Give up job to childmind?

[Jess180]

Hi I'm new on here.
Currently on mat leave, baby is 14 weeks old.
I'm thinking about giving my TA job up to childmind.
I've attended the pre registration briefing.

How will I know how many children I'm allowed? Or will I not find out till ofsted have been. Ideally if I could have 2 under 5s and my baby, then a before and after school that would be super. I've read about the square foot, but I'm unsure of what areas I measure.
I live in a terrace house, front room and dining kitchen room. I could really do to know before I hand my notice in or not :s
Any advice on starting up?
Thanks

[Rick]

You are allowed 6 under 8 of which max 3 are under 5 of which max 1 is under 1.

The allowances for floor area per child are in the EYFS and should take into account clear floor area (not furniture) and not bathrooms, hallways or kitchens.

This should help http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/general-childminding-chat/119767-ratios-eyfs-2014-a.html

[FloraDora]

Childminding is not my main income, I am not sure how you all survive if it is. It's ok to say that if you can have 2 plus after school you will be ok....but it doesn't always happen like this...you may have periods of low/ no income.... Nobody seems to work a full week anymore so you might end up with 2 on a few days but not all!
I hate to be doom and gloom but you need to think through replacing a steady income, pension scheme, sick pay etc... With being self employed.

My advice would be to think about returning to work ( you need to go back to ensure you don't have to pay back maternity leave pay) as You could just be having the colly wobbles about returning after 15 weeks with your new baby... It could take a year anyway to get set up .....by then you will have been able to compare the two roles.

[natlou82]

I personally gave up my part time job (16 hrs per week) on the basis of covering at least the same income. That was a year ago and I am full working 55 hrs per week! It's safe to say my income has improved dramatically :-). But you need to consider EVERYTHING! It's not a guaranteed income, I may work 55 hrs with the children but then there's the housework (which is double the amount of work - toys, craft, extra pots to wash), paperwork (even if kept to minimum you are still looking at at least a couple of hrs each week), accounts etc, I probably work more like 70 hrs per week and then if you work out my income it would probably be laughable. I like the fact that I'm around if my children need me but it's not always quality time because of the needs of the other children. Despite all of this I love it and it was the best decision I made but I would advise you to take your time to decide if it's the right move for you. Good luck :-)

[tulip0803]

I have registered twice the first time I had been made redundant so had nothing to lose IYSWIM - I got a fulltime parent waiting for my certificate to come through.

I moved to Wales so had to re-register and got a part-time job whilst I went through registration. I got a parent just after reg but only for 6 hours a week so I kept the part-time job and did this when I wasn't working. After 6 months I got another 6 hours a week just as the first parent gave notice as she was working in another town. 3 months later LO 2 days 6 hours and the 2nd child move away. It took about 18 months in total to start getting inquiries and then they were a day or 2 and not enough to stop the part-time job and it became a catch 22, can't take the enquiries because of the job but can't give up the job as need the income.

This went on for 5 years - eventually I took the leap and I am now much better off financially BUT I know that my full-timer (5dayx9-3) starts school in Sept and am just waiting for enquiries to come.

That said I do not want to do anything else but childminding:thumbsup:

[Ripeberry]

Have a good think about it. Childminding is not what it used to be. Paperwork dominates, so if you are lucky enough to be full then good, but you'll have lots and lots of work to do after the day is finished. Many CMs leave to be a TA! Its a coveted job :thumbsup:
It can take a while to start up, so the security of a paid job is priceless.

[KatieFS]

I left a good fairly well paid part time job to do this. My reasons were to be around more for my own children, school runs etc, change career into childcare/working with children.
I've generally been ok for work, and earning well now but had a few tough months with not much money. Also I didn't account for how difficult settling in can be - had a few challenging children in my time that makes things difficult. Had screamers and clingy children which my two found hard to deal with, just my experience!
Now I'm earning well and able to work generally term time great for my school age children.
I did feel this isn't a forever job and have used the time to get my qualifications in place so I can do something different in the future. Trying to break into nvq assessing. Thinking about opening my own nursery when my two are at senior school.
Downsides- But no holiday pay, no sick pay, not got a pension sorted yet- parents late paying, children being Poorly, being late-early...you're only ever a month away from stuff being different...the job becomes your life a bit takes over your home, your car!
Positives - you become a little part of s small persons life, very precious, the cuddles are the best! :)
You are your own boss working from home ideal for children

Give it some thought. See how business is locally as it can be very different depending on where you live. If there are already lots of mindees who have vacancies then you may find it hard to get work