would a persons religion ...

[EllaBella]

would a prospective childminders religion put you off of choosing them?

I ask as I was ust chatting to another JW on here and mentioned that i had lost a few prospective mindees because of my religion...

unless i told you , i was a jehovahs witness you would never ever know, my house is like any other, although no crosses or religious bits and bobs, the only things are 2 watchtower magazines on table.

now i am not ashamed of my beliefs, BUT when prospective parents come to visit i never hide it, not do i "bible bash" them lol :blush:
as far as im concerned they are here to see me as a childminder not for my religion, sadly when chatting in general about birthdays, i mentioned that i do not celebrate, one dad said, oh g** you not one of them freaky jw are you, to which i replied yes without the freaky bit lol. he couldnt leave quick enough,

anogther 2 parents said they would have picked me but dont want their kids brainwashed :o

and the last one said, they didnt want their child to miss out on christmas birthdays,

my daughter is a teenager and she is not a jw (her choice is to be church of england), and she doesnt miss out on ANY celebration lol ,
now i wouldnt ignore christmas or birthdays, just like i wouldnt ignore eid or any other celebration, when doing topics ect ect with the mindees.

i never ever try and bible talk the children, if they ask , i answer, but i explain there are lots of different beliefs, ect ect.

im not going to start hiding my religion, but please be honest does a persons religion (especially if it is odd to you) or one you really dont understand, put you off of using that person??

[EllaBella]

i have to add that last month i met a lady at mother and toddlers, and she was head to toe in black covering thingy, and my first reaction was oh my word , you scare me, I would have been put off by that, just because her clothing scared me a bit,(wrong of me, i know):blush: i couldnt see who i was chatting with , she was a lovely person to chat to , but on looking at her , in my head i thought uh oh:blush: i would have thought twice about using her as a cm, now i have chatted to her id be fine, but its first judgements isnt it, and sadly some people dont give others chance to shine, as they say lol.

[singingcactus]

No it wouldn't put me off.

[Tink]

I would be fine with it so long as you were not preaching it to my child:)

[sweets]

ok i am going to be really honest here so dont shoot me down :blush:

yes it would put me off slightly, i wouldnt want my child in a house that didnt openly celebrate christmas and birthdays, i am not religious at all, far from it but i do celebrate christmas etc. i know that as a childminder you would respect these celebrations as we all respect other religous times for children e.g divali.

it wouldnt be anying against you personally and i would never ask a childminder there religion but if i knew it, then they wouldnt be my first choice. sorry:blush:

[EllaBella]

but thats very honest, so no need to apologise, I am greatfull of all input :thumbsup:

[sweets]

just want to add tho that i would feel the same if i went into a house that had crosses all over the walls, im not against JW! lol

[Pipsqueak]

No, it would not put me off either:thumbsup: The only thing, if I am being honest, I would ask about (for my child) is how you would go about celebrating and exploring other religions and festivals (including Christmas and birthday for instance).
We have had some really interesting discussions regarding religion and how we celebrate diversity on the forum.

I think that because JW's evangelise door to door people get intimidated by it and think that they are going to be forced into something. I think as well there are some things about the JW religion that people really disagree with and ergo 'reject' those who choose to follow that religion. I get on very well with a lady who comes round and she knows that there are things about the JW religion i throughly disagree with but I know her and her lovely family as people not just the religion.

[AnnieM]

I agree with sweets sorry, :blush: I would never ask about religion, but if I knew it wouold put me off a bit, I would want my childs milestones like birthdays and Christmas celebrating to the fullest, after all they grow up so very fast (mine is 21 now and it seems only yesterday he was a baby. :( ). When my DS was 2 years old my MIL started going to the JW meetings and then got more and more into it until she stopped celebrating Christmas and birthdays, she had always hated Christmas, as her mum died on Christmas Day but she went totally OTT and tried ramming it down everyones (family) throats. I know you would not do this as a childminder, but it put me off. I then met a lovely lady who moved near to us and she told me she was a JW but they still celebrated Christmas, birthdays etc., she had grown up with it and was determined not to push it onto her own kids, as it had been to her and her sister, so I can see both sides. :thumbsup:

[Polly2]

Wouldn't xmas and birthdays be family times primarily anyway?

