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View Full Version : Working with funded 2 year olds - new e-book!



sarah707
11-08-2013, 11:21 AM
A lot of childminders have been invited by their Local Authorities to offer 15 hours a week (or 11 hours over 52 weeks a year) of free sessions for the most disadvantaged 2 year olds in their communities.

These are the 2 year olds who will be eligible for free school meals when they start school and whose parents access a range of Government benefits.

This is an exciting time for childminders - it will give many of us an excellent opportunity to fill our spaces with new children, sent to us by the local Children’s Centres or the Family Information Service (FIS).

It is also a worrying time for some childminders because local Development Officers are losing their jobs or being re-located to other departments and are less available to offer help and guidance.

Those nurseries, pre-schools and childminders who have been involved in the funded 2 year olds pilot study and who have already offered the free 2 year old funded sessions report that they have faced a number of challenges.

Nobody is saying that every 2 year old funded child will have or will come from a family which has wider issues, requiring support from other agencies or more time and / or input than any other 2 year old already in your care. However, the pilot providers have reported that this is often the case and that they have been required to put significantly more support in place to manage many of the children’s needs effectively.

I have written an e-book which aims to give childminders and other 2 year old providers a wealth of background information and help so that, when your funded 2 year old arrives in your provision, you already have procedures in place to welcome them and help them to start learning from day 1.

For more information, please see e-book 66 ‘Working with funded 2 year olds’ from my Knutsford Childminding | Sarah Neville - Registered Childminder (http://www.knutsfordchildminding.co.uk) website (e-books for sale, page 2) - £3.99.

Thank you :D