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Hi,
I wondered if I could get your opinions both as childminders and as parents what you thought.
Do males find it more difficult to get work as a childminder?
Would the fact that they are a qualified primary school teacher with multiple years experience be favourable?
Thank you for any response
There are so few of them it would be hard to get a balanced view. There are none in my town (only husband assistants of female childminders). Teaching experience is a selling point, I think, for any CMer. I should hope that being a male childminder wouldn't put anyone off but people like the norm, and they are less likely to take what they may perceive as a risk when choosing childcare. But I see more and more men in nursery settings. I hope the numbers do increase, with the fall in CMer numbers nationally we need all the CMers we can get.
I wish more men would come into childcare.I bet there are some brilliant male childcarers out there, unfortunately I don’t know any of them! . As said in the last post childminders are dropping like flies in this area so we won’t more male or female :thumbsup:
Bunyip is probably better qualified to give an honest and balanced view, due to being an active forum cm male member
For me as a cm and as a parent, I do wish there were many more positive male role models in our childrens lives.
My DS's yr6 teacher was male, and as DS didn't have any other decent male role models, (his own dad he saw intermittently and my brothers/his uncles, not for any length of time) so he absolutely thrived in his class - I had wished there were more males at primary school at the the time.
There are so many fractured families (my own included) that finding positive male influences is damned hard, and I do worry about our young males
Of course, as I'm sure Bunyip can confirm, bigotry in the wider community is rife, and I guess there will always be those close minded suspicious people that look negatively at males in a child orientated world (teaching/childcare etc)
Hi I was a male childminder until about a year ago and I didn’t have any problem finding work.
The only reason I gave up was moving house and not really being able to do it anymore. It was making an impact on the family too.
:laughing: am I to infer that I’m seen as a positive role model? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiddleywinks
I tend to think I’m less of a shining example and more of a dire warning. :D
I’ve never had problem attracting clients, though that’s possibly circumstantial. There is a shortage of childcare in my village, and a shortage of half-decent CMs in my general area. Also, I started small with grandchildren and a neighbour's DD. This meant I could get off the ground and build a reputation, which seems to be a universal problem for CMs of all genders. A big thing is that my DW works as my assistant, so people probably see us more of a couple, which perhaps tempers their view of all men as a threat to children.
Yes, I have experienced some prejudice from parents. More upsetting is the number of 'childcare professionals' who show prejudice. From the start, I found my motives were questioned at my basic training classes, and my local CM group pretty much ostracised me. I was seen as an outsider in a rather cosy world, who didn’t share their narrow interests in shoes and celebs.
All that said, it’s important to guard against developing a 'chip'. It’s a bit strange moving into the status of a minority group, and you have to be careful not to adopt that 'victim' mentality that some member’s of minorities take on. It’s important for me to accept that I am me, not just a generic label of 'male CM'. If a family doesn’t want my service, it’s very likely because of me and how I do things, rather than down to misandry. I have to face up to that and not take on some Ali-G-style affronted attitude, "is it cus I is male?"
there were 2 men on training I've been attending in recent weeks. Both were assistants for their childminding wives but I noticed everyone welcomed them and I have decided to go down the route of having my husband as my assistant. Minding a challenging 6 yr old who doesn't see a lot of his daddy due to work commitments , I think having more men in childcare is a positive.
In nearly 40yrs of childcare I have only worked with one male, he was an after school assistant and wonderful with the children, also happened to be my son but children and parents were all sorry to see him leave when he got "a proper job"
My DH was retired and therefore always around, his role really was to be my secretary, cook, cleaner, toy mender , caretaker.
The parents often loved him more than me!
They talked to him about meals and dietary issues ( he had all the allergy training), brought him broken toys from home and collected the LO’s craft and art work from him at the end of the day. They talked to him first on arrival. He did cook them evening take away meals though so a Knight on their busy evenings
It helped that the children really liked him too and I think that will break down all prejudice..if the child is happy with you on a visit the parent is happy to leave them.
I chatted to some friends ( at the local toddler group I help out at now) about this, open minded with equal households....the biggest issue they had was changing nappies...specially with a little girl...yet they had no problem about a woman changing boys nappies...none of them could explain this! All said though that if he was qualified by Ofsted they ultimately felt they would be fine if they got good vibes on a visit.
Fortunately I am seeing more and more men in childcare (or whatever we call it). We have a couple of outdoor nurseries/all day Forest Nurseries near us and I see them on my walks in various local woods. They all have at least one, if not more, male members of staff. Maybe those particular men were attracted to that style of education (being totally stereotypical, sorry). Regardless, it makes men in childcare more visible to the public (hard to miss in their high-viz vests)!
I trained with one male and used to see him each week at a dance class with his three little girl mindees. I used to chat to another couple of male childminders when out and about. They were all lovely, articulate, inspirational and full of energy - unlike some of the female minders around. It did make me wonder if male childminders who are successful have to be extra special - or maybe it was just a coincidence.
Our children's librarian retired a couple of years ago. She had been there forever and was everything you would expect a librarian to be (stereotyping again) and she was amazing. She has been replaced with a twenty something very handsome male. He is equally amazing. He does wonderful parent/baby rhyme time sessions and toddler story sessions. He has also started a dad's and kids rhyme/story session on Saturdays and the one I saw was very well attended. I was the only female over 5 in the room!
So, neo, go for it. Focus on your strengths and your unique selling points.