[Hebs]

Oooooh i really dont know to be honest

I think id be worried my little one would ask why you didnt have christmas decorations uo and then possibly them questioning santa,

My son is 10 and still believes in santa (hope this lasts until after christmas!!!) And i feel blessed for that belief to have lasted so long x

[Gherkin]

I am not religious at all but when my children went to a childminder I chose someone who never talked about religion in the context of themselves, they talked about celebrations/religiuos holidays in a teaching manner with the children which was fine.

Imo I do not discuss my thoughts on religion or politics with any of my mindees parents/carers at all.

If a childminder said to me I do not celebrate birthdays/christmas/eid I would feel my children were missing out on a celebration of themselves and of the world/society that they live in.

Unfortunatly you are suffering from the fact that JW's get a bad press but if you said to me I am a JW and I don't celebrate xxxx I would have to reconsider sending my child to you. Sorry but that is the way I feel.

[Pedagog]

There was a time when I would of said no, wouldn't worry me, but...

Honestly yes it would stop me, as having had a JW tell my mother that my father had just dies of cancer because of his sins, I would not be happy leaving my child in a situaition were they might be told that their grandfather was evil and thats why he had died. My father by the way was a C of E Vicar, and the JW was knocking on the Vicarage door days after his death.:(

[EllaBella]

when its a childs birthday i make a fuss and say oohhh another year older, you look like you have grown an inch overnight ect ect i ask what presents they got , and they choose the food they would like for tea, usually sandwiches and jelly type food,

christmas, we do all the art and craft stuff, cards, the children tell me all about father christmas, they have christmas carols , ect ect, we make mince pies for them to give to their families, . we make snowflakes, and snowmen, and they generally drive themselves mad telling me what they are getting :laughing: and asking what everyone else is getting.

my daughter celebrates christmas and as a treat for us both we are going to egypt for christmas, she doesnt miss out on gifts, i treat her throughout the year, little surprise things:D , i have ust booked to see Grease! in october for her.

i still send my mum flowers and little gifts i see when i go shopping that i think she may like, and i send my sister little packages about 4 times a year, they dont bother with me, but i dont mind. thats families for you :laughing:

my daughter has a huge neon pink christmas tree that she plonks in the hall every year :eek: :laughing:

[sarah707]

I think the problem with a childminding interview is we get about an hour with a family who then have to decide whether they want us to care for their child or not...

They are weighing up lots of things - do they like us, is our price right, can we agree on basic things like health and safety, what will we do with the children...?

They have probably been to see lots of other childminders as well as us, so they know there is a choice out there.

I might get a few enquiries and of those I know that a percentage will go elsewhere. I would not necessarily know why because they would not tell me...

You have had a person tell you and it has hurt you, which is natural but it is that person who is bigoted and not something you have done wrong.

I think for the future use what has happened as a lesson for handling interviews.

Perhaps by being crystal clear at the interview stage about where your personal life starts and finishes.

Your personal life is important to you and it is part of what makes you tick but you would not necessarily take it into an office with you so while it guides you personally, professionally you have a different role to fulfil.

Your business is about following the Eyfs, so you respect the need to educate children about a multicultural and global curriculum. You do this because it improves outcomes for children and by doing it you are prepared to put your personal beliefs to one side.

This is the same as a vegetarian childminder who cooks meat for a mindee or a childminder who celebrates Kwanzaa with her family and is also happy to mark Christmas with the mindees.

Does that make sense?

Oh and put what that man said out of your mind. You wouldn't want to work with him anyway.

Hugs xx

[EllaBella]

and when you are all getting excited about christmas..............im going :jump for joy: :jump for joy: :jump for joy: waiting for the sales!!!!

i do a big roast on xmas day but really theres nothing else for me to do , everything is shut lol. we watch films and go for walks and stuff, i ust dont do the father christmas bit iyswim ..... come the sales... im like a geyhound !!!!

[EllaBella]

iv never said ,,, my names ella and im a jw, but it has each time come up, for example chatting about birthdays coming up and the like, and it would have been wrong of me to lie or say nothing, still if people choose to not choose me for that one reason then its probably for the best


im loving all of your input, thanks :thumbsup:

[PRINCESSDAISYFLOWER]

When I was little my childminder (who is still now as an adult my second mum) Is Muslim. And I LOVED it!

She celebated all the christian festivals with me (I am an RC) as well as all her own and i loved being embraced into her family and celebrating their festivals.

