organising childcare for my dd

[kiwibella]

I am changing my childcare arrangements from September. My daughter currently goes to nursery three days a week while I work but she will attend pre-school five mornings a week after the summer. I will need child-care in the afternoons and possibly for the school drop off. I need to understand whether a child-minder is my only option? I can't get her from pre-school to nursery so that isn't one and I don't have family who can help out.

depending on your finances you could use a nanny, or would an au pair suit?

I would imagine a childminder would be the best and cheapest option - do you not want to use a childminder for any reason?

Would it not be easier to keep her at the nursery? She will get the same pre-school experiences at the nursery as both settings will have to follow the EYFS. Most settings can give you the free nursery education entitlement.

easier to keep her at nursery - yes! But it's not what I want - for lots of reasons. I have only asked because I don't understand child-minding (the regulations) in the UK. I would prefer that she goes home with someone with other children around but I sense that arrangements need to be quite formal?

I dont know anything about nurserys but just wanted to check that you realise if you use a childminder you'll have to pay for the full day because your child will affect their numbers..

You could partner up with another parent and share the afternoon care on your days off.. that doesnt have to be official. But it could be tricky as you'd have no contract etc, it may not be the most reliable solution.

thanks foureleven - it's these kinds of things that I don't know!!

If you can afford it, a childminder is the best solution. they'll be there for if there are inset days or if the preschools closed for snow days etc etc

They can walk your child to school and pic them up and still socialise with the other children the child minder has.

I dont know of any nurseries in this area that will take to preschool and pick up..

Cat64, I meant if the child minder takes the child to school and then picks up and has for the rest of the day.

Any childminder I have known has charged all day as they use a place up for an hour in the morning and then the afternoon they are unlikely to have another child from 9 - 11.45 so they'll charge you..

Is that not right for all?

You will have a contract with a childminder just as you would with a nursery so no more formal than you have been used to. Most childminders will have other children around but it does depend on how busy they are and on those particular days. so you can have a contract for the three days you work and the hours that you want so you both know where you are.

If you wanted them to do drop off and pick up from pre-school then you are likely to be charged for the hours she's at school as they will keep that space open for if they need to pick your child up unexpectedly or for days the pre-school is closed. This is different to drop off and pick ups from full time school which wouldn't be charged for the hours in between. It is down to the individual childminder but I think for pre-school children that is pretty common.

thanks for all the input - it helps to make me informed! It is all "might" at the moment... although we have a place at pre-school, I haven't taken her out of nursery yet and I don't have a job confirmed for September (teaching) so I don't really know what I am doing. I guess I need to take what I now know and start talking to local minders

cinnamon... I understand filling forms for nursery but I haven't had this relationship with 1:1 care before. My elder dd had childcare in New Zealand which (unless things have changed) don't have such rules.

I am a CM and I would charge you for the whole day I'm afraid. I would also offer to have her all day, as CMs follow the EYFS, same as nursery and pre school. If it is a pre school that opens term time only, you sound like you would need the CM to keep the whole day free for your DD in the holidays?

Oh yes. Missed that

Most of the childminders round here only charge for the hours as they can always fill the (limited) full day slots with babies and younger children. They would not normally pick up a child suddenly in the middle of the schoolday (parent will have to come off work) as the most common reason for child needing to come off school would be infectious illness in which case childminder won't have them anyway.

A childminder is like a mini-nursery at home, not 1:1 care though. Nannies and au pairs - care in your DD's home - are not as regulated.

Nanny with own child or nanny share? That way there are other children around but it's less expensive and not as formal.

Im a childminder and only charge for the hours the child is with me, at the moment!
reading this thread has got me thinking.