Thinking about becoming a childminder.

[Dominicjdawson]

For the last three/four years now I have stayed at home during the day whilst my partner works and I have looked after our youngest children. I would work it the evenings and we had a good set up and a reasonable income.

My employer decided that this was no longer suitable and I had to start working full time or not at all. I was at the time self employed, let's not even get into that debate as to them controlling my hours, that's a whole different story.

I have struggled to find work, this is no shock as a lot of people are looking for jobs. I was happy to do anything, and I applied for a lot of things from being a cleaner to bar work to litter picking, I am not proud and would do any job offered. Sadly for me most of the employers would look at my cv and think I would be far to qualified to do this sort of work and would move on after a short time to something more suitable to me, meaning they would have to go though the whole process again to find a replacement.

It's kind of true I guess.

One job people have always said I would be great at is childmminding. I have three children of my own and they are a real credit to me. My beliefs are firm but fair and I have brought them up to be honest, caring, and generous. I have always encouraged them to push their own boundaries and it shows.

I get great satisfaction from bringing up children and have grown to really appreciate how important the early years are in their development. With the right guidance and nurturing anything is possiable.

So with all that in mind I thought I would at the very least find out what options are out there. I have been reading information on the gov website and know that I would have to register with various bodies and attend training courses. I already have a pediatric first aid certificate so that's covered.

Thanks sorry to ramble, never know what to put.

Any help would be gratefully accepted.

Dom.

[moggy]

Your first step needs to be a call to your Local Authority- the 'children and young people's service' dept, or 'family information service' or similar. Ask for info on the pre-reg briefing meetings for childminders, they are free and will give you an introduction to how it works in your area- every area is different in the subtleties of the registration process! Check with them too that your 1st Aid is the right kind- it usually needs to be a 12 hour course and may have to be from an approved supplier.
Good luck with it, it is a great job!

[mummyMia]

Childminding is a lot of work and you will be made to jump through all sorts of hoops by Ofsted and various other people. But it is also lovely to be able to meet up with friends or go to the park on a sunny day. I love being self-employed and not having a boss hanging over my head all the time. Also being able to spend time with my children is a big bonus. If you are intersted in childminding then definitely give it a go. :D

You might not want to give up the job hunt in the meantime, as it can take absolutely ages to get registered and find your first mindees. You will also need to have some savings to pay for courses and other setup fees. Childminding is certainly no quick fix to money troubles but it can generate a decent income once you are all set up and running. :)

[faysey]

Hi
I'm also looking into being a chilminder, have been unemployed for some years now bringing up my kids who are now teenagers. I can't get to the briefings run by my local council as they are too far away and I don't drive. They were nice enough to send me all the details via email, everything they show at the briefings were in said email, but it did mean that I couldn't ask questions. Also, the more questions I try to answer by looking on the internet, the more questions I think of! The next course starts at the end of April, and I want to be on it, but I don't want to pay out the money for the course only to discover that there are other things standing in my way. For example, I only have a front room and kitchen, and I've been told that I need to have somewhere for children to sleep. Would a travel cot in the corner be ok, or maybe in my bedroom? Also, my partner is going to be with me, he will be doing the sorting out (setting toys and equipment out, putting things away when we're done etc.) as well as doing the food, while I focus on the children, and I don't know how that will work as he will have minimal contact with the children, will he need to do the course as well, or can he just do a food safety/hygeine course? So many questions, and no-one to ask! And if I go ahead and do this, will i need to have everything in place before the pre-reg visit, or can I have the visit before I get all the stuff and just tell them everything I intend to do/buy? And the cost bothers me, having been unemployed for so long, I have no savings, and can't bank on getting a job anytime soon to save up money to do it. I really want to do this, I'm so excited at the idea that I've already planned things like a daily routine and various activities! I just don't know quite what to do next...