My parents saw it as an education.

the only time I would not send is if their judgments no matter what religion was forced upon my child, or if the cm was wearing a burqa and my child couldnt see their face x

[kindredspirits]

it wouldn't put me off - we're not celebrating christmas this year - simply because i don't believe it any of it at all and finally the hypocracy of 'peace on earth' etc has eaten away at me - we hardly did xmas last year but did have a tree etc - this year i am not sure what we'll do - but the kids won't know any difference, we'll still do cards/decs cooking etc

On saying that I had a christian family come and grill me on my religious beliefs - and then the lack of them - before they decided to use me as a CM. :rolleyes: their right to do so i suppose, it was one of my first cm'ing interviews and i was nervous so answered all their questions about my belief in angels........... now i'd tell them briefly and then explain that it has no impact on my day to day setting and pass it off.

[Hebs]

You'll love Egypt!

[Blaze]

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest, part & parcel of learning we are all different, but the same IYSWIM. Don't worry about it - their loss.:)

[EllaBella]

You'll love Egypt!

iv had to save for near 2 years for this, and iv wanted to go since i was a child, its my main ambition to ride a camel:laughing: :laughing: and visit the pyramids. look out , ill be posting some holiday snaps of it when i get back:D :D

[Dare4Distance]

To be honest I wouldn't send my child to a childminder that was a JW. Nothing to do with them not celebrating birthdays or Christmas, that doesn't bother me at all. I wouldn't send my child to anyone who's religion requires that both homosexual behaviour and feelings be suppressed. It's just a personal thing and not biased to just Jehovah's Witnesses. Obviously if you didn't believe in that part of the religion then I'd send my child to you. :)

[EllaBella]

my aunt is in a relationship with another woman, its none of my business, she is my aunt and i love her no differently, we all have different ways of interpreting the bible, and yes it does say things about homosexuality, but im not so naieve to think everyone would be the same. would i not take on a child from a same sex partnership, of course i would, so long as they didnt ram thier beliefs onto me. same as everything really,

[Twinkles]

I let people know I'm a Christian at our initial interview. We have a few bible stories around and may go to a toddler service at Church at Easter or Christmas.

As far as I know it hasn't put anyone off.

[Hebs]

iv had to save for near 2 years for this, and iv wanted to go since i was a child, its my main ambition to ride a camel:laughing: :laughing: and visit the pyramids. look out , ill be posting some holiday snaps of it when i get back:D :D

Pyramids are amazing but the museum is unmissable x

[LOOPYLISA]

Pyramids are amazing but the museum is unmissable x

Hebs we are off in nov, nile cruise :D

[Hebs]

Hebs we are off in nov, nile cruise :D

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

you will love it loopy :thumbsup:

just 8 more weeks until we go back, OMG i cant wait i miss our friends so much :o will be so good to see them again :thumbsup:

[TheBTeam]

Right to be honest without rambling!:laughing: If I met you and liked you as a person, then i wouldnt let the jw bother me, i would not want to get into a conversation over blood transfusions and the like, but that in itself wouldnt stop me using you if i liked the type of person you were.

I am a christian, i dont tell people this automatically at the interview stage, i wear a cross and would be honest if asked. I dont ram it down peoples throats but have bible stories as were my childrens in my book collection available to mindees, but so do i have ones based on muslim weddings, religions and festivals all freely available. I wouldnt want it rammed down mine or my childrens throat, or for them to feel wrong in what they want to believe or celebrate, same as i dont do with my children.

That said, if you were really nice and another childminder i thought was equally nice, then it may sway me to the other minder, simply because of the potential for a disagreement with me over issues like blood, evil etc, nothing to do with the child being cared for.

I would at interview, talk about what you do do to explore all religious celebrations and beliefs and unless you really feel you want to tell people, then dont, dont lie but just not mention religion personal to you, i have never openly been asked (they may see the cross but either assume christian or dont care, or think of it as just jewellery!), at the end of the day your religion whilst shaping you as a person, doesnt necessarily bare any influence to your care of a child.

HTH

[onceinabluemoon]

I honestly don't know if it would put me off or not as I've never been, nor am likely to be, in that situation.

I would like to say though that I should imagine that man high tailed it out of your house because he made himself look a right prat!

