed.

The opportunity to be inventive and creative.

Worst things for me:

Long hours.

Other childminders moaning hopelessly about the EYFS.

Good luck!

its taken me about 5 months to register, but to be compleatly honest, the local council say there is lots of work, lots of people looking for childminders, but from my expearience so far, there isnt alot. it may just be my area, but there are also a lot of people on here that are struggling for work. my advice would be to contact some local childminders, speak to them, ask whether they have vacancies, how long its taken them to register etc. it is soul destroying for ofsted to come into your home, watch the way you interact with the children and tell you, you arent good enough.
however i do think its very rewarding and can have a lot of benifits to your own children.
its something that you need to go into with your eyes wide open and knowing the score. good luck with it tho, and i mean that genuanly(sp?)