Hi all. I'm a newbie and don't quite get 'DD' DS' = dear daughter/son? Anyway, my elder son (DS1!?) turns 3 at the end of Jan. There's a fantastic state nursery (Holmewood) just round the corner from us that I'm hoping he'll get into, but he just misses the January intake there. He MIGHT get into Holmewood early if other children drop out - he qualifies for his free 15 hours on April 1st - but officially he can't start with them until Sept 09 when he'll be nearly 4!
He still goes to a childminder at the mo, but he's outgrown her - I htink he spends a lot of time in front of the telly from the amount of CBeebies programmes he seems to know off by heart! - he needs more stimulation and time with children his own age. I'm reluctant to settle him into a fee-paying nursery which I'll then move him from when he can go to Holmewood but I'm just wondering whether anyone has any recommendations for nurseries/playgroups/preschools he could go to (without me!) that are good and not expensive? Just had another baby and money's tight now I'm on mat leave again and there seem to be so many different options for childcare - I'm slightly confused (you can probably tell). My head's spinning! This is all very dull and complicated, but basically if anyone has any bright ideas or has heard of good places, please shout! I once remember someone telling me about a group in Streatham run by parents where you can leave your child but you have to do a shift of running it every so often... sounds like an idea but not sure how to find it.