I have six children. When I was younger and they were all around me people used to say nice things like 'haha have you got a tv now' or ' are you having any more'. The most common one by far was 'are you a flipping catholic or something then?' Their faces when I said 'actually yes I am' was a picture. They usually couldn't wait to get away from me either, lol

[Stillgoingstrong]

i have to add that last month i met a lady at mother and toddlers, and she was head to toe in black covering thingy, and my first reaction was oh my word , you scare me, I would have been put off by that, just because her clothing scared me a bit,(wrong of me, i know):blush: i couldnt see who i was chatting with , she was a lovely person to chat to , but on looking at her , in my head i thought uh oh:blush: i would have thought twice about using her as a cm, now i have chatted to her id be fine, but its first judgements isnt it, and sadly some people dont give others chance to shine, as they say lol.

Judge as you would be judged

[LOOPYLISA]

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

you will love it loopy :thumbsup:

just 8 more weeks until we go back, OMG i cant wait i miss our friends so much :o will be so good to see them again :thumbsup:

I hope so, has never really appealed to me dunno why :blush: , even better being treated by the in-laws :D

[ajs]

it wouldn't put me off in fact my dd's childminder was a JW and dd absolutley adored her.
i must admit to being very ignorant to JW's beliefs although i now have a friend who is JW so she is teaching me

[~Chelle~]

Gonna get shot down here, but to be honest, there are few parts of the JW religion that I really do not agree with. There was a story that was in the news last year where a newly wed husband let his wife die rather than give her a simple blood transfusion that would have saved her life. She had just given birth to twins and her family, who were not JW, were begging him, as her next of kin, to give permission for the transfusion and he said no and she died.

Now two children are being raised without their mother and her family have to live life knowing that she could have been saved but for the sake of her new found religion, she was left to die.

There was a mention about you would look after a homosexual's child if they did not ram it down your throat. JW's are the only religion that I know off that always knock on the door trying to ram their religion down my throat!

I can see why it would be off putting to some people.

[Mookins]

when its a childs birthday i make a fuss and say oohhh another year older, you look like you have grown an inch overnight ect ect i ask what presents they got , and they choose the food they would like for tea, usually sandwiches and jelly type food,

christmas, we do all the art and craft stuff, cards, the children tell me all about father christmas, they have christmas carols , ect ect, we make mince pies for them to give to their families, . we make snowflakes, and snowmen, and they generally drive themselves mad telling me what they are getting :laughing: and asking what everyone else is getting.

my daughter celebrates christmas and as a treat for us both we are going to egypt for christmas, she doesnt miss out on gifts, i treat her throughout the year, little surprise things:D , i have ust booked to see Grease! in october for her.

i still send my mum flowers and little gifts i see when i go shopping that i think she may like, and i send my sister little packages about 4 times a year, they dont bother with me, but i dont mind. thats families for you :laughing:

my daughter has a huge neon pink christmas tree that she plonks in the hall every year :eek: :laughing:

after reading this start of thread i did think OMG:eek: :blush:
but knowing that you have tocover all things with the EYFS and just reading the above i would have nno problems....and would love your daughters xmas tree and be really jealous lol x x

[EvieT]

There was a time when I would of said no, wouldn't worry me, but...

Honestly yes it would stop me, as having had a JW tell my mother that my father had just dies of cancer because of his sins, I would not be happy leaving my child in a situaition were they might be told that their grandfather was evil and thats why he had died. My father by the way was a C of E Vicar, and the JW was knocking on the Vicarage door days after his death.:(

That's awful thing to say to your mother - especially at a time like that,
and I am pretty sure it contradicts their own teachings.
I have some very good friends who are JW's and none have ever been so insensitive and would most likely say that it is only God's place to judge - not mans in any case.

[EvieT]

I think the problem with a childminding interview is we get about an hour with a family who then have to decide whether they want us to care for their child or not...

They are weighing up lots of things - do they like us, is our price right, can we agree on basic things like health and safety, what will we do with the children...?

They have probably been to see lots of other childminders as well as us, so they know there is a choice out there.

I might get a few enquiries and of those I know that a percentage will go elsewhere. I would not necessarily know why because they would not tell me...

You have had a person tell you and it has hurt you, which is natural but it is that person who is bigoted and not something you have done wrong.

I think for the future use what has happened as a lesson for handling interviews.

Perhaps by being crystal clear at the interview stage about where your personal life starts and finishes.

Your personal life is important to you and it is part of what makes you tick but you would not necessarily take it into an office with you so while it guides you personally, professionally you have a different role to fulfil.

Your business is about following the Eyfs, so you respect the need to educate children about a multicultural and global curriculum. You do this because it improves outcomes for children and by doing it you are prepared to put your personal beliefs to one side.

