First parent meeting!! Help!!

[lnmrobbo]

Hi there,

I'm pre registered and I have a fantastic Childminder friend who is now suggesting people contact me because she is full up.

I had a call today from a new mum who is interested in me looking after her baby girl when she returns to work in Nov, baby will be 9months then.

I am going to see her at her house later this week. The thing is I am sooo nervous!

I have no idea what to ask her, what she might want to ask me, at the moment I havent worked out my fees!:panic:

I really dont know where to start! I'd thought i would ask her to tell me about herself and her family, what her values are, how she would like her daughter to be brought up etc.:idea:

I want to sound professional (like I know what I'm doing) but also i want to be friendly.

I would really appreciate a bit of advice on how to start the conversation, and how to be friendly yet professional.

Lisa x

[sweets]

First meetings are usually a very informal chat, just tell her about yourself and what you plan on doing with the children, try and interact with the baby if you can, tell her any qualifications you have which include ICP course, first aid etc, and just relax and go with the flow.
Its unusual though to have a visit at their house, they usually want to see where the child may be going!
Good luck:)

[diz01]

I was sooooo nervous when I had my first visit last week but i just kept thinking, 'be yourself' and it worked. I had all my paper work ready to go through with her in a file for her to take away and read. I put together a time table of places i would take them through the week and an example of activities i would do with their children. i have also been putting together an example learning log, i have been doing one for my daughter and they loved it as they had something to see.

i showed them around the house which obviously would be difficult if you are in their home. I went through everything in the playroom too so that they could see that their child was at ease they liked the toys and i played with the child as I was talking to the parent, it was all very relaxed. I may just have been lucky!

I didn't go through the policies as it was their first visit, i gave them a copy of them and said for them to look through them at their own leisure and if they decide to come to me we will do it formally when we go through contract info.

i also showed them an example menu and put this in the pack too.


they really led the conversation at first sat down and straight away stated what they need but that was fine it gave me an understanding of what they wanted.

I briefly explained the EYFS too but said again that if they do decide to come to me I would go though it in more detail then I didn't want to cram them with info I thought it would be best first just to make sure the children were happy playing and speaking to me and that we were all comfortable with what was needed.

good luck :)

[lnmrobbo]

Thanks for that guys,

it has put me a bit at ease. The reason I'm going to her house is that I'm moving in 2 weeks! She really wants to meet me asap, so she suggested her house.

I didn't want her to feel I was bombarding her with all the legal requirements, as you say diz01, I want to make sure Mum and her baby are at ease with me first and that I can actually offer what she is wanting.

I'm nervous but excited at the same time, can't wait til tomorrow!

Lisa x