Thinking of becoming a childminder from September 09 where do i start??

[nicolamumof3]

I have three children of my own aged (now) 9.5yrs, 3yrs and 18m and being made redundant from my p/t office job but have thought about childminding for some time. where do i start looking into this? we live in a popular communter area 2mins walk from a mainline station so am hoping that my 'services' would be popular i have always been interested in education and childcare and am thinking of either this or training to be a classroom assistant as my youngest starts nursery in september i will have a few precious hours. any pointers?

Thanks

You need to contact your local council, its them who will tell you about where to start in your area, I have just registered in my area and recognise you from the pushchairs board you can email me or msn if you want to chat hun annamarierichardson at yahoo dot co dot uk

thank you! yes im just wondering whats involved with registering whether you have to train what you have to do to your house to comply with all the health and safety regs that there will be etc! and at the end of the day whether its worth it. thanks alot x

it took me around 12 months to get comletely registered, mine was paid for by a grant from my local auth, you have to attend training and a first aid course before you can begin to register. You would only be allowed to mind 1 pre schooler (cos you have 2 yourself) and 1 other 5-8

hth

There is a lot you need to do/have in your home, which is hard if you like your home to look like a house and not a nursery! You will have to attend an ICP course, which is only about 2 hours a week for 8 weeks I think?

You also need to have an ofsted inspection on a regular basis, starting with one before you register. These are ok but a bit strange having somebody nose round your house and critise some hard work you put it. Mine was very fussy/strict but I hear most are very laid back for the inital inspection.

that does thanks SMM, i would only want to look after one anyway with the other two and school/nursery runs that would be quite enough i was thinking if i started now would have plenty of time to start in September so best pull my finger out have emailed local auth to find out about courses so hopefully can find one to go on soon.

Just to warn you, not everybody gets the grant to help you get started, I didn't get a penny, yet I know people that got hundreds! It depends on your local council. If you phone your local children's information service, they will be able to tell you this and also send you out an information pack and application to go on a pre-registration breifing, which is just an information session that tells you a bit about what you would need to do. If you go on this course, there is no commitment to go on and register

thank you i will do that later then!

anyone else have any tips and pointers? was ill this afternoon so didn't get to ring council to ask..