This is the same as a vegetarian childminder who cooks meat for a mindee or a childminder who celebrates Kwanzaa with her family and is also happy to mark Christmas with the mindees.

Does that make sense?

Oh and put what that man said out of your mind. You wouldn't want to work with him anyway.

Hugs xx

Well said - I couldn't have said it better myself! :)

[ourmadhouse]

When I was little my childminder (who is still now as an adult my second mum) Is Muslim. And I LOVED it!

She celebated all the christian festivals with me (I am an RC) as well as all her own and i loved being embraced into her family and celebrating their festivals.

My parents saw it as an education.

the only time I would not send is if their judgments no matter what religion was forced upon my child, or if the cm was wearing a burqa and my child couldnt see their face x

i find i difficult when people talk to me with sunglasses on, i like to see full facial expressions (i find it helps me understend them better)

I can remember at jr school we had a teacher who was JW. He was one of the best teachers in the school he knew how to talk to us and respected us(that was him as a person, not because he was JW) Thinking back he always seemed to take RE (that or all other RE lessons by other teachers i found boring:blush: ) He never ever brought religion up at anyother time (and he taught with passion looking back, and at the end of every term he would remind us that he would not like a gift from anyone, but did take them when we brought them in as not to offend US)

MY first reaction was no i dont think i would, but after having a think while iv been typing i dont think it would bother me. As long as the cm reassured me that other religions would be talked about just as equally. :thumbsup:

[Millenium]

I am sure the OP is a terrifically good minder but many people find those of the JW faith oppresive and overwhelmingly intimidating. It is a shame, because a minority bring a reputation on the faith which is I am sure imbalanced but it is a huge notoriety that is hard to shake off and human nature is to remember the bad times, not the good. I believe that the activities of a few, make day to day life more difficult for for the majority - but isn't that the same in many religions and beliefs.

I hope you are able to explain to would-be parents that not all JW followers are the same and that could apply to Muslims, Buddhists, Mormons, Jews etc. Let them see you at work and maybe take up some references to allay any concerns they might have.

I currently mind children from four different nationalities with their associated religions and beliefs which is interesting because, I am always quizzed by would-be parents about the background of the children I mind but I don't recall ever having been asked about my background!

[jellybean cc]

I would have to think long and hard about this religion and look research it a bit first before i decided to let my child be looked after by anyone who was a JW. I think and am sorry if i m wrong that it is JW's that do not allow blood transfusions for critically ill children. If this is so then i could not let a child of mine be looked after by someone who believed it was right to kill an innocent child rather than give them medical help. An adult can make that choice for themselves but no one should make that kind of choice for a child. This is just my opinion.

When my daughter was a baby and my soon 2/3 years old we lived in a Muslim country and they went to a Muslim nursery so i have no problem generally. My son was taught to thank Allah before meals etc. Now he thanks God. To keep it simple we have said Allah and God are one and the same. Its just that different people have different ways of worshiping him.

[Polly2]

It is difficult and I understand that parents would want their child with someone who holds the same values as themselves but surely its about choosing someone you get on with as a person who you know will respect your wishes/beliefs and who will provide excellent childcare. That involves so much more than religious celebrations.

For example a good cm who didn’t celebrate birthdays would find other ways to celebrate the uniqueness of each child.

Its interesting that many have posted that having got to know a jw as a person, not on the doorstep, as it were, has changed their view.

An excellent childminder regardless of their religion would be inclusive and would be capable of loving and caring for children and teaching them about the diverse world around them in a non biased way.

[Hebs]

to me it isnt about birthday or anything but the lack of christmas decorations that might confuse a child :blush:

[moljak]

After reading your original post and your subsequent replies then yes I would consider you as a CM.I can see that you're happy to respect what the children believe in and also not put your beliefs on the children.
I have no strong religious beliefs i just believe what i believe an celebrate christmas ans a time for decorating the house, giving cards, pressies and having lots of family get togethers and most importantly fun.
We have decorations up from the beginning of December as I love them.My mum puts hers up christmas eve so my kids are used to seeing her house bare until then.I don't think it would be an issue.

Maybe you could put together a folder showing how you plan to support the various religious celebrations across the year and have this available for prospective parents to view.Surely then your own personal beliefs would be your own and of no issue to parents.

Maybe you could take your hols mid December - beginning of January so children wouldn't be with you then.

