Newbie Questions

[daytimedolly]

Hi, wow Im so glad Ive just found this forum. Im a newbie Childminder and am currently undergoing registration, waiting for Ofsted to contact me.

Ive some questions if any of you experienced ladies could help me, Id be so grateful............

1. The childminders in my area obviously charge different rates. Is £3.50 per hour inclusive of all food, snacks and drinks reasonable please? I of course dont want to price myself out of the market but also want to make a living of sorts out of this

2. Observations:- Ive heard lots of people, trainers etc. talk about observations of children. One trainer for example had scrapbook with photo's, captions etc. of what one little girl had been doing and how she had progressed her play onto other things.
How often do you do these observations? I know you have to get the parents permission but do you do them daily, weekly, monthly? Also do you do them with every child or just select

3. My friend has a little girl at nursery and she gets a daily sheet on how many nappies Emily has been through, what she has eaten, her play activities etc. Is this necessary to do this on a daily basis and give to parents? Its a nice idea and Ive no objection in doing so but just wondered if I was making more work than necessary

4. Last question. Do you have any advice on budgeting please. eg. how to shop wisely for the childrens food and ways to keep meals healthy as well as profitable


Lastly, any other advice you could give would fab. Anything, Ofsted inspections, general practice to help this newbie.

Thanks loads and look forward to hearing your comments

[Daddy Day Care]

Just wanted to say a warm big wlecome to the forum :D

Unfortunately i cnat answer any of your question because I dont come under the "experienced ladies" category but im sure someone will answer you soon.

Gareth
xx

[claireodon]

Hi, with regard to the fees it depends what area you live in. Although different cms charge different rates there tends to be a min and max for your area so if you find out what the average is you'll have a good idea of what you can charge.

For children under 5 you have to follow the EYFS (you need to get hold of an EYFS pack - perhaps ask your development worker where to get it from) which entails doing observations of mindees. These observations are for the purpose of monitoring the development of pre-school children and will guide your planning.

You can do a daily sheet for parents or some people do a communication book where they write in what child has done that day and parent can write in anything that cm should know for the next day. Others just communicate information verbally to parents - depends what you and the parent prefers.

Sure someone else will come along soon to answer other points. Have a look around the forum as you will probably find some more useful information. Good luck :)