Don't let it worry you.See it as a way of promoting the positives of your business :)

[Pipsqueak]

What a terrific thread - respectful and interesting.

[wendywu]

I know 3 minders a mother and 2 daughters who are JW.

I did not know at all until recently, as they still help their mindees to do all the christmas arts and crafts.

They give their mindees a present in sept when they think Jesus died.
I thik i remembered that right. :rolleyes:

But they always have plenty of work :thumbsup:

[EllaBella]

thanks everyone for your replies, I guess im just going to carry on as i am, there will always be people who dont like our race/religion/sexuality ect ect

but it has been great to read all opinions :thumbsup:

thankfully i have work and my parnets at moment are lovely.

enjoy your day everyone, at 6 pm my doors cose and im off camping for the weekend :D :D

[singingcactus]

i could not let a child of mine be looked after by someone who believed it was right to kill an innocent child rather than give them medical help.

I'm pretty certain that no Jehovah's Witness would actually kill a child! They would likely offer up the child in prayer and put the child's future in the hands of their Lord, which is seeking life saving treatment in their eyes, but I would stake my life on a Jehovah's Witness not actually going around killing kids (barring of course those psychopaths that sneak into every walk of life).

[Hebs]

I'm pretty certain that no Jehovah's Witness would actually kill a child! They would likely offer up the child in prayer and put the child's future in the hands of their Lord, which is seeking life saving treatment in their eyes, but I would stake my life on a Jehovah's Witness not actually going around killing kids (barring of course those psychopaths that sneak into every walk of life).

I understand and agree with jellybean

There are lots of parts of a JW religion i dont agree with, not that it makes them bad people its just that logically it doesnt make sense to me as a mother!

x

[pinky33]

I would have to say I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. I thought when we first started minding people would have been bothered that we were a same sex couple but so far nobody has been, in fact paprents keep asking us when were going to have our own child as they see how we are with theirs (next year will be the year).

When I was a nanny there were a fab pair of JW's whom piped in for a coffee and a chat every so often, we chatted about life, world, the world and god and I never felt they pushed information on me.

Also we have some that door knock here, I tried the I'm a lesbian speach just to gage a reaction and the guys responce was "god loves everyone".

I was bought up in a family where church was for hatches,matches, and dispatches, my mum always said her prayers at night saying god hears you wherever you are not just in church.

So if someone was
going to love my child in my absence then they could be whomever....

Hazel

[sandy64]

hi i wouldnt and didnt have a problem with jw i looked after a lo for a few months i explained i do celebrate all festivals and understand they didnt and respected that all was great til 1st december and my tree/ decs etc went up and she pulled child out( very happy lo) as she said she didnt want my house decorated but as i had previously said we do celebrate i wasnt going to take down so sadly she left.

[singingcactus]

I understand and agree with jellybean

x

Oh I fully understand what jellybean was saying, but I do think some care needs to be taken when speaking so subjectively about another persons beliefs or religion, not to accuse people of crimes.

[Polly2]

to me it isnt about birthday or anything but the lack of christmas decorations that might confuse a child :blush:

Surely thats an ideal opportunity for the cm and parents to show children how people have different beliefs and then go on to explore other religeons that don't celebrate xmas - muslims for example. :thumbsup:

[Hebs]

Surely thats an ideal opportunity for the cm and parents to show children how people have different beliefs and then go on to explore other religeons that don't celebrate xmas - muslims for example. :thumbsup:

i know but we can do that without jepodising (spl??) spoiling the magic, cos once it's gone.... it's gone forever :(
i manage to show the children in my care about other religions without risking theirs

[Polly2]

I totally see where you are coming from but there would be lots of 'magic' at home, and everywhere else.

I suppose for some it would depend on how many hours the child spent in child care and how much of a big deal xmas is to the family.

[Beetlejuice]

I will be honest here and hope I don't offend. I have friends who are JWs and they are childminders. They don't celebrate birthdays/Christmas/Easter etc which I respect but they refuse to mark any other festivals of any other religions with the children in their care. Now it is my understanding that under EYFS we rmust espect and mark all religions and cultures so surely this goes against that?? As a Christian I mark Diwali, Hannukah etc so I would really expect a JW to do the same. You aren't saying that one religion is better than another or really going into too much detail with the children however educating the children that there are other religions/cultures out there.

What my friends do is, instead of marking birthdays/christmas etc they take all their minded children out somewhere like bowling and have a big meal out in the summer holidays which the children look forward to - it's not religion-based and the kids have a ball.

It wouldn't put me off so long as the minder was inclusive themselves of all religions.

I know the JWs get a bad name because of the door to door 'preaching' but I am curious myself and I ask lots of questions - my husband was surprised the other day when I spent 10 mins at the door with two ladies who came round from the local JWs. I think they were grateful to talk to someone and not have the door slammed in their face and I asked them lots of questions as I would like a greater understanding for my own knowledge.

I meant to say that I don't often have christmas decorations up at home as my daughter's birthday is 14 December and I like to hold off putting them up. Then we go away for Christmas so I don't bother with them :o

[Tinglesnark]

I don't actually know anything about JW but I have spent my life in muslim, catholic, Hindu and Christian countries and I have always found it to be the person that was important and not their religion. We are all the same regardless of what we believe or what name we bestow upon our "god" and we all feel things keenly and love Is an integral part of our beings - I can honestly say that a persons religion would not bother me as long as my children and I liked them and they could offer a fully inclusve and loving environment
how sad for you to be made to feel like this :(
I wish you loads of luck for a nice family without bigotry xxx

[helendee]

Hi everyone, I hate to put the cat among the pigeons here but I am gobsmacked at all those who openly say that they wouldn't put their child in the care of a childminder whose religion is Jehovah's Witness. I personally am a Spiritualist but feel no need to share my thoughts and beliefs with anyone unless I am asked, but I would be very upset if people thought that I was unsuitable to look after their child because of my personal beliefs.

What I have to ask is would you all, honestly, hand on hearts, be prepared to state openly and publicly, ie on this forum, that you would not choose to use a Childminder who was a Muslim? It seems to me that no one minds being open about their thoughts towards Christianity but I am genuinely interested in how many would be prepared to admit their similar thoughts about Islam.

[Hebs]

i will OPENLY say hand on heart that i would not place my child with...

someone who didnt speak good english
someone who's religion might impact my child
someone who smoked

As a parent i have the right to have these views and i am NOT ashamed to openly say it, it is my right to have these choices just like everyone else

it is NO different to a parent choosing to NOT place their child with me cos i own a dog :thumbsup:

[helendee]

Fair play Hebs and I totally agree with you, my point was that people are honest enough to admit they are concerned about the cm's religion being preached to their child, if the religion in question is Christianity but I think that people would not be so happy to openly proclaim their concerns about Islam.

[sweets]

i agree with hebs, its all about personal choice and nothing to do with being racist or against a certain religion.

its no different than a catholic family wanting their children to go to a catholic school, or someone choosing a church school for their child.

[Hebs]

I have a friend who is a JW and one of my sons friends is JW too
i have alot of friends from egypt, some are muslim sone are christian (was shocked at that thought all egyptian were muslim :blush: )
personally i dont have a religion cos it's all one and the same thing to me :laughing:

so it is not that i'm against any kind of religion just i think about how it will impact my child :thumbsup:

[helendee]

Ok let me put it another way. If the OP had been of the Muslim faith and asked the same question, would people be as honest to admit their misgivings as they feel able to about the Jehovah Witness faith? I am not accusing anyone of racism, I am just very interested in personal tolerances.

[Hebs]

yes :thumbsup:

if a childminder said to me we dont celebrate christmas and dont have any decorations up i would not place my child with that person regardless of their religion, as we celebrate (and most of you know what i'm like about christmas) it is a magical time for us as a family and i would not want that spolit :)

[helendee]

Lol I know exactly where you're coming from Hebs, my son and I would start our Christmas on 1st September if we could and he is 24!!!!:laughing:

[Hebs]

Lol I know exactly where you're coming from Hebs, my son and I would start our Christmas on 1st September if we could and he is 24!!!!:laughing:

:laughing: :laughing:

same here, i'm almost finished my christmas shopping! and got so excited when i was looking in the argos catalogue that came out yesterday cos it has christmas decorations in it :jump for joy: :jump for joy:

[helendee]

Haha, full of admiration for you, I am still dreaming about Christmas shopping at the mo! We have a lovely John Lewis nearby and their Christmas displays and decorations are magical. It is such a fantastic time of year to be a childminder.... all those Santa's grottoes to visit...... sigh!

[sarah707]

I know exactly where you are coming from Helen but I think at the end of the day everyone has an absolute right to choose the place they feel their child's needs will be best accommodated... regardless of religion, culture etc.

If I was worried my child would not be cared for appropriately in the way I wanted them to be cared for then I would walk away. I would not, like the OP talked about, be rude to the childminder -that is totally unacceptable.

But at the end of the day my children come first and if I was in any way concerned about their welfare or the influences on them from the person I went to see then I would say no.

I've just interviewed a woman who told me quite honestly that she has seen nearly every childminder in town and found them all wanting. I now have a space so it was my turn for a visit - she found me wanting because I'm not prepared to promise her son a silent blacked out room with a travel cot every day between 130 and 230 pm! :panic: I said sometimes he might be in a buggy if we were out and about and that was not acceptable to her.

Fair enough it's her child and her wishes... just like when my children were small I would not have sent them to someone who did not share similar ideas about childcare to me.

:D

[Gizmo]

I mind our ministers (vicars) dd I dont go to church but they just said it felt right when they came to see me. I have a cm friend who is a mormon and she says its not her religion its just her life

[helendee]

Hi Sarah I am sorry if people have misunderstood me, I in no way meant to imply that anyone was being bigoted in any way. The whole point of my post was to query if people are as ready to voice their misgivings about Islam as they are about other religions; in the somewhat tense political climate that we now live in it is easy to be deemed racist for raising any viewpoint towards Islam that smacks of criticism at all for fear of offending Muslims. It is encouraging that people are not afraid to voice their views openly, that is what free speech is all about, but I still wonder if they feel it is acceptable to extend that to the Muslim faith?

[PRINCESSDAISYFLOWER]

As you would have read from my first reply I as a child was sent to a Muslim Childminder, I am still life long friends with her daughter and call her mum "Mum" in Turkish.

Me and my family are catholic but my parents didnt hesitate to send me to a Muslim childminders they embraced the fact I learnt and was fully accepted into their culture and I even knew more Turkish words than English at some point.

They put up a little xmas tree for me but my parents didnt insist on this as the way they saw it they would meet my "christian" needs at home.

As long as a cm didnt question my childs faith or tell them what we believed in was wrong I wouldnt hesitate.

[jellybean cc]

I think maybe it is best to have a meeting with the child minder to chat about there religion and don't be afraid to ask any questions even if you think they sound silly. When we lived in Turkey my son had a great time We celebrated Christmas but most of his friends were Muslim and they put up tree's, decorations etc for New Year. Father Christmas used to give out sweets on the street New Years Day.

So he did not miss out he just did it all twice. At nursery he made decorations ect for New Year Eve.

[mama2three]

Its a hard question to answer from a purely 'parental' point of view though , as we are all childminders!
We know that regardless of a minders faith they will endeavour to share various festivals and cultures with the children rather than focus on their own beliefs...I ceratinly spent more time working on diwali activities last year than easter ones for example , though easter is a huge part of my own religion , probably even more than xmas in a way.
Parents will not be as aware of this though , and will fear that a persons own believes will be promoted ( not worded very well , sorry!) I have a crucifix and a statue in my lounge ..not 'centre stage' but certainly not hidden. (If I remember rightly wendywu has more statues than the vatican! :laughing: ) It hasnt been an issue for me at all , but then catholisism is a fairly 'mainstream' religion.
If I lived in certain other areas of the country Im sure my faith would be a much bigger issue when parents were deciding on the right setting for their child , I know where my PILs live for example it could be an issue....
Interesting debate ...

[barbarella68]

I agree with Hebs as well,
I would not place my son with:

Some who didn't speak good English
if they had a dog
someone who smoked
someone who's religion impacted on my child whether they were Jewish, Catholic or Muslim.

[Dare4Distance]

Someone's religion wouldn't play a part in my decision. It would be their beliefs that did. I wouldn't mind at all about the childminder's family not celebrating the same holidays as me, I know they would mention Christmas and Easter just the same as I mention other holidays that I don't personally celebrate.
However, I wouldn't want to put my child in the care of someone who thought his parents relationship/sexuality was wrong. So really, it's not about religion, even though some religions say that. It's about the individual person and what they believe is wrong and right. IYSWIM

I'd also only send my child to someone who could speak good English and I'm not just talking about none British childminders here. There are plenty of British people that don't seem to be able to string a sentence together or speak properly. I'd never send my child to them :panic:
Also, spelling and grammar is a big thing. If my child's childminder can't spell or use the correct grammar then how can I be convinced they will be able to help my child with these things?